During her stay at Canterlot Castle, Flurry Heart had spent a tremendous amount of time with Twilight (much to the staff's dismay, no princess should be away from the throne this much in their opinion) and constantly pestered Gallus.

It was fun, but in order to get to the best part of her journey, she would have to leave the castle as well.

On the last day of summer, Flurry and Gallus boarded a train to Ponyville, both excited to be restationed in the quaint little town.

As the train pulled in, the pair quickly spotted Starlight and Sunburst, the headmare and vice headstallion of the school.

"Hey guys!" Gallus exclaimed, flying over with Flurry Heart on his back.

"Hi, Gallus! Long time no see," Starlight said, engulfing him in a hug, Sunburst doing the same right after.

"If you don't mind me asking, why is the princess–"

"She insisted on being carried this way. Apparently my 'soft coat and feathers lull her to sleep.'" The griffon did air quotes as he recited Flurry Heart's observation.

The princess then rolled off of Gallus' back and landed promptly on the ground. She then stretched, several of her limbs popping. "Wow, I was right! I slept like a foal!"

"You basically are one."

The young princess shot Gallus a look.

"I'm thirteen."

"Yeah, like I said. A foal."

Before Flurry could retort, Starlight interrupted, signifying the end of their squabble and meaning Gallus had gotten the last word.

While Gallus beamed at his technical win, the alicorn pouted.

"Okay, well now that you're awake, we should really head over to the school so you can see it! Today's registration day, so pretty much all the students are already there. We'll get you a schedule, your dorm arrangements, stuff like that," Starlight explained, already beginning to move towards the school as she spoke, forcing the princess and her guard to catch up.

As they walked deeper into Ponyville, Gallus was hit with a wave of nostalgia and familiarity, while Flurry Heart was filled with wonder.

The griffon remembered this town like the back of this wing, all the same establishments and houses with a few new stores and additions. It was more or less the same and he was glad to be back, even if he wasn't a student anymore.

As the four approached the school, Starlight had begun to prepare them both for what they would see. The school was already pretty big, but after Twilight took Celestia's role on as her own, the tree of harmony had sprouted more buildings, allowing for an even bigger school that could hold more students.

"I believe it's because the tree has a mind of its own in a sense, and it's aware that Twilight plans to try to unite creatures of all kinds even beyond Equestria, therefore also knowing that we'd need more room for new students and teachers."

"The treehouse has expanded too, allowing for students to roam and have a place to think or find solace in, just like you and your friends did, Gallus," Sunburst chimed in.

After about ten more minutes of walking, they had arrived at the grand School of Friendship, smiles on all their faces.

"Woah...it's amazing!" Flurry Heart exclaimed her wings fluttering in glee.

"Yes, it is. Now follow me and..wait, where did she go?" Sunburst said, looking around.

The alicorn sped forward and burst through the doors to the school, too eager to wait any longer.

Gallus sighed. "This is every day, you have to get used to it." He flew after her, grabbed her tail and yanked her back down to solid Earth. This didn't seem to distress Flurry though, as she was still in amazement.

The owners of the school trotted forward, a little annoyed at Flurry's antics.

"Now, as I was saying, schedule pickup is to your left, the hall that leads to the classrooms is straight ahead, and the dorms are to your right. All the teachers have name tags to help you know who's who, and Sunburst and I will be here to aid you whenever you need. There's also Counselor Trixie, but I'm not sure where she–"

A purple mist of smoke appeared out of what seemed to be thin air, curling around them. Starlight all but blinked, already knowing where this was headed.

"Here we go," Sunburst, Starlight and Gallus said in unison.

"Did somebody call for The Great and Powerful Trixie?"

Trixie appeared in the cloud of smoke, waving it away with her tail.

Flurry stared in awe, considering she'd never really cared for magicians, but was excited to be at a school where one was sane enough to help guide people to success.

"Hey, Counselor," Gallus said, amused by her entrance. Trixie whipped her head and smiled widely.

"Gallus! Welcome back!" They shared a brief hug and continued to smile.

"So how long did you hide before that stunt?" He inquired.

"Three and a half hours. Worth it, if you ask me. Anyway, you must be Flurry Heart," Trixie replied, turning to the princess.

"That's me! Nice to meet you. Your magic was awesome, by the way."

"Trixie is aware of her talent level, but compliments are always appreciated."

Starlight rolled her eyes but smiled at Trixie's blatant narcissism. "Alright well, Sunburst and I have to go, but we'll leave you to it, okay?"

Flurry nodded, and dashed to one of the tables to grab her schedule and dorm information. As she picked up her paperwork, the pale pink pony knocked into someone, causing them both to bring hooves up to their temples in pain.

"Sorry," they both said in unison. Flurry's eyes shot open, immediately recognizing that voice. "Honey Canvas," she exclaimed, bringing her hoof down. "Flurry Heart!" They hugged, feeling as if it had been way longer than merely seven days.

Gallus raised a brow at the exchange.

"Oh, right. Gallus, this is Honey Canvas, I met him on the train to Canterlot. Honey Canvas, this is Gallus, my personally selected bodyguard from Canterlot." She smiled brightly as she waved her hoof between the two of them, explaining her relation.

"Hey, Honey Canvas. How's it going?"

The colt began to sweat under Gallus' gaze, even if it wasn't anything more than a stare, and Gallus could muster an incredible stink eye when necessary. "I-I'm fine s-sir."

Gallus cringed again, his dislike towards honorifics being used on him by younger creatures once again getting the better of him. "You can just call me Gallus," he replied, dreading the mere thought of another teenager calling him 'sir'.

"Sorry, he's shy. He'll warm up to you. Eventually," Flurry assured him as she grabbed her papers. "C'mon Honey, let's go look for our dorm rooms." The colt nodded as Flurry put her schedule in her Saddlebag, itching to lay in his bed and not speak to anyone.

The dorms were about the same size as when Gallus had lived in them, except now the number had tripled, just as the number of creatures had. The rooms were a pretty good size even if there would be two people inside, each creature having enough room to move around, work, or play, but definitely not enough to avoid each other in a fight.

Flurry Heart happily rushed into her room, 206, and jumped onto the first bed she saw, once again not bothering to look at anything else. Bed quality was everything, in her opinion.

"Flurry Heart?"

The filly looked up from her bed and turned her head to the source of the voice.

"Lunette?" Flurry gasped before getting tackled by her friend from Canterlot. The hug lingered until Flurry became full of questions and had to pull away. "What're you doing here? I didn't know you were going to school here!"

"I could say the same for you! This is just a happy coincidence," Lunette said, now pulling Flurry to her hooves like the last time she pounced on her.

Honey Canvas stared at them quizzically before Lunette realized and cleared her throat.

"Oh, right! Honey Canvas, this is my friend Lunette. Lunette, Honey Canvas. I met Lunette in Canterlot Castle, and I met Honey on the train there."

"Y'know, you haven't even started friendship lessons and you already have two friends. That's pretty impressive," Gallus noted, staring at the ponies by the princess.

"I knew coming here would be a great idea!"

As she said this, a loud crash burst in through the window, leaving glass all across the floor at their hooves and talons.

The window almost automatically repaired itself though, pieces flying back to their previous origin. "A damage-safety spell," Lunette explained, barely even looking at the window. She was more focused on the pegasus struggling to his hooves.

"Can I help you?" Lunette asked bitterly, doing a onceover of the pony. He was a mint green colt with a mint and cornflower blue mane atop his head.

"Sure. Just point me out of Loserville and I'll gladly be on my way," he retorted, matching the unicorn's energy.

"Hey! The town is called Ponyville," Flurry Heart said, a little annoyed.

"Oh, I know. I meant this room, because you're all a bunch of losers, your majesty."

"Highness," Lunette, Honey and Flurry all corrected at once.

The mint pony surveyed the room, looking at two angry fillies, faces enraged. He found his target easily, though, and closed in on him, as he heard a small whimper. He walked towards Honey Canvas, seeing his legs wobble in fear. "What was that, pipsqueak?" He was dangerously close to the earth pony, practically nose to nose until a wing pushed him backwards. She backed him up against a wall and cornered him, just as he'd done to Honey less than a minute ago. Flurry proceeded to get in the bully's face, ready to defend her friend. "Leave him alone, or else."

"Or else what?" He challenged.

Flurry's horn began to glow bright and hot, her emotions fueling her magical control. "Do you really want to find out?" She growled.

The colt raised a brow before kicking her in the foreleg and wiggling away from the wall.
"Nah, I'd rather get out of Shitville before your loser tendencies rub off on me. See you in class, miss heir to the throne of lameness." The pegasus trotted out and slammed the door, a satisfied grin on his face.

Flurry rubbed her foreleg, wishing she hadn't told Gallus not to interfere with anything that didn't pose a magical threat. He looked at her a little sad, eyes asking a silent question. She shook her head in response. He couldn't fight her battles. She had to do some things on her own, and that included dealing with bullies.

"Who the hell was that? And what's his problem?" Honey yelled out, breathing heavily. Apparently he'd held his breath the entire time, too scared to exhale.

Lunette was slightly startled by the outburst, but quickly got over it. "That was Mint Surge, the cockiest, most infuriating, incredibly annoying pony I have ever laid my eyes on. He already crashed into me earlier and put on a whole show about being polite in front of my parents, but flicked mud at me using his tail right after." Lunette was seething, beyond enraged by the nature of her classmate.

Honey was also quite angry, any fear he had previously carried was now disintegrated. "I mean, who does he think he is, calling us lame! He doesn't even know anyone except you, and you're a princess for fuck's sake! You could banish him with the flap of your wing or a simple spell, while he can't even fly in a straight line. What a MORON!"

The three other entities in the room stared at him, mouths gaping. Honey then inhaled and exhaled sharply, pressing out all the anger. When he realized he was being watched, he became confused. "What?"

"Dang, you've got a real mouth on you," Gallus chuckled.

"I didn't even know you could speak," Lunette said, still amazed. "Too bad he wasn't here to hear your set him straight."

Honey's ears drooped at that remark, realizing that he had been pretty cutthroat and it would've been so exhilarating to tell their tormentor off.

Flurry placed her hoof on his back, just below his neck and rubbed it sympathetically. "Hey, don't worry. One day you'll have the courage to hit him where it hurts! Something tells me we're gonna be seeing a lot more of him. But for now, we should keep looking around the school."

Lunette and Honey agreed, Honey walking across the hall and putting down his bags, and Lunette walking out of the room. Before Flurry left, she turned to Gallus. "Gallus, I know you wanted to intervene back there, but thank you for deciding not to. When I need your help, you'll know."

Gallus smiled and exited the room as well.

"Alright, let's take a look around!"

Gallus and the kids passed by dozens of classrooms, the halls surprisingly free. While the students were taking in the scenery, the oldest of the group was looking for a few creatures in particular.

As he flew, he felt a small shift in the air, meaning someone was flying behind him. Before he could turn and ask for directions, a pink hippogriff captured him in a fashion similar to Flurry's, forcing them both to the ground. "GALLUS! YOU'RE HERE!" She stood over him as he opened his eyes, adjusting to the pain in his back. "Hi, Silver."

He smiled as she pulled him into a hug, her embrace warm but even more constricting than that of Flurry.

"Not much of a hugger my flank," Flurry said, smirking as she watched Gallus lean into Silverstream's hug. He blushed slightly and backed away, now standing on his paws again.

"Aw, c'mon! You still owe me a hug from when we were in the crystal caves beneath the school," Silvestream whined.

"You remember that?"

She hummed in confirmation. "You said, 'Hug time later,' and I'm pretty sure right now is later."

"I'll take that into consideration and get back to you in five to ten business days."

They both laughed, reminiscing about what felt like just yesterday, but was in reality, almost eleven years ago.

The students looked between each other, not getting the reference.

"Ahem," Flurry Heart fake coughed, breaking the two out of their trance. "Oh, hi! Sorry about...wait...an ALICORN?!" Silverstream gasped as she looked at the new student, who proudly extended her wings.

"Silver, this is princess Flurry Heart, Cadance and Shining Armor's daughter."

Silverstream rolled her eyes and turned to Gallus. "I know that! Do you think I live under a rock?"

"Actually you live in the ocean, so am I really that far off?"

The hippogriff lightly punched him, and turned back to the princess. "Hi, Flurry Heart! I'm Silverstream, the Kindness, Laughter and Ethics teacher! I also teach biodiversity," she said cheerfully.

"And what're your names?"

"I'm Lunette Columns," Lunette said enthusiastically. Being around a creature with such high energy levels must replenish her happiness, Flurry thought.

Honey Canvas looked around nervously before quietly muttering his name.

"Nice to meet you, Lunette and Honey Canvas!"

Gallus stared at her in shock. "How could you have possibly heard him?"

Silverstream shrugged and began to fly forwards. "I don't know, I think it comes naturally since I'm part eagle. Don't you have the same ability?"

"I guess working in a field that involves a lot of...yelling...has put a strain on my ears. I pretty much tune out anything I'm not intentionally trying to hear if it's not a threat of some sort or of extreme importance."

"Oh, okay," Silvestream said, her blank face morphing into a wicked smile as Gallus faced forward, getting ready to continue their walk.

She got low and attempted to pounce on Gallus, only to be stopped and batted away by his wings.

"I thought you only listened for potential threats!" Silverstream whined as she rolled onto the ground.

"Correct. You my dear, are not a threat. I do pay attention to you regardless, though," Gallus said as he pulled the professor up.

The students once again looked between each other, now sharing a few smirks and snickers.

Flurry Heart trotted ahead of the group, Honey Canvas and Lunette trailing behind her. "Now if you lovebirds are done, I would really like to see the rest of the school sometime today," she teased, staring at them through her peripheral vision. She smiled deviously as she watched the two eagle hybrids protest, Gallus blushing profusely and Silverstream smiling despite her denial of any romantic attraction.

Their panicked and hasty corrections fell upon deaf ears as Flurry Heart had already mentally cataloged a plan to weed more about their relationship status out of Gallus later.

The griffs eventually realized they would get nowhere by repeatedly denying it, so they both shut up and continued to walk with the students.

"Let's go this way, Smolder's classroom is this way," Silverstream said, trying to get back to the impromptu tour. She seemed to be avoiding the hallway to their left, sharing a knowing look with Gallus.

Lunette turned to Flurry to ask, but all she could do was shrug her shoulders.

They approached the first classroom on the right, room 322, and Gallus knocked lightly.

An orange dragon with purple spikes and a yellow front opened the door, not realizing who it was at first. "Look, if you have questions about the syllabus, I didn't write it so I take zero responsibility for any words you don't know the meaning of."

Smolder stopped herself as she realized who was standing before her.

"Still haven't hit that growth spurt?"

"Still haven't gotten that dragon breath under control?"

The pair began to laugh as they teased each other.

The dragon then uncharacteristically pulled her childhood friend in for a hug, patting his back.

"Okay, seriously. Do you just accept hugs from everyone but me?" Flurry Heart asked, watching the exchange end.

"So, you finally escaped the castle, huh?" Smolder said, ignoring the alicorn's question.

"Yeah, but in exchange for my freedom I got this kid, so did I really win?" Gallus asked jokingly, gesturing towards the alicorn.

"Oh, cool. Princess for a student. That's not unusual or nerve-wracking at all," Smolder deadpanned, her sarcastic manner still in full swing, just like the guard's.

Gallus chuckled at her demeanor. She was just like he remembered.

"Don't worry, she's pretty chill for royalty," Gallus reassured her.

"Oh, I'm not worried for myself. I'm worried for–"

"Ocellus!"

Silverstream's outburst caused everyone's heads to turn as the Changeling in question entered the hall.

She stopped in her tracks, unaware that the hall had had anyone in it besides Smolder.

"Um...hi.." she was puzzled for a moment until laying her eyes on the only griffon in the hall. "Gallus!"
She ran and hugged him, forelegs wrapping around his neck as she pulled him close. "How've you been?"

"Pretty good up until when you tried to strangle me."

"When did I do that?"

"Right now. Ocellus, I can't breathe."

The sky blue changeling backed up and allowed him to breathe, laughing apologetically. As her light laughter faded, she quickly spotted the princess and grew excited, wings fluttering and carrying her off the ground unintentionally.

"Princess Flurry Heart?!"

"And her friends, Lunette and Honey Canvas," Gallus added, addressing the other ponies with his wing.

The three friends waved, happy to be acknowledged in the adults' conversation.

"It's an honor to have you here, all of you. We're excited to see new and old faces."

The students smiled at their Literature, Universal History, Mathematics and Intro to Magic teacher as she regarded them.

"Speaking of old faces, are Yona and…" Gallus' voice died in his throat.

Ocellus' face darkened briefly before recovering. "Um, yeah. They wanted to wish us good luck for tomorrow. I'm sure they'd both be happy to see you since it's been a while."

Once again the students were left in the dark as the adults discussed a matter unknown to them. Gallus waved his claw dismissively. "I wouldn't want to intrude…"

"Dude, you've already intruded. Just go say hi," Smolder stated in a way that conveyed that the griffon wasn't really being given a choice.

"I have to watch Flur—"

"She's a princess, not a foal. She can handle navigating the school. Right, Flurry Heart?" Smolder pressed on, turning to the princess for confirmation.

"Of course! There are maps everywhere, and if we get lost we'll just ask for directions!" Lunette nodded as Honey stared at his hooves, not wanting to be heard by so many creatures at once.

Smolder's stern gaze returned to the griffon as he sighed in defeat, trudging towards the opposing hall.

"See you later!" Flurry exclaimed, waving her hoof. She turned to her friends, excited to be out of the limelight for a limited amount of time. "Alright, what're we waiting for? Let's go!"

Author's Note

We're getting a little more into the actual story itself now. Flurry's arrival, a reunion, some mysterious tension and unresolved issues between Gallus and Sandbar, etcetera etcetera. Hope you enjoyed this more intense chapter!