Rewarding Punishment

by StarkyShy

Chapters

Enduring Extension
Discipline Ditching
Side Steps
Griffon's Gratitude
Hearth's Warming Heaven

Enduring Extension

“DETENTION!?”

“I mean, you guys kinda ditched class,” Rainbow Dash shrugged.

“As well as impersonate a professor...” Rarity added, staring Ocellus’s way.

“Aaand almost kickstarting a war between six different nations at the same time!” Pinkie Pie interjected.

“Sorry, but EEA or not, rules are rules. There have to be consequences for these sorts of things.” Twilight said.

“Don’t worry, it’ll only be an hour!” Fluttershy tried to reassure the students.

“Just sit in the room with me and after an hour, you’ll be free. Now c’mon. The faster you get in, the faster you get out.” Applejack said, opening the door.

With a collective groan, the six students walked into the empty class with Applejack, sitting down at the desks, with Applejack sitting at the teacher’s desk.

After a minute of silence and looking around Silverstream raised her hand. “So...what are we supposed to do in detention, Professor Applejack?”

“Just keep quiet, stay in your seats, and don’t do anything.”

“Wait, nothing at all?” Ocellus asked. “We can’t even talk to each other?”

“Nope.”

“Detention sounds boring.” Yona said flatly.

“Not to mention really stupid.” Gallus added.

“Well it ain’t supposed to be fun. It’s punishment.”

“And after an hour, we can just...go?” Smolder tilted her head in curiosity.

“If y’all behave yourselves, then yes.”

Sandbar put his head down on his desk, his vision started to blur as he started to space out, staring vacantly at the blackboard behind Applejack. Yona did something similar to try and follow Sandbar’s lead, but instead of resting her chin down, she nearly slammed her forehead down on her desk.

Ocellus looked out the window, letting out a wistful sigh as she saw various birds and bunnies pass by, wishing that she could join them in freedom.

Silverstream and Smolder looked at each other, making gestures towards each other with their hands, seemingly getting into an intense silent debate, until they both realized that neither of them knew what the other one was trying to say, and nearly burst out into laughter at the ridiculousness of the situation.

Gallus leaned back, propping his paws up on the desk, balancing on the back legs of the chair. If he could just stay like this and fall asleep, detention would be over before he knew it.

“Gallus. Paws off the desk.”

“Whatever,” he scoffed, crossing his legs.

“Gallus, I’m not gonna ask you again.” Applejack’s tone lowered considerably.

“Make me.” Gallus smirked.

Applejack shrugged, reaching under the desk. In the span of only a few seconds, she pulled out a lasso, threw it around Gallus’s ankles, and forcibly yanked them to the side, causing him to lose balance and send him and the chair crashing down to the floor.

“Anyone else wanna give me a reason to use this?”

“N-No, Professor Applejack…” Sandbar quickly shook his head, the other students sharing his fear.

A flustered Gallus huffed and sat back down, his pride damaged. He grumbled to himself, drumming his claws against his desk as detention resumed.

The minutes slowly ticked by, the rest of the students waited in agonizing boredom, waiting until the hour was up.

“...Pfft. Heh heh...”

“Somethin’ funny, Gallus?”

“Just something about the dumb farm pony being a professor in this school is amusing, is all.” he said, leaning back with a smirk.

Applejack tilted her head down, the corners of her lips twitching as she resisted the urge to fire off the first thing that came into her mind.

The minutes slowly ticked by, with the students sitting silently, bored out of their minds, and Applejack silently watching them.

“This is so stupid!” Gallus blurted out. “You’re not our parents, why do we have to do what you say, anyway? This supposed to be some sort of friendship lesson? If you try to have fun, you’ll get punished with being bored? Is that what pony friendship is supposed to be?”

The other students exchanged uncomfortable looks, unsure if they would get in further trouble if they tried to stop Gallus’s ranting.

Applejack didn’t even seem to acknowledge Gallus’s remarks, even long after he stopped. Instead, she looked at the clock. “Alright, it’s been an hour. Ah reckon you all learned your lesson a long time ago. You’re all free to go.”

The students sighed in relief, practically leaping out of their seats to leave.

“Freaking finally…” Gallus muttered to himself. Before he got out of the room, Applejack stuck her hoof out in front of him.

“...’Cept for you. You get back in your seat.”

“Excuse me?!”

“You heard me. You’re stuck in here for another hour for mouthing off.”

Gallus gave her an incredulous laugh. “You’re joking, right?”

Applejack took a step back towards her desk. “Ya want me to grab the lasso again?”

Gallus opened his mouth to object, but then turned around to go back to his desk, grumbling the whole time.

After a few minutes of stewing in silent anger, Gallus spoke up again.

“This is so stupid. Why am I even taking orders from a pony?”

Applejack looked up. “Excuse me?”

“I’m a griffon. Griffons have never taken orders from anyone! We don’t need permission to do anything! We went where we wanted, we did what we wanted, we took what we wanted!” Gallus slammed his claws on the desk, lifting himself up from his seat. “If the Griffon Kingdom didn’t fall, we’d rule the world! We’d take Equestria for ourselves.”

Applejack was about to reach for the lasso again, but decided to entertain Gallus’s ranting just for a bit longer. “Oh yeah? You think so?”

“I know so! If things were just a little bit different, ponies would be bowing down to griffons!”

Applejack propped her back hooves on her own desk, “Really, now?”

“Oh yeah! I wouldn’t have to be a student at this school. Instead, you’d be serving me, doing my bidding all day, every day!” Gallus said, crossing his arms.

Applejack scoffed in amusement. “Yeah? What would Ah be doing if you were in charge?”

Gallus tapped his claws together, “Anything I wanted. You’d make all my food, rub my shoulders, carry me everywhere I needed to go…”

Applejack stayed silent, not ready to shut Gallus up just yet. Though it was tempting...

“And instead of that dumb hat, you’d be wearing a cute maid outfit as you cleaned my bedroom, and kissed my paws, and polished my claws, and…” Gallus hesitated for a moment, realizing what was coming out of his beak, but decided to continue, being in too deep to back out now. “...I’d have my way with you!”

“Have your way with me?” Applejack tilted her head.

Gallus tried to pretend that he didn’t hesitate saying that to his teacher. “Y-Yeah! You’d be sucking my cock whenever I demanded it of you during the day, that rope of yours would be around your hooves, and I’d be stuffing you all night!”

Applejack looked at Gallus in a stunned silence, her jaw dropped in shock. Then she started to chuckle. “Heh heh heh...all night? Oh sugar...you wouldn’t even be able to go the rest of detention with me.”

“H-Huh?” Gallus reeled back in shock. He expected Applejack to leap from the desk and buck him in the groin for saying this stuff to her, not challenge his advances. Still, it wasn’t the worst reaction he could’ve gotten. “You trying to say I don’t have the stamina?”

Applejack smirked. “Heck, Ah bet you couldn’t last five minutes.”

“Oh yeah?” Gallus stood up from his chair. “You wanna bet!?”

Applejack looked up at the clock. “Well sure…” She got out of her seat and sat on the desk, spreading out her legs. “Care to put your bits where your beak is?”

An excited Gallus walked towards the teacher’s desk, before he paused, looking around to make sure no one else was watching. “You’re...you’re serious about this?” This felt too good to be true. Was this just a setup to some sort of prank?

“What’s the matter, trying to back out already? What happened to all that talk about having your way with me? Or are griffons nothing but hot air?”

Gallus, now with his pride on the line, put his hands on Applejack’s inner thighs. Prank or not, he was dead-set on doing this.

“You last five minutes with me without cumming, and I’ll let ya have your way with me for the rest of detention. Whatever you want from me, and I’ll do it.” Applejack winked. “Course, if you can’t handle me-”

“I don’t need to hear what’ll happen, cause I’m not gonna lose this!” Gallus interrupted, clumsily penetrating Applejack’s pussy, then sliding further in.

Applejack shivered. “Oooh, that’s a promisin’ start...”

Gallus grabbed onto Applejack’s hind hooves, pulling them back as he thrust himself forward. “Yeah, you like that? Better get used to it, cause after these five minutes are up, you’re gonna be feeling this for a long time!”

Applejack smirked, letting Gallus take the lead. All she had to do was lay back, relax and see if he could go for five minutes.

Gallus huffed, trying to keep his thrusts slow, not quite pulling out all the way, and then pushing his full length back in. He chuckled to himself mentally. Five minutes would go by before he even knew it.

Applejack kept the smirk on her face, looking down to see how Gallus was faring. His gaze was set forward towards the blackboard, most likely to keep him distracted. “Heh, this your first time with a pony? Or your first time in general?”

“S-shut up. None of your business…” Gallus started to fantasize what he’d do with Applejack once he won. Though there was probably no one outside, fucking her against the window was definitely on the list, just for the chance alone that someone may see them. Bonus if it was Headmare Twilight that saw, or any of the other professors for that matter.

“Just curious, is all. Mmph...Doing pretty good if this is your first time.” Applejack closed her eyes, moving her hips along with Gallus’s rhythm. Just because this was a challenge for Gallus didn’t mean she couldn’t have fun. She let out short moans and sighs as she wiggled her flank up and down.

Despite Gallus’s efforts to take it slow, the temptation to pound her harder and faster was too good. Feeling the slight hip thrusts Applejack was giving him made him lose focus on what he was meant to do, and he started picking up the pace.

“Oooh, not bad, Gallus! Aaah...You might actually make the full five m-minutes after all!” Griffon cock felt different from a stallion’s. Not decidedly better or worse, but it was certainly an interesting experience. Though Gallus’s change in speed certainly meant something. Applejack opened up one eye to check the clock, just to plan for the immediate future.

As the pleasure started to fill his mind, Gallus’s eyes widened. His dick was throbbing inside Applejack. Even though he slowed himself down as soon as he realized his mistake, too much pleasure had happened too fast. He had breached the point of no return. “U-Uh-huh…” He let go of Applejack’s hooves, slamming down on the desk as he slowly approached the unavoidable.

Applejack looked up with a mischievous grin on her face as she recognized the panic in Gallus’s face. “What’s wrong? C’mon, don’t stop now! Here, I’ll help ya along…” Applejack started bouncing her hips, getting Gallus’s cock inside her faster, making up for his sudden slowdown.

“F...Fuuuuck!” Gallus’s knees started to tremble. With Applejack doing all the thrusting for him, he was unable to hold on any longer. With a shaky shudder, he climaxed, shooting his seed into Applejack. Gallus was absolutely spent on his orgasm, slowly pulling out as he panted.

Applejack, however, was significantly less fatigued by the experience. “Heh, that all? That was only three minutes.” she chuckled, looking at the clock.

“Yeah? Well, I just wasn’t all that into it, that’s why…” Gallus muttered, his cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, looking away from Applejack’s general direction. He just needed to last two more minutes, and he would’ve won...

“Really? Cause I’d say you were plenty into it,” Applejack teased. “What happened to ‘I’d have my way with you’ a few minutes ago?”

“Tch, whatever. I’m just gonna go back to my desk now…” Gallus said, slowly backing away.

“Hold on, now…”

“Awk!” Gallus was suddenly pulled back towards Applejack. Her hind hooves had wrapped around his waist, squeezing him closer.

Applejack put her hooves on his shoulders as she pulled him in. “You didn’t give me a chance to finish. If ya lasted the whole five minutes, Ah woulda let you have your way for the rest of detention. Course, since ya didn’t, that means you’re mine for the rest of the hour…”

“S-Seriously?” Gallus tried to pull away, but those thighs were powerful. He couldn’t even budge.

“Well look at that. Looks like you’re already eager for round two…” Applejack motioned towards Gallus’s crotch. Sure enough, he was already hard again.

“I...wha...that’s not! I mean...” Gallus stammered, still trying to wiggle out of Applejack’s leglock.

“C’mon, don’t be shy. We got a lot of time to kill before detention’s over...“ Applejack squeezed her thighs, trying to get Gallus’s cock into her.

“Rrgh, I’ll do it myself!” With what little wiggle room he had, Gallus properly positioned himself to stick his dick into Applejack once more.

“Nnnf! There we go…” Once they got started again, Applejack started to use her legs, squeezing her thighs together to have Gallus hump at her pace.

The feeling of those applebucking thighs wrapped around Gallus, constantly squeezing his waist made him feel uneasy. He felt like she could snap him in half with those thighs at any given moment.

“You like that? Better get used to it, cause you’re gonna be feelin’ this for a long time…” Applejack said, shooting Gallus a smug grin as she pulled Gallus in and out with little effort.

Hearing his words twisted back at him made Gallus curse under his breath. If only he had lasted those extra two minutes, then he wouldn’t be in this situation.

“C’mon, Ah’ll help ya last a bit longer. Maybe you’ll get to three and a half minutes this time!” Applejack teased. “Four, if ya try real hard!”

Gallus tried to think of some clever comeback, but all that came out of his beak was frustrated grumbling with a dash of horny shuddering.

Applejack chuckled to herself. She was probably enjoying watching Gallus blush and squirm more than she should. But she couldn’t deny that this was one hell of an experience, though one she probably wouldn’t be able to recommend to friends or family.

Gallus’s blush grew stronger hearing Applejack laugh. His mind was conflicted with his current situation. Sure, he was technically fucking his teacher, which was awesome. But with Applejack taking the reigns and controlling pretty much all his movements, it was more like she was fucking him.

Applejack let out a shudder of her own, her body trembling just a bit, holding Gallus in position just a bit before resuming her control.

Considering Applejack was moving his body for him, Gallus didn’t need to do something like grab onto her hooves to thrust. He leaned forward just a bit to put his hands on her shoulders, trying to avoid eye contact.

Applejack could feel her cheeks redden a bit more once Gallus put his claws on her shoulders, where she could get a better view of the blush on Gallus. It looked like he was starting to become more affectionate, but in the way only a grumpy griffon could.

Gallus tried to take some sort of control, moving along with Applejack’s squeezes rather than just be pulled around by them.

Applejack grinned at the display of initiative, loosening her grip on him just a little bit to make it easier for him to move.

Gallus definitely felt a significant amount of freedom given back to him. Though it was just to move his waist back and forth. Still, any sort of control he could get back, he would take.

“Whew! That’s the stuff…” Applejack moaned, her breathing becoming more labored as Gallus continued. “J-just like that, ok?”

“Rrrgh...y-yeah…” Gallus kept his gaze away, though with how close he was, he could feel her hot breath against his neck.

Applejack rolled her head back. “C-C’mon now, don’t hold back! Oooh boy, that’s good…”

Obeying Applejack’s orders, Gallus moved as fast as his restricted space would allow. Short, sharp exhales of increasing volume leaving his beak.

Applejack’s hooves started to twitch. “Haaah...keep doin’ that...just like that!” Her approving exclamations getting louder as she reached her climax. “Ah...Y-yeah! Oooh, don’t stop! Jus’ a lil’ more! Gonna! Ah! Haaah! Aaaannnh!”

“Nnngaaaaaa!” With one more push in, Gallus came again, though his cry of pleasure was significantly weaker than the first.

“Heh, well lookit you. Not only did ya last longer than last time, ya actually made me cum, too! Now ain’t that something?” Applejack gave him a playful jab to the chest.

“Fffuck me...is it over now?” Gallus slumped forward, the squeeze on his body making him barely hover over Applejack.

“You kidding? We’re just getting started!” Applejack put her hoof to Gallus’s beak, pushing him upright. “Detention ain’t over yet, hon. And Ah still got plenty left in me.”

“Guh...Can’t I just clap erasers or write a stupid essay or something instead?” How was she still not tired? This mare was gonna fuck him dry!

“What’s wrong? Is a dumb farm pony gonna outlast an almighty griffon?” Applejack taunted.

Another use of his own words used against him made him growl in frustration. “Fucking...ugh. Can’t we at least change positions?”

Applejack tapped her chin with her hoof, before nodding. “Sure thing, hon.” She sat up, freeing Gallus from her control. She stood up on just her hind legs just for a moment to wrap her front hooves around Gallus’s shoulders. With a grin, she fell backwards, pulling herself and Gallus to the floor. Once they were laying down, Applejack reapplied her leglock.

“There, now ya don’t need to be standing the whole time.”

“Great…”

Applejack gave him a playful smack on the butt. “Now let’s not waste any more time, then!”

“Awk! F-fine, jeez…” Gallus grumbled as she slid into Applejack once more. If he didn’t do it himself, Applejack would’ve shoved him in and possibly break his spine at the same time.

Applejack kept the hug and leglock going, keeping Gallus close to her by wrapping her hooves around him and squeezing tight.

Admittedly, the new position took less energy out of Gallus. All he had to do was wiggle his hips a bit while Applejack did most of the work. There wasn’t much of a rhythm to either of their movements, but it worked out.

Applejack kept her applebucking thighs moving as she held Gallus close. Much like the feeling of stallionhood and griffonhood being different, there was a certain fuzziness trait that Gallus had that a pony didn’t. It might have something to do with the feathers.

The tight hug made Gallus feel weird. Not necessarily uncomfortable, but even ignoring all the fucking that was going on below, there was an odd comfort in feeling a pony wrapping her hooves around him.

“Now, ain’t this a much better position?” Applejack asked, looking down at Gallus.

Gallus grumbled under his breath. “Rrgh...y-yeah, sure. Whatever...” He looked up, wanting to glare at his professor.

“Well, you’re welcome. C’mon, don’t expect me to do all the work, here.”

Now that Gallus was face to face with her, he noticed that Applejack’s hat had fallen off at some point. He swore that she still had it on back when she was squeezing him back on the desk. Now that he saw her up close, she kinda looked cuter without the hat on. Once he realized that Applejack was looking back at him, he quickly snapped his gaze away in a panic.

Applejack had to contain her laughter once she saw Gallus break eye-contact. All she had to do was look back at him, and he got flustered. That griffon sure was a peculiar one. Maybe it was still the embarrassment of not being able to last five minutes. She regretted not being able to wink at him in the brief moment when they locked eyes, it probably would’ve made him scream.

Gallus rested his head near Applejack’s shoulder, looking away just so that she wouldn’t get the idea that he wanted to kiss her or anything. Yeah, he was currently in the middle of sex with her, but kissing would just be weird.

“Haaah…” Applejack let out another moan, her hooves shaking in pleasure. She kept him in the tight embrace, her hips doing a little bucking to grind against Gallus.

Gallus had stayed relatively silent for a while. Partially due to embarassment, and partially due to being exhausted. But he couldn’t help but moan and pant as he kept going. He felt so tired, he just wanted to sleep, but it was clear that Applejack wasn’t gonna let him stop any time soon.

Applejack threw her head back, squeezing her legs together, pushing Gallus’s cock in as far as it could go as she let out a muffled squeal of pleasure. “Mmmmmmph!”

Now moaning loudly into his professor’s ear, Gallus hit his third climax of the afternoon. He didn’t even bother asking if it was over. He knew what Applejack would’ve said if he did.

“C’mon, partner, still got sixteen minutes ‘til detention’s over!” Applejack only squeezed him tighter, waiting for him to resume.

Orgasm after orgasm overloaded Gallus’s mind with pleasure, and his memory became hazy. He was pretty sure he came inside Professor Applejack three or five or twenty-two more times, but his mind was numb at that point, he didn’t think to keep count while the sex was literally being squeezed out of him. Even though Applejack did most of the work, he still had to put in a little bit of effort himself, and the repeated fucking with no breaks was exhausting.

Applejack didn’t get the benefit of getting as many orgasms as Gallus, but putting the smug griffon in place was more than worth it. She wished that she got to use her lasso just one more time, but she figured that keeping him in a long hug was more effective in taking him down a peg. Being picked to do detention seemed to be a blessing in disguise. Though now she was wondering what would’ve happened if Rainbow Dash had been in charge of detention instead. Gallus might’ve actually outlasted her.

Eventually, Applejack looked back up at the clock.

“Well I’ll be. You managed to make it until the end of detention. Lucky you.” Applejack released her leglock, finally freeing Gallus.

Gallus snapped back into reality as he flopped backwards onto the floor. “Gaaah...it’s finally over?” he wearily cried out, before clearing his throat in an attempt to save face. “I-I mean it’s over already?”

Applejack casually wiped some of the cum off of her crotch, drying her hoof using Gallus’s chest. “Good thing we stopped, too. Looks like you’re ready to pass out.”

“Am...not!” Gallus tried to stand up to prove his point. He slowly pushed himself up, but before he could stand, his arms started to tremble, and quickly gave out on him, causing him to crash back down. “I...totally meant to do that.”

“Ah’m sure you did. Well, see you in class tomorrow!” Applejack stood up and grabbed her hat, starting to walk away.

“Wha? You’re...just gonna...leave me here like this?”

“Well, Ah still gotta get stuff done on the farm. Can’t spend all day foolin’ around, and ya already used up another hour of my time by makin’ me extend detention.” Applejack chuckled, making her way out of the room.

Gallus tried to push himself to his paws once more, but hit the floor again. “Fuuuck…”

“Oh, and Gallus?”

“W-what?”

“Make sure to get back to your room soon. Unless you wanna spend more time in detention with me for breaking curfew…”

Discipline Ditching

Gallus tried repeatedly to stand up, but each attempt ended in him falling back down to the floor. The haunting reminder of not breaking curfew motivated him to keep trying, but his body simply wouldn’t cooperate with him. Eventually, exhaustion finally took its toll, and he passed out.

Hours had passed with Gallus unconscious on the floor in his own mess. When he finally came to, his body was still sore, but he at least had the energy to stand up and leave.

Gallus got lots of looks from the other students, but they were the least of his worries. His mind was set on going back to his room and straight to bed.

The other students murmured to each other as they saw Gallus walk past. There had been a wild rumor going around that there were strange noises if you went past one of the classrooms. One of the ponies swore that they saw something blue and orange in there while walking by.

Of course, blue and orange weren’t uncommon colors on ponies, so the rumor didn’t go further than just idle gossip and speculation. Those colors could’ve belonged to anyone, and so no one ever had the full story.

Sandbar laid down in his bed, staring up at the ceiling with worry, it had been long past curfew, so where was Gallus? He tried to close his eyes and fall asleep to try and forget his worries, but the thought that something awful might have happened to him just couldn’t escape his mind.

Just as Sandbar was about to climb out of bed to go look for him, the door slowly creaked open.

“Gah...fuck...finally…” Gallus grumbled to himself as he stumbled in, still dripping with sweat and other fluids.

Sandbar sighed in relief. “Oh, there you are, Gallus! I was getting worried that Professor Applejack was gonna make you stay in detention all night!”

Gallus responded by flashing his middle finger at Sandbar while he dragged himself to his bed.

“Hey...What happened, man?”

“None of your fucking business, that’s what happened.”

Sandbar sniffed the air, his muzzle scrunching up. When did the room start to stink so bad? He hopped off his bunk, trying to find the source, though considering who just entered the room, he had a pretty good idea of who the culprit was. “What the-Auugh! Gallus, you reek of sweat and...something!”

“Yeah, so what?”

“Are you ok? Did something happen to you after we left detention?” Sandbar put a hoof on his shoulder, trying to endure the smell.

“I’m fine, damnit…” he wanted to tell Sandbar what happened. The story of having sex with Professor Applejack would certainly be something to brag about, but once you start to add context to the situation like not being able to last five minutes, getting leglocked and teased the entire time, the story starts to go from awesome to humiliating. “Just...leave me alone right now, I’m tired.’

“A-alright, good night, I guess…” Sandbar climbed back up to his bunk. He peeked down to check on Gallus, but his back was already turned to him. As he slipped under the covers, he let out a sneeze. He groaned a little as he wiped his nose, but he could sleep easier knowing that Gallus was finally back.

Meanwhile, Gallus grumbled to himself as he lay in his own bunk. All the anger and embarrassment started to wear off, and the fatigue set in harder. Sleeping in the comfort of his own bed was an obvious upgrade to being passed out on a classroom floor. He could complain about everything that happened in detention tomorrow. Right now, he desperately needed the sleep.

The sun rose on Equestria once more, the rays of light shining down on Sandbar’s face to wake him up. He let out a long and strained groan as he sat up straight and stretched. He slowly climbed down the ladder, starting to sniffle.

“Morning, Gallus…” he yawned, only to be met with heavy snoring from underneath the covers.

“Gallus, wake up. We gotta get to class soon,” Sandbar said, slightly raising his voice.

Gallus gave him some disgruntled grumbling before the snoring resumed.

“...C’mon, dude. You don’t wanna be late.” Sandbar reached forward and lightly tapped him on the shoulder, then tapped him again. He started shaking him by the shoulder back and forth before finally getting in his face and shouting as loud as his tired vocal chords would let him.

Despite this, Gallus was still sound asleep, snoring and drooling as if all of Sandbar’s shaking and shouting was nothing more than a mild annoyance.

Sandbar rubbed his neck, his throat feeling sore from the yelling, and sighed. He still had no idea why Gallus was so exhausted, but if he wasn’t going to wake up, there was nothing more he could do. He packed up his stuff and ran out the door, hoping that the slumbering griffon would awaken soon.

Nearly an hour had passed before Gallus finally managed to open his eyes. His body still felt a few aches, but he still had enough energy to get through the day. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock, thinking he could get a few more minutes of shut-eye before Sandbar made him get out of bed.

Gallus did a double-take, his jaw dropping when he realized how late he was. He flung himself out of bed and flew out the door, spewing profanities the whole time.

His barely awake mind tried to remember what class he was currently late to. He remembered what room it was, but not the professor teaching. He landed in front of the classroom and slowly opened the door, hoping a more forgiving Professor Pinkie Pie or Professor Fluttershy was on the other side.

“Oh. There ya are, Gallus. ‘Bout time ya showed up.”

“Of course…” Gallus muttered to himself when he saw Applejack staring at him.

“Care to explain why you’re so late to my class?” She impatiently tapped her hoof against the floor, the rest of her class looking over at him.

“I...was doing something last night, and it took a lot out of me. I guess I overslept because of that. I’m...sorry.”

Some of the students immediately started whispering to each other. Since when did Gallus ever apologize for anything?

Considering class was more than half over, Applejack was ready to discipline him again, but seeing the state he was in, and his apology, she was willing to let this slide. “Well, just take your seat. One of your classmates will be a good friend and fill ya in on what ya missed.”

As Applejack continued her lesson, Gallus took his seat next to Sandbar. “Thanks for waking me up, jackass…”

“Hey, I tried waking you up! For like, five minutes! You were out cold, man! ...And you still stink, by the way.” Sandbar said through a strained voice, before getting into a coughing fit.

Once Applejack turned away, Gallus gave her the middle finger behind her back. Which would probably be more offensive if ponies had fingers.

Gallus tried to copy all of Sandbar’s notes and pay attention to what Applejack was saying, but he found himself unable to concentrate on the lesson at all. His mind was still stuck on what happened yesterday.

It was still hard to process. Even just the sentence “I fucked Professor Applejack” hardly sounded believable. Gallus felt conflicted, there were obvious positives to having sex with her, and obvious negatives to being fucked into exhaustion, but it overall just felt weird. Was this going to be a recurring thing if he kept misbehaving? Does she do that to any other student? Did she tell the other professors about what happened?

Certain moments still played vividly in his mind. The moment Applejack took control and wrapped her legs around him, the first time he made her cum, but the one he couldn’t get out of his mind was the moment he locked eyes with her, seeing all the freckles on her cheeks, the little blushes of red mixing in with her orange face, and her locks of hair were more free without the hat on. It wasn’t something an experience he wanted to repeat, but it wasn’t all bad. He could even find a little appreciation for just how strong and firm her body was.

“...Now, which one of you can tell me what the right thing to do is?” Applejack looked around to call on a student, but noticed that among all the raised hooves and claws, Gallus had zoned out, staring off at something else.

Applejack traced his line of sight all the way to her butt.

“...Gallus? You gonna start payin’ attention to somethin’ that isn’t my flank any time soon?”

Gallus suddenly let out a loud whistle. And just as quickly as he let it out, his claws wrapped around his beak, as if it would somehow undo the terrible mistake he just made.

The classroom went silent. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as all eyes turned towards Gallus and Applejack. Except for Smolder, who put her head down on her desk as she went off in a fit of silent laughter.

Gallus cursed to himself as nearly all eyes were on him. Fuck fuck fuck! Why did he do that? It just came out without him thinking! Professor Applejack was going to murder him, and he would absolutely deserve it.

“Gallus? An hour after school ends, you’re going to meet me back in my classroom for detention again. You understand, right?” Applejack said through gritted teeth.

“Fffff...yeah.”

Applejack’s lesson tried to continue as normal, though the tension in the room still lingered. The whispering between students got more frequent as they gossiped and joked about Gallus brazenly catcalling their professor in the middle of class.

Gallus had his forehead pressed against his desk in defeat, dreading his inevitable demise at detention.

Once class had ended, Sandbar waited for Gallus to finally pick himself up from the desk and leave. “Seriously, dude? What was that all about?”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up! Ohhh crap she’s gonna kill me in there! I can’t go through that again, man, I just can’t!”

“I don’t even know what she did to you the first time…Do you mind telling me?”

“There’s gotta be a way to prevent this. What if I fake my own death? Do you think Ocellus would be on board with that idea?” Gallus said in a panic, completely ignoring Sandbar’s words.

“Look, as long as you don’t do what you did last time, I think Professor Applejack won’t do...whatever it was she did, ok? Ugh...my head…”

As Sandbar walked off, Gallus tried to find a way out. Throughout the rest of the day, all he could think about was trying to escape detention. With time running short, he had to begrudgingly accept that the best plan he could come up with was just to not show up to school ever again.

The school day was finally over, and Gallus was out of options. He still had an hour to go until detention started, so he went back to his room. He took a long, hot shower to finally clean himself up, and then flopped on top of the bed for a catnap. Sandbar could lock the door whenever he came back.

Applejack entered her classroom with an annoyed sigh. She originally had other plans after school, but Gallus’s detention came first. As terrible as it was to just whistle at her butt like that, Applejack knew that his exhaustion came from yesterday’s detention, and she didn’t want to wear him out again. He just needed to show up, apologize, and keep quiet for an hour, and that would be enough.

She sat at her desk, staring at the clock in the minutes before detention was supposed to start, waiting for Gallus to arrive.

At the top of the hour, it was still just Applejack in the room. A minute passed, then two, then five, and Gallus was still nowhere to be seen.

Applejack growled, standing up, grabbing her lasso, and storming out of the classroom. If Gallus wasn’t going to show up, she was going to bring detention to him. Sandbar would probably know where he’d be.

Applejack spotted Ocellus and Smolder in the hallway. “Hey, Smolder, Ocellus, did any of you see Sandbar around?”

Ocellus put a hoof to her chin. “Sandbar left Professor Fluttershy’s class early to go to the nurse’s office. He was coughing and sneezing a lot, so he might have gone home so his parents could take care of him.”

Applejack sighed, her original plan already ruined. “Dangit, well, I’m tryin’ ta find Gallus-’

“Oh, Gallus? I saw him go into his room after classes ended. Haven’t seen him since, so he’s probably still in there,” Smolder said with a casual shrug.

“Thanks, you two.” Applejack flashed a small smile at the two of them, before making a beeline towards the student housing.

Applejack quickly located Gallus and Sandbar’s room. To her surprise and confusion, the door was left unlocked. At first, she thought that Gallus had just escaped out the window, but he was lying there in bed, fast asleep. And judging by the stiffness between his legs, he was having quite the pleasant dream.

In Gallus’s dream, he was back in detention with Applejack, still having sex with her, just like yesterday. However, the story had a clear deviation from what actually happened.

“Well, I’ll be. It’s been five minutes and you didn’t even break a sweat! You griffons have a lot more stamina than Ah thought!” Applejack panted, wiping the drool from her lips.

“Heh, yeah. I am pretty great,” Gallus chuckled, his chest swelling up with pride.

“A deal’s a deal. I am yours to command however you please.” Applejack bowed down before her superior.

Gallus stood on his hind paws. “Well, for starters, why don’t you put that mouth of yours to use? I still haven’t cum yet, ya know.”

“You got it! Ah just hope that Ah can fit it all down my throat…” Applejack’s lips kissed the tip of his cock, before taking more of its length into her mouth.

“Aw yeah...that’s the stuff…” Gallus shuddered, holding onto her shoulders for support. “Make sure to swallow, I wanna make sure you have full appreciation for Gallus the Great.”

Back in reality, Applejack pouted as he looked at the sleeping griffon. This all felt suspiciously like a setup. His roommate gone, his door left unlocked. It’s almost as if he wanted her to come find him here. Applejack dismissed those thoughts. He was probably still tired and forgot to lock the door. Though that didn’t excuse not showing up to detention, she would have to reprimand him about this later. She turned around, leaving him alone to rest.

“Gnnnk...Apple...jack…”

She froze in place. Surely he didn’t just call out her name, right? That was just him mumbling nonsense in his sleep.

“Aaah...more...Applejack…”

Applejack walked to the door, but instead of leaving through it, she locked it. “Well, if that’s what he wants…” She took her lasso, and making sure that she didn’t disturb his dream, carefully wrapped up his chest, arms, and wings. She put her hat back behind her head, and slowly crawled on top of him until she sat herself down on top of his crotch, rubbing herself up against his cock.

Back in the dream, Gallus was lying back, resting with his hands behind his head as Applejack, now in a maid’s uniform, straddled him, bouncing up and down on his cock. “Is this fast enough, master?”

Before Gallus could grab onto her hips, a sudden pressure on his thighs startled him awake. “Nngaah! Wha...what the…”

Applejack crossed her hooves, staring down at him. “Howdy.”

Gallus stared blankly for a few seconds, before he started to truly wake up and realize this wasn’t part of his dream. “Is-wha-I-just-HUH? Professor Applejack?!”

“Mmhm.” Applejack slowly wiggled her hips, rubbing herself against his cock.

“Wh-What are you doing in my bed?” He looked down, noticing the rope that wrapped around his arms and wings. “...Why am I tied up?”

“Y’all didn’t think you could just up and skip detention, did ya? This time, it’ll be two hours,” Applejack smirked.

Gallus sputtered in disbelief. “All this just cause I wolf whistled at your plot in class?!”

“...Three.”

“Seriously? Can’t I just...” Gallus was about to object, but realized he was being punished with three hours of sex. “...Alright, fine.”

“Don’t think I didn’t catch onto your lil’ plan...” Applejack said, lifting herself up to let Gallus’s erection stand up.

“Plan? I just wanted to ditch detention-ah shit.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “That so? Must’ve gotten awfully bored waiting for me to find you, ‘specially since you were talking about me in your sleep”

“I what now?” Gallus started to sweat in a panic. “Uh, no! That was...uh...something totally different!”

“Riiight...Well, best get those three hours started right now.” Applejack wiggled her flank, getting herself into position.

“Please, I wanna be able to wake up tomorrow…” Gallus pleaded. If this was going to be anything like last time, he may not be able to walk again after this.

“Well, lucky for you, I’ll be doin’ most of the work, so it shouldn’t be too taxin’ on ya. Just sit back, relax...” Applejack lowered herself down, sliding onto Gallus’s cock. “...And enjoy the ride.”

Gallus shuddered as he felt Applejack’s marehood around his shaft again. He wondered if he even recovered enough to cum again. He shuffled his upper body around, but the rope was wrapped tight around him. “Gah fuuuck…”

Applejack figured that Gallus was still worn out, so she decided to take it nice and slow this time. Three hours was still plenty of time for him to reflect on his actions.

Gallus begrudgingly let out soft moans that he tried to pass off as grunting. This wasn’t an ideal position to be in, but at least it didn’t feel like he was being fucked dry at this pace.

Applejack kept the same cocky smirk and crossed hooves pose as she slowly slid on his shaft, using her hind hooves to control the speed, pushing herself up and down.

Gallus tried to keep quiet. His room didn’t have the same luxury of privacy that a classroom did during after-school hours. He could make some noise in an empty classroom and only the empty hallways would here. There were others next door on both sides, and the bunk bed was pressed up against the wall.

Applejack, however, didn’t seem to mind. “So, mind explaining why ya thought it’d be a good idea to whistle at my butt during class?” She asked at full volume.

Gallus cringed. “Oh, that? I was just...trying to remember how...a song went.”

“Ain’t smart to lie to the Honesty teacher, ya know…” Applejack squeezed her thighs together, starting to crush Gallus’s hips.

“Gyaaah, fuck! Fine, I’ll talk!” he squawked out in pain.

Applejack loosened up her grip, slowly moving up and down on his dick. “Mmhm?”

“Geez...” Gallus muttered to himself. “I whistled cause...I was still thinking about detention.”

“Gonna have to explain a little more than that, hon.”

“Fuck me…I was thinking about...ugh, how nice your ass is, ok? It’s firm and strong and-aaagh! I’m tired, okay? You fucked me for hours straight, I’m sorry that was still on my mind!” Gallus sarcastically growled.

Applejack couldn’t help herself, she started to chuckle. “Heheh, that right? Well, can’t say it was the right time or place to be wolf whistlin’...but Ah’m touched by the complement,” she said, the blush on her cheeks getting stronger.

Gallus blankly stared at her in confusion and shock. She actually liked him doing that? Was this the reason why she was doing him in bed? Did all ponies act like this?

Applejack continued to ride Gallus. She felt a little bad wearing him out to exhaustion before, but his comments meant he needed to be put in his place and given a bit of an attitude adjustment.

Gallus’s breaths became more labored, the slower pace helped build himself up to the edge of a climax, he just needed that extra push. “Fffuck.. G-Go a little bit faster…” he mumbled.

“Sorry, what was that?” Applejack smirked, pretending not to hear his request.

“I said go faster...” Gallus said, slightly louder, turning his head away.

Applejack silently tilted her head, cocking an eyebrow at him, waiting for another word to follow.

Gallus looked at Applejack with confusion. What else was he supposed to say? As Applejack started to slow down to a stop, he realized what she was waiting for. “Ohfortheloveof...Please…go faster...”

“That’s what I was lookin’ for...” Applejack chuckled, gradually picking up speed with her bounces.

Gallus squirmed against the ropes, still feeling the tight squeeze around his body. This would be more enjoyable if he wasn’t tied up, but at least all he had to do was lie in bed. Three hours of this didn’t seem that bad anymore.

Applejack started moving her hips as fast as they could go, keeping one hoof on Gallus’s chest to keep herself steady.

Gallus slowly thrust upward, trying to make as little noise as possible. Low growls slipped through his beak as the speed increased, with one restrained groan coming out as he came inside her.

Applejack shuddered as she tried to keep her pace up as the pleasure spread through her body. Her hooves shook as she finally orgasmed after such a long buildup. Her head hung down as she took deep breaths, the tip of her hair lightly brushing against Gallus’s belly.

Not even five seconds later, Applejack’s head popped back up. “Hooboy, that was good! How ‘bout we go again?”

It was at this point Gallus remembered that he wasn’t being punished with three hours of sex, he was being punished with three hours of sex with Applejack.

Without so much as a minute break, Applejack picked up right where she left off. Starting off with slow thrusts inside her, but increasing in speed to ride into another orgasm.

“Ah...fuck.” As his detention continued, Gallus tried to stay as quiet as possible, but with each successive climax, his muffled grunting turned into louder shudders and moans.

Yona pressed her head against her bedroom wall, trying to get her ear as close as possible without her horns punching a hole. “...Does Ocellus hear banging and shouting, too?”

“I’m trying my best not to…” Ocellus started to tremble in her top bunk. The muffled squeaking, pounding, and shouting weren’t the only things her senses were picking up. “...Ohmygosh.”

“Can we please take a break?” Gallus panted, drooling and sweating onto his pillow. “I have done nothing but lie here for an hour and I don’t think I have anything left in me....”

Applejack smirked, having barely broken a sweat. “Well, we could take a break...Depends, anythin’ ya wanna confess?”

“Uh...Not really, no?”

Applejack leaned forward, placing her hooves on his chest. “Ya sure? Cause Ah’m pretty sure you’re still keepin’ something a secret from me.”

Gallus cringed. Did she really know? Was there something that gave him away?

“Don’t think Ah haven’t caught on…” Applejack scooted further up, rubbing her butt against his stiff cock. She had her suspicions that Gallus had set this whole thing up, she just wanted to hear it straight from the bird’s beak.

“Ghhhk...fuuuuck…” Gallus clenched his fists, his arms and wings straining against the rope. But with Applejack’s lassoing skills, he couldn’t even fray it.

Applejack slowly teased his shaft with her butt, getting closer to Gallus, staring deep into his eyes as she rubbed herself against his tip.

Gallus started to sweat bullets. He tried to shift his gaze to something else, but with Applejack so close to him, she was hard to ignore. The blush on her cheeks, feeling her hot breath against his neck, her freed mane bouncing up and down with each slight movement...

“It’ll be easier on both of us if ya just talk, y’know. So why don’t ya just fess up?” Applejack leaned in even closer, her muzzle in dangerous proximity to Gallus’s beak.

“A-Alright, fine, I’ll say it!” Gallus barked out. “I think you look cuter without your hat on! Ya happy now?”

Applejack reeled back as if someone had just punched her in the chest at full force. Her jaw hung open as she felt a significant warmth rush to her ears.

Gallus watched in confusion and terror as his confession rendered his professor speechless. Without any sort of sign of whether or not he said the right thing, he also was at a loss for words.

For two whole minutes, Gallus’s room had been the quietest it had been in hours, as both of them did nothing else but look the other in the eyes in awkward silence. Each second that passed felt like ten.

“Ooohoohooohoo...that’s...I c-can’t…!”

“Ocellus feeling okay?” Yona turned around, noticing Ocellus was trembling in place.

“Y-y-yeah...I’m fffine, Yona…J-just...cold up here...” she lied. The actual reason for her shivering would be both too long and too embarrassing to explain.

“If Ocellus cold, she should wrap herself in blanket.” Yona bluntly stated, before putting her head back up against the wall. “Hm...sounds are gone…”

Applejack was the first to make a move. She wordlessly moved herself backwards towards the foot of the bed.

“H-Hey, what are you-woah. Ohhh that’s...oh fuck…” Gallus looked down to see Applejack’s lips briefly graze his cockhead, then slip part of it in her mouth.

Applejack gradually worked her way down, pushing his length into her mouth bit by bit. Once she got halfway down, she raised her head back up. Once her lips were about to hit the tip, down she went again, slowly gaining a rhythm.

Gallus’s moans were subdued due to the fatigue hitting him hard. He let out low growls and moans, mixed in with the occasional swearing under his breath. Thankfully, Applejack didn’t tie up his legs, so he could stretch or kick out a paw whenever Applejack’s throat squeezed him in just the right way.

Though Applejack had gotten into a smoother rhythm, she kept a slower pace, just so she could give his shaft a few licks while it was in her mouth.

With the gentler treatment, it didn’t take long for Gallus to reach yet another orgasm. His climactic cry sounding more like a drawn-out sigh as he felt himself blowing his load into Applejack’s mouth.

Without hesitation, Applejack took the whole load. She kept her lips wrapped around his shaft, making sure Gallus shot out every bit he could before swallowing it down, wiping the rest off her lips.

Gallus’s head wearily listed from side to side, his eyelids weighing exponentially heavier. The last thing he saw before exhaustion overtook him was a sheepish grin on Applejack’s face.

Applejack took the rope off Gallus as carefully as she put it on, and tucked him in under the blankets.

There was a good chance he might oversleep and be late to her class again, but she’d go easier on him.

Before she left the room, she gave the sleeping griffon a quick kiss on the forehead, chuckling softly to herself.

“Heh, maybe you aren’t so bad after all…”

Side Steps

“Hey! Did you hear?”

“About what?”

“About Gallus.”

“What about him?”

“Haven’t you noticed him acting weird recently?”

“Weird how?”

“You know how he’s usually rude and cocky? Sometimes if Professor Applejack’s nearby, he’ll do a total 180!”

“Oh yeah! I think I’ve seen it happen. But it’s just with Professor Applejack, right?”

“Pretty sure, yeah! Why do you think that is?”

“Maybe he’s just failing her class and he’s just trying to do anything he can in order to pass.”

“Well, I think that Professor Applejack has some sort of dirt on Gallus, and if he acts out of line, it’s back to Griffonstone for him!”

“No way!”

“I mean, they could just be da-”

“Hey! Do you mind saving your gossip for when I’m not trying to teach you guys something?”

“Sorry, Professor Dash...”

Ocellus walked down the hallways towards her next class. She tried to keep her mind focused on her schoolwork, but certain other members of the school continued to invade her thoughts.

“Hey, Ocellus?” she heard a familiar voice as a claw tapped her back.

“Gyaaah!” Ocellus nearly dropped her books, fumbling to keep them in her hooves. “Oh, it’s you, Gallus. W-what is it?”

“You got a moment? There’s something I wanna ask you.”

“Uh, actually, I really can’t! Gotta get to class, you know?” Ocellus laughed nervously before trying to sprint away, but Gallus held his arm out to halt her.

“Woah, easy! I promise it won’t take long. It’s just, I haven’t seen you around all that often. It’s like you’re avoiding me or something.”

“No! Nothing like that! I’m just..uh…um...” Ocellus stammered, trying to come up with an excuse.

“Did I do something wrong? I thought we were friends, but you seem to never want to be around me.”

Ocellus gulped. She couldn’t just tell Gallus that she knows about him and Professor Applejack, that would make everything so much worse! But what other reason could she give to explain why she’s been avoiding him?

“Ocellus?”

“It’snotyouit’smesorrygottagobye!” Ocellus blurted out before speeding off, leaving Gallus in a stunned state.

“...Alright?”

A few more weeks passed, and though Ocellus stopped avoiding Gallus, she still got flustered whenever the two of them were alone. No amount of questioning would give him the answers he was looking for, but being able to talk to her again was still a massive improvement over her fleeing as fast as she could.

Gallus found himself walking through the hallways with his group of friends, listening to Silverstream ramble on and on about more whimsically mundane things that weren’t in Seaquestria.

“...And being able to write things, isn’t that amazing!? We were never able to write things in Seaquestria, because we didn’t have any paper or pens! We didn’t have letters, or tissues, or posters…”

Silverstream let out an excited gasp, pointing towards the bulletin board, where Headmare Twilight was.

“See? New posters! We never had those underwater!”

The six of them crowded around Twilight, jostling and clamoring as they tried to find out what the poster said.

“I won’t keep you in suspense any longer. We’re bringing one of Ponyville’s oldest traditions to our school, The Fetlock Fete!”

“...The what-lock what?” Smolder scratched her head in confusion.

“It’s a pony dance party! They’re the best!” Sandbar explained.

“I’m ready!” Ocellus, transforming herself into a pony.

“You don't need to do that, Ocellus,” Twilight laughed. “This year, the events at school are open to everycreature. We're calling our dance the Amity Ball.”

“Even better!” Ocellus cheered, transforming back.

After Twilight explained what would happen at the school dance. Gallus and Sandbar walked down the hallway together.

“Hey, uh...Gallus?”

“Yeah?”

“You know the whole Amity Ball thing?”

“I remember what Headmare Twilight explained two minutes ago, yes.”

“Are you uh...planning on going?”

Gallus shrugged. “I guess. I mean, the dancing stuff sounds dumb, but I’m not gonna turn down food.”

“Are you planning on, you know, asking someone to go with you?” Sandbar asked, his cheeks starting to turn pink.

Gallus stopped walking. “Sandbar, where exactly is this conversation going?”

“Huh?” Sandbar quickly realized what Gallus was thinking. “Oh! No no no, I just…” Sandbar pulled Gallus close, whispering in his ear. “Can you help me with asking out Yona?”

“Why?” Gallus asked at normal volume.

“Because I...think it’d be...nice if...she had someone to go with, that’s all!” Sandbar chuckled nervously.

“No, I mean why do you need my help? Can’t you just, I dunno, ask her yourself?”

“Yeah but...she...cause...she’s...you know...” Sandbar nervously rubbed his hooves together as he stammered.

“Ohhh, I get it. Need me to be your wingman for you, lover boy?” Gallus teased, elbowing his side.

“Yeah? So what?” Sandbar said, his cheeks flushed red. “Besides, I’m pretty sure you’ve got the hots for someone in this school, too!”

“What? No I don’t! That’s ridiculous!” Gallus said defensively, his own face gaining a shade of red.

“C’mon, help me out here, man!”

Gallus looked over, seeing Yona still looking at the posters and trophy. “Dude, just go ask her if she wants to go out with you.”

Sandbar looked at Gallus in disbelief. “...Really? That’s all you’ve got for me!?”

Gallus nodded. “What’s she gonna do, say no? You think she’s gonna turn down a chance to stomp around? You don’t need me to help you out with this, you’ll be fine, dude.”

“Well...if you say so…” Sandbar took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.

“Go get her, killer.” Gallus smiled, giving Sandbar a pat on the back and a light shove towards Yona.

Gallus watched as Sandbar asked out Yona, just to make sure that everything worked out, before walking back to his room. He still had tests to study for.

Twilight entered the teachers’ lounge, wiping the sweat off her forehead. “Well, thanks to Ocellus and Silverstream, the posters are finally up all over the school!”

“You really think we can handle holding a school dance?” Rainbow Dash asked, lying spread out on one of the couches.

Pinkie scoffed. “It’s basically a big party for the whole school, right? Planning this’ll be easy!” she said, giving Rainbow a dismissive wave of her hoof.

“But what about the other creatures?” Fluttershy asked. “If we’re still doing the same traditions as the Fetlock Fete, won’t they feel left out if we only do pony traditions?”

“Not to worry, Fluttershy,” Rarity said. “If they wish to learn about our culture, we shall happily teach them!”

Twilight nodded. “We want to make sure things go smoothly. After all, this will be the first time the School of Friendship has arranged a dance.”

“Ooh, maybe we could make some new traditions along the way!” Pinkie chimed in.

Rainbow chuckled. “Well, I’m pretty sure they’re all gonna love the lucky pot dinner, right, Applejack? ...Applejack?”

Applejack didn’t respond. She was busy staring at one of the spare posters, a small smile on her face as she let out a deep, longing sigh.

Rainbow Dash clapped her hooves together to get Applejack’s attention. “Hey Applejack, you’ve been staring at that poster like Pinkie stares at cheesecake. What’s up?”

“Hm? Oh, nothin’, just pleased we get to do the dance, is all.”

As the days passed, the school got more excited about the Amity Ball. The other ponies began talking about what they were going to wear, the professors had explained the traditions that went into the Fetlock Fete, and Sandbar had been practicing his dancing in their room so much that even Gallus had started to memorize his steps. Though for the last few days, Sandbar said that he had to make some personal preparations for the dance, which left plenty of alone time for Gallus in their room.

The griffon laid down in his bottom bunk, carefully scanning the pages of his textbook, writing down the most important information in his notes, until his concentration was broken by a knock on the door. “Yeah?”

“It Yona!” the voice on the other side called out.

Gallus looked at his unfinished notes and sighed. With the sinking feeling that he wouldn’t get back to studying for a while, he rolled out of bed and opened the door. “What’s up, Yona?”

“Will Gallus help Yona practice dancing?”

“...What?”

“Will...Gallus...help...Yona...practice...dancing?” Yona repeated, slowing down her words.

“No, I heard what you said. Why are you asking me?”

“Because pony dance coming up, and Yona need help to dance with Sandbar!”

“...Well then why don’t you ask Sandbar to practice? I’m pretty sure he’s not busy or anything.”

“Yona want to surprise Sandbar with pony dance moves!” Yona said with a grin.

“I’m not even interested in the stupid dancing stuff. If you’re going to be dancing with Sandbar, why bother asking me? There are tons of other ponies in this school, why not ask one of them? In fact, your roommate is Ocellus, can’t you ask her to shapeshift into Sandbar or another pony to dance with or something?”

“But Gallus is friend! And Ocellus would just pretend to be boy! But Gallus good choice because Gallus dance like boy!”

“One, what does ‘dance like boy’ even mean? And two, why does that even matter?”

“Pleeaaaase? Professor Rainbow Dash and Professor Fluttershy already teach dance, but Yona need practice dancing with boy. Plus, you roommates with Sandbar, you know Sandbar better than any creature!”

Gallus sighed in defeat, knowing he wasn’t going to escape this conversation without agreeing to it. “Grr...fine, but only if no one else knows about this, you got it?”

“Yona promises! Now let’s get started! Yona bring music.” She said, pulling out a record player from behind her, pushing it and herself into the room.

Gallus stumbled back in disbelief. “Wha-You want to practice here? And now?”

“No better time to start than now! Dance in couple of weeks, no time to waste!” Yona started up the record player and grabbed Gallus by the talons, leading him in the dance.

Gallus squawked as Yona suddenly pulled him around, “Ack, Yona! Yona!” He yelled, trying to put his paws back onto the floor.

Even after he got his footing back, Yona pushed and pulled him around with such force it was hard for him to stand upright.

“Gallus need to dance more like Sandbar!” Yona chastised. “Be more pony-like!”

“Gee, if only there were ponies in this school around to help you…” Gallus muttered under his breath. He certainly didn’t envy Sandbar if this was who he was planning on dancing with.

It took a bit until Yona stopped yanking Gallus around and started dancing to the rhythm of the music. For a moment, Gallus thought that he was actually decent with a dance he didn’t even care about.

But as the two continued their practice, Yona started getting more into the music. Her somewhat clumsy steps turned into powerful stomps, and soon she was jumping all over the room.

Each jump was like a miniature earthquake. Important books and notes began falling off the desks, the bunk bed let out creaks as it rocked back and forth, occasionally slamming against the wall. “Yona! Stop! Stoooooop!”

Yona realized what she was doing mid-jump, and quickly stopped her dancing. “...Oops…”

“Yona, if you wanna practice dancing with me, you can’t start shaking the walls and making such a racket in my room!”

“Why? Isn’t shaking and making banging sounds what Gallus did in room before?”

Gallus cocked his head to the side. “What are you talking about? When did I-” Gallus’s pupils shrunk. His heart temporarily stopped beating in horror. “Aaalllright, I just remembered I gotta get back to studying!”

“But Yona still need practice-”

“We can practice again tomorrow, just learn not to make so much noise next time!" Gallus hastily said, trying to push Yona and the record player out of his room.

“Ok! Yona work on that! See Gallus tomorrow then!” Yona grinned as she made her exit.

After Yona left, Gallus shut the door and clutched his head with an exasperated groan. “What have I gotten myself into?”

Over the days leading up to the dance, Yona’s dancing skills improved significantly. She stopped causing earthquakes in the room, and moved with the rhythm and flow of the songs. Even Gallus started improving his dancing skill, even if his method was studying Sandbar in secret.

Though something had been bugging Gallus throughout their secret practice sessions. He didn’t notice it at first, but whenever Yona spoke, she just sounded...off. With a few days left before the ball, he decided to press further with his suspicions.

“Hey Yona, is it me, or have you been talking...differently?”

“You’ve noticed? Professor Rarity has been helping Yona! To try and speak more like a pony.” Yona said, articulating most of her words.

“Really? Why’s that?”

“Yona...er...I want to be a good pony pal for Amity Ball. So...I am trying to fit in.”

“Oh yeah?” Gallus tried his best to hide the smug smirk on his beak.

Yona nodded. “The other teachers have been helping...Yona...me to be the best pony pal for Sandbar.”

“Well, whatever they’re doing, it’s working.”

“Yes, but Yona wants it to be a surprise, so shh!”

Gallus nodded in understanding. “Don’t worry, I won’t let him know.”

“Thank you! See you at ball!” With that, Yona left the room.

Gallus smirked. Obviously, he wasn’t going to tell Sandbar, but he couldn’t wait to tell the others about this.

The night of the Amity Ball came, and as Gallus expected, there were ponies as far as the eye could see. At least the high amount of ponies made it easier to find his friends.

“I’m just glad I’m here with you guys,” Gallus said, watching another couple of ponies pass by with food. “...Least I’m not the only non-pony in the crowd.”

Sandbar stopped adjusting his bowtie to turn around. “You're not still worried about that, are you? Like Headmare Twilight said, this is a dance for everycreature. There's no pony pressure.”

Gallus, Ocellus, and Smolder started laughing.

“You should’ve told Yona that,” Ocellus said.

Sandbar tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“Didn't you hear? Our teachers have been helping her get ready for the dance! She's been taking lessons.” Silverstream said, waggling her eyebrows as she ate another chip.

“She’s gone full pony for the dance,” Smolder said.

“All for you.” Gallus smirked, pulling on Sandbar’s tie.

“For me? Why?”

As if on cue, someone stepped up behind Sandbar. “How kind of you to ask me to this soiree, Sandbar,” the character said, with perfect articulation.

Jaws started to drop upon the realization that who they were staring at was Yona.

The group stared in a mixture of shock and awe at Yona’s total makeover. Unsure of how to react properly, until Silverstream finally said what was on her mind.

“You look so WEIRD!”

Before they could fully comprehend all the changes Yona went through, Twilight and Spike started up the music, and Yona took Sandbar to the dance floor.

One horrible yakkident and apparent friendship lesson learned later, and things were back to relatively normal. The music kicked up and everyone was stomping around like yaks.

As Gallus chugged down another cup of punch, he saw Ocellus motion for him to come to her.

“What’s up, Ocellus?”

“Over there, look. It’s Professor Fluttershy and Professor Applejack.”

Ocellus pointed over to one of the tables, where Applejack was sitting by herself. Fluttershy approached and tapped her on the shoulder. Gallus and Ocellus snuck close enough to eavesdrop.

“Applejack, is something wrong?” Fluttershy asked.

Applejack let out a lengthy sigh, looking out at the dance floor. “Nah, Ah’m fine, just...resting is all.”

“Are you sure? You look down. Is it because of what happened earlier? I know that the Amity Ball didn’t turn out exactly as planned, but everyone is still having a good time...”

“Nah, it’s not that, Fluttershy.” Applejack said, leaning against the table. “It’s just Ah never really got the chance to actually dance at one of these things, is all. Went to plenty of ‘em back when Ah was still in school, but Ah was always helping out with the food, or had an emergency on the farm, or some other thing that prevented me from actually dancing.”

“Well, the dance floor is still open. There’s nothing stopping you from dancing now.”

“Heh, yeah...But the dancing Ah was thinking about was more of a one-on-one type of dance, something more personal than just gettin’ down if you know what Ah’m saying...”

“O-Oh! I see…” Fluttershy’s cheeks started to turn red in embarrassment, unsure if she could solve Applejack’s problem.

Gallus looked over to the dance floor. Most of the ponies were dancing in large groups, cheering each other on. But other ponies only focused on one partner, sticking close to them and coordinating their movements.

Gallus took a step towards the table, then stopped. Would it really be right to ask her to dance after eavesdropping on her? It’d probably be better if he just turned around and went back to hanging with his friends.

Without warning, Gallus was suddenly shoved towards Applejack and Fluttershy, nearly crashing into the table. When he looked back, he saw Ocellus running away to join their other friends.

“Oh, hello, Gallus. Are you enjoying the Amity Ball?” Fluttershy asked.

“Uh...yeah, it’s alright, I guess.” Gallus muttered, looking away.

“Well, I’m glad to see you and your friends are still having a good time,” Applejack smiled. “But did you need us for something?”

Gallus turned his head to the dance floor, then at Applejack. He grit his teeth together, trying to force himself to make a decision instead of standing there in awkward silence. “...Yeah, I...guess I wanna try out more pony dances, but I need someone to practice with,” he explained, making up an excuse. ”So...maybe..one of you could…you know...dance with me?”

Fluttershy grinned, looking at Applejack as she tilted her head towards Gallus.

Applejack chuckled and shrugged. “Well, I guess I can teach ya the moves.”

As Applejack got up from her seat, the music changed from an upbeat club song to one with a much slower, calmer melody. A song that Gallus recognized from when he was practicing with Yona.

“What have I done…” Gallus said under his breath as he and Applejack walked to the dance floor.

“Alright, put your arm around me,” Applejack instructed, standing on her hind legs. Once Gallus did as he was told, Applejack wrapped her right hoof around Gallus.

“Now grab onto my other hoof,” she said, putting her left hoof up, which Gallus held onto.

“Good. Now just step along to the music. 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3…” She said, stepping in time to the music.

Gallus didn’t need to be instructed; he had already learned how this dance went. He was doing the right steps at the same time Applejack was trying to teach them.

“Heh, couldn’t find anypony else to dance? Y’all know I’m old enough to be your mom…” Applejack joked.

Gallus muttered something under his breath, turning his head away to avoid looking her in the eyes.

“...And I’m glad you asked. Thanks, pard’ner.”

There was more grumbling from the griffon as he tried to focus more on the dance than the pony he was dancing with.

“And your form ain’t that bad! Almost like ya been practicing…”

“Just shut up and dance…” Gallus said, finally speaking up so that she could hear.

“And that talon better not go any lower, unless you wanna be feelin’ it all night later on!”

“Don’t ruin the moment, please…” Gallus sighed, moving his hand up her back just in case.

“Alright, alright. I’ll shut up now,” Applejack chuckled. “...But thank you again, sugar. It means a lot to me.”

Though most of the students were busy with the dance or the food to care about or even notice the two dancing together, some of them couldn’t keep from staring.

“Hey, Ocellus? Why is Gallus dancing with Professor Applejack?” Silverstream asked.

“I don’t know! Why would I know?” Ocellus blurted out defensively. “I mean...He’s...uh...trying to get extra credit?”

“Really!?” Silverstream rushed off. “Ooh, Professor Rarity! Teach me how to dance, too!”

Gallus could feel all the looks he was getting. There was probably a good way to explain this that wasn’t embarrassing, but he couldn’t think of it right now. Admittedly, it was a nice change of pace, being this close to Applejack and not feeling like he was about to pass out from exhaustion. Gallus turned his head up, deciding to finally look at Applejack face to face.

Applejack’s cheeks were a deep red, but her freckles still managed to stand out. When Applejack noticed that Gallus was looking back, he was met with the warmest smile he had ever seen on her.

Suddenly, all the staring didn’t seem to matter anymore.

Author's Note

We shall return to the regular smut in the next chapter.

Griffon's Gratitude

Starlight took a long sip out of her mug. “Calm down, Ocellus. Just tell me what’s on your mind.”

Ocellus kept trembling as she sat on the couch. “It’s still the same problem as before.” She looked down, sheepishly pressing her hooves together. “E-Except I actually did just a little bit to push them closer…”

Starlight nodded. “Alright, and how did you feel after you did that?”

“It felt great!” Ocellus said, the memory finally getting her to smile. “It made me happy to see them get closer, even if it was just for a few moments. But...then I felt guilty and...” The changeling let out a heavy sigh. “...Is it wrong for me to meddle in the personal lives of two others that...you know...really care for each other?”

Starlight tapped her hooves against the desk, trying to think of what would be the right thing to say.

“I know I shouldn’t try to interfere with their lives, but I’d also feel bad knowing there’s something I could’ve done instead that would make both of them happy!”

“Well, it’d probably be easier for me to figure out a specific solution if I knew just which two students you were talking about...” Starlight said, almost muttering it under her breath.

“I-I’m sorry, but I still don’t think I should say who...” Ocellus said, knowing that Starlight probably wouldn’t believe her even if she did name names.

Starlight sighed. “I figured as much. Probably for the best, though. Wouldn’t want a bunch of rumors to get out of control in the school.” Starlight looked back at Ocellus. “Is there something else about this that’s troubling you?”

Ocellus slowly nodded. “Sometimes it feels like I’m just being selfish. Like I’m only doing it because I sensed a little bit of love between them at first and just want more...”

“But you’re not doing it so you can feed off their love, right? You’re doing it because you genuinely want to see them happy, aren’t you?”

“Y-yeah…?”

“Well then, it’s not so selfish after all, is it?” Starlight said with a wink.

Ocellus let out a small giggle of relief. “I’m sorry, I know that I’ve been having a lot of these meetings with you lately...”

“You don’t need to apologize, Ocellus. If getting it out is what helps you deal with this problem, then I’m here to listen.”

“Well, I do feel better when I talk about it with you, but I still don’t know what I should do…”

Starlight let out a gasp of revelation. “Wait, have you tried asking one of them how they feel about the other?”

Ocellus nearly choked on air. “A-Are you kidding!? How could I possibly do that?”

“Well, if you’re so torn about wanting to help them out, maybe the best solution is to ask one of them directly. Who knows? It might be easier that way!”

“I...huh…”

Meanwhile, in Applejack’s classroom, Gallus sat in his usual seat, waiting around in awkward silence for yet another round of detention.

The entire time, Gallus was restless, always moving around in his chair and looking around the room, trying to avoid looking at Applejack.

Seeing Gallus squirm in his seat was admittedly a little amusing for Applejack, who kept watching with a smirk on her face.

Gallus took a deep breath to try and calm himself. As he was trying to collect his thoughts, he made eye contact with Applejack. For a moment, he was taken back to the Amity Ball, where he had one arm wrapped around Applejack, moving in synchronization in the center of the dance floor. Once he returned to reality, he clutched his head with his talons, mentally kicking himself.

“Ya know, you don’t have to cause trouble all the time,” Applejack said, finally breaking the silence.

“Huh?”

“Ah’ve seen how you’ve been behaving lately, ya know. You’re not the best at being subtle. Ah know you’ve been making a little scene every once in a while and getting caught on purpose.”

“I...don’t know what you’re talking about…” Gallus muttered, turning his head to the side.

“C’mon, you’re not gonna tell me you’ve been landing detention with me just to build up that gryphon endurance. Though admittedly, yer stamina has been improving,“ she mused to herself.

Gallus grumbled to himself, his body tensing up at the thought of more will-breaking sex.

“If ya really wanna spend time with me, you can just ask,” Applejack leaned on Gallus’s desk, removing her hat. “We could do something a lot more fun than me riding ya ‘till ya pass out...” she joked, giving Gallus a playful poke to the ribs.

“H-hey!” Gallus protested with a heavy blush on his cheeks.

“Just a thought, sugarcube.” Applejack chuckled. “Anyway, detention’s over. Ah don’t see a reason to keep you here any longer. Plus, Apple Bloom needed to show me something back at the farm. So you’re free to go.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yup. Go on, get.”

It took a bit for Gallus to realize Applejack was serious, but soon, he was out of his seat. Before he was out the door, he stopped and turned around. “Uh, Professor Applejack?”

“Yes?”

Gallus opened his beak, but after a moment of silence, he shook his head. “...Never mind, I forgot what I was gonna ask,” he said as he rushed out of the classroom.

“Right…” Applejack shook her head to herself, taking her time to exit.

The next day, Starlight sat down in her office, contemplating the idea of taking a quick nap on her desk to catch up on some lost sleep. Before she could lay her head down and close her eyes, there was a knock on the door.

“C-Come in!” she said, trying to psych herself up.

The door cracked open, and Applejack stuck her head through. “Hey Starlight, are ya busy?”

“Uh, not yet. I’ve still got an hour before my next scheduled appointment, why?”

Applejack let herself into the office, closing the door behind her. “You mind if I ask for your advice on something?”

“Uh...sure! Go for it!” Starlight said, trying to figure out how to do counseling for one of the teachers.

Applejack sat down on the couch. “Is it...wrong if Ah started taking a liking to one of the students?”

Starlight tilted her head. “I...don’t think so? I mean, I guess it’s normal for teachers to have favorite students, but-”

“No no no, Ah’m not talking ‘bout having favorites. Ah mean like...” Applejack looked to the side for a moment, hesitating in her word choice. There wasn’t an easy way to say it, but she had to spit it out. “...romantically.”

Starlight tried to subdue her reaction, but her eyes immediately widened, and a gasp left her mouth before she had the chance to control herself.

“Well, guess I should’ve expected that…” Applejack nervously rubbed the back of her head.

“Sorry, I just...WOW.” After a moment to collect herself, Starlight continued the conversation. “Alright, this isn’t some sort of hypothetical situation? You really feel this way about one of the students?”

Applejack nodded, a small blush showing on her cheeks.

“Is it like a one-sided crush thing, or...do they know?”

Applejack let out a light chuckle. “That’s the thing. It all started cause I think they’re sweet on me. But I can’t tell for sure how serious it is.”

Starlight tapped her hooves on her desk. “And just to be clear, they’re not trying to butter you up so that they get better grades in class or anything, right?”

There was a loud laugh from Applejack at her suggestion. “Definitely not the case.”

“Sooo...mind telling me who this mystery student iiiis?” Starlight leaned in closer, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

“Heh, that’s probably best kept a secret for now. Wouldn’t want things to get awkward for you if they ever came to visit.”

“Ugh, fine…” Starlight groaned in annoyance. “...But is that the main issue for you? Not knowing if they really like you back?”

Applejack pondered the question for a bit. “Well, one of the other things that’s buggin’ me is just...even if we got together, what would the rest of the school think of it?”

“Yeah, the other students would definitely think something was up if they saw one of the teachers dating a student…” Starlight nodded in agreement. “And that’s not even going into what Twilight would say.”

“Guess Ah can’t really control what others would think, huh?”

“Well, I could, but…” Starlight trailed off as Applejack gave her a concerned and somewhat disturbed look. “A-Anyway, I don’t know what the right choice for you to make is. Even in the best-case scenario, there’s still consequences to deal with. But I do know that whatever choice you do make, it should probably be soon. Don’t wanna let the opportunity pass you by, after all.”

“I suppose you’re right. Might take a while, but I think I can figure things out.” Applejack looked over at the clock. “Well, better get going so I can start class. Thanks for listening to me, Starlight.”

“That's why I’m here.”

After Applejack left, Starlight idly spun around in her chair. “...It’s probably not Yona... Sandbar, maybe?”

Once classes were done for the day, Gallus went straight to his room. Once he locked the door behind him, he faceplanted onto his bed, screaming frustration into his pillow. Ever since the night of the dance, he couldn’t stop thinking about Applejack. Whether he was studying, working out, or hanging out with his friends, Applejack kept invading his thoughts. He’s had sex with her multiple times, why did thinking about her get him worked up now?

Gallus turned over, staring at the bunk above him. Maybe a nap would fix things. At least he remembered to lock the door. Last time he forgot, Applejack broke in, tied him up, and started riding him. All he could do was watch her do it, even though she was in total control, she still had a blush that reached her freckles and-

A scream of anguish filled the room as Gallus covered his face with his talons. He needed to figure out what the hell was wrong with him. He considered going to his friends for advice, but that idea was quickly shot down on the basis that Smolder and Silverstream would make fun of him forever. Counselor Starlight was an option, but that would require telling one staff member about his feelings towards another staff member.

Suddenly, Gallus’s eyes widened in epiphany. It was a bit of a long shot, but he may have figured out the two best candidates to help him. He wasted no time rushing to the train station, hoping to catch the next ride to Griffonstone.

“Alright, this better be important. I could be doing things that aren’t this,” Gilda said, impatiently tapping her paw against the ground.

“Wait, why are you asking me and Gilda for help, again?” Gabby asked.

“Because you two have the most experience in dealing with ponies,” Gallus explained, before looking down at the dirt. “...That and...you two are the only griffons I know that tolerate me.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet, Gallus!” Gabby cooed, immediately pulling him in for a tight hug.

Gilda gave a reluctant shrug. “Well I’d hate to waste your train ticket to get here. What’s the problem?”

Gallus felt a little relief, knowing that it was worth the trip to Griffonstone after all. “I’m having trouble in school, because-”

“Yeah, all that learning stuff wasn’t exactly my strong suit,” Gilda interrupted. “So unless you want tips on how to cheat and not get caught-“

“No, not like that! It’s...it’s one of the teachers! She’s driving me crazy!”

“Ohhh, I see. You want us to go over there and teach her a lesson instead!” Gilda grinned, cracking her knuckles.

“NO! I mean, she put me in detention and tested out my endurance and stamina. And ever since then, she just keeps putting me in detention almost every week, wearing me out by testing my endurance for hours. And I just keep going back there to do it all over again! Then there was this stupid dance thing. Now I can’t even look her in the eyes, AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE HELL’S WRONG WITH ME!” Gallus screamed out.

Gilda and Gabby recoiled at the outburst, neither of them having any idea how to respond to his situation.

“Just...ugh, I need a moment.” Gallus muttered, before flying off to clear his head.

As soon as Gallus left, Gilda chuckled. “Wow, I don’t think I’ve seen a griffon so hopelessly in love like that.”

Gabby blinked in confusion. “Wait, in love!? Really? That’s what that was?”

“Trust me, he’s crazy, but he’s crazy for her. You’ll understand what I mean sooner or later.”

“What do you mean? I’m plenty old enough!” Gabby protested.

“But that thing about testing his endurance…” Gilda mused, ignoring Gabby. “I think I got a good idea what he’s talking about…”

“Well, I feel bad for him, but what can we do to help?”

“I’m pretty sure I know how his endurance and stamina is being tested. I got a good idea on what to do for him…”

“What about me?”

“Well, you could go around and ask if they’ve heard anything about Gallus. Might get some info that he’s not telling us. That or you can just spend some alone time with that dragon you always write to.” Gilda smirked, elbowing Gabby with her eyebrows raised.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Gabby asked, genuinely confused.

“Ech, forget it...” Gilda sighed.

‘You’re really gonna go over there to help him?”

“Well, that and it gives me the chance to tease Dash about becoming a nerd while I’m there.”

After all three griffons made it to Ponyville, Gilda accompanied Gallus to the School of Friendship the next day as Gabby wandered around on her own.

Gallus spotted Applejack walking across the hall and pointed her out. “There. That’s the teacher I was talking about.”

Gilda let out a sigh of relief. “Ahh, I see. I’m just glad it wasn’t Dash that was driving you crazy. Or worse, Pinkie. Don’t worry, I’ll help ya out. Especially with your endurance.”

“...How?”

Before Gilda could answer, a familiar voice spoke up.

“Gilda? What are you doing here?”

Gilda turned around, and once she recognized who was talking, her face lit up with a mischievous grin. “Well, I just wanted to catch up, Professor Egghead!”

“Really, G? That’s how you’re gonna greet me?” Dash couldn’t even look annoyed. Seeing Gilda again just put a cocky smirk on her face.

“Aw, c’mon Dash, I finally get to see you at your new job and you expect me to not take advantage of it?”

“Yeah yeah, at least I make all my lessons awesome.”

“Oh yeah? You giving them all lessons on how to take naps properly?”

As Gilda and Rainbow Dash walked off to the side of the hallway to continue their conversation, Gallus felt a claw tap his shoulder.

“Dude, you brought your mom with you to school today?” Smolder smirked, crossing her arms.

“Wha-No, Gilda’s not my mom, she’s-”

“Your girlfriend?”

Gallus could feel his cheeks starting to burn. “She’s not that either!”

Smolder laughed at how quickly Gallus got flustered. “Relax, I’m kidding! Besides, your girlfriend’s already at this school, isn’t she?”

“...Huh?”

“Well, probably not your girlfriend yet, but still…” Smolder shrugged. “I didn’t think you’d go for Professor Applejack, but-”

Gallus froze in terror. “What!?”

A few of the other students started taking interest in Gallus and Smolder’s conversation, slightly turning their heads in their direction and keeping an ear out, or pretending to be preoccupied by something, but staying nearby.

The smirk on Smolder’s face grew bigger. “C’mon, I dunno what griffon affection looks like, but you clearly have a thing for her.”

Gallus started clenching his fists. “I do not have a thing for her!”

Smolder raised an eyebrow. “You whistled at her ass, dude. That sounds pretty clear-cut to me. Or is it accent that’s doing it for ya? Cause-” She gestured towards Gallus, waiting for an explanation.

“Gah, shut up!” Gallus yelled, impulsively shoving Smolder in the chest.

All the smugness on Smolder’s face quickly faded away as she was sent stumbling onto her rear.

Any sort of subtlety from the onlookers was dropped, all eyes were now on Smolder to see what she would do next.

With a silent acceptance of the situation, Smolder stood back up, dusted herself off, walked over to Gallus, and shoved him back.

The next thing Gallus knew, he and Smolder were trading blows. Gallus could feel when Smolder got a punch in, but there was no pain. Rationality had disappeared, and adrenaline had taken its place.

The next few moments were a complete blur for Gallus. There was screaming, punching, kicking, and maybe some biting involved.

The action was brought to a complete stop as Applejack and Rainbow Dash forced the two apart. “Woah, woah, guys! The hell’s going on?”

As Gallus struggled to catch his breath, the realization of what he’d just done finally caught up to him. “Ah crap…”

“Ah dunno what started it, but whatever it was, Ah’m pretty sure there was no reason for you two to start punching each other like that.”

“Really guys? I thought you two would know better…” Dash grumbled. “Sorry, G. We’re gonna have to continue our conversation later.”

“No worries, I get it. You got a job to do and all,” Gilda nodded.

Applejack looked down at Gallus. “...You already know what Ah’m gonna say, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, detention…” Gallus winced, the pain of each punch started to sink in as the adrenaline wore off.

As Gilda watched Applejack walk away with Gallus, she got a flash of inspiration. “Hey, you mind if I come along with him?”

Applejack was taken aback by the odd request. “Uh...Ah guess you can…” she shrugged. “Don’t know why you’d want to, though.”

Soon, Gallus was back in his usual spot. Only this time, he had a guest with him. Every time he looked at Gilda, she looked back at him with a sly smirk.

Being supervised by both Applejack and Gilda gave him a sense of embarrassment that he’d never felt before.

Applejack watched the two griffons exchange looks, shaking her head in confusion. Why Gilda wanted to be part of this was beyond her understanding.

“You know, Gallus here has been telling me he’s been having some trouble in this school,” Gilda said, finally breaking the awkward silence.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “...Yeah? How so?”

“Well, it’s not with the classes or the homework like I thought. It’s one of the teachers he’s having an issue with.”

“Really now?” Applejack leaned forward, her focus shifting to Gallus.

Gallus felt a chill wash over his entire body. He slammed his forehead into his desk and prayed for the sweet release of death.

Gilda leaned back in her chair. “Yeah, something about wanting to have the endurance for her or whatever. It’s actually why I decided to come here. Cause he wanted me to help him out.”

Applejack’s head tilted to the side. She wasn’t surprised that Gallus had told someone about detention, but asking for help was definitely unexpected.

“So, Gal…” Gilda reached over and wrapped her arm around his shoulder. “What usually goes on when you land yourself in detention?”

Gallus could practically feel his soul trying to escape his body. “Uh, this is usually where she...tests my endurance.”

“Yeah?” Gilda cocked her head back with a smirk. “Show me how.”

“...Do I have to?”

“You wanted me to help, didn’t ya?”

With a resigned sigh, Gallus looked over at Applejack. “Professor Applejack? Do you...uh...do you wanna do this?”

Applejack tapped her chin with her hoof, pondering her options. She had some reservations with having Gilda being in the same room, but since Gallus went through all the trouble, she decided it was worth a try. “Sure, let’s see how long you last this time,” she said, climbing up onto her desk.

Gallus got out of his seat and walked towards Applejack, pushing the fact that Gilda was watching to the back of his mind so that he could focus on getting an erection. His focus was set on watching Applejack prepare.

Applejack sat at the edge of the desk, slowly spreading her legs out. With a wink to Gallus, Applejack tipped the brim of her hat over her eyes, then popped it off in the opposite direction, letting her hat fall on her desk.

Seeing Applejack wink directly at him made a different kind of chill shoot down his spine, and it definitely helped in getting himself ready as he approached.

Once Applejack eyed Gallus’s growing excitement, she laid back on the desk, lifting her hooves up in the air.

Just as Gallus put his claws on Applejack’s legs, ready to start, Gilda grabbed his shoulder. “Woah there, what do you think you’re doing?”

Gallus looked back in utter confusion. “Uh...I was gonna...you know, have sex with her?”

“Tch, just like that? C’mon, Gal, I thought you knew better than that! You gotta build up to it, make the mood right!” Gilda shook her head, guiding Gallus to the other side of the desk.

“Are you...are you coaching me on how to have sex?”

Applejack looked up as the griffons walked behind her. “Uh, should Ah stay like this or…?”

“Nah, you’re gonna wanna sit back up for this,” Gilda said, nudging Applejack up. “Alright Gallus, put those talons to use!”

“...How?”

Gilda let out a long, drawn-out sigh as she smacked her forehead. “Alright. Put your hands on her shoulders.”

Gallus did as he was told, still not following what Gilda was planning.

“Now start massaging.”

There was a tense silence before Gallus gave Applejack’s shoulders an awkward squeeze. “Uh...I’ve never given anyone a massage before. Like, ever.”

“You are so lucky I’m feeling nice today…” Gilda muttered. She stood behind Gallus and put her own talons on his shoulders. “Ok, just do what I do.”

Gilda started by pressing the tips of her fingers and thumbs into his shoulders, expecting Gallus to match her movements.

Gallus attempted to translate what Gilda was doing to him towards Applejack. He slowly squeezed Applejack’s shoulders, trying to move his fingers whenever Gilda did.

Applejack let out a little grunt of approval as she felt those talons press into her tense muscles. It was a little awkward, but it was more relaxing than painful.

Without releasing her grip, Gilda lifted Gallus’s shoulders upwards, expecting him to do the same.

Gallus rolled Applejack’s firm muscles up, still trying to imitate Gilda’s motions. “Am I doing alright, Professor Applejack?”

There was a small moan from Applejack’s lips as she nodded. “Heh...n-not bad...”

“Ya see? Now keep going, just like that.” Gilda said, finally taking her hands off Gallus to let him do the work.

Now without Gilda’s guidance, Gallus just repeated his previous motions: gentle squeezes and rolling her shoulder muscles up, occasionally moving his hands to knead a different part of her shoulders.

Applejack rolled her neck from side to side as Gallus squeezed her shoulders. It certainly wasn’t a spa treatment, but there was something about those talons that made the massage unique.

Gilda nodded in approval. “Now get on the other side of the desk and start working on her thighs…”

Gallus hesitated, the urge to question why was tempting, but he decided it would be easier to just go with it.

Once he got to the other side of the desk, he was face-to-face with Applejack again. A quick look told Gallus that she had an amused smirk on her face, but also a blush that reached her freckles.

Following Gilda’s instructions, his focus turned to her thighs. As Gallus grabbed onto Applejack, his fingers pressed into her thighs, already feeling the mass of muscles underneath.

Gallus still had no idea what he was doing, but to avoid Gilda demonstrating on his own legs, he decided to improvise. With her powerful legs in hand, he clumsily squeezed and rubbed her haunches, moving his hands up and down her hooves.

Applejack resisted the urge to chuckle at Gallus’s attempt. It felt more like she was being felt up than massaged. Though when Gallus did something right, she let out a little moan to let him know.

“Get the cutie mark,” Gilda instructed. “It drives them wild when you do that.”

As Gallus’s fingers hovered over her flank, he turned his head towards her. “Uh, Gilda? How do you know all this stuff?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Gilda said quickly, turning her head away to hide the blush on her cheeks.

“What am I even doing…” Gallus said with a heavy sigh. His fingers pressed against her rear, kneading specifically into the apples on her flank.

Applejack threw her head back, her body shivering in delight. “Hoooooboy!”

After a few minutes of the cutie mark massage, Gilda stopped Gallus once more. “Alright Gal, ya notice how wet she is now?”

Gallus directed his gaze inward, finally noticing the slight drippings from Applejack’s vagina. “...Huh.”

“And now look how satisfied she is.”

Applejack looked down at Gallus with a warm smile instead of a smug smirk, and her blush now extended to the rest of her cheeks.

“See?” Gilda repeatedly elbowed Gallus. “Now that’s how you get a girl in the mood.”

“Great, do we start having sex now?”

“Go for it,” Gilda nodded, leaning back on the student desks.

Gallus grabbed onto Applejack’s legs, taking the same position he did before Gilda’s interruption. Once he penetrated her, he noticed that he slid in much more easily than usual.

Applejack bit her lip, resting her hooves on Gallus shoulders as he started thrusting into her.

Gallus started out slow, but soon got himself into a rhythm. It started to feel like a typical detention, save for the fact that Gilda was still watching like a voyeuristic coach.

“Heh, ya know, it wasn’t bad for yer first try at a massage,” Applejack chuckled.

Gallus scoffed. “You don’t have to say that just to make me feel better…”

Applejack shook her head. “Well, it wasn’t perfect, but ya managed to get me hot and bothered. Gotta count for something, right?”

“Yeah, whatever…”

Applejack’s hooves twitched on Gallus’s shoulders. “Nnf...Cause of all that, Ah might just cum before you this time…”

Gallus’s interest was piqued. If he could actually last longer than Applejack, even if it was just for today...maybe it’d be worth learning how to give a pony a massage…

Gallus started putting a little more oomph into his thrusts, grabbing onto Applejack’s legs and pulling them back as he thrusted forward.

Just like she had predicted, Applejack was the first to orgasm. Her legs shot up skyward as she let out a sultry scream.

Gallus was only able to bask in the pride of his accomplishment for only a few seconds before his own orgasm followed suit.

Both of them spent a minute basking in the afterglow, breathing heavily as Gallus slowly pulled out, letting their sexual fluids drip off the desk and onto the floor.

Once they caught their breath, they were ready for round two. But before Gallus could reenter, Gilda spoke up.

“What, you’re just gonna keep going like that?”

Gallus nearly threw up his hands in frustrated resignation. What could she possibly have to criticize? “I...I was planning on it, yeah. Why?”

Gilda shook her head in disapproval. “Nuh-uh. If ya keep doing the same thing, you’re gonna bore her. You gotta switch things up! Get in a new position.”

With an annoyed sigh, Gallus looked down at his professor. “Alright, well...how do you wanna do this?”

After a bit of thinking, Applejack grinned. “Ah got an idea. Just sit down for a bit,” she said, standing herself up.

Gallus did as he was told, sitting down on the desk. He watched as Applejack backed up into him, squeezing and rubbing his erection between her buttcheeks, before slowly and carefully sitting down on Gallus’s lap, his cock pushed up her ass.

“Maybe you can work on your massages while you’re back there,” Applejack joked, bouncing up and down on his cock.

Gallus’s hot breath hit the back of Applejack’s neck as she did her work. Maybe it was just to prevent Gilda from doing more nagging, but he decided to put in some effort too. He grabbed onto Applejack’s shoulders and tried to repeat the massage, which was significantly harder with all the bouncing.

Applejack felt those claws wrap around her shoulders, trying to squeeze and knead her tense muscles. Just to make things easier for him, she slowed down her pace.

“C’mon, knead those shoulders, Gal! Make her love it!” Gilda cheered on, sitting on one of the student desks. Since the two were occupied with each other, Gilda decided to get more personal enjoyment out of this show. Her claw reached down, teasing and rubbing her slit.

Each time Applejack and Gallus reached their climaxes, they switched positions. Gilda was more than happy to provide her own commentary, much to Gallus’s annoyance.

Soon, they were both on the floor. Applejack raising her butt in the air, and Gallus taking her from behind, his hands holding onto her sides.

Gallus had no idea how much time had passed, but his fatigue was starting to show. His breaths were getting heavier, and his legs had a slight tremble.

Gilda was quick to notice that Gallus was losing steam, and got up from the desk. “Aw, c’mon, Gallus. Don’t tell me you’re giving up now!”

“Guh...I’m...trying!” Gallus grunted with labored breaths, his body starting to feel numb.

‘Well, looks like you need some more of my help!”

“Wait, what are you gonna do-”

Gilda wrapped her arms around Gallus from behind, pressing her own body against his. She started thrusting her hips to make Gallus move his.

“Woah-ho-ho! That’s interestin’...” Applejack couldn’t see exactly what was going on, but she felt a lot more weight behind each thrust.

“C’mon Gallus, don’t expect me to do all the work! Keep going!” Gilda ordered, squeezing Gallus’s thighs between her legs for motivation.

“What the fuck is my life right now…” Gallus muttered to himself as he continued humping, sandwiched between the two girls.

“W-whatever it is you two are doin’, keep it up…” Applejack said with a shuddery moan, nearly drooling on the floor.

“This isn’t what I had in mind when I came to you for help…” Gallus muttered, looking back at Gilda.

“Don’t wuss out, Gal,” Gilda chuckled. “It’s your pride as a griff to never leave a mare unsatisfied!”

“I can’t even feel my pride...”

“Y’all do know detention ended 5 hours ago, raight?” Applejack smirked. There were so many things that she needed to reschedule. Both farmwork and schoolwork would have to wait. If Gilda wanted to demonstrate to Gallus how to please a mare, so be it.

With Gilda’s assistance, Gallus didn’t have to put much effort into thrusting. Which was convenient, because he was struggling to stay focused.

“I think I’m gonna pass out…”

“Ohhh no ya don’t!” Gilda stepped back, letting go of Gallus to flex her fingers in preparation.

“Huh? What are you AAAAAAAAIIIIIEEEEE!” Without warning, Gilda had plunged her middle finger as far as it would go up Gallus’s ass. The sensation both brought him to an instant orgasm, and raised his voice up an octave.

“Woah-nelly! I-I don’t know what you did, but he sure perked up!” Applejack shivered.

“Wh...WHAT THE FUCK!? YOU CAN’T JUST...DO THAT!” Gallus screamed, his body still twitching from shock.

“Hey, it worked, didn’t it?”

“I- Just- You- Why-” Gallus stammered in rage. He couldn’t believe that Gilda would just brazenly stick a finger up there.

“C’mon, you still got a job to do!” Gilda returned to her previous position, guiding Gallus’s hips like the last few seconds never even happened.

Despite the sudden energy boost from Gilda, Gallus had reached his limit. After one last orgasm was squeezed out of him, he managed to pry himself free of the two.

“Just...just gimmie a sec…” He said, sitting himself down on the floor. “I gotta...gotta...” As soon as Gallus closed his eyes, he fell backwards, lying unconscious on the floor.

“Aw, poor guy,” Gilda said, looking down on him. “A shame we didn’t get to the afterglow stuff.”

“Ah wouldn’t worry. That was one of the most satisfying things Ah’ve ever done in a loooong while.” Applejack chuckled, stretching her hooves out.

“Gotta say, he had a lot more stamina than I expected.”

“Heh, Ah think that he only got as far as he did cause of your help.”

“You’re really something else though. Most girls would love a guy that lasts even half as long as he did.”

“Well, you’re not so bad yourself. You definitely made things more exciting, what with all your advice on how to please a mare and all. Dunno where you learned all of it, but hey, it worked!”

“Yeah, well, don’t expect an encore any time soon. Can’t afford to keep going back and forth between here and Griffonstone just for this.”

The two exchanged looks. After a moment of silence, the absurdity of their conversation had finally set in, and they started laughing.

Gilda picked Gallus up. “Well, we should probably get him back to his room to rest.”

“Ah’ll take care of that. You can go off and catch up with Rainbow Dash some more, if ya want,” Applejack said, gesturing towards the door. “She should be back home by now.”

Gilda tilted her head to the side. “You sure you don’t want me to carry him? Pretty sure the last few hours took more out of you than it did for me.”

“Ah’ll be fine. These hooves have been through plenty.”

“Suit yourself.” Gilda put Gallus on Applejack’s back, his limbs dangling down her sides. With a wave goodbye, she left to find Rainbow Dash.

After making sure that the unconscious Gallus was balanced, Applejack started the walk to Gallus’s room. Luckily, with it being so late, the school’s halls were vacant.

Partway through the trip, Applejack felt Gallus stirring on her back.

“Nnngh...huh? W-where am I?” Gallus mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

“Heh heh, glad to see you’re awake,” Applejack smirked.

As Gallus’s vision came into focus, he finally recognized the familiar form that he was currently riding on. “H-How long was I out?”

“Only a few minutes. Can ya walk?”

Gallus carefully pressed his paw down against the floor, only for his leg to immediately tremble with the slightest bit of pressure. “Yeah, I don’t think so...”

“No problem, just gonna drop ya off at yer room,” Applejack nodded as she continued to walk. Though with Gallus now awake, Applejack’s pace slowed down considerably.

“...Ya know, it was real sweet for you to ask Gilda for help.”

“Was it? It felt more like it was real exhausting to me…”

Applejack chuckled to herself. “Well, Ah dunno much about griffons, but you and her must be awfully close.”

“I guess…” Gallus said with a half-hearted shrug. “She’s the closest thing I have to…” Gallus trailed off, looking off to the side.

“...Closest thing, huh?”

The rest of the walk was carried out in silence, and the two eventually made it to Gallus’s room. Applejack helped Gallus climb into his bunk bed.

Just before Applejack left the room, Gallus spoke up. “Uh...Applejack?”

“Yeah, Gallus?”

“I’ve...pretty much finished all my homework, so if you needed help catching up with all your farmwork...I could come over and help, if you wanted,” he said, nearly fumbling over the words.

Applejack smiled. “...Ah’d be delighted to have ya around.”

Hearth's Warming Heaven

The holidays were quickly approaching for Twilight’s School of Friendship. For some of the students, it was a time to celebrate being together with loved ones, for others, it was two straight weeks of no classes and no homework.

As the students ran around the study hall, decorating the room from wall to wall, Gallus stood near the doorway, watching the festivities in solitude.

“Shouldn’t you be helping the others decorate?”

Gallus turned around to see Starlight standing behind him. “Eh, they seem to have it covered, they’ll be fine,” he said with a dismissive shrug.

Suspicious of his true intent, Starlight squinted her eyes. “Hey Gallus, you doing alright?”

“...Uh, yeah? Why would I not be?”

“Well, it looks to me like you’re the only one here not enjoying the festivities.”

Gallus scoffed. “Oh, I’m just waiting for it all to be over. The sooner we get to the break, the better.”

“Well, you must be excited to go back to Griffonstone to celebrate.”

“...Yeah…” Gallus hesitated before nodding. He went back to watching all the others having fun with the festivities.

“Only a few days left until the break,” Starlight walked up beside Gallus, patting him on the back. “I bet all your friends are happy to celebrate their holidays, too.”

“Yeah, must be real fun…” Gallus muttered under his breath.

“Well, save for someone doing something really bad, everyone’s going to go home for the holidays.”

“...Wait, what?”

Gallus turned with several questions regarding what she just said, but Starlight was already walking away with a smirk on her face.

As Starlight walked down the halls, she happened to pass by just who she was looking for next. “Hey Applejack, you got a moment?”

“Sure thing, whatcha need?”

Starlight’s words echoed in Gallus’s mind. As he tried to work out what she could possibly mean, his imagination started going through different scenarios. His eyes started to wander around the room, until they finally honed in on the tree. There was a part of him that warned him of the consequences, but a louder part of him that said anything would be better than going back home.

One slimy explosion and lengthy cultural exchange later, and Gallus was cleaning up the room with the rest of his friends.

Just as they were starting to enjoy cleaning up, Headmare Twilight interrupted. “Gallus, could you come with me?”

Gallus nervously looked at the headmare, before dropping his cleaning rag and following her out of the room.

“While I’m glad all of your friends decided to stay behind to support you, you’re still the one who tried to ruin all their holiday plans. You’re still going to have to face punishment for what you’ve done.” Twilight lectured, escorting Gallus through the halls.

“I know, I know…” Gallus rolled his eyes.

“I think we can start with a quick lesson right now, don’t you think?”

“Not like I have much of a choice, do I?”

Much to Gallus’s surprise, Twilight wasn’t leading him to one of the classrooms, but to the dorms. “This lesson will take place in your room.”

Gallus raised an eyebrow. “Wait, you’re going to be giving me a friendship lesson in my room?”

“Well no, I won’t be teaching you this time, but the lesson will be delivered-”

“Works for me.” Without hesitation, Gallus opened the door and went inside.

“For your honesty lesson, you’re going to spend the rest of the night in your room…”

“Yeah yeah…” Gallus said, trying to get the door shut as fast as possible, not listening to the rest. “At least I’m not in Griffonstone…” Once the door was shut, he let out a sigh of relief. Not having to go home and not needing to clean up the mess he made? This was set up to be the best holiday ever.

The feeling of relief quickly dropped to a feeling of distress. He knew Sandbar was still cleaning up, yet it didn’t feel like he was alone in the room. He was about to turn on the lights, but the sound of the door locking behind him made him freeze up.

...Did she say ‘honesty lesson’?

As he turned around, he caught a glimpse of something orange leaning beside the door before he was shoved to the wall with a terrifying amount of force.

“Smooth move, pardner!” Applejack grinned, pinning him by his shoulders.

“GOOD FUCKING GROVER.” Gallus could feel his heartbeat pounding in his head, his wings were outspread in a panic. Recognizing who his intruder was did nothing to calm him down. “You scared the teats offa me! How long have you been waiting there?”

“Long enough! Ah’m impressed, but Ah caught on eventually!”

“Caught on to WHAT?!”

“Like you don’t know?” Applejack chuckled, leaning in. “The wolf whistlin’, the dance, and you askin’ Gilda for ‘mare advice’...”

Gallus could feel the heat of Applejack’s breath on his cheeks. With each thing she listed off, she got closer to his face.

“And now Hearth’s Warmin’, the most special night…”

“I-I can explain!” Gallus stammered, not entirely sure what he needed to explain away.

Applejack’s voice dropped to a more sultry tone. “Oh, I know, and I accept!”

“...Accept what?” Gallus started to sweat, Applejack was dangerously close to his face. Even in the dim light, he could see that she was starting to blush.

“Bein’ your special somepony!”

Before Gallus could say anything, Applejack closed the gap between them and pressed her lips against his beak.

Gallus nearly went into shock trying to process everything. Did she just say special somepony? She really cared about him like that? Was this really happening? Though his heart was pounding, Gallus released some of the tension in his body, closing his eyes as he leaned in closer to Applejack.

It was a challenge kissing someone with a beak instead of lips, but Applejack managed. Just like Gallus, her heart was pounding with excitement. She leaned further in, pushing Gallus up against the wall as she kept her lips pressed against his beak.

The two stayed pressed against the wall, kissing for what felt like an hour. Even after the kiss ended, they stayed in a tight embrace, silently staring at the other’s eyes. They were able to feel the other’s chest rise up and down with each shaky breath they took.

Gallus was the first to awkwardly break the silence. “I...woah.”

“First time ya ever kissed someone?” Applejack teased.

“T-That’s none of your business…” Gallus grumbled, quickly looking away.

“Maybe we can make yer second kiss better, then?”

Gallus slowly turned his head back. “...I’d like that…”

“Good…” Applejack put her hooves on his shoulders. “Just relax, an’ do whatever feels right.”

Gallus took a deep breath to steady his nerves. He tilted his head at a slight angle, slowly opening his beak up as he leaned forward.

Applejack met him halfway, locking lip to beak with Gallus. She kept her hooves on Gallus’s shoulders, letting him take the lead.

Gallus closed his eyes as he wrapped his arms around her. He could feel the gentle moans in his mouth as he started rubbing her back. His tail started moving on its own, rising up and gently teasing the apples on her flank, making Applejack shiver.

Once they broke off the kiss, Applejack looked down at Gallus with a warm smile. “Heh, Ah’d say that was better than the first, wouldn’t you?”

Gallus slowly nodded, looking just as starstruck as he did after the first kiss. “...Is this really happening? You really wanna be my...special somepony?”

“Course Ah do, Gallus. You’re a real sweet and smart guy, even if ya don’t wanna show it all the time,” Applejack chuckled.

Gallus let out a relieved sigh. “Well, I think you’re amazing. You’re tough and dependable, and you really care about others…a-and I think you look kinda cute…”

The blush on Applejack’s cheeks burned brighter, making the freckles on her cheeks more prominent. “Aw, sugarcube…” She wrapped her hooves around him, holding him tight.

“So, is this my honesty lesson?” Gallus quietly said, his head resting on Applejack’s shoulder.

“Well, do ya honestly wanna be with me?”

“Yeah...being with you makes me feel like the luckiest griffon alive.”

“Well then, looks like ya learned yer lesson.”

The two chuckled as they continued to embrace each other, slowly rocking back and forth in the moonlit bedroom.

“...Of course, there’s still the fact that you had to go and nearly run Hearth’s Warmin’ for your friends,” Applejack said, backing away from him.

Gallus gulped, assuming that there was some sort of catch, and that he’d have to pay dearly for it.

“So you got two choices. You can go back to your friends and help them clean up the mess you made while getting more lectures from Twilight. Or...“ Applejack tossed her hat aside, hopping onto Gallus’s bed. “...We try and go the rest of the night together.”

There was no question about which option seemed more appealing, but Gallus still had some reservations. “Really? The whole night?”

“Mmhm. From now until Celestia starts raising the sun. Course, once you make your choice, there’s no going back. Got it?”

Applejack was shooting Gallus a smug, almost defiant look as she dangled her hooves off the side of the bed. It was slowly approaching midnight, there were a lot of hours between now and sunrise…

“Eh, what the hell,” Gallus shrugged, walking towards his bed. “I’m not gonna turn down the opportunity to spend more time with you.”

“Good answer, sugar.”

Applejack moved aside to make room for Gallus. “So, how do ya wanna start?”

“How’s a massage sound? You know, to get warmed up.”

Applejack chuckled, cocking her head to the side. “Heh, sure you’re not stalin’ for time?”

“Is that a no on the massage, then?” Gallus fired back.

There was a moment of silence before Applejack conceded, turning around to let Gallus get started.

Repeating the things Gilda taught him in his mind, Gallus put his talons on Applejack’s shoulders, starting out with a few light squeezes.

Applejack let out a soft sigh, letting her body relax as Gallus set the mood for the rest of the night.

Gallus gradually went deeper with his squeezes, feeling all that firm muscle underneath that orange fur.

Soft little moans left Applejack’s lips, the massage starting to arouse her.

Gallus moved on from the shoulders, now firmly pressing his knuckles into her back.

“W-woah there...that’s new…”

Gallus smirked to himself as he kneaded his knuckles up and down her back. “Yeah? You like?”

Applejack gave Gallus a grunt of approval. “Yeah...real nice. Did Gilda teach you that, too?”

“Heh, that’s a secret.”

The massage continued, Gallus’s hands moved up and down, giving Applejack’s back firm squeezes and light punches, going from her shoulders down to just above her tail.

Applejack moaned with satisfaction. Gallus had definitely improved compared to when Gilda was coaching him. She wondered if he went back to Gilda to ask for more mare advice during the weekends.

Gallus’s hands went down her back one more time. Instead of the rhythmic punches, his fingers lightly traced down past her back and onto her thighs.

The feeling of talons gently trailing down her back made Applejack shiver. Her body started to arc backwards, tensing up from the teasing.

Using only a single talon, Gallus traced around the cutie marks on her flank, even including a couple of quick, teasing swipes for the stem and leaf.

Applejack let out a shuddery moan with the gentle touches to her thighs. Her hoof slowly made its way to rub her marehood.

Gallus was quick to notice that one of Applejack’s hooves was moving up and down in front of her. With a cocky grin, he reached his arm around, putting his hand over Applejack’s hoof to assist in masturbating. “Heh, maybe YOU need help lasting the rest of the night…”

“Nnnf...Oh fuck, jus’ take me now!” Applejack turned around and grabbed Gallus by the shoulders. She leaned back, falling down onto the pillows.

Gallus fell down on top of Applejack, his head resting next to hers. With a little bit of adjustment, Gallus put himself inside.

Gallus’s thrusts started out slow, his hips rocking as he slid his cock in and out.

Applejack wrapped her hind hooves around Gallus’s waist, not to prevent escape like before, but to help guide him along. The massage had gotten her heated up, each exhale was already a heavy pant.

Putting his hands back on Applejack’s shoulders, Gallus lifted himself up, now able to look at Applejack’s face proper.

Applejack looked back at Gallus, her panting almost like chuckling with how big the smile on her face was.

Just one glance of Applejack’s face was enough to get Gallus smiling, too. It was like a sensation of lightness in his chest that filled him with happiness. His focus had gradually shifted towards just staring at her. The thrusting started to become more of an afterthought.

Applejack’s legs squeezed Gallus a little tighter, trying to goad him into pushing himself deeper inside her.

The feeling of an oncoming orgasm broke Gallus’s focus. His body started tensing up, wanting to keep going for just a little longer, to try and make each session last as long as possible.

Just as Gallus was trying to stall, Applejack had already hit her point of no return. In her state of orgasmic bliss, her legs squeezed together, pushing Gallus back in for another thrust.

Gallus tried to hold out as long as he could, but only lasted a second longer before he came inside her. He put his hands down near both sides of Applejack’s head to prevent him from collapsing down on her chest.

“Heh...Ah think that was the best one we’ve had yet...“

“Maybe we can make this next one even better?” Gallus smirked.

A determined gleam shone in Applejack’s eye. “Yer on.”

They rolled over, with Applejack now topping. She raised her flank up higher, positioning herself above Gallus’s crotch, waiting for him to get hard again.

Gallus’s eyes followed Applejack’s butt, watching her sway from side to side. “Ohhh fuck…” The idea of doing this all night began to excite him. He was ready to go as soon as his body would let him.

Once Gallus was ready, he thrusted his hips upwards. The poking signaled Applejack to slowly lower herself down, shuddering as she took his length in. Using her hind hooves, she lifted herself back up, then let gravity do most of the work as she went back down.

Each slam onto his groin forced a grunt out of Gallus. The fact that Applejack was topping him meant that he didn’t have to put in much work, so he could save some of his energy to help last the rest of the night.

Applejack put her front hooves on Gallus’s chest, using it as support as she bounced, getting into a more comfortable, faster rhythm.

Gallus’s breathing accelerated as Applejack’s hooves pressed against his chest. As his exhales got sharper, he wondered if she could feel his racing heartbeat.

Applejack noticed Gallus’s lack of activity as she rode him. “Are ya gettin’ tired?” she teased, putting just a little more pressure onto his chest.

Gallus scoffed, grabbing onto her hips in response. “Are you getting slower?” he said, giving her cutie mark a squeeze.

“Gyaaha!” Applejack yelped in surprise, but couldn’t help smirking at Gallus’s counter. “Heh, you asked for it.” She leaned forward, looking Gallus in the eyes as she pushed herself to speed up.

Gallus could barely keep his hands on Applejack, the accelerated pace combined with Applejack’s piercing gaze made him sweat.

Though she had stamina to spare, Applejack slowed herself down. “Ah...hah...H-Hey, Ah’m about to…”

“Y-Yeah...me too…T-together?”

Gallus’s grip on Applejack’s hips got tighter to brace for the climax. The sounds of both of their moans began to overlap, only growing louder with each thrust.

“Aaah...aaaah…!”

“AAAAAAAAAAH!”

The room went silent as all heads turned towards Ocellus.

“Ocellus, are...are you okay?” Sandbar asked.

“W-What!? Me? Never better!” Ocellus frantically nodded, her hooves trembling underneath her.

An unconvinced Smolder crossed her arms. “Really? Your hooves keep shaking, and now you’ve just started screaming for no reason. So what gives?”

Ocellus blurted out the first excuse that came to her mind. “That’s because...uh...it’s...cold! Yeah, there might be a draft in this room!”

“...All the windows shut.” Yona pointed out.

“Still got it in ya to keep going?” Applejack asked, her breathing slightly uneven.

“The night’s still young, isn’t it?”

All through the night, long after the students finished cleaning up and fell asleep by the tree, Gallus and Applejack continued their sexual marathon. Each time, doing something different for variety’s sake, whether it was changing position or doing a little bit of foreplay to discover different turn-ons.

As the hours passed, Gallus’s fatigue started to show as the night started to end. Despite his best efforts to keep going, his stamina was still no match for Applejack, who was still as feisty as she was at the start. The adrenaline was starting to wear off, and it was only through Applejack’s encouragement that he was able to keep going.

After one more orgasm, they looked out the window, seeing Celestia’s sun finally rising over the snowy horizon.

“Well, would ya look at that? You really did make it all night, sugarcube!” Applejack said, snuggling up to his chest.

“Well, it’s all thanks to my teacher...and my special somepony.” Gallus brought Applejack’s head closer to his for a celebratory kiss, relieved that he actually made it.

Gallus broke the kiss, gasping for breath. “...For real though, we’re not gonna go another twenty rounds, are we? I’m heckin’ spent…”

“Hehehehe, naw. After all your hard work, I’d say you’ve earned your Hearth’s Warmin’ break!” Applejack chuckled.

“Oh thank goodness. Don’t wake me until it’s past noon…” Gallus leaned his head back, closing his eyes, wanting to fall asleep as fast as possible. As he drifted off, he could feel the warmth from Applejack resting her head on his chest.

As the morning came, the other students started to wake up. Sandbar woke up first because he was excited to celebrate Hearth’s Warming. Silverstream woke up second because she was excited to see Sandbar excited to celebrate Hearth’s Warming.

“So, what are we gonna do first?”

“Well, ordinarily we’d be giving each other presents, but maybe we could try doing one of your traditions!”

“Ooh yeah! Good idea!” Silverstream looked around. “We need to get Gallus, he should be here to celebrate with us!”

“Right, I don’t think we’ve seen him since Headmare Twilight got him. I’ll go check if he’s in our room.” Sandbar ran off to get Gallus.

Sandbar approached his room, expecting his roommate to be sleeping inside. It’d be such a shame to leave him out of the holiday festivities, especially after hearing how lonely he’s been.

Sandbar opened the door quietly, peeking his head in to wake Gallus up.

What he saw caused him to silently and immediately retract his head, close the door, and run back in a panic.

When Sandbar returned, Silverstream was in the process of waking up the others. “Couldn’t find Gallus?” she asked, trying to nudge Yona awake.

“Get Headmare Twilight.”

The other students gathered around Sandbar and Gallus’s dorm room, still groggy from the early and sudden awakening.

“Ugh, Sandbar? What did you even see that you needed us to come here?” Smolder groaned, rubbing her eyes.

“I don’t know! I think I saw like, a glimpse and shut the door before my brain finished processing it!”

“A glimpse of WHAT?”

Silverstream quickly came back with their headmare in tow.

“Alright, I’m here. Sandbar, there’s something in your room that you need us all to see?” Twilight asked.

“Y-Yeah...”

Sandbar opened the door again, and everyone looked inside.

All of them were treated to the visual of Applejack happily asleep on top of a sleeping griffon. Gallus held Applejack in a tight embrace, with one hand behind her head, the other caressing the cutie mark on her flank. Cum was still dripping out from Applejack’s pussy and down Gallus’s semi-erect cock.

Everyone looked in a collective stunned silence, trying to figure out what kind of chain of events could possibly lead to what they were currently looking at.

Silverstream was the first to speak up, with a massive grin on her face. “Woah! Is that Gallus? With Professor Applejack? IN BED!?”

“Wait...are they...? Did they just-?” Sandbar stuttered, now getting a better look.

Yona nodded, pointing at the sleeping couple. “Oh yeah. They smash.”

Ocellus let out a huge sigh of relief. “Oh thank goodness! I don’t know how much longer I could keep that to myself!”

“Dude, niiice.” Smolder grinned and nodded approvingly.

After the initial shock wore off, Twilight shook her head. “Alright, I’m gonna need some answers real soon.”

Despite all the commotion going on by the door, Gallus and Applejack barely shifted in their sleep.

“...Wait.” Sandbar turned his head towards Ocellus. “What do you mean ‘keep that to yourself’?”

Ocellus started laughing nervously, “Uh...you see...that’s uh…”

“Y’know, when he whistled at her ass before, I didn’t think that it’d actually lead to him getting it.” Smolder said, peeking her head in closer.

“So is this pony or griffon holiday tradition we not learn about?” Yona asked.

“Wow, it smells like they had a LOT of sex.” Silverstream looked over to Twilight. “Should we like, wake them up? Cause I have so many questions.”

“So do I…” Twilight let out a long, heavy sigh as she closed the door. “...It’s still really early in the morning. I don’t think we should wake them up. Why don’t you guys get some more sleep, and enjoy the holidays? We can talk about...this...at a later time.”

As the other students nodded and murmured in agreement, Sandbar raised his hoof in objection. “Wait, what about me? I can’t sleep in there knowing that’s on the bottom bunk!”

“No problem! Sandbar can stay in Yona’s bed!” Yona exclaimed, pulling Sandbar close to her.

Ocellus violently shuddered, her hooves starting to tremble again.

Smolder put her hand on her shoulder in reassurance. “It’s ok, we all know about those two.”

“Yeah, but you won’t be sleeping in the bunk above them!”

Hours later, after some proper rest, the students woke up and gathered back by the Hearth’s Warming tree.

“So...you think Gallus is still sleeping?” Smolder asked, looking at Sandbar.

“I’m not going back there to check.”

“Fine, fine. So uh...what holiday tradition do you wanna do?”

Back in the bedroom, Gallus and Applejack finally started to stir, slowly opening their eyes.

Applejack lifted her head off from Gallus’s chest. “Heh, Happy Hearth’s Warming…”

Gallus grunted as he sat up straight. “Y-Yeah...what time is it?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.

“Seems to be well into the day,” Applejack said, looking out the window.

“Perfect…” Gallus flopped back down on his bed, ready to go back to sleep.

Applejack picked up her hat and stood up from the bed. “Well, better get back to my family for the holidays’.”

“Oh...right…” Gallus felt his heart sink in his chest.

“Heh, gonna miss me already? I’m only going back to the farm,“ Applejack chuckled. “Besides, Ah bet your friends are waiting for you to celebrate the holidays with them. They stayed behind for you, after all.”

“Yeah, alright...”

“See ya later, sugarcube.” Applejack gave him a quick peck on the cheek before heading out the door.

After Applejack left, Gallus took the time to clean himself up, then left to find his friends. The search wasn’t difficult, with no one else in the school, it was easy to pick up the sound of their laughter.

“Hey guys, what’s up?”

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Gallus, the memory from last night coming back to the front of their minds.

“...Why’s everyone looking at me like that?”

“Oh...hey Gallus!” Sandbar said, “G-glad to see you’re awake!”

“Yeah, sorry for sleeping in, what were you guys doing?”

“Oh, since we didn’t want to do just one holiday tradition, we decided we were gonna do a mix of all of them!”

“Alright, sounds cool.” Gallus looked between his friends, noticing the uncomfortable looks. “What’s up with you guys? Are you alright?”

Everyone else stood in awkward silence, trying to think of the best way to approach the topic.

“So...Gallus...” Sandbar said, trying to ease into the thing on everyone else’s mind.

“YOU’RE HAVING SEX WITH PROFESSOR APPLEJACK!?” Silverstream screamed out, her voice echoing through the empty halls.

“...Yeah, that.”

Gallus felt part of his soul get damaged by Silverstream’s outburst. “H-Huh?”

“Yeeaaah, that’s probably not the smoothest way to say it, but...we saw you two in bed together.” Smolder said.

Gallus swore that his heart stopped beating.

“Come on! Give us the details! We all wanna know how it happened!” Silverstream’s grin got wider as she approached him.

“Alright, just...gimmie a minute…” Gallus said, taking deep breaths to keep himself from screaming.

The group of friends gathered closer, eager to hear his explanation.

Gallus’s cheeks started to burn red from embarrassment. “So...Applejack is my...special somepony.”

A collective gasp came from Gallus’s friends, except for Ocellus, who silently covered her mouth with her hooves.

Gallus was quickly bombarded with questions from his curious classmates.

“Wait, REALLY?”

“You and teacher in love?”

“Why one of our professors?”

“So was that your first time or what?”

“Woah woah woah! One at a time!” Gallus said, pushing them back to get some breathing room.

“Well first, nice job snagging a teacher. Second, I wanna know how this all started,” Smolder said. “Like, at what point did you realize you were in love with her?”

Gallus sighed. “Okay so...You remember back when we all got detention together?”

“Really? When we just got to this school? That long ago!?”

“No no no no no! That’s just when we first had sex!” Gallus thought for a moment. “Uh...I think it was around the time of the Amity Ball thing. Ocellus like, pushed me towards Applejack, I asked her to dance, and while we were dancing, I just...felt it I guess?”

“Speaking of…” Sandbar turned his head towards Ocellus. “Seriously, what did you mean ‘I don’t know how much longer I could keep that to myself’?!”

“Wait, you KNEW?!” Gallus shouted, leading the rest to direct their attention towards Ocellus.

Once all eyes were Ocellus, she started laughing nervously. “Aheheheh...uh...y-yeah?”

“Oh right, changelings sense love and stuff!” Silverstream nodded. “That makes sense.”

“I-I’m really sorry. I just felt that there was love between you two, and I just wanted you guys to be happy! So I...kinda gave you a nudge in that direction...”

“Well, it worked out so...thanks, I guess.”

“Friend happy, teacher happy, everyone happy!” Yona cheered.

Sandbar crossed his hooves and pouted. “So what made you decide to just do it in our room?”

“Listen, things kinda just happen in the moment, okay? She JUST asked to be my special somepony that night!”

“So whenever I came back and you had the windows open and the sheets off your bed…”

“...Yeah.”

Sandbar turned to the side. “Ohhh, that was so many times…” he muttered into his hooves.

“As much as I’d love to know more, how about we go back to having fun on Hearth’s Warming?” Smolder suggested.

“Really?” Gallus was surprised by Smolder’s mercy.

“Well, unless you wanna tell us everything about your relationship with her right now…”

“Nope, I’m good.”

“Besides, you can tell us all that later!”

“Oooh! Let’s see if there’s stuff happening around Ponyville!”

As the other students ran outside, Gallus grabbed onto Sandbar, wanting to talk with him face-to-face.

“Listen, Sandbar...I’m sorry about the whole...room thing…”

“Don’t worry about it, dude, I totally get it.” Sandbar nodded in understanding.

Gallus was taken aback. “Wait, really? I thought you’d be like, upset or something.”

“Nah, just know that me and Yona won’t fit on the top bunk.”

“...Wait, what?”

Later in the day, Twilight went over to Sweet Apple Acres. She knocked on the front door, trying to rehearse what she wanted to say in her head as she waited. Fortunately, the pony she wanted to talk to was the one to answer.

“Howdy, Twi! Holiday treating ya alright?”

“Oh! Y-Yeah, it’s been great so far. Listen, Applejack, can we talk for a bit? There’s something I want to discuss...”

Twilight had soon gathered her friends in her castle. All but Applejack looking at each other in quiet confusion.

“What’s up, Twilight? Some sort of holiday crisis going on that we need to take care of?” Rainbow Dash asked, propping her hind hooves up on the table as she took another swig of cider, her head slightly swaying from side to side.

“No, you don’t need to worry, there’s no sort of disaster going on.”

Fluttershy let out a heavy sigh of relief. “But then, why did you call us all here?”

Applejack cleared her throat. “It’s cause Ah wanted to tell y’all something.”

The room fell quiet as the girls looked at Applejack with intrigue.

“Didn’t think it’d really happen, ‘specially not so quickly, but uh...Ah found myself someone special.”

Rarity’s eyes instantly lit up. “Oh that’s wonderful! Who’s this lucky someone, hm?”

“It’s Gallus.”

Applejack’s short and simple response caught everyone off-guard, save for Twilight and Starlight.

“Like...the griffon Galus?” Rarity asked. “The blue griffon that attends the school? That Gallus?”

“Mmhm. That Gallus.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Fluttershy waved her hoof to get Applejack’s attention. “But it’s just so...unexpected. What made you fall for him?”

Applejack started to blush. “Heh, he’s pretty stubborn, but a real sweet guy when ya get to know him.”

“Ooh! So when did you two lovebirds make it official?” Pinkie said, fluttering her eyelashes.

“Last night, actually. Figured it was as good a time as any.”

“Declaring your love on Hearth’s Warming Eve? That’s so romantic!” Rarity cooed, almost tearing up. “I’m so happy for you, Applejack!”

Rainbow finished another pull of cider, slamming her mug onto the table. “Soooo...When are you two gonna do it?”

“Oh, we already did it plenty of times.”

Rainbow nearly choked on her cider as a collective “WHAT?!” rang throughout the room. Fluttershy and Rarity’s cheeks instantly flushed red from shock, an intrigued Starlight and Pinkie leaned in closer, Twilight let out a heavy exhale as Rainbow started cracking up.

“Hohoholy fuck, I was just kidding! You’re serious?”

Applejack sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah, Twilight kinda caught me in the act last night. It’s how she found out, Ah guess.”

All the attention now turned towards Twilight as her friends loudly voiced their confusion.

Dash slammed her hooves on the table. “Wait, the night you and I were finding out who tried to ruin Hearth’s Warming? THAT’S when they were fucking?”

“And you just walked in on them?” Rarity said in an accusatory tone.

“Wait, it wasn’t like that! I only saw them sleeping in bed together after Sandbar told me there was someone else in his room!”

“Heh, must’ve been out cold if Ah was still sleeping. Guess going all night’ll do that to ya.”

“All night? Wow, Applejack, I knew you had some stamina in you, but...wow...” Starlight said, nodding in approval.

Pinkie tapped her hoof to her chin. “I don’t think I’ve done it all night in like, forever! Some ponies get to have all the fun...”

“I still can’t believe-” Rainbow’s head snapped towards Pinkie in a brief moment of sobriety. “Wait, who did you have sex with all night long?”

“You, silly! Remember that slumber party?”

“Um, Twilight, is this...allowed?” Fluttershy interjected. “Like, the whole teacher and student thing? N-Not that I’m planning on doing it myself, but…”

“I thought about it. And I don’t see anything wrong with it.” Twilight looked over to Applejack. “They genuinely care for each other, and I think we should all be happy for them.”

“Well, in that case, congratulations, Applejack!” Fluttershy said. “I hope that you two have a wonderful future together!”

A flash of inspiration struck Rarity. “Oh, there are so many good dating spots that I have to tell you about! Or should I tell Gallus about them instead?”

“Hey, I’m glad you two found each other. Just don’t expect me to double as a relationship counselor,” Starlight joked.

“To Applejack and Gallus!” Pinkie Pie cheered, jumping out of her seat.

As the other girls cheered, Applejack started to tear up. “Aw, thanks girls, that means a lot to me.”

“Hey AJ,” Rainbow grinned, leaning into the table. “Since you’ve seen it for yourself, how big is he? Cause Gilda told me that griffons-”

“Okay, we’re not getting into this conversation!”

The next day, the students gathered at the Ponyville train station, most of them eager to head back home.

“I’m really gonna miss you guys...” Gallus sighed, looking off towards the horizon to try and spot the oncoming train.

“Hey, it’s only two weeks,” Sandbar said, trying to reassure him. “And no homework or tests to study for, right?”

“Yeah, but I just wish we could’ve spent those two weeks here together.”

“But you got to spend all of Hearth’s Warming with us, right?” Ocellus said. “That’s gotta count for something!”

“Well, if you really wanna be here, you might have a shot staying with Applejack over the break…” Smolder teased, prodding her elbow into Gallus’s side.

Silverstream gasped in excitement. “Or maybe you can start up a new holiday in Griffonstone where everyone’s super nice and gives out gifts just like Hearth’s Warming!”

“...Yeah, I’m just gonna go back home.”

Yona pulled Gallus in for a back-breaking hug, before getting the others in, too. “We see each other again real soon! Yona promise!”

Before all the oxygen was squeezed out of Gallus, the distant blaring whistle indicated that the train was approaching, and Yona thankfully released him.

While his friends checked their belongings and waited to board, Gallus swore he heard his name being called from behind him. He turned around to see Applejack sprinting towards the station.

“Phew, looks like I caught up in time. You didn’t think you could just go home without saying goodbye to me, did ya?”

Gallus felt a light tingling in his chest. “Yeah, well, I kinda wish we didn’t need to say goodbye at all.”

“Heh, but Ah’ll still be here when you get back.” Applejack put a hoof on his shoulder. “You’ll be fine, Ah know you will.”

Silverstream turned around and excitedly pointed at the couple. “Aww, look guys!”

Gallus grabbed onto Applejack’s hooves, staring deep into her eyes. “I’m...gonna miss you.”

Applejack slowly nodded. “Gonna miss you too, sugarcube.”

Smolder looked over to the now-quivering Ocellus. “...You need a moment?”

“Nope, I-I’m good.”

“Course, just to make sure you’re not too lonely...” Applejack gave Gallus a backpack. “A little something for ya.”

Gallus grunted as he held up the surprising amount of weight in the bag. Before he could see what was inside, the train whistle started blowing.

“Better get going. See ya in two weeks, Gallus.” Applejack said with a wink.

Gallus nodded, wordlessly wrapping his arms around her, feeling the comfort of her hooves hugging him back.

Their tender hug had to be kept brief. Gallus grabbed all of his stuff and rushed onto the train with his friends. Once they all found seats, Gallus looked out the window to see Applejack waving goodbye as the train started moving.

Once the station had disappeared into the horizon, Gallus grabbed the bag Applejack had given him, and put it on his lap. When he opened it up, he was hit with the warm scent of baked apple goods. Fritters, mini pies, muffins, and more were stuffed inside.

“Wow, those smell delicious, can I have one, please? Please?” Silverstream asked, attracted by the scent.

“Hey, they were made for Gallus.” Sandbar reminded her. “I think he deserves to have all of them.”

Gallus grinned upon seeing all the treats baked for him. Having Applejack as his girlfriend still felt unreal, but it also made him excited for the future. And having all these treats was going to make the break a lot more tolerable. He grabbed an apple pie and took a bite as he imagined being in Applejack’s embrace.

It was warm, sweet, and filled him with happiness.

Author's Note

Why yes, Hearth's Warming Club does take place before She's All Yak in the chronological canon.

But since this is an AU where Gallus and Applejack fuck on the regular, slight artistic liberties have been taken.

Anyway, though this story is technically done, I'm sure that I'll be writing extra chapters of their relationship pretty soon.