Underneath The Sycamore

by Closer-To-The-Sun

Rating: everyone
Tags: Smolder, Sandbar, Slice of Life, Gallus, Sad, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 2840

A griffon has a chat with the stars and his parents.

"Lying in a field of glass,/Underneath the overpass,/Mangled in the shards of a mental frame,/Woken from a dream by my own name." -Death Cab For Cutie, 'Underneath The Sycamore'

Gallus sneaks out of the dorms into the night and is found by two of his friends, gazing up at the stars. To their surprise and confusion, he's been talking to his parents.

Published 2020-05-18 22:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2020-05-18 22:00:02 UTC

Underneath The Sycamore

It was late. Most of the entire town of Ponyville had retired to sleep for the night, and the School of Friendship was no different. Only a few lights dotted the campus, mostly from the lamps that illuminated the pathways. A singular figure made their way along the stone path, away from the school. Their blue fur and feathers lit up as they passed each streetlamp.

The destination they had was just on the other side of a small bridge leading out from the School of Friendship. On the bridge itself, they paused for a moment and looked over the stone wall to gaze at the town of Ponyville on the horizon. A few different thoughts went through their mind, but instead, they finished crossing the bridge and went off the path into the grass. The ground started to slope a bit, and they took care with each movement so as to not trip in the darkness. Finally, they stopped next to a tree that overlooked the town of Ponyville from it’s vantage point. It was a sycamore tree that they had stopped at a number of times before, and this would be just like the times before.

While seated under the canopy, they took a deep breath. The cold air stabbed like knives in their lungs, almost causing them to cough and curse at themselves. Nevertheless, they closed their eyes and took a few more deep breaths to calm themselves.

Opening them back up, they looked up into the almost purely clear night sky. The sky was a mixture of a deep reddish-purple amongst the black night with the various sizes of dots that were stars. And, not too far off, the moon itself was beginning to rise above the distant mountain peaks.

‘Has the moon always been that large when it was full?’ they thought to themselves as they examined all that was before them on the hill. However, they shook their head and reminded themselves of why they were out there.

Taking a deep breath and with their eyes looking up at the sky, they opened their beak to softly speak, “Hey mom, hey dad. It’s me again, Gallus.”

He had done this numerous times before, often back at his home in Griffonstone. Gallus would take some time and isolate himself to do it. It had become almost a ritual for him.

“I know it’s been a while since we last talked, more than you’d both like, I’m sure,” Gallus continued, his voice was barely above a whisper, “but a lot has happened since coming here. I’ve finally settled in. Well, settled in again since the entire school was almost destroyed yet again. Kinda funny how it keeps happening, huh?”

There was no response to his question. The only reply he received was the gentle breeze playfully pushing the tall grass around and canopy above him.

Gallus continued, “This last time was from a few crazy creatures and one of them was Cozy Glow. You remember me telling you about her? Apparently she really went full nuts after that last time. Anyway, what happened was pretty amazing. Every single creature you can imagine came together and helped fight them off. And it wasn’t even just the creatures of Equestria. Us griffons came together with dragons, and hippogriffs, and yaks, and even changelings to stop them. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen!” There was a smile on Gallus’ beak as he reminisced.

“Also, my studies have been doing pretty well,” he added with a hint of pride, “Turns out that I have a talent for strategic planning as well as when it comes to leadership, it seems. Honestly, I never really liked being in the spotlight all that much, but Ocellus and Smolder both think I have a knack for it.”

The griffon seemed like he was going to stop for a moment, almost waiting for a reply, but he continued on, “Oh, speaking of my friends, neither of you will guess what happened to Yona and Sandbar; they finally started dating! The two of them obviously had some chemistry together and the rest of us were just waiting to see what would happen. The school had this dance and Sandbar asked her as his date and….well, while the event might have gotten a bit smashed due to Yona being Yona, it was a great night with friends. Oh, and thanks to my friend Silverstream, I’m starting to get over my claustrophobia. I still have a ways to go, but it’s a start.” Gallus smiled brightly as he thought about his friends. “I really wish you could have met my friends. I know you would have loved them.”

He paused for a moment and looked at the stars above. His smile faded as he continued, “You know, mom and dad, I never really realized that the stars look different here in Ponyville than back home. I hope that means you can still hear me,” the griffon spoke with concern in his voice. His thoughts began to drift a little, “I do miss Griffonstone too….sure, it was a shabby mess in with a dead tree, but it was still home. Just like how Grandpa Gruff might have been a jerk to me growing up, he’s still the griffon who raised me.” A small chuckle left his beak as he joked, “I don’t miss Grandpa Gruff’s cooking though. I still don’t understand how he could burn cabbage on a regular basis.”

A breeze blew by Gallus, causing him to shiver. He raised his talons to his forelimbs and rubbed himself in an effort to keep himself warm. “By the way, I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I wanted to tell you this. I’m hoping to join the Equestrian Royal Guard. I know it’s not exactly something a griffon would normally do. In fact, I don’t think any non-pony has ever joined, but it’s still something I want to do. I’ve talked to Princess Twilight about it as well Headmare Starlight, and they did tell me it’s not at all easy, but I’m up for the challenge. I want to show the whole world what griffons are capable of.” Gallus paused for a moment before finishing, “And I want to make all us griffons proud.”

The leaves above Gallus rustled slightly in the wind, causing him to stop speaking. He waited, as if he was listening for a response. He knew better than to expect one, but he secretly hoped. His expression was a mixture of concern and disappointment at the lack of a reply. He spoke softly, “Mom? Dad? I hope that if you can see me, that I’m making you proud. With just about everything I’ve done, I’ve wondered about that. Ever since leaving Griffonstone, I’ve wondered if the both of you would approve. It eats at me a bit because….I’ll never know, and-”

“Gallus! There you are!” a loud voice interrupted the griffon’s words.

With his fur and feathers on end, Gallus quickly turned around. At the top of the slope, the figure of a dragon stood underneath a streetlight. Gallus could easily tell from the orange scales that it was one of his friends, and she was looking right at him.

“Sandbar, he’s over here!” the dragon called out to a pony-shaped figure further down the path, waving her claws in the air to get his attention.

“Oh, thank Celestia you found him, Smolder!” the earth pony said, trotting quickly to reunite with the dragon. The two carefully made their way down the slope toward the tree. “What are you doing out here?” Sandbar asked as they got closer.

“What am I doing out here,” Gallus repeated, still turned to look at them, “What are you two doing out here this late?” He could easily tell their features in the moonlight as they got close.

“What do you think? We’re looking for you!” Smolder said, almost with a hint of anger, but both of her friends could tell it was more due to concern.

Sandbar quickly added, “You weren’t in the dorm or anywhere else we thought you would be, so Smolder and I came out to look for you.”

“All of you came out to find me?” Gallus asked.

“Well, not exactly, no,” Smolder confessed, “I tried to wake up Silverstream, but she mumbled something about pudding and went back to sleep.”

“And you don’t want to wake a sleeping yak,” Sandbar added, “Trust me.”

Smolder brought the subject back to why they were out in the night, “But forget about that right now, what are you doing out here? We were worried sick!”

The pony nodded, “I had a feeling in my gut that Grandpa Gruff took you back to Griffonstone or something!”

“No, no, nothing like that happened,” Gallus insisted before lying, “I just….came out for a stroll.”

Smolder wasn’t buying it as she folded her claws, “Really? Just went out for a midnight stroll?”

Gallus was quiet as he turned back to look forward at the town of Ponyville on the horizon, and the lights that were there. The breeze picked up slightly.

Sandbar lowered himself next to the griffon and asked, “Gallus, are you alright, dude?”

“I came out….” Gallus started speaking, but his voice was hushed, barely enough for his friends to hear, “I came out here to have a talk, that’s all….”

This caught Smolder’s attention. Her expression eased up as she looked at her friend, “A talk? With who?”

“Mom and Dad,” he answered as his eyes looked up at the night sky.

Sandbar and Smolder exchanged silent looks to one another as they pieced together what he meant. The quick realization caused both of them to have expressions of embarrassment, guilt, and panic flash across their faces.

“Oh geez….I’m so sorry, Gallus, we didn’t mean to-” Sandbar trailed off.

“Ah, we’re so sorry!” Smolder added.

“No, it’s fine,” Gallus insisted. His words were genuine, but he still didn’t move. “It’s something I used to do all the time back home in Griffonstone. But since coming to the school, I guess I sort of fell out of practice, ya know?”

Neither Smolder or Sandbar knew how to respond.

“Heh, it feels kinda dumb saying it out loud,” the griffon said as he looked downward at the ground in front of him.

“It’s not dumb,” Smolder stated.

“If anything, it’s really sweet that you take time to do that,” Sandbar said with a warm smile.

Gallus had a faint blush in his cheeks as he sheepishly smiled at his friend’s words.

“Can you tell us about your parents?” Sandbar asked as he took a seat next to the griffon.

A slight chuckle escaped from Gallus, “You know, I can’t even really remember them. They both passed when I was really young. Ever since I can remember, Grandpa Gruff raised me and while I’m grateful and all, it doesn’t help that I still wonder about them. What doesn’t help is I know next to nothing about either of them, and it’s not like Grandpa Gruff is going to be a fountain of information on the subject. Heh, it feels weird to miss parents you barely know.” Gallus’ attempts to make light of something that was bothering him wasn’t working for either Sandbar or Smolder.

“Why haven’t you told us any of this before?” Smolder curiously asked, sitting on the opposite side of Gallus.

“Because I don’t want to bother all of you with my own problems. You already know I’m not exactly happy about going back to Griffonstone during school breaks, not to mention how Grandpa Gruff and I mix as well as oil and water,” Gallus explained. His attitude, however, became more defensive as he glared at Smolder, “Besides, how would I tell you about this? Just off-handedly in the middle of dinner with ‘oh, by the way, my parents aren’t with us anymore and Grandpa Gruff is such a horrible guardian!’. Rolls right off the tongue, doesn’t it?” His words were as bitter as they were sarcastic.

“I don’t know!” Smolder shared the defensive attitude as she threw her claws up in the air, “Maybe you could just let us know and we could help in some way?”

Gallus’ demeanor was growing more combative “How? Just how could you help?”

“By letting you talk about it,” Sandbar spoke up. “We might not be able to help with your situation, but we can at least help you get it off your chest and let you talk about it.”

The words seemed to reach Gallus as he turned to Sandbar. His attitude appeared to be far less sour as he spoke calmly and quietly, “You would listen to me?”

“Of course, you idiot,” Smolder said in a relaxed and sincere tone, “You’re our friend. Why do you think we’re out here in the middle of the night looking for you?”

Sandbar nodded as he placed a hoof on the griffon’s shoulder, “Friends help friends, even if all we can offer is an open ear and a shoulder to cry on.”

A few tears started to form in the edges of Gallus’ eyes, but he was quick to wipe them away. However, his voice didn’t let him hide what he was feeling, even if his words tried their best to be snarky, “Geez….that so corny.”

“We’re enrolled at a school for friendship, I think it comes with the territory,” the dragon joked, “but as cliché as it might sound, it’s absolutely true that’s what the best of friends do.”

“And we are your friends, Gallus. We always will be.”

The tree’s leaves rustled in the wind as the three creatures sat beneath the tree. The same breeze gently blew the grass that they sat in.

Finally, the choked up Gallus spoke, “Thank you.”

The earth pony and dragon both wrapped their limbs around Gallus. As they held the griffon, the tears returned to his eyes and began to roll down his face. All of Equestria seemed to fall away as the friends sat together in silence.

After what felt like an eternity, both Smolder and Sandbar released their hug on Gallus. Tears were still in on his face, despite him desperately trying to wipe them away and pretend they were never there.

Smolder was the first to speak, “Ready to head back to campus?”

Gallus was finally able to talk without any issue, “Almost. I was just about done here anyway.”

“Is it okay if we stay while you finish?” Sandbar asked.

“You want to stay?” Gallus asked.

Sandbar nodded, “Sure, we can be here to support you, dude.”

“Yeah, I don’t mind,” Smolder added.

Gallus smiled at both his friends before he looked back upwards to the sky. “Mom, Dad, I’d like you to meet my good friends Smolder and Sandbar.”

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintances,” Sandbar said, also looking up towards the sky.

“Happy to meet ya both,” Smolder joined in with a sincere tone.

The griffon smiled as the other two introduced themselves. “I’ll be sure to introduce you to Silverstream, Yona, and Ocellus next time, I promise,” he said, looking up. He paused for a moment before continuing, “We’re all doing fine here. Despite all that excitement that seems to keep happening, we’re all safe and classes are returning. I even managed to get a better grade on my literature exam than Smolder.” He felt a playful jab from the dragon next to him. “But all in all, things are good here, and I hope you both are doing well too….” Gallus’s words trailed off as he stopped talking to upwards for a moment and thought aloud, “I really do hope my parents would be proud of me.”

“I’m sure they would be,” Smolder insisted with a comforting smile.

“Yeah, you’re an awesome griffon,” Smolder wrapped one of her limbs around Gallus for a side hug, “and any creature who doesn’t think so obviously doesn’t know just exactly who you are.”

The earth pony added, “And even if for some dumb reason they weren’t proud of you, it wouldn’t matter, Gallus. Because we’re already proud of the griffon you are.”

A smile crept back on to Gallus’ beak, “I’m really lucky to have you all as friends.”

“You bet your bird-butt you’re lucky,” the dragon playfully said as she stood back up, “cause right now, I should be asleep.” She stretched her limbs upwards toward the branches of the sycamore tree.

Sandbar also got back up on to his hooves, “It is pretty late, dude. You coming?” Both Sandbar and Smolder started back up the slope to the stone pathway.

“Yeah, I’m coming.” Gallus said to them as he stood up and looked up to the sky one last time. With a whisper, he spoke one last time, “I love you mom and dad, and I miss you. But you don’t have to worry about how I’m doing, I have some great friends looking out for me.”

END