Coping, or How to Move On When Given Up Onby Meteor_MirageChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 1“What do I have to be proud of you for?" Grampa Gruff asked, "You’re nothing but trouble, you little punk. It’s why your parents gave up on you when they did, and why your little friends are going to do the same.” Unlike during the shouting match he’d had with Trixie, this Gruff never raised his voice beyond a harsh rasp in Gallus’ ear, taunting him as he lay in his bed. Nothing the young griff could do would hush the words that kept popping into his head as he tried to calm himself enough to sleep the afternoon away. And most probably the night as well. Much like he’d done for the past few days after the meeting. The worst part was that Gruff hadn't even said it to him. The most he got from the old griffon was a smoldering scowl and glare, a sight Gallus was all too used to, before storming off the campus in a huff. The poor boy hadn’t even done anything to deserve it this time. As he thanked Trixie for standing up for him, one of the only creatures to accomplish talking back to Gruff and live to tell the tale, he was torn. On one claw he was thankful that a creature he had barely met had went to bat for him in such a way. On the other, however, all he had left was the words he wanted to say to his former guardian and the assurance that whatever Gruff would say back wouldn't be very nice. “Hey Gally, you alright?” Came a sudden voice from elsewhere in the room. After obsessing over the voices in his head for so long, Gallus near jumped out of his skin at the sudden realness of this new one. He whipped his head to the side to stare daggers at whoever deemed it fit to interrupt him from his anxious overexamining. Once he saw a light green stallion staring at him from their shared desk, offering a gentle and passive smile, his expression softened considerably. Gallus sighed softly, rolling over on the bed so that he could look at the pony more comfortably. It wasn’t hard to forget Sandbar’s presence in their shared room due to how flighty his friend- friends, really- had been in the past few days, but it was certainly exacerbated by how he was silently scribbling in his notebook as he had his own panic attack, but over planning their D&D campaign last-minute instead. Either way, the comfort of sharing this moment with his maybe-boyfriend, they hadn’t really been able to decide the specifics just yet, was enough to settle him slightly. “‘M fine, Sandy.” Gallus muttered, draping himself gently along his bed as he let out a slight groan. “Just thinking about stuff. Nothing too big.” He wasn’t the most convincing as he spoke, but he was satisfied with his lie as he saw Sandbar nod. But then Sandbar stood up from his seat, stretching largely as he did and squeaking as his bones noisily reminded him that he was sitting in that uncomfortable seat for far too long. Gallus was apprehensive as the pony approached his bed and regarded his prone form, but was settled yet again as he saw Sandbar’s loving grin. “C’mon, scoot over. I need to take a break.” Sandbar said softly, gently prodding Gallus with his hoof. With a shared smile, Gallus relented his place and wiggled over to make room, which Sandbar gleefully took within the moment. As he lay alongside his cuddlebuddy, Sandbar wasted no time in wrapping a hoof around his favorite griffon, gently kissing his beak as he did. They shared a tender moment, Gallus wrapping an arm around Sandbar and nuzzling gently into the fluff of his neck, sighing happily. Sandbar fought back by wiggling ever so slightly closer to his friend-with-benefits, those benefits being kisses and cuddles, and planting yet another kiss along his cheek. And yet that moment had to end at some point, and that end was signaled as Sandbar grimaced slightly. “Hey so, don’t be mad, but I asked Ms. Trixie about what’s been bothering you the past few days,” he preempted whatever response Gallus was going to show in response by tightening his grip around him somewhat, then continued, “Just ‘cause, you know, I’m worried about you.” To his credit, Gallus didn’t show much of a reaction at all. Beyond a gentle frown and burying his face even deeper into Sandbar’s neck, he offered no fight to change the topic at hand, as much as everything in his body told him to. Maybe it had something to do with Sandbar’s worry, but he managed to stay calm. “It’s fine, Sandbar.” He said softly, pulling back just a bit to look the earth pony in the eyes, cocking a forced grin as he did. “So what if that old bird doesn’t wanna back my enrolment here? I’m just worried about the poor griff who’s gotta replace him.” He chuckled with an amount of bravado that he wasn’t quite sure how he could manage as he didn’t lie, but absolutely wasn’t telling much of a truth. Sandbar’s eyes widened just a bit at that, chuckling along with Gallus as he pulled the griffon right back to where he wanted him: pressed against his chest in a loving snuggle. “Hah, wow. Ms. Trixie didn’t tell me he just plain gave up on you! Damn, what’d you say to make that happen?” Thankfully for Gallus, his position against Sandbar’s chest made it hard to make out the scowl growing on his face. He still managed to find his laugh, however, as he tightly wrapped his arms around Sandbar to try and find any sort of comfort. “Not sure!” He said, failing to hide the sour tone to his voice. “Guess he just got tired of me being so…” Useless. No other words came to mind, as it was all Gallus could think of to describe himself. Sandbar gave his close friend a look as that sentence trailed off, and for a moment there were so many words he wanted to say to comfort, console, and reassure him. And yet when he opened his mouth, he couldn’t bring himself to say any of them. Everything he wanted to say required an amount of emotional closeness that, despite their current physical closeness, he had no idea if they’d reached yet. So instead he let out a gentle sigh, nuzzling Gallus’ headfeathers. “Heck, sorry, I didn’t, uh…” Sandbar’s words failed him yet again. He flexed his forelegs briefly, tightening the hold around Gallus as he tried to regain his composure. Before Sandbar could even manage to, however, Gallus just waved a claw to brush away the sentiment. “It’s whatever, Sandbar. I’m not too torn up about it.” He lied. “I just wanna ignore that it ever happened and deal with the repercussions when they come.” “Well, you know, if you still ever wanna talk about it…” Sandbar trailed off softly as he looked hopefully to Gallus. He was about to finish his sentiment in offering a venting location, but he was suddenly interrupted by a loud, obnoxious beeping from the desk he’d just left. Both boys jumped, though Sandbar’s surprise was more well-contained through the fact that he was well aware of what that alarm was set for and why it was going off now. He pulled back from the serene snuggling in order to slam his hoof against the top of the alarm clock, both managing to turn off the incessant beeping and also cracking the screen in the process. His Earth Pony Strength was much more powerful than he intended. “Damn it, I knew I shouldn’t have spent that long on world-building.” Sandbar said as he moved back to look at Gallus with a frown. “So, uh, bad news. I’ve gotta dip to go pick up something from town, so I think we’ve gotta cut this a little short.” While Gallus grimaced in response, he still rolled his eyes as he knew full-well this was going to happen anyway. “I don’t suppose I could tag along so we can go out for lunch too?” He asked, though there was far from any hope in his voice. Sandbar recoiled almost immediately at the suggestion, much to the visible sadness of Gallus. Switching to damage control almost immediately, the stallion cleared his throat. “Well, uh, this is sorta a more solo thing, so I can’t really have you tagging along.” This did nothing to mitigate the damage and, if anything, furthered it as Gallus frowned even harder. Sandbar let out a small grumble at his friend’s sadness, taken down further as he knew for a fact he was the cause of it. He leaned in to press his lips against Gallus’ forehead, holding him closer for a moment before pulling back once again to look his Griffon deep in the eyes. “I don’t know how long I’ll take, but I should be done by four. Aaaaaand after that we can go have our date.” Despite the wide grin spreading across his face, Gallus had a need for specificity. “Are we going on a date, or a ‘date’?” He asked, including heavy air-quotes with his claws. This question was all Gallus needed to disarm Sandbar, who reeled back gently as he breathed out a sigh between his teeth. “Alright, a ‘date.” He repeated, copying Gallus’ air-quotes as he did. “I mean, I really wanna spend time with you, but, you know…” “I know, I know.” Gallus sighed. Now it was his turn to feel bad for what he said, or at least implied. He cradled Sandbar gently, moving slightly to run a claw through his soft and luscious green mane. “Listen, I’m cool with going on all these ‘dates’ with you, but, you know, we’re gonna have to be more open about this stuff eventually.” Noting that Sandbar’s expression had taken a turn for the anxious, Gallus then ever so softly nuzzled Sandbar’s face. “Eventually I wanna come out, but tonight I’m cool with a free dinner and a night hanging out with my favorite pony.” Sandbar smiled, but there was at least a small underlying bit of anxiety still hanging around. He almost spoke what it was he was thinking, but almost immediately did Gallus’ words finally click and his face fell into a playful pout. “Heeeey, who said you’d be getting a free dinner?” He asked as Gallus giggled playfully. Sandbar rolled his eyes, stifling his own laughter as he looked over to the mostly smashed alarm clock yet again. “Uuuugh, alright. I think we’ve been cuddling for a little too long.” He said as he very very tenderly moved Gallus’ arms out from around him and wiggled his way to the edge of the bed. “I’ve really gotta go, but meet me at the park around fourish so we can go on that date.” “Special place?” Gallus asked as he rolled over to nuzzle his beak against Sandbar’s side. “Special place.” Sandbar responded with a gentle grin, then stood up from the bed. He took a moment to stretch yet again, then he leaned down to give Gallus yet another kiss, though this one deeper and more caring. “Love you, Gally.” He said as his smile grew everwider. Gallus rolled his eyes, though with an equally large smile. “Yeah, whatever. Go have your fun and let me finish my nap. I’ve only got,” he took but a moment to look to his destroyed alarm clock and groaned once he realized what time it was, “Two hours.” He flopped back onto the bed with a huff, and shut his eyes. He didn’t know how Sandbar reacted to that, but knew that once he’d heard the door open and shut he had gone without a word. Gallus opened his eyes with a heavy sigh, now finally alone with his thoughts again. For a moment he tried to follow through with his plan, holding a pillow to his chest in order to replace the pony he’d shooed away moments earlier, but he realized very quickly that the thoughts he was trying to block out not too long ago were already creeping back in. He managed to last about a full minute of loud silence before throwing himself out of his bed, shaking his head as he looked towards the door. He wasn’t nearly tired enough to force himself to sleep, and any attempts at taking one of his usual naps were going to be foiled entirely by his own anxieties. Gallus knew for a fact that he needed a distraction, but as his favorite distraction left to do whatever he needed to and his other friends AWOL, he was left with no choice but to take extreme measures. He needed a Pinkie. Chapter 2Gallus slowly trudged through the hallways of the School of Friendship, finding them mostly empty as he took his time in getting to Pinkie Pie’s classroom, something he was eternally grateful for. As much as he wanted to kill two hours quickly, he had no clue if or how he would be able to deal with Social Interaction with his peers. Thankfully, his general aloofness and the cold, but not malicious stare that he’d perfected in Griffonstone, out of pure necessity, was useful for the few ponies he did pass. Normally it took him a few minutes to make it to get across the campus to Pinkie’s classroom, but at the slow pace he was walking and the scenic route he was taking, it took him more like 20 minutes to just make it to the door. Once there, he rapped his claws loudly against the wooden door and waited patiently for Pinkie to let him in, or tell him to go away if she was busy. Hopefully not that second one, however. He was as patient as any teenage griffon was, at least. Which meant that, in under a minute, he was back to knocking even louder on the door and continuing to knock loudly for much longer than he did before. If Pinkie didn’t want to answer her door in a timely fashion, Gallus was intent on making her suffer for it. Gallus suffered moments later, his right claw aching from the hammering he was doing on the door. He shook it off with a grimace and a sigh, rolling his eyes as he looked to the door with a small amount of anger while wondering why he still was out here and Pinkie was in there. He attempted to peer into the window on the door to see what he may have been interrupting, realizing this probably should have been his first plan of action as his vision was blocked by a paper: Dear My Favorite Creatures and Students (you’re all my favorites don’t worry) Hiya! Bet you’re all wondering why my classroom is all Dark and stuff today. Gonna be at Sugarcube Corner ALL day today, so don’t bother knocking or you’ll probably just gonna hurt your little hoofsies. or clawsies. You’re welcome to stop by and see me, but i’ll probably waaaaaay too busy to help with whatever you need help with. Love, Pinkamena Diane Pie, PhD Gallus rolled his eyes with a sigh. “Damn, it’s a shame that I can’t read.” He muttered under his breath as he read, reread, and read the note a third time for good measure. He felt, in that moment, that he was up some form of creek without a boat or paddle. One of the only creatures available to try and bring any form of levity to his situation was now just as unavailable as the rest of them. “Well, that could certainly be a problem.” Came a haughty voice from behind Gallus, yet again scaring him out of his fur. As he turned around to see who had interrupted him this time, a blue mare smiled back at him. “Perhaps Trixie could speak to someone about scheduling you some tutoring.” “Ms. Trixie!” Gallus squawked as he spun around to fully face the newest member of the school’s faculty. He chuckled nervously as he tried to just sidestep his previous comment, scratching be back of his neck with an awkward grin and blush crossing his face. “Haha, what brings you here ma’am? Doctor Professor Pinkie isn’t in her classroom today.” “I’m well aware of that, but thankfully she’s not the one I’m looking for.” Trixie said as she rummaged through her cape for a moment. She spent the next few seconds slowly pulling out a cardboard mailing tube from seemingly nowhere, to which Gallus questioned if it was a pony thing or a magician thing that she was able to do it. “This was left for you in the office today.” Trixie continued as she hoofed the tube over to the griffon, who took it almost immediately. “Gabby says hello, by the way. She couldn’t stay long.” As Gallus began to inspect, he was surprised to learn that it was from Gilda instead of Gabby or Grampa Gruff like he’d expected. He reached to open the package, but was suddenly paralyzed with fear of what may lay inside the mysterious tube. Were it Gabby, he knew he’d be getting postcards from places she visited on her job (which he was still meaning to stick to a corkboard he had yet to purchase). If it were Gruff, he’d have already thrown the tube away for fear of it being explosive. Gilda, however, was a bit of a mystery when it came to gifts. It could range anywhere from a harmless prank, like his sixth birthday present of a box of itching powder (that was promptly “spilled” onto his own bed), or something more malicious like his seventh and last birthday. Gallus shuddered as he tapped the cap of the tube, deciding to open it later lest he spend the rest of the night crying like both prior incidents. Instead, he just shot Trixie a grimace and slung the tube over his shoulder, hoping whatever was inside it would stay inside for now. “I’m, uh, I think I’m gonna open this later.” He said softly. As she saw the look of dread cross his face, Trixie grimaced all the same. She gestured a hoof towards Gallus in a way that lacked her usual dramatic flair. “Well, Trixie supposes that she was looking for you for another reason as well. Would you be so kind as to join me in my office? This may not be the best place to talk.” Looking around to the hallways that were slowly growing a little more busy as the day grew later, Gallus couldn’t help but agree with his counselor. Especially when he figured that it was a statement, not a question. “Oh, uh, sure!” He chirped as Trixie stared at him expectantly. From the smile that crossed her face, he knew that he’d made the right choice this time. In her eyes, at least. “Good! Now follow. Trixie’s office isn’t too far away.” With this, Trixie whipped around with an extravagant flourish of her cape, small sparks going off as she began her journey without waiting for her young ward. Knowing that it was either Getting RealTM with Trixie or dealing with whatever was going on with Sugarcube Corner, it wasn’t a very hard decision for Gallus to follow along behind his new counselor. At least this way he could pass a few hours without getting frosting in his wings. Again. Gallus wasn’t quite sure what he expected when it came to Trixie’s office, but was immediately taken aback by the chaotic array of furnishing that greeted him as Trixie invited him within. The first thing that he saw was just the absolute clutter of the room, with boxes and chests strewn about that Gallus was sure were packed to the brim with props Trixie used in her shows. On top of many of these trunks were, Gallus assumed, whatever she couldn’t fit, or what she found the most use in. As Gallus reached to grab a strange, larger looking deck of cards that balanced precariously on the top of a fairly sizable pile, he found his claw gently smacked away by Trixie. “No touching.” She said sternly, grabbing the deck box in her magic and pulling it away. “Unless, perhaps, you’re interested in learning how to properly use them? Trixie is always open to apprentices, interns, or Magicians-In-Training.” While Gallus was unsure of what she meant by proper use, he still found himself intrigued at the prospect of learning what it meant. Anything to get an edge on Silverstream’s card-shark attitude whenever a game of chance popped up. But there was still another matter at hand to deal with, as much as he didn’t want to deal with it. “Maybe sometime later, Ms. Trixie.” He told her, scratching the back of his neck as he did so. “I’m pretty sure you didn’t call me in here just for magic lessons.” Trixie’s face fell slightly as she was reminded just of what they were there to do, and she sighed as she placed the deck right back where it belonged. “Right. Please have a seat.” She gestured towards her desk at the other side of the room, then moved to sit down behind it. While she spent a few moments to rearrange the contents of her desk, shoving a few less-than-breakable objects off to make room for her needs, Gallus scoured the room for a chair to sit in. While there were many things that seemed like they could act as chairs, including the trunks closest to her desk which seemed to have been cleared off, but he was suddenly severely unsure if he’d be allowed to rest atop one. He may have been a Cool Kid, but he still had respect for others’ property. As he danced around the room a small bit, Trixie looked at him strangely before spying the large amount of handkerchiefs and chains sitting in a pile in front of her. “Oh, right.” She said softly before lighting her horn and, with a bit of a struggle, lifting the props to throw in one of the empty trunks beside her desk. “Trixie was practicing a few tricks before leaving to find you, and simply forgot to clean up.” She explained as she used her magic to readjust and lightly dust the poor mismatched chairs that were trapped under stage-magic decor. Gallus frowned as he was yet again gestured to sit, this time being forced to choose between the low-sitting beanbag chair on his left or the uncomfortable looking metal dining chair on his right. Ultimately he decided on the right, but only so he could maintain eye contact with his guidance counselor. He still managed to regret it an instant after sitting. It hurt almost immediately, and no amount of shifting could make it any better. Trixie hoofed through the surprisingly thin file she had on Gallus, making note of a few bits in the ‘Disciplinary Actions’ section before looking up at her student. “I suppose you are wondering why I, Trixie, brought you into my office so suddenly.” Gallus nodded along, which she took to be a gesture to continue. “Well,” she flipped back to the first page of her file to check a few bits of information, “I could either begin this with good or bad news. Which would you prefer?” It took a moment for the griffon to respond, scratching the back of his neck as he continued to shift slightly in his seat. “Uh, I guess the bad news first? Might as well end on a high note.” Trixie nodded sagely, though she still hesitated before beginning. “Well, the school has been in contact with your guardian, Mr. Gruff, but he’s either burning our letters, as they arrive, or just ignoring them outright. He’s a hard griffon to contact.” She took a moment to breathe a quick sigh, and crossed her hooves on the table as she stared across the table at Gallus. “I am truly sorry,” she started simply, “For saying what I did to your guardian. I don’t regret it one bit, but I shouldn’t have said it either way.” While very unsure if that actually constituted an actual apology, Gallus still managed a slightly warm smile. “It’s cool. It was actually pretty awesome, honestly. You’re probably the first creature ever to stand up to that old buzzard like that.” His grin grew wider as, despite his setbacks over the past few days, he was reminded that at least someone had his back around here. “Well, that still doesn’t change the fact that you don’t exactly have a representative to speak of.” Trixie said, being all it took to bring Gallus back to Equestria yet again. “The silver lining, however, is that this won’t be a problem so long as we can find a guardian to replace him. Perhaps Gilda could fill in?” Gallus rolled his eyes. “Hah, probably not. If she ever went against Gruff like that, he’d probably disown her in an instant.” He chuckled, but there was a layer of darkness to it that made both creatures slightly uncomfortable. Clearing his throat, Gallus sighed. “I’ll go see him next weekend. He’ll definitely yell at me, but I doubt he’s gonna turn me down face to face.” “He would be quite the awful grandfather were he to do so.” Trixie agreed. “However, he-” “He’s not my grandfather.” Gallus interrupted. “But you call him-” Trixie tried to continue. Before Gallus interrupted yet again, with a small tilt of his head. “What everyone else calls him. As far as I know, he and I don’t have any family relation. Not that he’d tell me, of course.” For what may have been the first time in her life, Trixie didn’t know what to say at all. Instead, she spent a few moments shuffling papers around before clearing her throat and moving to change the subject immediately. “Well as for the good news, if you’re sane enough to consider it good at least, Pinkie Pie will be entirely too busy to host a ‘birthday bash’ for you tonight. And, if you’re lucky enough, perhaps you can avoid that form of hell for another year.” Gallus tilted his head slightly, cocking a strange smirk as he looked at Trixie. “Wait, what?” He asked simply. He knew he should have been more specific, but he was just too taken aback by Trixie. Also taken aback was Trixie herself, who cleared her throat and readjusted her cape. “Well, perhaps I may be the only one to think Pinkie Pie Parties are a bit too high energy. If need be, I could ask her to reschedule a ‘surprise party’ for you.” “It’s not my birthday.” Gallus finally managed to say, only after established a confession that both parties would now have to take to the grave. Trixie blanched, briefly looking down to her papers before looking up again at Gallus. “Excuse me?” “Not my birthday.” Gallus repeated, as confused as his guidance counselor. “It won’t be mine for another…” He hesitated, counting on his claws for a moment before shrugging, “Some couple months. Did you grab the wrong file, or something?” Trixie further scrutinized the file for another minute before just sliding it over to Gallus for him to see. “This is most certainly your file, and the birthday listed,” she poked her hoof to the section in question, “Is certainly today’s date.” For a brief moment Gallus was distracted by the picture on the file which was, yes, of him. It was also the picture on his Student ID, which was taken back when he thought styling his headfeathers back was in any way a good look for him. He couldn’t help but cringe as he looked over to where Trixie was pointing and agreed that she wasn’t lying about the date. At first he was confused, but then the confusion bled into annoyance and anger. But he forced himself to take a deep breath and sigh, running a claw through his headfeathers to calm himself. “Well, at least that old buzzard got my age right,” he said softly, “but that’s definitely not the right day for me.” Trixie was quick to retrieve a fountain pen from her desk, dipping it in ink before gesturing it to Gallus. “Just give me the true date and I can have it changed for you.” For a moment, Gallus had no idea what to say. He wracked his brain for the date, but came up short with only the vague memory of it being somewhere in the latter half of the year. Maybe near the Blue Moon Festival? It would explain why everyone was meaner than usual. He still managed to keep up a slight smirk as he responded with a small, sarcastic shrug. “Just leave it. It’s fine.” He said, both parties knowing full well that it absolutely was not fine. “If he wants to get it wrong, that’s fine by me.” “Well I’ve already dipped my pen, so I’ll have to write something.” Trixie said as she gestured it more. “I would prefer if the school has accurate files on all of the students, and this will not do at all.” Gallus stood up from his seat suddenly, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow as his uncomfortability was reaching new heights. “Sorry, I’ve gotta go.” He said and, before Trixie could even respond, he rushed the door. He made it all the way to the door before he stopped and, with all the hesitation in the world, slowly spun around to face Trixie over a particularly large prop Ace of Diamonds. “I, uh, could we do this again?” He asked, scratching the back of his neck with an awkward half-smile. “With Gruff sorta abandoning me for now, I’ll definitely need some guidance, and uh…” He then wordlessly gestured to his one and only guidance counselor, Trixie. Taking no longer than a moment to pull out the purple planner she’d been gifted by Starlight, Trixie looked closely over the meetings she had scheduled for the coming month. Even knowing that she’d find nothing, she still searched for a few seconds before her eyes landed on a date she felt worked. “How does next Saturday work for you? We could start our work in finding you a new caretaker, or just talk if you’d prefer.” “That works!” Gallus chirped as his half-smile grew into a full one finally. Though he managed to pull himself back from full excitement a few minutes later, blushing softly. “Well, uh, it’s gonna have to be early, because I think Sandbar is gearing up to start a new O&O game that same day.” “Well, just be at my office at 9 AM, and I’m sure it won’t take long enough for you to miss your game.” Trixie said as she finally used her inked pen to jot the appointment down, leaving no room for Gallus to reschedule any further. Gallus sighed softly, but shrugged all the same. “I guess I’ll see you then, Ms. Trixie.” He hesitated again, waiting just in case there was anything left for either to say. It was very awkward for the both of them. Gallus cleared his throat, then very swiftly opened the door behind him and fled the scene before it could get any worse, shouting a quick “Have a good day,” as he did so. As Gallus left Trixie’s office he finally felt himself relax for the first time in what felt like years, but was probably more like days or even hours. For once, he felt like people were taking care of him and having his best interests at heart. And all he needed to do was get rid of his Sole Caretaker for the past 16 years. With the slightest bit of a jaunt in his step, Gallus smiled to himself as he made his way to the school’s main entrance. While he didn’t exactly interact with the ponies he passed on the way, Trixie having drained his Social Bar already, he didn’t scowl and glare at them either. He just nodded pleasantly and waved at what few ponies he knew the name of. Once at the school’s main hall, he took a short glance at the School Crest that doubled as a clock and suddenly found that his conversation with Trixie had killed a considerable amount of time. He only had 30 minutes left until his appointment with Sandbar, which meant he had 35 minutes to kill so that he could be fashionably late like usual. With a soft sigh that trailed itself into a loud yawn, the sky-blue griffon resigned himself to getting something to drink and seeing what else he could do to distract himself before his date with Sandbar. While the thought of the date sent a pang of anxiety through his heart, he couldn’t even try to hide the smile on his face. Chapter 3After procuring himself some coffee from the only Non-Sugarcube-Corner coffee shop in town, Gallus slowly sipped his drink, with the usual one cream and five sugars, as he meandered through the town. He briefly considered stopping by Sugarcube Corner just in case Pinkie could talk to him for a short amount of time, but after seeing the line stretching from the door to Town Hall, he thought better of it. Instead he found himself wandering to Ponyville’s beloved town park about five minutes earlier than he was meaning to. Almost as if it was a force of habit, he gently hummed to himself while slowly walking to a normally uninhabited corner of the surprisingly large park. He passed Lyra Heartstrings on his way over to where he was going and, in a move of MLM/WLW solidarity, nodded knowingly in her direction. They shared a moment as she nodded back, and with that Gallus was on his way yet again. After walking to the farthest corner of the park, well past where anyone was trotting about, Gallus rounded the corner at a wall that most would assume signalled the end of the park as it was. This griffon, however, knew much better than that. He swore softly to himself as the growling foliage on the path he took meant much more thorns and vines that threatened to scratch him up or trip him. But he was well aware that the threatened danger, or the real scratches his hindlegs were suffering from, was well worth it. To match the dense foliage he had just forced himself through, the area he now found himself in was just as equally untouched. It was so far out of the way that Gallus had absolute faith that he had no fear of being spotted, much less interrupted, in doing whatever it was he or Sandbar wanted to get up to. But Gallus wasn’t too concerned about that, as it was only important to him in that it was important to Sandbar. What he was more focused on was the sizable wooden structure on the very edge of this well-ignored space. Finally he had arrived to their special place, and only a few minutes earlier than planned. The gazebo was fairly dilapidated, especially when compared to the other amenities that existed closer to the entrance to the park. As Gallus walked towards it, a smirk growing on his face, he figured that the brunt of creatures that had come out this far in the past year were only there with malicious intent in mind. His hunch was proven as he stepped up the stairs, seeing a few more carvings and graffiti markings as he did the last time he visited, though some others had been hastily scratched out just the same. And yet still, it had a form of charm to it that he couldn’t just ignore. Even as he had to ignore the numerous swears that were painted onto the seat he took. Gallus smiled gently to himself as he enjoyed the natural ambiance of the park, sipping on his now lukewarm coffee as he knew that, in a few minutes, his stallion would arrive to sweep him off his paws. So he waited. And waited. And waited even still. He had no accurate way to measure time where he was, but he was sure that, despite being earlier than usual, Sandbar was very much late at this point. He felt a pang of worry in his heart as at least five different Bad scenarios popped into his head, while also being joined by the notion that he got the time wrong and had made a fool of himself. But there was really nothing more he could do but wait. Were he to leave and search for Sandbar, he’d probably show up and either figure that Gallus had something better to do or go out to search for Gallus himself and cause the cycle to continue. And so he clutched his near-empty coffee to his chest, sapping whatever warmth he could take from it while waiting for as long as he could manage. Just when Gallus was ready to stand up and form a search party, which is to say mere minutes afterwards, he was quickly distracted by the soft sound of hooves crumnching on grass. And then the very loud sound of a pony tripping on some vines, letting out a yelp, and slamming onto the ground with the grace of an elephant. “Ow! Ow, ow… ow.” Said the pony in a voice that Gallus was immediately and intimately familiar with. Looking away from his coffee and down the path he’d come down, Gallus spotted Sandbar face down and flank up on the ground, still reeling from his sudden fall. Gallus was up within a second, flying into action as he tossed his coffee to the side in order to save his friend from his embarrassing fate. Sandbar had only begun to untie the thicker vines that had wrapped around his hooves, but his struggle was cut short as Gallus bared his talons and sliced them up without any trouble. “Guess it pays to be a griffon sometimes.” Gallus said with a smirk as he helped Sandbar back to a standing position. He closely inspected the pony for any scrapes, scratches, or bruises but found nothing. “You alright?” He asked, in order to gauge emotional or mental damage Sandbar may have also suffered. Sandbar let out a short, awkward chuckle as he hurriedly tried to brush himself off. “Yeah, yeah. I’m alright.” He said softly as he shook the remaining dirt off. He then took a small step or two back, creating a bit of distance between himself and his loved one as he shrunk a bit. “S-sorry for, um, being so late.” He said with a very forced and awkward grin, scratching the back of his neck. “I guess I got lost? This place isn’t exactly easy to find.” Gallus shot a strange stare at Sandbar, immediately breaking the distance between them to lay a claw across his forehead. “Are you sure you’re feeling alright?” He asked with a concerned smile on his face. He then gestured to the gazebo behind him. “We can take a minute before we head on our date.” While Gallus couldn’t help but smile at the word ‘date’, Sandbar flinched at the same word. “No, well, I mean…” He stammered as he looked to the gazebo and, with a hastily hidden look of horror at the structure that looked like it was 100% splinters, looked back at Gallus with a forcibly unforced grin. “Let’s just go and head on that d-date!” He paused for a moment to clear his throat. “Well, um, I do have to go grab something from the school first though.” Gallus stared for just a moment, but then gave a shrug. “Sure, let’s just make it quick. I’m kinda starving.” He said as he rubbed his stomach. He didn’t give him a chance to respond, but instead brushed past Sandbar and subtly wrapped a wing around him for just a split second. Sandbar’s face lit up with a blush, but he hurried along to lead the way dutifully. There was an air of silence between the two of them as they traveled through the park at a medium pace, maintaining a few feet apart as they did so. Whenever Gallus tried to close the gap between the two of them just a little, Sandbar always managed to slip away before he could manage to plant a smooch. While Gallus knew this was usual in more populated areas of Ponyville, there was just about no one this far from the entrance at the moment. Usually he could at least sneak a hug or two before Sandbar got too self-conscious. And so he waited until they were closer to the entrance to the park before stopping, tilting his head with a bit of a frown. “Sandbar.” He said softly. Sandbar slid to a stop, but it took him more than a few seconds to turn around with that same forced grin on his face. “What’s up, bud?” He asked, too eagerly. “Are you sure you’re alright?” Gallus asked as he looked his friend over carefully. “Usually you’re not so, uh, distant. Did I… do something wrong?” There was a beat of silence between the two of them as each inspected the other. Sandbar looked over Gallus for any signs of dishonesty, while Gallus soon after moved his attention to the few ponies that surrounded them, though were paying no attention to the conversation they were having. Nervously, very nervously, Sandbar took a step closer to Gallus. He puckered his lips as he slowly inched closer to his favorite griffon in order to give him a nice smooch. But he was stopped as a claw pressed against his lips. Looking up, Sandbar saw Gallus smirking at him. “Ocellus, if you get any closer like that, I won’t hesitate to kill your character in the next D&D session.” He said softly, not wanting to bring too much attention to their conversation. ‘Sandbar’ took a very large step back as ‘his’ face lit up with a blush. ‘He’ tried to say anything to deflect, but came up short with nothing to say for once. And then his body was suddenly enveloped by a green circle of fire, shocking even Gallus who was expecting it, and revealed instead a light blue bug pony who stood at least a foot shorter than before. Both creatures stood still and silent for a few moments, neither sure how to bridge what had just happened. Ocellus scratched a hoof against the ground, still maintaining a blush on her face as she cleared her throat. “Well, um, this is awkward.” She pointed out, the obvious having been laid out for both at last. Gallus wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be amused at this situation in front of him or annoyed at almost being tricked like this. So he settled for something in the middle, his eyes staring down Ocellus as she shuffled about, but still maintaining the barest hint of a smile. “So, where’s Sandbar then? Too busy to show up for our plans?” There was a beat, and Gallus realized that what he said had come out much more harsh than he was expecting. But he didn’t have much time to walk it back, as Ocellus shrunk slightly from his statement. “Well, uh, yes. But no. I mean, kind of?” She stammered for a few moments before she was yet again brought to silence. Not for lack of trying to voice her statement. “It’s, um, complicated.” Gallus breathed a heavy sigh, shrugging his shoulders as he tried to give off his usual attitude of not giving a damn about anything that happened. It didn’t work, as he couldn’t do anything to hide the look in his eyes. Years of being forgotten, ignored, left behind, and shunned finally became unbottled with nothing Gallus could do to stop it. “Whatever.” He said with a shake of his head. “Whatever! So what if my best friend can’t be bothered to show up for something he planned?” While he wasn’t paying attention, his hushed shouting had already begun to draw eyes to them. Though, due to Ponyville values, they tried their hardest to ignore it. Ocellus tried in vain to interrupt Gallus, but was immediately cut off as he lowered his head with a low growl. He clearly wasn’t finished, and he wasn’t going to entertain being talked over this time. “What, were you just going to replace him all night?” He asked, raising his voice yet again and drawing more eyes to the two of them. “Or were you going to just cancel on me like he’s not big enough to do himself?” Ocellus yet again tried to respond, this time at least being able to eep out a small response of: “Gallus, let me-” before being yet again stopped, this time with Gallus stomping his claws. “I just wanted a nice night with my b-... friend.” Gallus suddenly slumped, all of that fire and fury draining from him as soon as it had flooded. And as that feeling drained from him, all he could feel was a numb embarrassment at his misplaced anger at his friend. He was now very well aware of the ponies around who were now openly staring and, in his opinion at least, judging him harshly. All he could do was dip his head low and pretend both he and they didn’t exist. He wasn’t successful. Ocellus stood stock-still for quite a few moments, completely shocked at the sudden turn of events. She knew what to expect when she approached Gallus as Sandbar, a large spike of love energy, but she hadn’t expected how suddenly that well of emotion, one that could feed an entire hive and then some, could turn to what was essentially an emotional black hole. She’d never seen anything like it before, and especially not from someone like Gallus. “Gallus.” She said softly, pressing a hoof against his shoulder as her best attempt to comfort. “I really can’t tell you exactly what he’s planning, but I wasn’t supposed to replace him for very long. He just got held up in doing something, and sent me to distract you a little.” Gallus sunk lower, feeling more and more idiotic with each word from Ocellus. Especially now that it was revealed he’d raged at his Changedling friend for literally no reason this time. He grumbled under his breath for a few moments, then let out a sigh. “I’m sorry.” He muttered, quiet not due to not meaning it, but because it was as loud as he could force himself to sound. “It’s, um, alright?” Ocellus said entirely too questioningly for anyone’s taste. She looked the vulnerable griffon over for a moment before tapping a hoof against the ground. “Well, Sandbar still wanted me to lead you back to, uh, your room. You know, before we swap and you two can have your fun. Do you think you’re ready to…?” Despite all in the park having returned to their conversations once they realized it was just Teenagers Being Teenagers, Gallus could still feel eyes all over him. He continued to shrink from the imagined attention, but still managed to give the slightest of a nod. “Y-yeah, can we just get out of here?” Nodding knowingly at the flash of anxiety that sparked in her friend’s chest, Ocellus offered up a kind and warm smile to Gallus. “Okay! Let’s, um, go see Sandbar. I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you” Despite himself, Gallus smiled. Chapter 4The way back to the school wasn’t exactly the best in terms of conversation. Ocellus tried, she really did, but she only managed to get short, almost terse responses from Gallus before he clammed up completely. She knew it wasn’t his fault, as there was still a bit of a troubling energy in the air around him, but she tried her hardest to provide at least some form of levity. “So, have you had any special plans for today?” She asked as she walked alongside her friend, slowing down immensely in order to keep up with his meandering pace. Gallus gave her a strange look for a moment, tilting his head before going back to locking his eyes on the horizon and fighting any emotion from displaying itself on his face. “Nope. Just a pretty average day.” Ocellus was stunned into silence for quite a long span of seconds, expecting any form of answer but just not that one. “Oh! Okay!” She softly squeaked as she subtly increased her speed and hoped Gallus would follow suit. He did, and they were at least moving towards the school at a reasonable pace. “No special plans with Sandbar then?” Ocellus continued, wanting to poke for more information while she still could. Gallus simply shook his head, though he was very slowly beginning to warm up to interaction again. “Nah, Sandbar just owes me a dinner, and I’m finally gonna cash in.” He gave a casual shrug as he tried to loosen up a little. “He promised he’d take me to that new burger place in town so I can finally get some good meat around here.” Ocellus wasn’t sure if she should put on a forced smile to be happy for her griffon friend, or to turn green from the mention of eating meat. She settled on both, with little to do about how sick it made her feel. Thankfully she was able to hide the brunt of her sickness as they finally approached the School of Friendship, Gallus finally finishing the complete circle he’d formed his day around. He probably could have just stayed home and saved himself the trouble, but here he was. As they entered the school, Gallus stumbled off to the left to enter the Students’ Wing almost on instinct, wanting to just retire for the night and perhaps attempt to try a date on a less troubling day for him. It took a gentle, almost imperceptible tap on his side to remind him that he was with company. “Could you, uh, follow me for a second?” Ocellus asked as Gallus looked down at her. She froze for a few moments, as she tried to figure out how to ask him this without laying her hand on the table completely. “I need to show you something.” She explained after the pause. Nailed it. While all Gallus wanted to do was collapse underneath some warm blankets and nest a little bit, he couldn’t fight the fact that he now owed Ocellus for what he’d done in the park. As such, he absolutely felt inclined, if not forced, to humor her for whatever she might have wanted. “Uh, sure.” He said, giving a short shrug before running a claw through his head feathers. “Do you mind if we make it quick though? I still wanna catch up on a nap before Sandy comes and gets me.” As much as he tried, he couldn’t force a yawn to provide proof. As tired as he was, the coffee and the anxiety had only served to make him the awful, jittery kind of tired instead. “We’ll see what happens.” Ocellus said in an innocently ominous way. She then wandered off to the other side of the hall and entered the wing of the school that had the classrooms. Curious, Gallus scrambled to follow behind with a quizzical look on his face. “Wai-wait, where are we even going?” He asked as Ocellus lead him down the hallways at a decently paced rate. “Patience, Gallus.” Ocellus continued to explain without explaining. “We’re almost there anyway.” As they traveled, Gallus was suddenly well-aware of where they were going. He’d made this trip just a few hours ago, though these exact same hallways. Gallus slowed down slightly. “Hey, wait. Pinkie isn’t in her room right now.” He explained. “We should probably just head back.” “Oh I know.” Ocellus said without even slowing down. Gallus couldn’t do much else but follow her as they approached the classroom he had started his journey at. There was literally no room for response, as they were only a few hoofsteps away from the destination. Ocellus approached the door and, completely disregarding the coded note that Pinkie Pie had slaved over writing, gave the door a very specific knock. Knock-knock. Knock. Knock-knock-knock. Following the lack of response seconds later, Gallus opened his mouth to yet again suggest they just turn back. But any whiny, teenage sarcasm he could have thrown at his buggy friend died in his throat as the door slowly, ominously, creaked open. Ocellus entered the dark classroom without a problem, leaving Gallus to witness his friend sinking into the darkness without anything to really do about it. Fun fact about Griffon anatomy vs Changeling anatomy. Changelings, having evolved to spend most of their time skulking through the night or in caves, developed a very useful form of nightvision to cope with this. Griffons did not. As such, Ocellus knew exactly what she was walking into, but Gallus was entering blind. And enter he did, dipping low to the ground as he squinted, trying to peer through the darkness with eyes more used to farsight, not darksight. There was a beat of silence. Not even a sound from Ocellus as the door slowly slid closed behind Gallus. And then all the lights in the room flicked on, blinding Gallus. An attack! Gripping the poster tube he’d forgotten he was even carrying as some sort of makeshift weapon, he prepared for whatever was to come next. “Surprise!” Came the loud chorus of female voices, all of which Gallus recognized. Though he still nearly jumped out of his fur despite that. Still blind, he couldn’t exactly parse what was happening despite the sense of vague recognition he had. There was a small silence, followed by the very distinct sound of women laughing at Gallus’ expense. It happens more often than you’d think. Blinking the bright light out of his eyes finally, Gallus was welcomed by the image of his four female friends laughing in his direction. Smolder was the most open about it, the orange dragon near doubling over with laughter as she pointed very openly and guffawed at the still shocked griffon. Silverstream and Ocellus snickered gently, but still maintained a small amount of worry for their friend. Standing closest to the door and being the one who turned on the lights, Ocellus was a bit apologetic. And then she remembered what had happened at the park, and continued her laughter anew. Yona was the first to approach the stunned Gallus, giving him a questioning look as she did so. “Why griffon friend scared?” She asked as she placed a hoof harshly against his back, lifting him up and straightening him out in everything but sexuality with her pure strength. “Yona work so hard on party, why not celebrate?” Party? Gallus looked around curiously now that he was finally able to see the room in full detail. While always festive due to the nature of the resident, Pinkie Pie’s classroom was dressed in an almost, if not certainly offensive amount of decorations this time. The usual amount of balloons floated along the ceiling, still not having depleted their helium since Pinkie blew them up at the start of the year, but were now joined by multiple failed balloons that bounced along the floor. Not to be deterred, Silverstream continued to blow them up and wonder why they didn’t float like when Pinkie did it. Silverstream had not yet learned how to produce helium with her lungs like Pinkie had. The rest of the room continued to be festive while the occupants wondered if that was even an option yet. Streamers and lovingly painted banners hung across the walls speaking platitudes about birthdays and parties. While Gallus was still confused, he was beginning to come around to the truth. Said truth was quite literally spelled out for him by the main banner, the biggest of the bunch, that read: HAPpy BIRTHDAYGallus! This large banner hung above a long table that, while not full, had quite a few snacks stacked onto one side and on the other lay five or so presents of varying sizes. The girls, minus Yona, all looked nervously at Gallus, all at once wondering if there was a reason that none knew about his birthday until just that day. Gallus also looked nervously at the girls, wondering if he should explain the truth and what happened. In a day full of them, another awkward silence broke out. Thankfully easily interrupted by the slamming open of the door to the classroom, nearly hitting Gallus as whomever deemed themselves so important to interrupt this interaction entered. Gallus took a few steps to the side, then spun around to take a look at the intruder. While their top half was blocked by a large pile of a variety of sweets and cake they held in one hoof, Gallus recognized the lower half as his sweet cuddlebuddy, Sandbar. Even still, he inspected Ocellus very carefully in order to make sure he wasn’t getting tricked yet again. “Sorry, sorry, sorry.” Sandbar squeaked out as he made a beeline for the party table, not even noticing as he nearly knocked over Gallus and was knocked over by Yona as he brushed past. “I had no clue the line was gonna be so long, and apparently ponies around here don’t like line cutting.” Sandbar explained as he laid out his foodstuffs along the table, shaking his head as he did so. “So I was shoved to the back of the line… a few times. Hope I didn’t miss too much.” As Sandbar turned around he saw the five of his friends standing awkwardly in the center of the room, all an uncomfortable distance apart as they waited for someone else to make a move. More than anything, he saw that Gallus and Ocellus were present. In response, he let out a soft chuckle joined by a calm smile. “Huh, guess I’m a little later than I thought.” Cutting through the tension in the room, Sandbar casually approached Gallus and placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Surprise! Happy birthday, bud.” He said before scratching the back of his neck with a hoof. “Uh, sorry about all the cloak-and-dagger stuff I’ve been pulling recently. We weren’t sure if you even wanted something like this, but we wanted to do something special.” “Yeah, I figured you’d hate it.” Smolder said as she approached. She moved to offer Gallus a claw-bump, but simply tapped it against his shoulder when ignored. “I mean, I figure there’s a reason we only heard it’s your birthday today. Figured someone woulda told us earlier.” She pointed a claw towards Sandbar, who rolled his eyes. Silverstream nodded in agreement, but still shrugged with a grin. “But who hates their birthday?” She too moved to near Gallus, wrapping her arms around her birdy brethren for a hug as gentle as she could manage. “Gally probably just got way too busy and forgot. Right Gally?” Gallus was appreciative, but still uncomfortable. In this moment he felt the urge to tell everyone the truth about when the date of his birth may or may not be, but he was quickly interrupted by Yona clomping a hoof down on his back. “Yona understand Gallus completely.” She told Gallus. For a moment he was hopeful the lie he wasn’t telling would be seen through and he’d be let off the hook. “Griffon Friend simply not want to make big deal of birthing day.” She concluded. Finally, Ocellus skittered up from behind to box Gallus in completely. “But we were all still hoping you’d humor us for a bit, even if you aren’t really the kind of creature for birthdays.” She shot him a hopeful smile, but moved aside to free the door as an opportunity of egress. The windows of the room were safe yet again. Gallus already knew he couldn’t say no to this considering all the work they’d put into planning. Even if it wasn’t his birthday, as far as he knew at least, did he really have to tell them that? He was especially dissuaded from protests as he turned back to his front to Sandbar basically beaming at him. There was absolutely no way he could fight back against a face like that. So he simply huffed and rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t resist a small smile. “Alright, fine. Let’s-” Instead of being allowed to finish his statement, Gallus interrupted himself as he felt five sets of appendages wrap around him as his friends all hugged him and let out a loud cheer. “Happy birthday Gallus!” They all cheered in unison, though Sandbar still somehow ended the cheer a little later than the rest. Also late was the ending of his hug. While the rest of their friends removed themselves from Gallus a few moments after the birthday wishes, Sandbar lingered for at least a half second longer. Not explicitly noticeable to anyone who wasn’t looking for it or knew about the relationship, but those in the room who were or did were very aware of what was really going on. Once Sandbar pulled back, he blushed and managed to resist the urge to nuzzle the cute face of his birdy best friend as he was so used to at this point. Not while everyone was around. To prevent any further loving, at least until they were more alone, he took a very large step back. “So, are you ready to start?” He asked Gallus with a smile. Gallus hummed softly as he spent the next few moments in thought. He then turned to the rest of his friends one by one, shooting each of the four of them a Look. “Uh, could you guys give us a second? I’ve gotta talk to Sandy alone.” He emphasized the last word, and immediately Yona and Ocellus gave him a knowing nod. While Smolder and Silverstream exchanged strange and questioning looks with their more knowledgeable compatriots, they offered no resistance as they began to leave the room. “We’ll come and get you when we’re done.” Sandbar assured. He may have smiled as they left, but after the door shut and Gallus pulled the window blinds down, he couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. “So, uh, what did you need to talk about?” Gallus said nothing, instead taking a few steps back and leaning down while shooting Sandbar a mischievous smirk. Knowing this look very well, Sandbar took a step back and shook his head. “C’mon Gally, we can’t do this here. They’re right outside and you’re gonna make them come back.” Unperturbed by the protests of his target, Gallus only sunk his front half lower. Once Sandbar noticed Gallus’ tail thrashing about as his rear wriggled, he knew he was done for. He tried to abscond by shuffling back as quickly as possible, but it wall all for naught. Gallus pounced. Springing off of his powerful hindlegs, Gallus tackled his favorite stallion over with pinpoint accuracy and knocked him over despite his attempted escape. There was no getting away from a Griffon who wanted to snuggle. It was an immutable fact. Just like how wearing white after Winter Wrap Up was gauche, as Ms. Rarity would tell anyone who listened. Immediately as he landed on Sandbar’s now exposed belly, he wrapped his arms around the prey stallion and began to nuzzle and smooch his face in earnest. Gallus held Sandbar close as the stallion giggled, spurring quite a few giggles from Gallus as well. Even despite their shared giggling, Sandbar couldn’t help but wiggle about uncomfortably as he felt a tube of some sort pressing between their chests.“Your, uh, thing is poking me.” He squeaked. For a moment Gallus was embarrassed, mortified even, but then he remembered that he was still wearing the poster tube Gilda sent him. Pulling back from the hug and The Boy for a moment, he finally slipped it off and grimaced. Sandbar took a minute to inspect it curiously, wondering what kind of battlemat Gallus had before realizing that probably wasn’t the case. Unless it was, in which he would be so proud. “Huh, what do you got there?” Sandbar asked, gesturing to the tube. “Just something Gilda got me.” Gallus laughed nervously, unsure of whether opening it would be the right idea given the mystery contents. “Knowing her, it’s probably spring-loaded glitter or something laced with itching powder. Whatever it is, I don’t want to open it.” He shrugged softly. With the mere mention of itching powder, Sandbar began to crawl away. Especially when Gallus began to inspect it, and the cap was ominously pointed towards him. “H-hey! Watch where you’re pointing that thing.” He said as he scrambled back to a standing position and backed away even further. “Are you sure? That seems kinda mean.” “Either or that or ants.” Gallus sighed as he shook the tube gently. Finding no angry movement, he was happy that he could at least rule out ants or any other small, violent creatures. If anything, it felt like there was an actual poster in there, but he was sure that there was a catch. “I’m not sure Gilda knows how giving gifts works. She just gives me whatever hurts the most.” “Well she’s been getting those friendship lessons from Rainbow and Fluttershy, so maybe she’s getting better?” He asked, though still eyed the canister warrily. Gallus shrugged again. “Hey, maybe. Catch!” He gave no other form of warning before chucking the gift towards Sandbar. The stallion scrambled to action but, never the dexterous type, he was only able to fumble with the tube for a few moments before it clattered to the floor. The top popped open. Both stallion and catbird flinched. Following a long bout of tense staring at an immobile tube, Gallus was at least now sure that nothing was going to shoot out of it this time. However, knowing that it could still be literally anything, he was apprehensive as he leaned down to pick it back up. Upon looking inside, Gallus saw a poster. A poster tube with a poster in it. What a novel thought. Still wary and expecting much trickery, he fished it out with a claw and rolled it open in front of him, dropping the container to the side as he did so. And then he smiled, chuckling a little. “Huh, I guess she can be nice after all.” As Gallus sat down right there to inspect his gift, Sandbar circled around him with great intrigue. “Hey, what is it? Let me see!” He stopped to stand closely beside Gallus, nuzzling him slightly before he took a peak at the New Object. His face soured slightly, but he managed to hide it well. It was a movie poster that was slightly worn, making Sandbar wonder if it was an original that Gilda had stolen from a theater. It depicted a stallion and a mare framed from the midsection up as they embraced, though the stallion was filtered through a black and white filter. Both actors were C-List at best, but easily recognizable to older Equestrians at large. The mare, however, was extremely recognizable to Sandbar. Not noticing the look on his friend’s face, Gallus beamed as he looked between the poster and Sandbar. “So The Postbox is probably one of, like, ten Equestrian movies that came to Griffonstone, and Griffonstone movies are usually stupidly depressing so a romance flick like this one didn’t really get much love. I guess Gilda probably got me a ticket as a joke, but I still sat through it. And I loved it.” He explained, shaking his head with a soft, gentle laugh. “I mean, it’s totally bad, but it was great. And it’s sorta the reason I’m even in Equestria, I guess.” Sandbar shot Gallus a very very confused look as he tried to process what the bird had just said, finally tearing his eyes away from the poster as he did so. “You came to Ponyville just because of an objectively awful movie?” Gallus grumbled softly, ruffling his feathers face fell slightly. He probably should have known that it wouldn’t be taken too seriously. “I mean, obviously it wasn’t just the movie. I wanted to be out of Griffonstone as soon as possible, but this movie at least gave me a little direction.” Gallus explained further with a short sigh. “I know it’s stupid, but I saw this place that looked so safe and so different from where I lived and I wanted nothing more than to drop everything and live there instead. Maybe I could find somewhere I really belong?” A harsh silence fell over the two as Sandbar felt horrible for making fun of the birdboy’s goals. “But now I live in Ponyville, where we get attacked by monsters every other week so…” Gallus ended his half-statement with a shrug, then wrapping an arm around Sandbar and pressing his beak against his cheek. Standing up from the floor, Gallus very carefully rolled his now-prized movie poster and stored it away to where he hoped it would be kept safe. Placing it on top of a table, he proceeded to stretch his back while giving a large yawn. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road before I pass out.” Standing up alongside him, Sandbar grinned. “You’re gonna have to hold on for a while. I’ve got a one-shot set up, and it’ll probably last well into midnight.” It was now his turn to beam as he gestured towards the table he’d set up in the corner, ominously stacked full of minifigures, enough sourcebooks to choke an elephant, and Sandbar’s Stick of Character Slaying. Gallus was very intimidated, but he loved it. As Sandbar got the door to let the girls back in, Gallus was preoccupied by a bit of the poster tube he hadn’t noticed just yet. A slip of paper was taped to the tube, flapping free as one end had become undone. Curious, Gallus grabbed it and ripped it away to see very unfamiliar, scratchy claw-writing: Gallus, I feel like you sort of deserve this after breaking Gruff like you did. He’s so angry he won’t even talk to me I’m actually kind of proud I promise you’ll like it and it won’t be spiders Anyway don’t worry about Gruff. He’s a dick. If you need someone to talk to come and see me or Gabby. We’re always in your corner unless you screw up bad So don’t do that Happy Early/Late Birthday, Gilda Just as Gallus finished reading this note, he watched as his friends flooded back into the room, ready to party hard and lose some characters. There was nothing he could do to resist the smile that formed on his face and the tears that sprung to his eyes. Maybe he had found his place after all.
Chapter 1“What do I have to be proud of you for?" Grampa Gruff asked, "You’re nothing but trouble, you little punk. It’s why your parents gave up on you when they did, and why your little friends are going to do the same.” Unlike during the shouting match he’d had with Trixie, this Gruff never raised his voice beyond a harsh rasp in Gallus’ ear, taunting him as he lay in his bed. Nothing the young griff could do would hush the words that kept popping into his head as he tried to calm himself enough to sleep the afternoon away. And most probably the night as well. Much like he’d done for the past few days after the meeting. The worst part was that Gruff hadn't even said it to him. The most he got from the old griffon was a smoldering scowl and glare, a sight Gallus was all too used to, before storming off the campus in a huff. The poor boy hadn’t even done anything to deserve it this time. As he thanked Trixie for standing up for him, one of the only creatures to accomplish talking back to Gruff and live to tell the tale, he was torn. On one claw he was thankful that a creature he had barely met had went to bat for him in such a way. On the other, however, all he had left was the words he wanted to say to his former guardian and the assurance that whatever Gruff would say back wouldn't be very nice. “Hey Gally, you alright?” Came a sudden voice from elsewhere in the room. After obsessing over the voices in his head for so long, Gallus near jumped out of his skin at the sudden realness of this new one. He whipped his head to the side to stare daggers at whoever deemed it fit to interrupt him from his anxious overexamining. Once he saw a light green stallion staring at him from their shared desk, offering a gentle and passive smile, his expression softened considerably. Gallus sighed softly, rolling over on the bed so that he could look at the pony more comfortably. It wasn’t hard to forget Sandbar’s presence in their shared room due to how flighty his friend- friends, really- had been in the past few days, but it was certainly exacerbated by how he was silently scribbling in his notebook as he had his own panic attack, but over planning their D&D campaign last-minute instead. Either way, the comfort of sharing this moment with his maybe-boyfriend, they hadn’t really been able to decide the specifics just yet, was enough to settle him slightly. “‘M fine, Sandy.” Gallus muttered, draping himself gently along his bed as he let out a slight groan. “Just thinking about stuff. Nothing too big.” He wasn’t the most convincing as he spoke, but he was satisfied with his lie as he saw Sandbar nod. But then Sandbar stood up from his seat, stretching largely as he did and squeaking as his bones noisily reminded him that he was sitting in that uncomfortable seat for far too long. Gallus was apprehensive as the pony approached his bed and regarded his prone form, but was settled yet again as he saw Sandbar’s loving grin. “C’mon, scoot over. I need to take a break.” Sandbar said softly, gently prodding Gallus with his hoof. With a shared smile, Gallus relented his place and wiggled over to make room, which Sandbar gleefully took within the moment. As he lay alongside his cuddlebuddy, Sandbar wasted no time in wrapping a hoof around his favorite griffon, gently kissing his beak as he did. They shared a tender moment, Gallus wrapping an arm around Sandbar and nuzzling gently into the fluff of his neck, sighing happily. Sandbar fought back by wiggling ever so slightly closer to his friend-with-benefits, those benefits being kisses and cuddles, and planting yet another kiss along his cheek. And yet that moment had to end at some point, and that end was signaled as Sandbar grimaced slightly. “Hey so, don’t be mad, but I asked Ms. Trixie about what’s been bothering you the past few days,” he preempted whatever response Gallus was going to show in response by tightening his grip around him somewhat, then continued, “Just ‘cause, you know, I’m worried about you.” To his credit, Gallus didn’t show much of a reaction at all. Beyond a gentle frown and burying his face even deeper into Sandbar’s neck, he offered no fight to change the topic at hand, as much as everything in his body told him to. Maybe it had something to do with Sandbar’s worry, but he managed to stay calm. “It’s fine, Sandbar.” He said softly, pulling back just a bit to look the earth pony in the eyes, cocking a forced grin as he did. “So what if that old bird doesn’t wanna back my enrolment here? I’m just worried about the poor griff who’s gotta replace him.” He chuckled with an amount of bravado that he wasn’t quite sure how he could manage as he didn’t lie, but absolutely wasn’t telling much of a truth. Sandbar’s eyes widened just a bit at that, chuckling along with Gallus as he pulled the griffon right back to where he wanted him: pressed against his chest in a loving snuggle. “Hah, wow. Ms. Trixie didn’t tell me he just plain gave up on you! Damn, what’d you say to make that happen?” Thankfully for Gallus, his position against Sandbar’s chest made it hard to make out the scowl growing on his face. He still managed to find his laugh, however, as he tightly wrapped his arms around Sandbar to try and find any sort of comfort. “Not sure!” He said, failing to hide the sour tone to his voice. “Guess he just got tired of me being so…” Useless. No other words came to mind, as it was all Gallus could think of to describe himself. Sandbar gave his close friend a look as that sentence trailed off, and for a moment there were so many words he wanted to say to comfort, console, and reassure him. And yet when he opened his mouth, he couldn’t bring himself to say any of them. Everything he wanted to say required an amount of emotional closeness that, despite their current physical closeness, he had no idea if they’d reached yet. So instead he let out a gentle sigh, nuzzling Gallus’ headfeathers. “Heck, sorry, I didn’t, uh…” Sandbar’s words failed him yet again. He flexed his forelegs briefly, tightening the hold around Gallus as he tried to regain his composure. Before Sandbar could even manage to, however, Gallus just waved a claw to brush away the sentiment. “It’s whatever, Sandbar. I’m not too torn up about it.” He lied. “I just wanna ignore that it ever happened and deal with the repercussions when they come.” “Well, you know, if you still ever wanna talk about it…” Sandbar trailed off softly as he looked hopefully to Gallus. He was about to finish his sentiment in offering a venting location, but he was suddenly interrupted by a loud, obnoxious beeping from the desk he’d just left. Both boys jumped, though Sandbar’s surprise was more well-contained through the fact that he was well aware of what that alarm was set for and why it was going off now. He pulled back from the serene snuggling in order to slam his hoof against the top of the alarm clock, both managing to turn off the incessant beeping and also cracking the screen in the process. His Earth Pony Strength was much more powerful than he intended. “Damn it, I knew I shouldn’t have spent that long on world-building.” Sandbar said as he moved back to look at Gallus with a frown. “So, uh, bad news. I’ve gotta dip to go pick up something from town, so I think we’ve gotta cut this a little short.” While Gallus grimaced in response, he still rolled his eyes as he knew full-well this was going to happen anyway. “I don’t suppose I could tag along so we can go out for lunch too?” He asked, though there was far from any hope in his voice. Sandbar recoiled almost immediately at the suggestion, much to the visible sadness of Gallus. Switching to damage control almost immediately, the stallion cleared his throat. “Well, uh, this is sorta a more solo thing, so I can’t really have you tagging along.” This did nothing to mitigate the damage and, if anything, furthered it as Gallus frowned even harder. Sandbar let out a small grumble at his friend’s sadness, taken down further as he knew for a fact he was the cause of it. He leaned in to press his lips against Gallus’ forehead, holding him closer for a moment before pulling back once again to look his Griffon deep in the eyes. “I don’t know how long I’ll take, but I should be done by four. Aaaaaand after that we can go have our date.” Despite the wide grin spreading across his face, Gallus had a need for specificity. “Are we going on a date, or a ‘date’?” He asked, including heavy air-quotes with his claws. This question was all Gallus needed to disarm Sandbar, who reeled back gently as he breathed out a sigh between his teeth. “Alright, a ‘date.” He repeated, copying Gallus’ air-quotes as he did. “I mean, I really wanna spend time with you, but, you know…” “I know, I know.” Gallus sighed. Now it was his turn to feel bad for what he said, or at least implied. He cradled Sandbar gently, moving slightly to run a claw through his soft and luscious green mane. “Listen, I’m cool with going on all these ‘dates’ with you, but, you know, we’re gonna have to be more open about this stuff eventually.” Noting that Sandbar’s expression had taken a turn for the anxious, Gallus then ever so softly nuzzled Sandbar’s face. “Eventually I wanna come out, but tonight I’m cool with a free dinner and a night hanging out with my favorite pony.” Sandbar smiled, but there was at least a small underlying bit of anxiety still hanging around. He almost spoke what it was he was thinking, but almost immediately did Gallus’ words finally click and his face fell into a playful pout. “Heeeey, who said you’d be getting a free dinner?” He asked as Gallus giggled playfully. Sandbar rolled his eyes, stifling his own laughter as he looked over to the mostly smashed alarm clock yet again. “Uuuugh, alright. I think we’ve been cuddling for a little too long.” He said as he very very tenderly moved Gallus’ arms out from around him and wiggled his way to the edge of the bed. “I’ve really gotta go, but meet me at the park around fourish so we can go on that date.” “Special place?” Gallus asked as he rolled over to nuzzle his beak against Sandbar’s side. “Special place.” Sandbar responded with a gentle grin, then stood up from the bed. He took a moment to stretch yet again, then he leaned down to give Gallus yet another kiss, though this one deeper and more caring. “Love you, Gally.” He said as his smile grew everwider. Gallus rolled his eyes, though with an equally large smile. “Yeah, whatever. Go have your fun and let me finish my nap. I’ve only got,” he took but a moment to look to his destroyed alarm clock and groaned once he realized what time it was, “Two hours.” He flopped back onto the bed with a huff, and shut his eyes. He didn’t know how Sandbar reacted to that, but knew that once he’d heard the door open and shut he had gone without a word. Gallus opened his eyes with a heavy sigh, now finally alone with his thoughts again. For a moment he tried to follow through with his plan, holding a pillow to his chest in order to replace the pony he’d shooed away moments earlier, but he realized very quickly that the thoughts he was trying to block out not too long ago were already creeping back in. He managed to last about a full minute of loud silence before throwing himself out of his bed, shaking his head as he looked towards the door. He wasn’t nearly tired enough to force himself to sleep, and any attempts at taking one of his usual naps were going to be foiled entirely by his own anxieties. Gallus knew for a fact that he needed a distraction, but as his favorite distraction left to do whatever he needed to and his other friends AWOL, he was left with no choice but to take extreme measures. He needed a Pinkie.
Chapter 2Gallus slowly trudged through the hallways of the School of Friendship, finding them mostly empty as he took his time in getting to Pinkie Pie’s classroom, something he was eternally grateful for. As much as he wanted to kill two hours quickly, he had no clue if or how he would be able to deal with Social Interaction with his peers. Thankfully, his general aloofness and the cold, but not malicious stare that he’d perfected in Griffonstone, out of pure necessity, was useful for the few ponies he did pass. Normally it took him a few minutes to make it to get across the campus to Pinkie’s classroom, but at the slow pace he was walking and the scenic route he was taking, it took him more like 20 minutes to just make it to the door. Once there, he rapped his claws loudly against the wooden door and waited patiently for Pinkie to let him in, or tell him to go away if she was busy. Hopefully not that second one, however. He was as patient as any teenage griffon was, at least. Which meant that, in under a minute, he was back to knocking even louder on the door and continuing to knock loudly for much longer than he did before. If Pinkie didn’t want to answer her door in a timely fashion, Gallus was intent on making her suffer for it. Gallus suffered moments later, his right claw aching from the hammering he was doing on the door. He shook it off with a grimace and a sigh, rolling his eyes as he looked to the door with a small amount of anger while wondering why he still was out here and Pinkie was in there. He attempted to peer into the window on the door to see what he may have been interrupting, realizing this probably should have been his first plan of action as his vision was blocked by a paper: Dear My Favorite Creatures and Students (you’re all my favorites don’t worry) Hiya! Bet you’re all wondering why my classroom is all Dark and stuff today. Gonna be at Sugarcube Corner ALL day today, so don’t bother knocking or you’ll probably just gonna hurt your little hoofsies. or clawsies. You’re welcome to stop by and see me, but i’ll probably waaaaaay too busy to help with whatever you need help with. Love, Pinkamena Diane Pie, PhD Gallus rolled his eyes with a sigh. “Damn, it’s a shame that I can’t read.” He muttered under his breath as he read, reread, and read the note a third time for good measure. He felt, in that moment, that he was up some form of creek without a boat or paddle. One of the only creatures available to try and bring any form of levity to his situation was now just as unavailable as the rest of them. “Well, that could certainly be a problem.” Came a haughty voice from behind Gallus, yet again scaring him out of his fur. As he turned around to see who had interrupted him this time, a blue mare smiled back at him. “Perhaps Trixie could speak to someone about scheduling you some tutoring.” “Ms. Trixie!” Gallus squawked as he spun around to fully face the newest member of the school’s faculty. He chuckled nervously as he tried to just sidestep his previous comment, scratching be back of his neck with an awkward grin and blush crossing his face. “Haha, what brings you here ma’am? Doctor Professor Pinkie isn’t in her classroom today.” “I’m well aware of that, but thankfully she’s not the one I’m looking for.” Trixie said as she rummaged through her cape for a moment. She spent the next few seconds slowly pulling out a cardboard mailing tube from seemingly nowhere, to which Gallus questioned if it was a pony thing or a magician thing that she was able to do it. “This was left for you in the office today.” Trixie continued as she hoofed the tube over to the griffon, who took it almost immediately. “Gabby says hello, by the way. She couldn’t stay long.” As Gallus began to inspect, he was surprised to learn that it was from Gilda instead of Gabby or Grampa Gruff like he’d expected. He reached to open the package, but was suddenly paralyzed with fear of what may lay inside the mysterious tube. Were it Gabby, he knew he’d be getting postcards from places she visited on her job (which he was still meaning to stick to a corkboard he had yet to purchase). If it were Gruff, he’d have already thrown the tube away for fear of it being explosive. Gilda, however, was a bit of a mystery when it came to gifts. It could range anywhere from a harmless prank, like his sixth birthday present of a box of itching powder (that was promptly “spilled” onto his own bed), or something more malicious like his seventh and last birthday. Gallus shuddered as he tapped the cap of the tube, deciding to open it later lest he spend the rest of the night crying like both prior incidents. Instead, he just shot Trixie a grimace and slung the tube over his shoulder, hoping whatever was inside it would stay inside for now. “I’m, uh, I think I’m gonna open this later.” He said softly. As she saw the look of dread cross his face, Trixie grimaced all the same. She gestured a hoof towards Gallus in a way that lacked her usual dramatic flair. “Well, Trixie supposes that she was looking for you for another reason as well. Would you be so kind as to join me in my office? This may not be the best place to talk.” Looking around to the hallways that were slowly growing a little more busy as the day grew later, Gallus couldn’t help but agree with his counselor. Especially when he figured that it was a statement, not a question. “Oh, uh, sure!” He chirped as Trixie stared at him expectantly. From the smile that crossed her face, he knew that he’d made the right choice this time. In her eyes, at least. “Good! Now follow. Trixie’s office isn’t too far away.” With this, Trixie whipped around with an extravagant flourish of her cape, small sparks going off as she began her journey without waiting for her young ward. Knowing that it was either Getting RealTM with Trixie or dealing with whatever was going on with Sugarcube Corner, it wasn’t a very hard decision for Gallus to follow along behind his new counselor. At least this way he could pass a few hours without getting frosting in his wings. Again. Gallus wasn’t quite sure what he expected when it came to Trixie’s office, but was immediately taken aback by the chaotic array of furnishing that greeted him as Trixie invited him within. The first thing that he saw was just the absolute clutter of the room, with boxes and chests strewn about that Gallus was sure were packed to the brim with props Trixie used in her shows. On top of many of these trunks were, Gallus assumed, whatever she couldn’t fit, or what she found the most use in. As Gallus reached to grab a strange, larger looking deck of cards that balanced precariously on the top of a fairly sizable pile, he found his claw gently smacked away by Trixie. “No touching.” She said sternly, grabbing the deck box in her magic and pulling it away. “Unless, perhaps, you’re interested in learning how to properly use them? Trixie is always open to apprentices, interns, or Magicians-In-Training.” While Gallus was unsure of what she meant by proper use, he still found himself intrigued at the prospect of learning what it meant. Anything to get an edge on Silverstream’s card-shark attitude whenever a game of chance popped up. But there was still another matter at hand to deal with, as much as he didn’t want to deal with it. “Maybe sometime later, Ms. Trixie.” He told her, scratching the back of his neck as he did so. “I’m pretty sure you didn’t call me in here just for magic lessons.” Trixie’s face fell slightly as she was reminded just of what they were there to do, and she sighed as she placed the deck right back where it belonged. “Right. Please have a seat.” She gestured towards her desk at the other side of the room, then moved to sit down behind it. While she spent a few moments to rearrange the contents of her desk, shoving a few less-than-breakable objects off to make room for her needs, Gallus scoured the room for a chair to sit in. While there were many things that seemed like they could act as chairs, including the trunks closest to her desk which seemed to have been cleared off, but he was suddenly severely unsure if he’d be allowed to rest atop one. He may have been a Cool Kid, but he still had respect for others’ property. As he danced around the room a small bit, Trixie looked at him strangely before spying the large amount of handkerchiefs and chains sitting in a pile in front of her. “Oh, right.” She said softly before lighting her horn and, with a bit of a struggle, lifting the props to throw in one of the empty trunks beside her desk. “Trixie was practicing a few tricks before leaving to find you, and simply forgot to clean up.” She explained as she used her magic to readjust and lightly dust the poor mismatched chairs that were trapped under stage-magic decor. Gallus frowned as he was yet again gestured to sit, this time being forced to choose between the low-sitting beanbag chair on his left or the uncomfortable looking metal dining chair on his right. Ultimately he decided on the right, but only so he could maintain eye contact with his guidance counselor. He still managed to regret it an instant after sitting. It hurt almost immediately, and no amount of shifting could make it any better. Trixie hoofed through the surprisingly thin file she had on Gallus, making note of a few bits in the ‘Disciplinary Actions’ section before looking up at her student. “I suppose you are wondering why I, Trixie, brought you into my office so suddenly.” Gallus nodded along, which she took to be a gesture to continue. “Well,” she flipped back to the first page of her file to check a few bits of information, “I could either begin this with good or bad news. Which would you prefer?” It took a moment for the griffon to respond, scratching the back of his neck as he continued to shift slightly in his seat. “Uh, I guess the bad news first? Might as well end on a high note.” Trixie nodded sagely, though she still hesitated before beginning. “Well, the school has been in contact with your guardian, Mr. Gruff, but he’s either burning our letters, as they arrive, or just ignoring them outright. He’s a hard griffon to contact.” She took a moment to breathe a quick sigh, and crossed her hooves on the table as she stared across the table at Gallus. “I am truly sorry,” she started simply, “For saying what I did to your guardian. I don’t regret it one bit, but I shouldn’t have said it either way.” While very unsure if that actually constituted an actual apology, Gallus still managed a slightly warm smile. “It’s cool. It was actually pretty awesome, honestly. You’re probably the first creature ever to stand up to that old buzzard like that.” His grin grew wider as, despite his setbacks over the past few days, he was reminded that at least someone had his back around here. “Well, that still doesn’t change the fact that you don’t exactly have a representative to speak of.” Trixie said, being all it took to bring Gallus back to Equestria yet again. “The silver lining, however, is that this won’t be a problem so long as we can find a guardian to replace him. Perhaps Gilda could fill in?” Gallus rolled his eyes. “Hah, probably not. If she ever went against Gruff like that, he’d probably disown her in an instant.” He chuckled, but there was a layer of darkness to it that made both creatures slightly uncomfortable. Clearing his throat, Gallus sighed. “I’ll go see him next weekend. He’ll definitely yell at me, but I doubt he’s gonna turn me down face to face.” “He would be quite the awful grandfather were he to do so.” Trixie agreed. “However, he-” “He’s not my grandfather.” Gallus interrupted. “But you call him-” Trixie tried to continue. Before Gallus interrupted yet again, with a small tilt of his head. “What everyone else calls him. As far as I know, he and I don’t have any family relation. Not that he’d tell me, of course.” For what may have been the first time in her life, Trixie didn’t know what to say at all. Instead, she spent a few moments shuffling papers around before clearing her throat and moving to change the subject immediately. “Well as for the good news, if you’re sane enough to consider it good at least, Pinkie Pie will be entirely too busy to host a ‘birthday bash’ for you tonight. And, if you’re lucky enough, perhaps you can avoid that form of hell for another year.” Gallus tilted his head slightly, cocking a strange smirk as he looked at Trixie. “Wait, what?” He asked simply. He knew he should have been more specific, but he was just too taken aback by Trixie. Also taken aback was Trixie herself, who cleared her throat and readjusted her cape. “Well, perhaps I may be the only one to think Pinkie Pie Parties are a bit too high energy. If need be, I could ask her to reschedule a ‘surprise party’ for you.” “It’s not my birthday.” Gallus finally managed to say, only after established a confession that both parties would now have to take to the grave. Trixie blanched, briefly looking down to her papers before looking up again at Gallus. “Excuse me?” “Not my birthday.” Gallus repeated, as confused as his guidance counselor. “It won’t be mine for another…” He hesitated, counting on his claws for a moment before shrugging, “Some couple months. Did you grab the wrong file, or something?” Trixie further scrutinized the file for another minute before just sliding it over to Gallus for him to see. “This is most certainly your file, and the birthday listed,” she poked her hoof to the section in question, “Is certainly today’s date.” For a brief moment Gallus was distracted by the picture on the file which was, yes, of him. It was also the picture on his Student ID, which was taken back when he thought styling his headfeathers back was in any way a good look for him. He couldn’t help but cringe as he looked over to where Trixie was pointing and agreed that she wasn’t lying about the date. At first he was confused, but then the confusion bled into annoyance and anger. But he forced himself to take a deep breath and sigh, running a claw through his headfeathers to calm himself. “Well, at least that old buzzard got my age right,” he said softly, “but that’s definitely not the right day for me.” Trixie was quick to retrieve a fountain pen from her desk, dipping it in ink before gesturing it to Gallus. “Just give me the true date and I can have it changed for you.” For a moment, Gallus had no idea what to say. He wracked his brain for the date, but came up short with only the vague memory of it being somewhere in the latter half of the year. Maybe near the Blue Moon Festival? It would explain why everyone was meaner than usual. He still managed to keep up a slight smirk as he responded with a small, sarcastic shrug. “Just leave it. It’s fine.” He said, both parties knowing full well that it absolutely was not fine. “If he wants to get it wrong, that’s fine by me.” “Well I’ve already dipped my pen, so I’ll have to write something.” Trixie said as she gestured it more. “I would prefer if the school has accurate files on all of the students, and this will not do at all.” Gallus stood up from his seat suddenly, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow as his uncomfortability was reaching new heights. “Sorry, I’ve gotta go.” He said and, before Trixie could even respond, he rushed the door. He made it all the way to the door before he stopped and, with all the hesitation in the world, slowly spun around to face Trixie over a particularly large prop Ace of Diamonds. “I, uh, could we do this again?” He asked, scratching the back of his neck with an awkward half-smile. “With Gruff sorta abandoning me for now, I’ll definitely need some guidance, and uh…” He then wordlessly gestured to his one and only guidance counselor, Trixie. Taking no longer than a moment to pull out the purple planner she’d been gifted by Starlight, Trixie looked closely over the meetings she had scheduled for the coming month. Even knowing that she’d find nothing, she still searched for a few seconds before her eyes landed on a date she felt worked. “How does next Saturday work for you? We could start our work in finding you a new caretaker, or just talk if you’d prefer.” “That works!” Gallus chirped as his half-smile grew into a full one finally. Though he managed to pull himself back from full excitement a few minutes later, blushing softly. “Well, uh, it’s gonna have to be early, because I think Sandbar is gearing up to start a new O&O game that same day.” “Well, just be at my office at 9 AM, and I’m sure it won’t take long enough for you to miss your game.” Trixie said as she finally used her inked pen to jot the appointment down, leaving no room for Gallus to reschedule any further. Gallus sighed softly, but shrugged all the same. “I guess I’ll see you then, Ms. Trixie.” He hesitated again, waiting just in case there was anything left for either to say. It was very awkward for the both of them. Gallus cleared his throat, then very swiftly opened the door behind him and fled the scene before it could get any worse, shouting a quick “Have a good day,” as he did so. As Gallus left Trixie’s office he finally felt himself relax for the first time in what felt like years, but was probably more like days or even hours. For once, he felt like people were taking care of him and having his best interests at heart. And all he needed to do was get rid of his Sole Caretaker for the past 16 years. With the slightest bit of a jaunt in his step, Gallus smiled to himself as he made his way to the school’s main entrance. While he didn’t exactly interact with the ponies he passed on the way, Trixie having drained his Social Bar already, he didn’t scowl and glare at them either. He just nodded pleasantly and waved at what few ponies he knew the name of. Once at the school’s main hall, he took a short glance at the School Crest that doubled as a clock and suddenly found that his conversation with Trixie had killed a considerable amount of time. He only had 30 minutes left until his appointment with Sandbar, which meant he had 35 minutes to kill so that he could be fashionably late like usual. With a soft sigh that trailed itself into a loud yawn, the sky-blue griffon resigned himself to getting something to drink and seeing what else he could do to distract himself before his date with Sandbar. While the thought of the date sent a pang of anxiety through his heart, he couldn’t even try to hide the smile on his face.
Chapter 3After procuring himself some coffee from the only Non-Sugarcube-Corner coffee shop in town, Gallus slowly sipped his drink, with the usual one cream and five sugars, as he meandered through the town. He briefly considered stopping by Sugarcube Corner just in case Pinkie could talk to him for a short amount of time, but after seeing the line stretching from the door to Town Hall, he thought better of it. Instead he found himself wandering to Ponyville’s beloved town park about five minutes earlier than he was meaning to. Almost as if it was a force of habit, he gently hummed to himself while slowly walking to a normally uninhabited corner of the surprisingly large park. He passed Lyra Heartstrings on his way over to where he was going and, in a move of MLM/WLW solidarity, nodded knowingly in her direction. They shared a moment as she nodded back, and with that Gallus was on his way yet again. After walking to the farthest corner of the park, well past where anyone was trotting about, Gallus rounded the corner at a wall that most would assume signalled the end of the park as it was. This griffon, however, knew much better than that. He swore softly to himself as the growling foliage on the path he took meant much more thorns and vines that threatened to scratch him up or trip him. But he was well aware that the threatened danger, or the real scratches his hindlegs were suffering from, was well worth it. To match the dense foliage he had just forced himself through, the area he now found himself in was just as equally untouched. It was so far out of the way that Gallus had absolute faith that he had no fear of being spotted, much less interrupted, in doing whatever it was he or Sandbar wanted to get up to. But Gallus wasn’t too concerned about that, as it was only important to him in that it was important to Sandbar. What he was more focused on was the sizable wooden structure on the very edge of this well-ignored space. Finally he had arrived to their special place, and only a few minutes earlier than planned. The gazebo was fairly dilapidated, especially when compared to the other amenities that existed closer to the entrance to the park. As Gallus walked towards it, a smirk growing on his face, he figured that the brunt of creatures that had come out this far in the past year were only there with malicious intent in mind. His hunch was proven as he stepped up the stairs, seeing a few more carvings and graffiti markings as he did the last time he visited, though some others had been hastily scratched out just the same. And yet still, it had a form of charm to it that he couldn’t just ignore. Even as he had to ignore the numerous swears that were painted onto the seat he took. Gallus smiled gently to himself as he enjoyed the natural ambiance of the park, sipping on his now lukewarm coffee as he knew that, in a few minutes, his stallion would arrive to sweep him off his paws. So he waited. And waited. And waited even still. He had no accurate way to measure time where he was, but he was sure that, despite being earlier than usual, Sandbar was very much late at this point. He felt a pang of worry in his heart as at least five different Bad scenarios popped into his head, while also being joined by the notion that he got the time wrong and had made a fool of himself. But there was really nothing more he could do but wait. Were he to leave and search for Sandbar, he’d probably show up and either figure that Gallus had something better to do or go out to search for Gallus himself and cause the cycle to continue. And so he clutched his near-empty coffee to his chest, sapping whatever warmth he could take from it while waiting for as long as he could manage. Just when Gallus was ready to stand up and form a search party, which is to say mere minutes afterwards, he was quickly distracted by the soft sound of hooves crumnching on grass. And then the very loud sound of a pony tripping on some vines, letting out a yelp, and slamming onto the ground with the grace of an elephant. “Ow! Ow, ow… ow.” Said the pony in a voice that Gallus was immediately and intimately familiar with. Looking away from his coffee and down the path he’d come down, Gallus spotted Sandbar face down and flank up on the ground, still reeling from his sudden fall. Gallus was up within a second, flying into action as he tossed his coffee to the side in order to save his friend from his embarrassing fate. Sandbar had only begun to untie the thicker vines that had wrapped around his hooves, but his struggle was cut short as Gallus bared his talons and sliced them up without any trouble. “Guess it pays to be a griffon sometimes.” Gallus said with a smirk as he helped Sandbar back to a standing position. He closely inspected the pony for any scrapes, scratches, or bruises but found nothing. “You alright?” He asked, in order to gauge emotional or mental damage Sandbar may have also suffered. Sandbar let out a short, awkward chuckle as he hurriedly tried to brush himself off. “Yeah, yeah. I’m alright.” He said softly as he shook the remaining dirt off. He then took a small step or two back, creating a bit of distance between himself and his loved one as he shrunk a bit. “S-sorry for, um, being so late.” He said with a very forced and awkward grin, scratching the back of his neck. “I guess I got lost? This place isn’t exactly easy to find.” Gallus shot a strange stare at Sandbar, immediately breaking the distance between them to lay a claw across his forehead. “Are you sure you’re feeling alright?” He asked with a concerned smile on his face. He then gestured to the gazebo behind him. “We can take a minute before we head on our date.” While Gallus couldn’t help but smile at the word ‘date’, Sandbar flinched at the same word. “No, well, I mean…” He stammered as he looked to the gazebo and, with a hastily hidden look of horror at the structure that looked like it was 100% splinters, looked back at Gallus with a forcibly unforced grin. “Let’s just go and head on that d-date!” He paused for a moment to clear his throat. “Well, um, I do have to go grab something from the school first though.” Gallus stared for just a moment, but then gave a shrug. “Sure, let’s just make it quick. I’m kinda starving.” He said as he rubbed his stomach. He didn’t give him a chance to respond, but instead brushed past Sandbar and subtly wrapped a wing around him for just a split second. Sandbar’s face lit up with a blush, but he hurried along to lead the way dutifully. There was an air of silence between the two of them as they traveled through the park at a medium pace, maintaining a few feet apart as they did so. Whenever Gallus tried to close the gap between the two of them just a little, Sandbar always managed to slip away before he could manage to plant a smooch. While Gallus knew this was usual in more populated areas of Ponyville, there was just about no one this far from the entrance at the moment. Usually he could at least sneak a hug or two before Sandbar got too self-conscious. And so he waited until they were closer to the entrance to the park before stopping, tilting his head with a bit of a frown. “Sandbar.” He said softly. Sandbar slid to a stop, but it took him more than a few seconds to turn around with that same forced grin on his face. “What’s up, bud?” He asked, too eagerly. “Are you sure you’re alright?” Gallus asked as he looked his friend over carefully. “Usually you’re not so, uh, distant. Did I… do something wrong?” There was a beat of silence between the two of them as each inspected the other. Sandbar looked over Gallus for any signs of dishonesty, while Gallus soon after moved his attention to the few ponies that surrounded them, though were paying no attention to the conversation they were having. Nervously, very nervously, Sandbar took a step closer to Gallus. He puckered his lips as he slowly inched closer to his favorite griffon in order to give him a nice smooch. But he was stopped as a claw pressed against his lips. Looking up, Sandbar saw Gallus smirking at him. “Ocellus, if you get any closer like that, I won’t hesitate to kill your character in the next D&D session.” He said softly, not wanting to bring too much attention to their conversation. ‘Sandbar’ took a very large step back as ‘his’ face lit up with a blush. ‘He’ tried to say anything to deflect, but came up short with nothing to say for once. And then his body was suddenly enveloped by a green circle of fire, shocking even Gallus who was expecting it, and revealed instead a light blue bug pony who stood at least a foot shorter than before. Both creatures stood still and silent for a few moments, neither sure how to bridge what had just happened. Ocellus scratched a hoof against the ground, still maintaining a blush on her face as she cleared her throat. “Well, um, this is awkward.” She pointed out, the obvious having been laid out for both at last. Gallus wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be amused at this situation in front of him or annoyed at almost being tricked like this. So he settled for something in the middle, his eyes staring down Ocellus as she shuffled about, but still maintaining the barest hint of a smile. “So, where’s Sandbar then? Too busy to show up for our plans?” There was a beat, and Gallus realized that what he said had come out much more harsh than he was expecting. But he didn’t have much time to walk it back, as Ocellus shrunk slightly from his statement. “Well, uh, yes. But no. I mean, kind of?” She stammered for a few moments before she was yet again brought to silence. Not for lack of trying to voice her statement. “It’s, um, complicated.” Gallus breathed a heavy sigh, shrugging his shoulders as he tried to give off his usual attitude of not giving a damn about anything that happened. It didn’t work, as he couldn’t do anything to hide the look in his eyes. Years of being forgotten, ignored, left behind, and shunned finally became unbottled with nothing Gallus could do to stop it. “Whatever.” He said with a shake of his head. “Whatever! So what if my best friend can’t be bothered to show up for something he planned?” While he wasn’t paying attention, his hushed shouting had already begun to draw eyes to them. Though, due to Ponyville values, they tried their hardest to ignore it. Ocellus tried in vain to interrupt Gallus, but was immediately cut off as he lowered his head with a low growl. He clearly wasn’t finished, and he wasn’t going to entertain being talked over this time. “What, were you just going to replace him all night?” He asked, raising his voice yet again and drawing more eyes to the two of them. “Or were you going to just cancel on me like he’s not big enough to do himself?” Ocellus yet again tried to respond, this time at least being able to eep out a small response of: “Gallus, let me-” before being yet again stopped, this time with Gallus stomping his claws. “I just wanted a nice night with my b-... friend.” Gallus suddenly slumped, all of that fire and fury draining from him as soon as it had flooded. And as that feeling drained from him, all he could feel was a numb embarrassment at his misplaced anger at his friend. He was now very well aware of the ponies around who were now openly staring and, in his opinion at least, judging him harshly. All he could do was dip his head low and pretend both he and they didn’t exist. He wasn’t successful. Ocellus stood stock-still for quite a few moments, completely shocked at the sudden turn of events. She knew what to expect when she approached Gallus as Sandbar, a large spike of love energy, but she hadn’t expected how suddenly that well of emotion, one that could feed an entire hive and then some, could turn to what was essentially an emotional black hole. She’d never seen anything like it before, and especially not from someone like Gallus. “Gallus.” She said softly, pressing a hoof against his shoulder as her best attempt to comfort. “I really can’t tell you exactly what he’s planning, but I wasn’t supposed to replace him for very long. He just got held up in doing something, and sent me to distract you a little.” Gallus sunk lower, feeling more and more idiotic with each word from Ocellus. Especially now that it was revealed he’d raged at his Changedling friend for literally no reason this time. He grumbled under his breath for a few moments, then let out a sigh. “I’m sorry.” He muttered, quiet not due to not meaning it, but because it was as loud as he could force himself to sound. “It’s, um, alright?” Ocellus said entirely too questioningly for anyone’s taste. She looked the vulnerable griffon over for a moment before tapping a hoof against the ground. “Well, Sandbar still wanted me to lead you back to, uh, your room. You know, before we swap and you two can have your fun. Do you think you’re ready to…?” Despite all in the park having returned to their conversations once they realized it was just Teenagers Being Teenagers, Gallus could still feel eyes all over him. He continued to shrink from the imagined attention, but still managed to give the slightest of a nod. “Y-yeah, can we just get out of here?” Nodding knowingly at the flash of anxiety that sparked in her friend’s chest, Ocellus offered up a kind and warm smile to Gallus. “Okay! Let’s, um, go see Sandbar. I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you” Despite himself, Gallus smiled.
Chapter 4The way back to the school wasn’t exactly the best in terms of conversation. Ocellus tried, she really did, but she only managed to get short, almost terse responses from Gallus before he clammed up completely. She knew it wasn’t his fault, as there was still a bit of a troubling energy in the air around him, but she tried her hardest to provide at least some form of levity. “So, have you had any special plans for today?” She asked as she walked alongside her friend, slowing down immensely in order to keep up with his meandering pace. Gallus gave her a strange look for a moment, tilting his head before going back to locking his eyes on the horizon and fighting any emotion from displaying itself on his face. “Nope. Just a pretty average day.” Ocellus was stunned into silence for quite a long span of seconds, expecting any form of answer but just not that one. “Oh! Okay!” She softly squeaked as she subtly increased her speed and hoped Gallus would follow suit. He did, and they were at least moving towards the school at a reasonable pace. “No special plans with Sandbar then?” Ocellus continued, wanting to poke for more information while she still could. Gallus simply shook his head, though he was very slowly beginning to warm up to interaction again. “Nah, Sandbar just owes me a dinner, and I’m finally gonna cash in.” He gave a casual shrug as he tried to loosen up a little. “He promised he’d take me to that new burger place in town so I can finally get some good meat around here.” Ocellus wasn’t sure if she should put on a forced smile to be happy for her griffon friend, or to turn green from the mention of eating meat. She settled on both, with little to do about how sick it made her feel. Thankfully she was able to hide the brunt of her sickness as they finally approached the School of Friendship, Gallus finally finishing the complete circle he’d formed his day around. He probably could have just stayed home and saved himself the trouble, but here he was. As they entered the school, Gallus stumbled off to the left to enter the Students’ Wing almost on instinct, wanting to just retire for the night and perhaps attempt to try a date on a less troubling day for him. It took a gentle, almost imperceptible tap on his side to remind him that he was with company. “Could you, uh, follow me for a second?” Ocellus asked as Gallus looked down at her. She froze for a few moments, as she tried to figure out how to ask him this without laying her hand on the table completely. “I need to show you something.” She explained after the pause. Nailed it. While all Gallus wanted to do was collapse underneath some warm blankets and nest a little bit, he couldn’t fight the fact that he now owed Ocellus for what he’d done in the park. As such, he absolutely felt inclined, if not forced, to humor her for whatever she might have wanted. “Uh, sure.” He said, giving a short shrug before running a claw through his head feathers. “Do you mind if we make it quick though? I still wanna catch up on a nap before Sandy comes and gets me.” As much as he tried, he couldn’t force a yawn to provide proof. As tired as he was, the coffee and the anxiety had only served to make him the awful, jittery kind of tired instead. “We’ll see what happens.” Ocellus said in an innocently ominous way. She then wandered off to the other side of the hall and entered the wing of the school that had the classrooms. Curious, Gallus scrambled to follow behind with a quizzical look on his face. “Wai-wait, where are we even going?” He asked as Ocellus lead him down the hallways at a decently paced rate. “Patience, Gallus.” Ocellus continued to explain without explaining. “We’re almost there anyway.” As they traveled, Gallus was suddenly well-aware of where they were going. He’d made this trip just a few hours ago, though these exact same hallways. Gallus slowed down slightly. “Hey, wait. Pinkie isn’t in her room right now.” He explained. “We should probably just head back.” “Oh I know.” Ocellus said without even slowing down. Gallus couldn’t do much else but follow her as they approached the classroom he had started his journey at. There was literally no room for response, as they were only a few hoofsteps away from the destination. Ocellus approached the door and, completely disregarding the coded note that Pinkie Pie had slaved over writing, gave the door a very specific knock. Knock-knock. Knock. Knock-knock-knock. Following the lack of response seconds later, Gallus opened his mouth to yet again suggest they just turn back. But any whiny, teenage sarcasm he could have thrown at his buggy friend died in his throat as the door slowly, ominously, creaked open. Ocellus entered the dark classroom without a problem, leaving Gallus to witness his friend sinking into the darkness without anything to really do about it. Fun fact about Griffon anatomy vs Changeling anatomy. Changelings, having evolved to spend most of their time skulking through the night or in caves, developed a very useful form of nightvision to cope with this. Griffons did not. As such, Ocellus knew exactly what she was walking into, but Gallus was entering blind. And enter he did, dipping low to the ground as he squinted, trying to peer through the darkness with eyes more used to farsight, not darksight. There was a beat of silence. Not even a sound from Ocellus as the door slowly slid closed behind Gallus. And then all the lights in the room flicked on, blinding Gallus. An attack! Gripping the poster tube he’d forgotten he was even carrying as some sort of makeshift weapon, he prepared for whatever was to come next. “Surprise!” Came the loud chorus of female voices, all of which Gallus recognized. Though he still nearly jumped out of his fur despite that. Still blind, he couldn’t exactly parse what was happening despite the sense of vague recognition he had. There was a small silence, followed by the very distinct sound of women laughing at Gallus’ expense. It happens more often than you’d think. Blinking the bright light out of his eyes finally, Gallus was welcomed by the image of his four female friends laughing in his direction. Smolder was the most open about it, the orange dragon near doubling over with laughter as she pointed very openly and guffawed at the still shocked griffon. Silverstream and Ocellus snickered gently, but still maintained a small amount of worry for their friend. Standing closest to the door and being the one who turned on the lights, Ocellus was a bit apologetic. And then she remembered what had happened at the park, and continued her laughter anew. Yona was the first to approach the stunned Gallus, giving him a questioning look as she did so. “Why griffon friend scared?” She asked as she placed a hoof harshly against his back, lifting him up and straightening him out in everything but sexuality with her pure strength. “Yona work so hard on party, why not celebrate?” Party? Gallus looked around curiously now that he was finally able to see the room in full detail. While always festive due to the nature of the resident, Pinkie Pie’s classroom was dressed in an almost, if not certainly offensive amount of decorations this time. The usual amount of balloons floated along the ceiling, still not having depleted their helium since Pinkie blew them up at the start of the year, but were now joined by multiple failed balloons that bounced along the floor. Not to be deterred, Silverstream continued to blow them up and wonder why they didn’t float like when Pinkie did it. Silverstream had not yet learned how to produce helium with her lungs like Pinkie had. The rest of the room continued to be festive while the occupants wondered if that was even an option yet. Streamers and lovingly painted banners hung across the walls speaking platitudes about birthdays and parties. While Gallus was still confused, he was beginning to come around to the truth. Said truth was quite literally spelled out for him by the main banner, the biggest of the bunch, that read: HAPpy BIRTHDAYGallus! This large banner hung above a long table that, while not full, had quite a few snacks stacked onto one side and on the other lay five or so presents of varying sizes. The girls, minus Yona, all looked nervously at Gallus, all at once wondering if there was a reason that none knew about his birthday until just that day. Gallus also looked nervously at the girls, wondering if he should explain the truth and what happened. In a day full of them, another awkward silence broke out. Thankfully easily interrupted by the slamming open of the door to the classroom, nearly hitting Gallus as whomever deemed themselves so important to interrupt this interaction entered. Gallus took a few steps to the side, then spun around to take a look at the intruder. While their top half was blocked by a large pile of a variety of sweets and cake they held in one hoof, Gallus recognized the lower half as his sweet cuddlebuddy, Sandbar. Even still, he inspected Ocellus very carefully in order to make sure he wasn’t getting tricked yet again. “Sorry, sorry, sorry.” Sandbar squeaked out as he made a beeline for the party table, not even noticing as he nearly knocked over Gallus and was knocked over by Yona as he brushed past. “I had no clue the line was gonna be so long, and apparently ponies around here don’t like line cutting.” Sandbar explained as he laid out his foodstuffs along the table, shaking his head as he did so. “So I was shoved to the back of the line… a few times. Hope I didn’t miss too much.” As Sandbar turned around he saw the five of his friends standing awkwardly in the center of the room, all an uncomfortable distance apart as they waited for someone else to make a move. More than anything, he saw that Gallus and Ocellus were present. In response, he let out a soft chuckle joined by a calm smile. “Huh, guess I’m a little later than I thought.” Cutting through the tension in the room, Sandbar casually approached Gallus and placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Surprise! Happy birthday, bud.” He said before scratching the back of his neck with a hoof. “Uh, sorry about all the cloak-and-dagger stuff I’ve been pulling recently. We weren’t sure if you even wanted something like this, but we wanted to do something special.” “Yeah, I figured you’d hate it.” Smolder said as she approached. She moved to offer Gallus a claw-bump, but simply tapped it against his shoulder when ignored. “I mean, I figure there’s a reason we only heard it’s your birthday today. Figured someone woulda told us earlier.” She pointed a claw towards Sandbar, who rolled his eyes. Silverstream nodded in agreement, but still shrugged with a grin. “But who hates their birthday?” She too moved to near Gallus, wrapping her arms around her birdy brethren for a hug as gentle as she could manage. “Gally probably just got way too busy and forgot. Right Gally?” Gallus was appreciative, but still uncomfortable. In this moment he felt the urge to tell everyone the truth about when the date of his birth may or may not be, but he was quickly interrupted by Yona clomping a hoof down on his back. “Yona understand Gallus completely.” She told Gallus. For a moment he was hopeful the lie he wasn’t telling would be seen through and he’d be let off the hook. “Griffon Friend simply not want to make big deal of birthing day.” She concluded. Finally, Ocellus skittered up from behind to box Gallus in completely. “But we were all still hoping you’d humor us for a bit, even if you aren’t really the kind of creature for birthdays.” She shot him a hopeful smile, but moved aside to free the door as an opportunity of egress. The windows of the room were safe yet again. Gallus already knew he couldn’t say no to this considering all the work they’d put into planning. Even if it wasn’t his birthday, as far as he knew at least, did he really have to tell them that? He was especially dissuaded from protests as he turned back to his front to Sandbar basically beaming at him. There was absolutely no way he could fight back against a face like that. So he simply huffed and rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t resist a small smile. “Alright, fine. Let’s-” Instead of being allowed to finish his statement, Gallus interrupted himself as he felt five sets of appendages wrap around him as his friends all hugged him and let out a loud cheer. “Happy birthday Gallus!” They all cheered in unison, though Sandbar still somehow ended the cheer a little later than the rest. Also late was the ending of his hug. While the rest of their friends removed themselves from Gallus a few moments after the birthday wishes, Sandbar lingered for at least a half second longer. Not explicitly noticeable to anyone who wasn’t looking for it or knew about the relationship, but those in the room who were or did were very aware of what was really going on. Once Sandbar pulled back, he blushed and managed to resist the urge to nuzzle the cute face of his birdy best friend as he was so used to at this point. Not while everyone was around. To prevent any further loving, at least until they were more alone, he took a very large step back. “So, are you ready to start?” He asked Gallus with a smile. Gallus hummed softly as he spent the next few moments in thought. He then turned to the rest of his friends one by one, shooting each of the four of them a Look. “Uh, could you guys give us a second? I’ve gotta talk to Sandy alone.” He emphasized the last word, and immediately Yona and Ocellus gave him a knowing nod. While Smolder and Silverstream exchanged strange and questioning looks with their more knowledgeable compatriots, they offered no resistance as they began to leave the room. “We’ll come and get you when we’re done.” Sandbar assured. He may have smiled as they left, but after the door shut and Gallus pulled the window blinds down, he couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. “So, uh, what did you need to talk about?” Gallus said nothing, instead taking a few steps back and leaning down while shooting Sandbar a mischievous smirk. Knowing this look very well, Sandbar took a step back and shook his head. “C’mon Gally, we can’t do this here. They’re right outside and you’re gonna make them come back.” Unperturbed by the protests of his target, Gallus only sunk his front half lower. Once Sandbar noticed Gallus’ tail thrashing about as his rear wriggled, he knew he was done for. He tried to abscond by shuffling back as quickly as possible, but it wall all for naught. Gallus pounced. Springing off of his powerful hindlegs, Gallus tackled his favorite stallion over with pinpoint accuracy and knocked him over despite his attempted escape. There was no getting away from a Griffon who wanted to snuggle. It was an immutable fact. Just like how wearing white after Winter Wrap Up was gauche, as Ms. Rarity would tell anyone who listened. Immediately as he landed on Sandbar’s now exposed belly, he wrapped his arms around the prey stallion and began to nuzzle and smooch his face in earnest. Gallus held Sandbar close as the stallion giggled, spurring quite a few giggles from Gallus as well. Even despite their shared giggling, Sandbar couldn’t help but wiggle about uncomfortably as he felt a tube of some sort pressing between their chests.“Your, uh, thing is poking me.” He squeaked. For a moment Gallus was embarrassed, mortified even, but then he remembered that he was still wearing the poster tube Gilda sent him. Pulling back from the hug and The Boy for a moment, he finally slipped it off and grimaced. Sandbar took a minute to inspect it curiously, wondering what kind of battlemat Gallus had before realizing that probably wasn’t the case. Unless it was, in which he would be so proud. “Huh, what do you got there?” Sandbar asked, gesturing to the tube. “Just something Gilda got me.” Gallus laughed nervously, unsure of whether opening it would be the right idea given the mystery contents. “Knowing her, it’s probably spring-loaded glitter or something laced with itching powder. Whatever it is, I don’t want to open it.” He shrugged softly. With the mere mention of itching powder, Sandbar began to crawl away. Especially when Gallus began to inspect it, and the cap was ominously pointed towards him. “H-hey! Watch where you’re pointing that thing.” He said as he scrambled back to a standing position and backed away even further. “Are you sure? That seems kinda mean.” “Either or that or ants.” Gallus sighed as he shook the tube gently. Finding no angry movement, he was happy that he could at least rule out ants or any other small, violent creatures. If anything, it felt like there was an actual poster in there, but he was sure that there was a catch. “I’m not sure Gilda knows how giving gifts works. She just gives me whatever hurts the most.” “Well she’s been getting those friendship lessons from Rainbow and Fluttershy, so maybe she’s getting better?” He asked, though still eyed the canister warrily. Gallus shrugged again. “Hey, maybe. Catch!” He gave no other form of warning before chucking the gift towards Sandbar. The stallion scrambled to action but, never the dexterous type, he was only able to fumble with the tube for a few moments before it clattered to the floor. The top popped open. Both stallion and catbird flinched. Following a long bout of tense staring at an immobile tube, Gallus was at least now sure that nothing was going to shoot out of it this time. However, knowing that it could still be literally anything, he was apprehensive as he leaned down to pick it back up. Upon looking inside, Gallus saw a poster. A poster tube with a poster in it. What a novel thought. Still wary and expecting much trickery, he fished it out with a claw and rolled it open in front of him, dropping the container to the side as he did so. And then he smiled, chuckling a little. “Huh, I guess she can be nice after all.” As Gallus sat down right there to inspect his gift, Sandbar circled around him with great intrigue. “Hey, what is it? Let me see!” He stopped to stand closely beside Gallus, nuzzling him slightly before he took a peak at the New Object. His face soured slightly, but he managed to hide it well. It was a movie poster that was slightly worn, making Sandbar wonder if it was an original that Gilda had stolen from a theater. It depicted a stallion and a mare framed from the midsection up as they embraced, though the stallion was filtered through a black and white filter. Both actors were C-List at best, but easily recognizable to older Equestrians at large. The mare, however, was extremely recognizable to Sandbar. Not noticing the look on his friend’s face, Gallus beamed as he looked between the poster and Sandbar. “So The Postbox is probably one of, like, ten Equestrian movies that came to Griffonstone, and Griffonstone movies are usually stupidly depressing so a romance flick like this one didn’t really get much love. I guess Gilda probably got me a ticket as a joke, but I still sat through it. And I loved it.” He explained, shaking his head with a soft, gentle laugh. “I mean, it’s totally bad, but it was great. And it’s sorta the reason I’m even in Equestria, I guess.” Sandbar shot Gallus a very very confused look as he tried to process what the bird had just said, finally tearing his eyes away from the poster as he did so. “You came to Ponyville just because of an objectively awful movie?” Gallus grumbled softly, ruffling his feathers face fell slightly. He probably should have known that it wouldn’t be taken too seriously. “I mean, obviously it wasn’t just the movie. I wanted to be out of Griffonstone as soon as possible, but this movie at least gave me a little direction.” Gallus explained further with a short sigh. “I know it’s stupid, but I saw this place that looked so safe and so different from where I lived and I wanted nothing more than to drop everything and live there instead. Maybe I could find somewhere I really belong?” A harsh silence fell over the two as Sandbar felt horrible for making fun of the birdboy’s goals. “But now I live in Ponyville, where we get attacked by monsters every other week so…” Gallus ended his half-statement with a shrug, then wrapping an arm around Sandbar and pressing his beak against his cheek. Standing up from the floor, Gallus very carefully rolled his now-prized movie poster and stored it away to where he hoped it would be kept safe. Placing it on top of a table, he proceeded to stretch his back while giving a large yawn. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road before I pass out.” Standing up alongside him, Sandbar grinned. “You’re gonna have to hold on for a while. I’ve got a one-shot set up, and it’ll probably last well into midnight.” It was now his turn to beam as he gestured towards the table he’d set up in the corner, ominously stacked full of minifigures, enough sourcebooks to choke an elephant, and Sandbar’s Stick of Character Slaying. Gallus was very intimidated, but he loved it. As Sandbar got the door to let the girls back in, Gallus was preoccupied by a bit of the poster tube he hadn’t noticed just yet. A slip of paper was taped to the tube, flapping free as one end had become undone. Curious, Gallus grabbed it and ripped it away to see very unfamiliar, scratchy claw-writing: Gallus, I feel like you sort of deserve this after breaking Gruff like you did. He’s so angry he won’t even talk to me I’m actually kind of proud I promise you’ll like it and it won’t be spiders Anyway don’t worry about Gruff. He’s a dick. If you need someone to talk to come and see me or Gabby. We’re always in your corner unless you screw up bad So don’t do that Happy Early/Late Birthday, Gilda Just as Gallus finished reading this note, he watched as his friends flooded back into the room, ready to party hard and lose some characters. There was nothing he could do to resist the smile that formed on his face and the tears that sprung to his eyes. Maybe he had found his place after all.
