Gallus flopped onto his other side with a groan, his fur running against the grain as it rubbed at the turtle patterned blankets covering him. It was uncomfortable, however, the blankets were warm and he was a heat hoarding bird.
His brow furrowed as he realized he was missing a key source of warmth. He blindly roamed the bed with a talon searching for his fluffy pillow — Sandbar claimed he was naturally soft, but Gallus happened to know how much conditioner that sun cursed pony used and knew for a fact he was lying. When he found nothing, Gallus mumbled out several curses.
“Saaaaaaaaaaandyyyyyyyyy,” Gallus weakly called out. “Turts for brains?”
Heavy hooffalls down the hallway signified the approach of Sandbar.
“Gallus?” Sandbar’s rumbled from the doorway of their bedroom, “what are you still doing in bed?”
“What do you mean ‘what am I still doing in bed’?” Gallus intoned deeply to mock Sandbar’s voice, “it’s Saturday, and I’m mad you aren’t here for sleepy cuddle time.”
“Well… yeah, but isn’t today your ordination into the Royal Guard?”
A long pause followed as Gallus ran through the days and blindly grasped for the information about when he was to be inducted. His eyes snapped open as he realized that Sandbar was, in fact, correct.
“Oh, buck!” Gallus stumbled out of bed, the covers entangling themselves amongst his flailing limbs. He rolled around on the floor futilely as he continued to wrap himself more within the embrace of fabric. “I can’t believe that’s today! Why did I sleep in?!”
“To be fair, the ordination is later this afternoon,” Sandbar chuckled in amusement, “and we were up pretty late last night since you wanted…”
“I know what I wanted, Turts!” Gallus shouted as he bumped into their shared nightstand and caused the sea themed lamp to wobble. “Stop being happy in my misery and get these stupid things off of me!”
A deep chuckle rang through the room followed by several heavy stomps towards Gallus. There was a pause before Gallus was unceremoniously rolled out of the blankets and landed on the floor with a hard thump.
Gallus glared up at his colt friend as he loomed over him with a big smile on his face. “You couldn’t have been gentler?”
“Nah, fastest way possible, kitty.”
“Ugh, do you have to call me that?” Gallus grumbled as he stood up.
“No, but I’m still going to do it. Now, I want my morning hug,” Sandbar announced before wrapping Gallus up in his forelegs.
“Ugh, Sandy I need to get ready!” Gallus complained, heat rising to his face as he was buried in layers of fluffy chest floof.
“You have plenty of time, don’t worry. Just enjoy the hug.”
Gallus made ready to protest, but eventually let himself sink into Sandbar’s embrace. He had definitely hit the earth pony growth spurt over the last few years, and, though Gallus resented being the shorter one of them now, it was difficult to complain about having a fluffy hulk of a colt friend who gave the best hugs.
After a moment, Sandbar released him, and Gallus gave him a grumpy frown. “Feeling better?” Sandbar asked.
“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Gallus rolled his eyes, unwilling to admit that it had been nice. “Can I get ready now?”
Sandbar’s answer was to grin and head towards their shared bathroom with Gallus following closely behind.
Taking a spot in front of the mirror, Gallus began going over his appearance. A quick inspection noted his feathers were completely out of alignment and needed a decent preening. His fur was in an equal state of disarray.
“Ugh, worst time to have a bad feather day,” Gallus said with a tone of disgust.
Smiling patiently nearby, Sandbar said, “Nothing that can’t easily be fixed. Want me to preen your wings, while you start brushing out your fur?”
“Yeah, if you don’t mind.”
Sandbar came in close, his head just above Gallus’s. Gallus fanned out his left wing, and Sandbar began to use his mouth to realign and remove feathers.
His mouth was gentle, barely brushing against his wings. It was incredibly soothing.
Mentally shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Gallus grabbed a nearby brush and started to work at the tangled knots of his fur. He did so in rapid strokes, quickly getting through the bigger tangles.
“Excited?” Sandbar asked around a mouth full of feathers.
“Obviously, turt brain,” Gallus scoffed. “It’s been my dream since we graduated from school. Getting…” an unknown feeling coloured his voice, “... exactly what I want.”
“Hm, you sure?”
“Course I’m sure, I’ve been working towards this for years. First Griffin in the Royal Guard. Future Captain,” Gallus said, a smirk on his beak. “Just a matter of time.”
“I know that, but I also know you, and that tone meant a footnote on those ambitions. What is it?”
Gallus paused in his brushing as he scowled into the mirror. “It sucks how well you can catch that.”
Sandbar hummed in response.
“Just… is this what you want?” Gallus asked quietly.
Pausing his work, Sandbar raised his head and tilted it to one side. “What’s that?”
“Being… here.” Gallus waved a claw. “In Canterlot. I know you’d prefer to be in Ponyville, but…”
“You’re here,” Sandbar stated simply.
“Well, yeah, but—”
“We’ve talked about this before, kitty. I came here because I wanted to be with you more than I wanted to be in Ponyville. I can achieve my own dreams just as easily at Rarity’s Canterlot store as I could in Ponyville.” He nuzzled the side of Gallus’s face whose face flushed at the contact. “So, don’t worry about me.”
“As long as you’re happy,” Gallus mumbled.
“I am, now let’s get you ready Captain Gallus.”
Gallus’s grin nearly split his face. “Oh, that sounds exactly right.”
Leaning his head on Gallus’s shoulder, Sandbar gave a warm grin. “Only the best for my bird.”
Grinning, Gallus kissed Sandbar on the cheek who chuckled in return.
