//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: In Too Deep // Story: Somewhere In The Between // by Closer-To-The-Sun //------------------------------// The four were seated at the table in their dining room. On one side, Gallus and Silverstream were seated next to each other, while her parents were seated on the opposite side. Before each of them were flatware and some silverware. In the center of the table, a platter and two other bowls holding the food for the meal. On the platter, grilled seaweed was presented, while the two bowls held broccoli and mashed potatoes. “I hope you’re all hungry~!” Ocean Flow said with a slight song in her voice as she began to dish out a small amount of food to each creature’s plate from each container. “I, for one, certainly am,” Sky Beak said as a scoop of mashed potatoes was placed on his plate. “I’ve been looking forward to your grilled seaweed all day,” he said, directing his words at Ocean Flow, and smiled back. Silverstream also agreed, “I’ve been looking forward to eating a home cooked meal for so long!” “Oh, you’re all flattering me!” Ocean Flow was enjoying the praise as she continued serving food to each of the plates on the table. She had started setting pieces of grilled seaweed to each plate. For some reason, Gallus felt a joke was appropriate, “It certainly looks good. And I’m sure it’s far better than the food we get back at the school.” While Gallus wasn’t expecting laughter for his snarky comment, he also wasn’t expecting a genuine concerned look from Silverstream’s parents. “Oh dear, is there something wrong with their cooking?” Ocean Flow asked as she picked up the bowl of broccoli to begin to serve, but she paused as she looked at the pink hippogriff. “Silverstream, you never told us about this!” Sky Beak turned to look at his daughter, “Is everything okay? Are they feeding you well over there? Do I need to go talk to the Headmare?” “No, no! It’s okay, I promise!” Silverstream insisted as she waved her hooves in front of her in an effort to calm her father’s worries. Gallus spoke up as well, “Yeah, sorry. It was just a joke. Honestly, this all looks really good. We just have a bit of a running joke at the school that the food in the mess hall….has a lot to be desired.” The griffon gave a bit of a nervous chuckle. “He’s right! After a while, the food seems to lose its appeal,” Silverstream explained. “Like how our oatmeal is more like wet cement,” Gallus quickly said. Silverstream nodded, “Yeah, and remember when they served us the waffles that were still frozen? I almost chipped my beak! With a laugh, Gallus added one last statement, “And the sweet potatoes? They somehow were able to cook the sweet out of the sweet potatoes.” An expression of both confusion and concern were on both Ocean Flow and Sky Beak’s face as the two reminisced about the food at the School of Friendship’s mess hall. However, they did exchange a smile to one another as they saw Gallus and Silverstream happily reminiscing. “Well,” Sky Beak cleared his throat, “as long as everything is okay at the school, that’s what we are both worried about most.” “Everything’s going well! It’s really fun there!” Silverstream said with a smile. Ocean Flow smiled at her daughter as she finished adding broccoli to each of the plates on the table. “That’s good to hear. After all, the two worst things in this world are being hungry and being alone,” Ocean Flow commented. Gallus took a look down at his plate after all the food was loaded on. The content smile that was on his face more or less vanished as he looked down at the last item that was added to plate: broccoli. There was one food that Gallus never liked eating growing up, and it was what he considered the demonic, edible trees. Cooked, raw, whatever, he couldn’t handle it. “Forgive my surprise, but I certainly wasn’t expecting to see potatoes or broccoli being served,” Gallus commented. Ocean Flow answered, “Oh, it’s a bit of a cuisine carry-over from when hippogriffs lived solely on Mount Aris.” “There’s a bit of a history to it, which is so interesting. Also, I thought it would be a nice little treat to have you experience both sides of hippogriff cuisine, so I brought the fresh vegetables down from the peak of Mount Aris for the occasion,” Sky Beak explained. Silverstream added as well, “Mom makes some of the best mashed potatoes too, especially when she makes croquettes!” “Oh, Silverstream, enough about my cooking,” Ocean Flow was bashful as she picked up her own utensil to begin eating, signalling for the rest of the table to start, “So Gallus, why don’t you tell us about yourself?”  Sky Beak added, “Yes, please do! I’m very interested to hear about you and Griffonstone, if you don’t mind. Who is Gallus and what are his life goals?” The griffon looked up from his plate and at the two hippogriffs who asked him questions. Nervously, he picked up his utensil so he could both begin to eat in a moment, but also so he could have something to grip in his talons to help calm him a bit. “Well,” he tried to start talking, his voice doing it’s best to mask his nerves, “Well, my life has been more about regret management than goal achievement. But I’m not really sure what Silverstream has already told ya.” He hoped his jokes would help. Both Ocean Flow and Sky Beak seemed to enjoy his line. Ocean Flow spoke with a smile, “Oh, she’s told us a great deal about you and the rest of your friends, but we would like to hear from you, too!” “That’s right,” Sky Beak added, “because you really get to know a creature when you see them talk about themselves after you meet them for the first time.” “Ah, right….” Gallus said, “well, I’m the only griffon currently at the School of Friendship. I guess I’m the test student for my kind?” He laughed nervously as he started to eat his potatoes. The texture of the mashed potatoes were light and fluffy while the taste was amazingly flavorful for the griffon. “Either way, I’m at the School of Friendship and I’m trying.” Sky Beak spoke, “Your best?” “Oh, I certainly hope not,” Gallus admitted, “but probably.” Silverstream tried her hardest not to laugh aloud at Gallus’ snarky comment with food in her mouth. “First griffon at the school? That must be awfully lonely for you, Gallus,” Ocean Flow commented. “He’s not lonely,” Silverstream spoke up, her mouth filled with broccoli, “he has us with him!” “Silverstream, no talking with your mouth full,” her mother stated with a slightly stern tone. “Oh good, glad to know that she has to be reminded here at home, too,” Gallus couldn’t help but make a wisecrack before responding to Ocean Flow, “Well, I do have to admit, it is quite a bit of an adjustment from living back in Griffonstone. But Silverstream is right, our whole group has made our homesickness much easier.” Ocean Flow smiled, “Oh, that’s so wonderful that all of you are supportive of each other!” “It really is, especially considering the first letters that Silverstream sent us from the school,” Sky Beak recalled as he paused his eating. “She was so scared about being away from home for so long. Dear, do you remember when she talked about trying to find her way back home from Ponyville?” His beak had a smile as he reminisced. “I do! I think I know exactly where I put all of her letters!” Ocean Flow stated as she shared in the smile. “She talked about sneaking onto the train back to Mount Aris!” “And she even said she would still try and fly her way back through the storm that was brewing when she left!” “That still makes me laugh when I think about that!” Both of her parents went back and forth a bit as they recalled Silverstream’s various letters to home. They both smiled and laughed, Gallus looked to see Silverstream, who didn’t seem to mind that they were bringing up what would normally be embarrassing moments. In fact, she seemed to be happy eating and enjoying each the company of the creatures seated around the table. Gallus turned his attention to Silverstream and spoke in a soft tone to hopefully not be heard by her parents, “You know, I think I see where you get it from.” “Get what?” Silverstream asked, her mouth filled with mashed potatoes. “Everything.” Sky Beak broke off the one-on-one chat he was having with Ocean Flow, “Sorry, that was rude of us. Why don’t you tell us about Griffonstone? I’ve always been hoping to visit one of these days.” This was a question Gallus wasn’t expecting to get. In fact, he never had to explain his home to any creature before, not even at school. But he didn’t want to be rude to his hosts, “It’s more or less a giant dead tree surrounded by rundown thatched roof cottages. Almost the entire populace filled with crabby griffons who aren’t exactly all that known to be welcoming,” as he finished, Gallus regretted everything he just said, “It’s uhh….it’s not exactly a destination for a family getaway.” His words seemed to baffle all of the hippogriffs, particularly Silverstream, as they were unsure if he was making a joke or not. Gallus decided to add an additional comment, “Well, it has gotten better in recent times though. After all, Grandpa Gruff is letting me go to the School of Friendship and recently Gabby has been acting as a postal courier for Equestria, Griffonstone, and all over. One step at a time, right?” Despite the slight awkwardness, Ocean Flow spoke, “Well, perhaps we can visit Griffonstone sometime? I’m sure we’d love to get a personal tour from you!” The griffon replied before he took a bite of his grilled seaweed, “I’d be more than happy to, but I’ll be sure to steer you clear for Grandpa Gruff.” It had a crunchy texture to it that surprised Gallus, while he enjoyed the salty and savory taste. “If you don’t mind me asking, who is this Grandpa Gruff?” Sky Beak asked curiously. “Oh, him?” Gallus asked, “He’s sort of like a parent. In fact, he’s sorta like every single griffon’s parent, now that I think about it. I seriously think he’s been living in the past way too long, and he can’t cook to save his life. I should know, if I didn’t dread his grumpiness, it was his brussel sprouts,” The griffon sighed as he remembered being raised by him, “He’s always a bit of a….pain at times, but he’s our pain.” “What was it like to be raised by him?” Ocean Flow asked. Gallus paused for a second before answering, “Well, he taught me a lot of words I’m not allowed to say at the school, so there’s that.” Silverstream was the first to speak up after, “Grandpa Gruff? You never told us about him to the rest of us!” “What? You met him, Silverstream!” Gallus said, “Don’t you remember he threatened to mobilize the griffon army after we ditched classes when we all met!” The pink hippogriff remembered, “Oh yeah!” The sound of two utensils dropping onto plates rang out as both of Silverstream’s parents were caught off guard. “What was that?” “You skipped classes?” Seemingly oblivious to their surprise, Silverstream simply answered, “Yup!” Gallus made a small comment to himself, “Huh, I thought the ‘mobilization of the griffon army’ would have been more of a cause for alarm.” “Silverstream, you should not be cutting any classes whatsoever!” Sky Beak firmly stated. Ocean Flow also chimed in, “Why would you do something like that, dear? It’s not like you at all!” “If I may,” Gallus raised his talon up to interject, “it was an idea that Smolder and I had, then Silverstream and the rest of our friends came with. She just joined in.” Neither seemed completely pleased with Gallus’ explanation. Sky Beak picked up his utensil and took another bite from his plate. “Well, I still don’t think that is something any of you students should be doing. Education is important,” Ocean Flow explained. “Your mother is right, Silverstream,” Sky Beak nodded. “I know! Don’t worry, none of us have skipped any of our classes since!” Silverstream said, her mouth filled with food again. “Despite some of the professors giving us lectures that might bore us out of our mind,” the griffon snarked. Silverstream swallowed her food and nodded in agreement, “He is right. Some of the classes are a bit dull, but we’re there every day!” “Even if some of the professors might not like it,” Gallus added with a small smirk. “Now that I think about it, I don’t think Counselor Trixie likes you all that much,” Silverstream thought aloud toward Gallus. The griffon shrugged, “No creature does. That’s the way I like it.” Silverstream smiled toward Gallus, “But I like you!” Gallus immediately snarked back, “Well, quit it.” “Come on, Gallus, don’t be such a grumpy kitty!” Silverstream spoke with a large smile on her face. As the blue griffon and the pink hippogriff went back and forth with each other, both Sky Beak and Ocean Flow exchanged glances and smiles at each other. Both parents were able to tell with their exchange that even if they might get on each other's nerves once in a while and their personalities might clash every so often, they deeply cared for each other. Silverstream continued with her playful teasing, “Don’t act like you don’t like it when we sleep together!” There was a clanking sound that echoed through the air as Ocean Flow dropped her utensil. Both Sky Beak and Ocean Flow had stunned expressions on their faces as they looked at the two younger creatures. Both Gallus and Silverstream, however, looked back in a bit of confusion. Sky Beak looked at his daughter, “Silverstream, are you and Gallus….” While he trailed off, Gallus figured out exactly what Sky Beak was asking about. His face quickly went from puzzlement to a mild panic, “What? Oh, no! No, no, we aren’t doing anything like that! We aren’t sleeping together.” “What? Yes, we are. We like to sleep in the same bed together once in a while!” Silverstream happily said. Ocean Flow raised her hoof up to her muzzle to cover her mouth in a gasping motion. Sky Beak’s face had a mixture of shock and annoyance. “No, Silverstream,” Gallus was quick to correct, “We’re not talking about us just literally sleeping in the same bed. We’re talking about something….something else….” Sky Beak cautiously raised an eyebrow, “So, you two aren’t actually….” “Goodness no. I don’t think either of us are ready for that step….in fact, I don’t think Silverstream really understands what that would constitute,” Gallus insisted as he explained himself, “The only thing that really happens is just her hugs.” “Gallus’ fur is so soft and fluffy and I just love hugging him!” Silverstream explained. “It’s true, she likes to give me sleepy hugs,” the griffon confirmed to the chorus of both of Silverstream’s parents breathing a big sigh of relief. “Trust me when I say we aren’t doing anything more than that.” “Is this true, Silverstream?” Ocean Flow asked with a bit of concern. The pink hippogriff nodded happily, “Yup! He gives great hugs!” Gallus and Silverstream’s words seemed to help appease Sky Beak, even if his daughter’s attitude was puzzling to him, “Well, as long as you two are responsible, that’s what’s important here.” “Don’t worry, daddy, we are!” Silverstream claimed In a mixture of frustration and exhaustion of the topic, Gallus lowered his head to the table, setting it next to the plate, which still housed some food. An audible sigh escaped his lungs. “Are you dead, Gallus?” Silverstream asked with both concern and playfulness. “No, I’m not dead,” he replied, “I mean, I don’t think so….no, sadly I’m still alive.” Sky Beak cleared his throat, “Head off the table, please.” Gallus quickly lifted his head up off the table and sat properly,“Yes, sir.” The griffon could tell the need to change the subject to something else, anything else really, “Uh….so, if I may ask, what do you two do?” Because Sky Beak had taken a bite of his food, Ocean Flow was the first to answer, “Oh, well, you might already know that I’m Queen Novo’s younger sister. That means I work with her as well as our advisors and others for all matters relating to all hippogriffs.” Silverstream added, “My mom and Auntie Novo are always so busy, but they always do such a great job at all that governing stuff!” “It’s not an exactly easy job, but it’s something I take pride in, working side-by-side with my sister and the rest of the royal court,” Ocean Flow said with a bit of pride in her voice. “And no one can backup the Queen quite like you can, Ocean Flow,” Sky Beak praised, “As for me, since I’m currently living in Hippogriffia on Mount Aris, I’m assisting with the governing of the settlement there. Mount Aris was my home in my youth and I am more than eager to help it shine brighter than ever for all hippogriffs. It’s such a beautiful mountain, rising above the sea into the clouds allowing those in Hippogriffia to literally touch the sky itself.” “Oh, Sky Beak, you could go on and on about Aris all night and you would only scratch the surface of how much you love that mountain,” Ocean Flow chuckled softly. Sky Beak gave an embarrassed smile as he nodded, “Yes, it’s true. The entire mountain is truly a monument to all hippogriffs everywhere, and I’m really happy to assist Queen Novo in running Hippogriffia.” “Daddy really loves Mount Aris and being able to fly through the clouds there,” Silverstream leaned toward Gallus to explain, almost as if it was a secret. “I can tell,” Gallus gave a small laugh. “I was actually hoping our dinner would have been up there.” “Oh, perhaps it would be to experience the majesty of the mountain for yourself?” Sky Beak asked with a bit of excitement. “No, it was actually more in that I’m not really great in water,” Gallus admitted. He then looked at his limbs, which still looked weird to him with their sleek appearance and lacking his fur, “I will have to admit that it feels strange feeling water all over me right now.” “Not much of a swimmer, are you?” Sky Beak asked with a small smirk. Gallus shook his head, “Not by a longshot.” Ocean Flow gave a small but polite giggle at Gallus’ answer, “I do hope that doesn’t stop you from wanting to visit in the future. Most of the visitors to Seaquestria do have some issues when the first visit such as seasickness or even decompression sickness along with issues with swimming. I must say that you seem to be faring pretty well for your very first time here. “I believe that’s by sheer will-power alone,” Gallus joked, doing his best not to think about whatever negative effects that could happen from him being underwater. All three hippogriffs laughed at his comment. “Oh, by the way!” Silverstream spoke up to change the subject, turning her attention to her parents, “Mom, dad, you two should come and visit the school sometime! We started having regular sports again after all the excitement a while back. Maybe you can watch one of our hockey games!” “Hockey, huh?” Sky Beak thought aloud, “That does sound pretty fun. I might be able to get away from work and catch a game or two.” Ocean Flow nodded, “It does. How is the school’s team?” “Well, it turns out Sandbar is pretty good on ice, which was a bit of a shock, and Yona knows how to be a great goalie.” Gallus answered. He then had a slight chuckle, “And no creature makes the mistake of trying to pick a fight with Yona or any of us more than once, in or out of the rink.” Again, Ocean Flow and Sky Beak had horrified and worried expressions on their faces. “Fighting out of the hockey rink?” “Goodness, are you all picking fights?” Silverstream seemed a bit surprised at her parent’s comments, “What? No, we weren’t fighting! We were just there to support our friends at the hockey game.” “Yeah, the fighting that broke out was just the bonus when it comes to hockey,” Gallus said, but his snarky comment didn’t appear to help matters. “Honestly, if there isn’t a fight on the ice, usually some creature in the audience starts one.” “It’s true. Last time we played against Canterlot, one of the ponies from their side started calling Coach Rainbow Dash names. She ignored them, but then Professor Rarity went up to them and they started arguing,” Silverstream explained. Gallus continued the story, “One thing led to another and the night ended with the game being rescheduled, twelve arrests, four hospitalizations, half the bleachers destroyed, and Professor Rarity serving community service.” “She was back teaching on Monday,” Silverstream added, “I’m still surprised that of all our professors, she’s the hockey fan.” “I’m still surprised she’s allowed near the arena after that.” The look of shock was still on her parent’s faces. As much as they wanted to push the subject further with their concern, they exchanged looks to one another and silently agreed against it. Instead, Ocean Flow changed the subject again. “Oh, well, maybe we can visit for a game sometime in the future? But let’s change the subject, shall we? How do you like Seaquestria, Gallus?” “Well, it’s quite remarkable down here, I have to say that,” Gallus stated. He then looked down at his plate of food, where he got a glimpse of his talon and his newly transformed body, “Though I’m still getting used to my new body at the moment. I think my lack of swimming talent transferred over.” Sky Beak brought his hoof up to his mouth to think for a moment before speaking, “I do have to say, I have never seen any creature with a body like that when underwater.” “I have to agree, it’s quite surprising,” Ocean Flow added. “Do you think it’s the same for all griffons? After all, he still has his talons.” “I’m not entirely sure. No griffon has visited Seaquestria in ages. Maybe it’s something I can bring up to Novo after she gets back from her diplomatic visit to the changelings?” “Please do, it’s very interesting. He looks a bit like a salmon with that tail of his.” “No, it looks more like a shark’s tail. See, if you look at the way his scales are….” The two continued to muse amongst themselves about Gallus’ new body as the griffon looked at each part of the body that they were talking about. It was starting to bother him a bit as he nervously took a few more bites of his grilled seaweed. After a bit more from both of them, he turned to Silverstream. Without a word, he motioned for her to say something in an effort to help defuse the situation and get the subject off of him. Silverstream had her mouth full, as she was already on her second helping of mashed potatoes. It took her a moment to understand what he was pantomiming, but she did figure it out and spoke up. Unfortunately for the griffon, it was not helpful, “He also doesn’t have all of his fluff fur anymore, it’s so different now that he has all these scales! And he only has a little bit of fluff on his chest!” Both of Silverstream’s parents sounded very fascinated by the new information that their daughter gave them. They continued to chat amongst themselves about their opinions and theories of how Gallus’ transformation worked.  Gallus sighed and turned to the pink hippogriff, “Just how much work does it take to be that dumb?” “Quite a bit!” she answered cheerfully. After a bit more conversing amongst themselves, both Ocean Flow and Sky Beak finished and turned their attention back to both Gallus and Silverstream. “Sorry, it seems we got carried away with ourselves!” Ocean Flow apologized, “It’s just not something we’d normally see everyday.” Sky Beak agreed, “It’s true, it has been quite some time since we’ve seen a non-hippogriff or non-pony visit down in Seaquestria and it just is so wonderful to have you visit. In fact, I believe you might be the very first griffon to visit our kingdom.” This surprised both Silverstream and Gallus a bit, as they both looked at the griffon’s transformed body. While there was still no proper answer of exactly what he had become, both felt there was something very unique about the griffon’s current transformed state. Ocean Flow spoke up and changed the subject, “Oh, speaking of visiting: next time you stop by, we can have you visit the palace since your Silverstream’s special friend!” Gallus’ face had a bit of surprised expression to it. “The palace? Yeah, I did see that as we were swimming to your home. It’s very regal and majestic-looking. Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it before,” the griffon commented as he moved the remaining food around his plate, which was mostly broccoli and small specks of mashed potatoes. “Isn’t there something similar back in Griffonstone?” Sky Beak asked. “Not really. I mean, there’s that dead tree, but that’s about it.” While both Ocean Flow and Sky Beak seemed unsure how to respond to Gallus’ blunt answer, Silverstream happily interjected, “Ooo! Can you take me when you visit? Pretty please?” The griffon looked at the excited pink hippogriff for a moment before turning his attention back to her parents. “On an unrelated note, I do have a question. Your family is technically royalty, correct?” Ocean Flow nodded, “That’s right. My sister is Queen Novo.” “So,” Gallus continued, “it’s possible that Silverstream could ascend to the throne and rule all of the hippogriffs?” Again, she nodded and answered, “Yes, it is possible.” Gallus pointed to Silverstream, “Let me repeat that one more time: her?” All eyes fell to Silverstream. The pink hippogriff had taken a few pieces of grilled seaweed off of her plate and somehow attached it to the bottom of her beak as well as above her eyes, giving the impression she had a beard and bushy eyebrows. “Hey Gallus, look! I’m Discord!” she said happily. Without saying a word, Gallus simply turned to look at her parents. Both Sky Beak and Ocean Flow had uneasy smiles on their faces. “Yeah, we try not to think about it too hard,” Sky Beak admitted. Ocean Flow gave a small sigh, “I do hope she hasn’t been doing such things at the school.” Gallus answered, even if she didn’t want the answer, “Oh, she has. It’s why the cafeteria is not allowed to serve corn chowder anymore.” “I feel like there is a story there, but I’m not sure I want to know,” Sky Beak thought aloud. “Yeah, you don’t,” Gallus insisted. “I seriously wonder what goes on in that head of hers.” “The doctors say that I have a ‘rich inner life’!”