A wise unicorn once said: “all work and no play makes a pony dull and restless, but that might not be all that pony would feel if they spend all day working and never taking a break is exhausting all it’s own what with one putting more trouble on their backs then if they paced themselves and took a break once and awhile, because what I’m trying to say here is balancing breaktime, relaxation, and recreation with work and toil and hard earned accomplishment is a very important thing.”

The wise pony who said this was also known to ramble.

In any case, the nugget of truth in the quote always sang true to those who needed to relax the most. Hard working farmers pushing themselves just a little too far to bring in the harvest. Perfectionists obsessing over every little minute detail of a project long since overdue. Students with school work piling up and looming over them like a dark rain cloud. And for all these individuals in need of a break, each of them had their own special way to unwind. To relieve stress. To unload the heavy pain that bore down on their backs and minds like an incessant woodpecker. Some ponies read books while others painted. Some of them went for a run around the park while others meditated. And there were others still that partook in activities that were quite unusual to most...

It was late springtime in the quiet town of Ponyville and the weather was finally lightening up after weeks of spring rain. Ponies found the need to wear raincoats or dodge mud puddles less and less often as the cool rains subsided to the much sought after summer air. For many denizens of the small valley town, this kind of weather encouraged sunbathing, playtime in the park, and flying amongst the blue-white clouds that floated overhead.

For the learning students at the School of Friendship, however, the late spring meant the school year was coming to a close and that called for exams, term papers, and end-of-the-year projects. And for those who didn't want to repeat their classes over the summer, it was important that they passed those exams, term papers, and end-of-the-year projects. Throughout the school campus there seemed to be a tight tension looming over everyone’s heads. Scholarly stresses were high and the worries about passing classes were almost palatable. Study groups were assembled more now than ever, the school library was breaking records in the amount of books being checked out that month, and sadly the beautiful outside weather seemed to be wasted as students hit the books.

If one wanted to write a paper about friendship or friendship theory, they wouldn’t have to look further than The School of Friendship’s library. The school's library was Equestria's finest repository of all things friendship related. Only the royal records of Canterlot even came close to its extensive reading material. It was an elongated building, connected to the main hall of the school by a single doorway. The ground floor contained a dozen or so bookshelves paired with a dozen or so long reading tables. Above all this opened up a balconied second story where even more bookshelves could be found. If it was somehow emptied of its tall bookshelves and reading tables, the large room could very well be used as a spot for large gatherings and parties.

The library at this hour was rather quiet and almost completely empty save for a pair of students sitting at one of the long tables. In front of them laid a dozen heavy textbooks and half that of notebooks. They were certainly a peculiar pair, a griffin and an earth pony, but for this study session they were united under one goal: not to have to learn ANYTHING during the summer! For best friends Sandbar and Gallus, summer was for fun, for parties, and most importantly staying as far away from a classroom as possible!

At most times, Sandbar the earth pony was the only one who appeared to take his studies seriously. He took notes, wrote down important bullet points, and even marked significant book page numbers with colored tabs. Most of the material came naturally for him, but he mostly studied for Gallus’s benefit. The desk space in front of him was littered with cheat sheets and flash cards, anything that might assist his friend in absorbing the material. All of this was a labor of love for him and he was happy to help his friend out.

Gallus was, well, Gallus floated. The griffin hardly sat still for long and spent most of the time pacing with a book in his wings, rereading the same page over and over again. The wooden library chairs were incredibly uncomfortable and he never learned the most effectively through reading dusty old books anyway. He was more of a hands-on kind of griffin and staring at books all afternoon was hardly something he wanted to do today. While he did his best to answer the questions that Sandbar quizzed him with there were obviously other places he’d rather be right now.

“Ugh, so bored!” Gallus finally exclaimed, letting his book holding wing drop limply at his side. The heavy book he had been reading this past half hour plopped to the ground with a noisy rustle, “why are we even studying? The test won’t be for another two weeks!”

“Repetition helps the mind remember important information,” Sandbar answered, keeping his voice quiet, “if we study a little bit at a time then we’ll have less to worry about.”

“But this studying is taking hours out of my after school time,” Gallus replied, his wings twitching and readjusting themselves at his sides. He glanced over at a tall glass window that poured bountiful and beautiful afternoon light into the room, taunting him. “I need to get out there and fly a bit. I’m getting restless!”

“Just relax, man. We have a half hour left.”

“Flying IS relaxing,” Gallus groaned, stretching out his wings as they felt uncomfortable on his back, “I can’t stay cooped up in here all day!” He let out a heated breath through his beak, “you don’t have wings so I can’t expect you to understand." He began to pace restlessly, reading much less than ever before. "You probably like meditate or paint or whatever,” Gallus threw out a guess with a scoff.

Sandbar grew quiet and shrunk back, “well...kinda...”

Gallus raised an ear at this. “Kinda? That’s all you’re gonna say? Am I even close?” he asked as he hopped closer to the pony, “come on man, what is it?”

There was a heavy pause as Sandbar’s shoulders tensed up. “...Promise you won’t laugh?” he said after a sigh.

“Psh, you know I can’t promise that,” Gallus chuckled.

“No, I mean it, man,” Sandbar squeaked, “i-if you promise not to make fun of me or tell anyone else well...I-I’ll tell you...”

“You’re serious?” Gallus replied, momentarily dropping his usual cocky facade. “Well alright,” he answered, placing a claw on his chest, “as your friend, bound by the rules of pony friendship and my honor, I promise I won’t tell anyone or make fun of you for whatever you do to relax.”

“...Okay,” Sandbar gulped and then after a big long pause he finally spoke, “so like...you know how there are ponies who pretend to be kids to relax?” He paused as he waited for his lower lip to stop quivering, “and uhm...some of them might take things a step further and pretend to be...foals...”

“Why do I get the feeling you’re not one of the ponies who pretends to be a kid...?”

“Sorry, I know it’s stupid. I’m stupid. Forget I said anything,” Sandbar’s eyes snapped back to his book with a defeated slump. He was ready to run away. It was stupid of him to even consider sharing such a stupid thing. Stupid!

“Hey whoa whoa, Bar, that’s not what I’m saying at all!” Gallus was quick to console his friend, “...I mean it is kinda weird, but it doesn’t mean I’ll like disown you because of it.” For an uncharacteristic moment, he spoke to Sandbar with a sincere and trusting tone. “I’m your friend and a little secret hobby won't change that,” he said while extending a claw, “still pals?”

“Pals,” Sandbar answered, shaking his claw, “...thanks for listening. It’s something I’ve kept to myself and, I don’t know, it’s kind of nice telling someone about it.”

“You’re welcome, man. You’re always there for me to keep me from doing something stupid,” Gallus shrugged, “guess this kinda makes us even.”

Sandbar let out a slow and steady sigh. For the first time in the last ten minutes his heart had finally let up and steadied itself. It felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. Confessing that little part of him to a trusted friend made his heart feel five pounds lighter!

“Why don’t we clean up and head on out,” the pony said as he closed up his book.

"What about studying?" Gallus needlessly reminded the stallion.

“It’s a nice day out,” Sandbar smiled, glancing over at the beautiful view through the window. “Can’t waste it all in here!”

Author's Note

I wanted to revisit the Gallus/Sandbar relationship that I briefly explored in my older story "Study Buddies" and give it more of a slow burn. I think those two are cute together and adding diapers to the mix just makes it more fun to write! For a while now this story has sat on my writing desk as footnotes and fragmented paragraphs so I'm happy to see some semblance of a story start to finally emerge. Hope everyone enjoys!