Kids Again

Parties were never Gallus’ strong suit.

Whether it be a rave or the various galas he had to visit as a Royal Guard, he never quite felt welcome.

So why was it, in a room full of his best friends, that Gallus felt so out of place?

Another year had passed since their graduation, and another party to prove just how much things had changed in the interim.

It was simple at first; a few closer hugs, an inside joke or two, a couple stories that ‘you just had to be there’ for. But after five years the distance between all of his friends pulled closer…

While Gallus just felt miles away.

It all came rushing back to him momentarily as he felt a pair of claws clapping him on the shoulder.

“So how’s it been in Canterlot? You’ve been super quiet about it all night!” Silverstream squawked, though it took a few moments for Gallus to be lucid enough to hear it.

Not one to wait, Smolder rolled her eyes and sighed. “He’s just been quiet all night. Maybe Canterlot made him too good for us.”

“Yona not want to say anything, but Gallus very weird tonight.” Yona said, shooting him a curious look.

Gallus stammered for a few moments, but then stared down into the half-finished drink he held in a claw. “Nah, it’s just that it’s the usual same ol’ Canterlot.” He pursed his beak. “You guys are the ones with the cool stories.”

"We're teachers, Gallus. You remember how miserable their lives were."

Smolder sidled closer to Ocellus, raising her non-drink holding hand to brush a small fleck from their horn.

"I think we can take most of the credit for that," the dragon observed, half-smirking. "Except you, you little rules-follower."

Ocellus narrowed their eyes, but they still smiled back. "You're lucky they thought we were cute. I can't think how else we, and you especially, got away with so much."

"Just chalk it up to draconic charisma. But, anyway. I bet he's just saving all the cool stories for when Sandbar gets here.”

“Husband just running late.” Yona nodded sagely, a warm smile plastered on her face. “Needy customers at boutique. Cannot wait til morning, but Sandbar tells me party.”

Silverstream said something in response, but the ringing in Gallus’ ears grew too loud to hear. It wasn’t directed at him, so he felt more than comfortable zoning out for the moment, yet again staring off in a direction.

His eyes drifted to Yona as she talked excitedly, though nothing Gallus could make out. Instead his attention was drawn to the gold necklace that dangled around her neck, jangling with every movement she made. And on it hung a shiny gold bangle that was as beautiful as it was distracting.

Marriage, huh?

It wasn’t as if Gallus was surprised by it. After all, he’d been Sandbar’s Best Man for the ceremony. Though, with the conflicts in schedule, he had to rely on Smolder to actually fulfill the Best Man-edly duties (helping plan and organize the wedding, being the middle-dragon, bachelor party, and more) but he was there where it counted!

It wasn’t his fault that the Guard lost his paperwork for his leave, and helping plan from Canterlot proved much too difficult for him. But at least he was able to make it where it counted.

For the few hours before his shift started, at least.

“I’m gonna go get some air.” Gallus said to no one in particular, not looking up to see if anyone took notice. If anything, it was more for himself to get him moving.

Pounding back the rest of his half-finished drink, Gallus turned to leave the party with his head hung low.

He needed to go for a fly.

The night air was crisp and clear, making it perfect for exactly what Gallus needed: To just fly without thinking. No plan in mind, just a quick trip to clear his head.

Of course, habit quickly took the place that thought left. Without the intent to, he simply naturally veered towards a location he’d been many times before. Especially when getting like this.

Touching down at the Treehouse of Friendship after a few minutes’ flap, Gallus took a moment to bask in its glowing crystal ambiance that illuminated the night.

“...At least some things don’t change.” Gallus sighed, a somber smile briefly flashing to his face as he walked inside.

But it just as quickly fell as he saw the absolute state of the treehouse.

It wasn’t as if it was a state of complete disrepair, in fact it was quite the opposite. The ground floor had clearly recently been cleaned and dusted, the bookshelves reorganized, and the sparse furniture wiped clean. Though the main table was still covered in various sheets of what looked like homework and worksheets.

Honestly, as Gallus approached said table, the most offensive thing to him wasn’t the disarray of papers or the slight disarray of his well-organized vintage O&O books. What did peeve him, and peeved him off well and good, was the distinct lack of his favorite sofa. In its place, a gaggle of the least comfortable stools known to ponykind.

Taking one of those stools with a sigh, basking in just how uncomfortable its non-backed seating was, he quickly took to looking over the papers left strewn about his table.

And whoever Pistachio, Star Tracker, and Plaid Stripes were, he cursed their names for leaving their papers on his table.

But he wasn’t able to curse for long, the sound of plodding pawsteps drawing his attention towards the entrance.

“Figures I’d find you here.” Smolder smirked, leaning up against the doorway with arms crossed and mustering up as much of that draconic charisma as she could. “Couldn’t stay away from our old clubhouse?”

Gallus shrugged his shoulders. “Doesn’t look like it’s much ours anymore.” He gave an exaggerated gesture towards the papers in front of him. “Looks like whoever these schmucks are took over.”

“Those ‘schmucks’,”Smolder gave heavy air-quotes as she approached the table, sitting down across from Gallus, “are the newest crop of students. ‘Cellus and I are renting the space out to them for studying and hanging out and stuff. They’re good kids.”

Gallus paused for a moment. “...do I get a cut?”

Rolling her eyes, Smolder chuckled softly. “I've got an envelope for you back at my place. Just remember that ‘Cellus doesn't let me charge them that much.”

“Hopefully it's enough to pay for the couch.” Gallus frowned, shifting uncomfortably on his stool. “We spent way too much on refurbishing that POS.”

“We had a whole montage and everything.” Smolder nodded in agreement. She then pointed upwards. “But they said it didn’t match their vibe down here, so we had Silvy and Yona move it upstairs.”

Gallus gave a sigh, a soft one that left through his nostrils. His eyes didn’t follow Smolder’s pointing, instead stuck staring down at the table between them.

Putting her claw down, Smolder crossed her arms. “So, why do I get the feeling this isn’t just about a couch?”

“It’s totally just about the couch!” Gallus pursed his beak, looking even further away from Smolder as he stared towards the clubhouse’s entrance. “It just… sucks that everything moved again. I’ll get used to it.”

“Gallus…” Smolder started, staring him down.

“It’s fine!” Gallus cut her off, waving her concerns off with a claw. “Everything’s just a little weird right now. I’ll be fine and back at the party in a couple minutes.”

“The only thing weird right now is you, dude.” Smolder frowned with arms yet again crossed. “You’ve been acting all grumpy and mopey all night, so what’s up?”

“I dunno, I’m probably just more exhausted than I thought.” Gallus said with a shrug, his eyes still averted away from Smolder. “Guarding takes a lot out of me, and I was the only one who had to travel to get here. So I’m just tired.”

“Gallus, I know what you’re like when you’re ‘just tired’. You’re adorable and goofy, and maybe a little too clingy.” Looking over Gallus’ current state, Smolder was only able to frown. “And we both know that’s not what this is. So just let me know what’s going on so I can help.”

Gallus wanted to say something to that, to suggest to her that things were fine and that they could just go back to the party like nothing was wrong.

He was just tired.

That’s all it was.

But his eyes finally swung back to look Smolder in the face, an uncharacteristically worried expression draped across it, and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to hide it for long.

“Everything just sucks, I guess.” Gallus said suddenly after a few harsh moments of silence.

Smolder remained quiet in response, her reticence to speak urging Gallus to continue.

Leaning back, brushing a claw through his headfeathers to gather himself, Gallus let out a deep sigh. “It’s just… it’s weird being the only one of us that left Ponyville. I’m stuck slumming it out in the Canterlot barracks, meanwhile you guys stuck around and made a life for yourselves. I just can’t help but feel left out, you know?”

“Hey, it’s not our fault you decided to dip out on us.” Was Smolder’s immediate, unfiltered response. Upon seeing the shocked reaction on Gallus’ face, her own fell.

Taking a breath to cool himself, Gallus nodded. “I know it’s my fault, but it doesn’t change much. I just thought this whole ‘adulting’ thing would be easier, but I just wanna go back to how things used to be.”

“Back to pining over Sandbar in between classes?” Smolder asked with a testing smirk.

“Pretty much.” Gallus nodded slowly, a smirk of his own pulling across his beak. “Or just… talking with you guys. Chilling in our dorms. Getting into the fun kind of trouble.”

“Or the regular kind, like when you egged Princess Twilight’s carriage.” Smolder said with a large, beaming grin. “I don’t know what was scarier, her bursting into flames like that or the year of detention after.”

“Worth it.” Gallus sighed, a somewhat more muted smile across his beak. “Basically on Dorm Arrest for anything fun, but obviously I’m expected to come running when there’s Official Element Business. Shoulda never taken that dumb crown.”

As Gallus shook his head, languishing in his poor decision making with a sigh, Smolder leaned back on her stool and stared up at the ceiling.

“Let a couple of barely adults inherit the power to literally kill with Kindness, and expect it to not screw us up at least a little.” Smolder too sighed, pursing her smirking lips as her stare upwards continued. “But at least you looked adorable when Twilight told you the crown was just for show.”

A loud blush crossing Gallus’ face, he crossed his arms and looked away. “Shut up! You all basically forced me to wear it!”

The two stared at each other for a moment, Gallus frowning as best he could while Smolder's smile quickly began to waver.

Smolder was the first to break, lowering her head to look Gallus in the eyes as she fell into a soft chuckle at his expense. One that, to his dismay, quickly evolved into peals of laughter as he sat there dejected.

But there was something about her boisterous laughter that seemed infectious. Soon Gallus couldn't help but crack a smile, a chuckle of his own slipping past his beak at his own expense. One that too quickly grew into a loud laugh similar to Smolder’s own.

It continued like this for a joyous few moments, each creature spurred on in their laughter by each other, until both were too exhausted to continue.

From the following silence, Gallus spoke first. “Gods, I missed this.” He said softly, followed by a deep sigh. “I really miss you guys.”

“Then come visit us sometime, you absolute dork!” Smolder cackled, reaching over to playfully swat Gallus on his headfeathers. “Feels like we only ever see you once a year at this point.”

Ignoring the smack, Gallus propped a shoulder on the table in front of him and cradled his head in his claw. “Ugh, I wish. But it was a struggle to get a day off as it is, and I’ve gotta get back to Canterlot by morning for a shift in the afternoon.”

For a moment, all Smolder could do was blink at the idea of this. She even tilted her head a few times, in hopes that the juice sloshing in her head would help her brain process any of it.

“Dude, what the hell?” Smolder exclaimed after quite a few seconds, thrusting her arms out to display her annoyance and disbelief in all its intensity. “Can’t you, like, call in a favor with Twilight or something?”

Gallus flushed a bit at this, turning his head away and covering his face further with his claw. “As if. The guys I’m bunked with already think I’m getting special treatment from her. I’d rather not prove them right.”

“Dude, who cares what they think?” Smolder asked, crossing her arms again. “You’re literally a national hero! You deserve some special treatment.”

“Well, things with her are kinda-” Gallus began to explain.

Only to be cut off by Smolder’s claw landing on his head. A comforting hand running through his headfeathers.

“Shut the absolute fuck up.” Smolder said with a kind smirk. “You’re not going back to Canterlot tonight, and you’re gonna stay home and spend at least a few days with us. Either you send a letter to Twilight or I will.”

“But I-”

"No," she replied simply, reinforcing her point by pressing a claw to his beak.

Looking Smolder in the eyes and realizing that she was very serious about this, Gallus sighed. “Where am I even gonna stay?”

Rearing back in her stool, Smolder shot Gallus a beaming grin as she pointed towards herself with an extended thumb. “Just bunk with me and Ocellus! We’ve got a guest room that’s basically collecting dust, so we’d love to have you.”

Gallus considered the idea for a moment, tossing it around in his head before letting out another deep sigh. “Well, it probably beats breaking my back on the worst bunk beds known to equinity.”

“Attaboy!” Smolder giggled, her smile growing even wider for a brief moment. “And hey, maybe you and Sandbar can get up to a li’l somethin’ while you’re here.”

Ignoring the wink, Gallus looked away with a blush. “Nah, you know I’d never do that to Yona.” Staring into the distance for a moment, a small smirk crept across his beak. “Besides, there’s a guy in Canterlot that I’ve… kinda got my eyes on.”

Leaning as far forwards as she could on her stool, Smolder’s eyes widened. “No way, a guy that could dethrone Sandbar? Spill.”

Gallus opened his beak to respond but, before he could, both creatures’ heads turned towards the sound of several steps coming from the entrance.

“Eh, I’ll tell ya later.” Gallus smirked.

“Ugh.” Smolder leaned back, crossing her arms. “You’re such a tease.”

Silverstream was the first to poke her head in through the doorway. “Are you guys still alive in here?”

Below her, Yona also poked her head in. “Gallus kill Smolder?”

“He better not have.” Ocellus said, breaking the trend and just trotting into the treehouse. “Otherwise he’s getting sent back to Canterlot in several small boxes.”

While he did smile a bit at their antics, Gallus ignored his friends for a moment to turn to Smolder. “You called in the cavalry on me?”

Smolder shrugged. “I just said we should move the party to somewhere less stuffy. They called themselves in.”

And in they came, with Ocellus clearing off the table and setting the papers aside for the moment while Silverstream and Yona set the table with the drinks and snacks from the party at the school. With this over with, the three sat down at the table with Smolder and Gallus.

Gallus couldn’t help but smile as he looked around at all of his friends, and especially at the empty stool they’d left beside him. Leaning forwards in his seat, he cracked his claws as his smile turned into a smirk.

“Well, while we all wait for Sandbar to get here, how about I tell you guys about the time I had to save Prince Blueblood from a gang of angry nirik?”