A Multitude of Talons
“…And you’ll be pleased to know that Professor Fluttershy gave a glowing evaluation on your end-of-term Kindness project,” said Twilight. She flipped through several sheets on her desk, pulling out one with a lovely cursive signature on it typical of pegasus wing writing. With a glow of purple magic, it floated across the desk. “She thought your answer to the best way to approach a manticore was especially top-notch.”
“Really?” Clutching the sheet tightly in her talons, Silverstream leaned forward across the desk. “Because you see, I wasn’t sure it was the best way. I mean, who can say, I’ve never met a manticore, and they’re supposed to be really dangerous! All we had to go on was the trial Professor Fluttershy had us do with Mr. Harry!”
It was at that point Silverstream discerned she had gotten so close to Twilight that the Headmare was leaning back almost as much as Silverstream was leaning forward. Noticing the beads of sweat trickling down Twilight’s face – that meant she was nervous, or this was a bit awkward, Silverstream recalled – she leaned back into the chair, taking a brief breath to calm down.
“I mean… that’s very kind of her to say.” Twilight giggled at these words, leaving Silverstream puzzled, her beak scrunched up, until the meaning of what she’d just said hit her. Letting out a little giggle of her own, Silverstream gathered herself as Twilight levitated out one last sheet, and levitated it across.
“Here’s your report card, Silverstream.” Taking it gently, Silverstream gave it a look over, even though she already knew all her grades. “You still need to work a little harder in Loyalty, but Professor Dash says you’ve shown remarkable improvement this term.”
“Ooh, thanks, Headmare Twilight!” Silverstream almost shot up to the ceiling, but she somehow managed to keep in her seat. “I can’t wait to show this to my mom and dad and brother, they’ll be so proud!” Twilight only smiled warmly across the desk – it was almost as though she still vividly recalled the excitement of sharing one’s school results with one’s family, Silverstream mused.
Twilight started to fold the books of sheets on her desk back over. Sensing the review was done, Silverstream set her report card down as she gathered up her various papers and reports.
“So, are you looking forward to the Three Days of Freedom Celebration back on Mount Aris?”
“Oh, I am! I really, really am!” Silverstream placed her various Laughter papers at the stack’s bottom, reasoning that was best for her longest and thickest reports, so she could carry it easier. “Do you know this is only our second year where it’s three days long instead of one? And since me and my friends all spent last year here for Hearth’s Warming, it’s my first time!”
“Yes, I remember,” chuckled Twilight, organizing the reports on her desk. Presumably for whichever creature was next, deduced Silverstream. “I was there, after all.”
“Oh! Thanks again for defeating the Storm King!” This time, Silverstream forewent the social norms she had learned so many of in such a short span of time, and flew across the desk, pulling Twilight into a tight hug. “I know it hasn’t even been two years, but our lives are so much better! We can never thank you and the other Professors enough!”
“No problem… Glad we could help…” Silverstream felt a soft tug of telekinesis pull her off and gently set her back in her chair. Despite that, though, other than regaining her breath, Twilight didn’t seem to have minded the breach of personal space at all. Perhaps she really did know how much it meant to them. With a smile, Silverstream quickly finished stacking her papers, and, struggling slightly under the weight, flew out of her seat towards the door.
“Happy holidays, Silverstream!” As the door opened for her in a brief purple glow, Silverstream looked back to witness Twilight smiling as she gave a short wave. “Say hello to Sky Beak, Ocean Flow and Terramar for me! Oh, and Queen Novo and Princess Skystar too!”
“I will!” Unable to respond with a wave of her own, Silverstream instead gave her tail a little shake – happily, Twilight seemed amused by this. “Thanks, Headmare Twilight!” Giving one last smile, Silverstream flew out of the office, heading back to her dorm.
“Hearth’s Warming Eve is here once again,” sang Silverstream quietly under her breath as she flew through the school’s corridors, laden with festive decorations. Normally, the long distance between Twilight’s office and the dormitories would have dragged, but right now, Silverstream was so happy she enjoyed every moment of it.
School was nearly out! As fun as learning about friendship was, it was nice to get some time off. And the Three Days of Freedom Celebration was nearly here! All those times it had been a meek, one-day affair, where all they had to do were the same activities they did all year round while hiding from the Storm King… and now it was so much more! Silverstream had read the tourism books explaining the new… itinerary, right, that was the word! – of the holiday countless times, but now she’d experience it for herself!
And the best part was, she’d experience it all with her family! In between the Celebration’s activities, Dad would regale them with all the stories of him and his buddies in the Hippogriff Navy. Silverstream knew Mom had no shortage of funny and embarrassing gossip she’d have picked up from the other seaponies. And as for Little Terramar – Silverstream gave her head a little shake, remembering he wasn’t so little anymore, to which a passing pegasus student looked at her oddly – Silverstream had plenty of gentle teasing planned there.
And lo! The things Silverstream had planned! Her smile stretched so wide her beak threatened to split from the pressure. She would tell them more about her friends, and the things she had learned from them. Then there were all the new things about friendship and Equestria. In the last year, Silverstream had become a big fan of the Wonderbolts, and while Rainbow Dash had kick-started that fascination, Silverstream knew it endured because of her own interest. A group of ponies who made a career out of flying and cool stunts? No wonder Rainbow Dash had wanted to be one her whole life!
And last, but certainly not least, she thought as she reached the door to her dormitory, there was her performance in classes. Oh, Mom and Dad would be so proud when she showed them her report card!
Silverstream had only just nudged the door open and hovered in, when she realized what she had just thought. Surely she hadn’t… She set down the stack of papers on her bed and started flipping through it frantically. Honesty homework, Loyalty questions, Generosity fieldwork, Kindness report… But it was only as Silverstream finished with the Laughter papers that it properly hit her.
“I must have left my report card in Headmare Twilight’s office!” Sparing only enough time to close her door gently – she knew from experience how the neighbors didn’t appreciate a loud door slam echoing through the walls – she flew back through the corridors with undue speed. Silverstream found that by telling herself this flight was early practice for her Wonderbolts tryout years down the line – a very comforting half-truth, as things went – she managed to keep her focus off of the fact of having left her report there in the first place.
In barely a quarter of the time, she’d finished the return journey, landing by the closed office doors. She approached with a swift gait, about to knock with the knuckles of her talon, when something caught the attention of her ear.
“Here’s your report card.” Pausing slightly, Silverstream leaned in. With her ear angled close to the wood, she could just about make out the distinctive sound of Twilight’s magic cutting out. “So, any holiday plans? My brother, sister-in-law and niece are coming all the way from the Crystal Empire!”
Silverstream almost smacked her head. Of course Twilight still had more end-of-term reviews to conduct! Silverstream made to double back, intent on waiting by the corner, but before she had gotten more than two paces, somecreature else spoke up.
“Eh, not really.” The sound of a familiar avian drawl made Silverstream pause in her retreat, moving closer to the door again. “Things haven’t changed much.”
“They haven’t?” Twilight sounded unusually stunned at this decleration. “But I’d heard the griffons were getting along a little better.”
“Things get exaggerated,” came Gallus’ voice. Silverstream could picture him doing a dismissive wave of his talon with those words. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’ve been trying to use what I’ve learned here to help everygriff to get on better back home, but progress has been slow. The Blue Moon Festival isn’t going to be any different.”
Before Silverstream had time to process this, Twilight was speaking again. “I remember. That’s why you wrecked the Hearth’s Warming Tree last year, so you could spend a little more time with your friends before they all went home.”
“I’m still sorry about that!” Even with nothing for her eyes to pick up, Silverstream had no trouble visualizing the panic in Gallus’ face as he said that. “I know it was the wrong thing to do, and I should have just talked about it, but…”
A pause followed, during which Silverstream could hear the steady clip clop of Twilight walking a few paces. “It’s okay, Gallus.” Was the Headmare holding Gallus’ talon? Silverstream reckoned it was possible. “We forgave you back then, and that still stands now. All ancient history.”
These words put a smile on Silverstream’s face. She supposed it was normal to dwell on your mistakes a little, but it sounded like Twilight had it all in hoof. She turned to leave again.
“It’s not ancient history to me.” Silverstream barely noticed she'd stopped and returned to pressing her ear against the door. “Headmare Twilight?” A few seconds ticked by. “Can I tell you something, if it’ll never leave this office?”
Silverstream didn’t even register Twilight’s response, though it was probably a positive affirmation of some sort. Every muscle in her legs and wings twitched with a desperate urge to leave, to not hear whatever came next, but she seemed to have forgotten how to move.
“I’m really grateful to my friends for staying behind with me last year. But, even though they said they were all okay with it, I could tell they still really missed celebrating their own traditions with their families back home. And I know it’s wrong, but a part of me wishes they could stay with me again this year.”
Another short pause. “I can understand that,” Twilight said softly. There was no anger in her voice, just pure concern and understanding.
“But, the thing is, I’ve been watching them the past few weeks. They’ve all been talking about their holidays at home so much. I’ve never seen Smolder so excited, and that’s saying something. I could never ask any of them to miss it two years in a row.”
“What have you told them when they ask about your holiday plans?”
“Eh, I’ve just said the griffons are getting on better. They’ve heard the same things you have, so they buy it. I know it’s not totally honest, but I don’t want them worrying about me again. They all deserve to celebrate their traditions to the fullest. It’s like, um, what was it Professor Rarity said? Something about, ‘Sometimes being generous to others means putting up with something you yourself would rather avoid, darling.’ She mentioned something about when she got dirty cleaning a garden so she could borrow a flower. Sounded kind of silly, to be honest. But I think the generosity here’s more important than the honesty.”
This declaration was followed by one of the loudest silences Silverstream had ever heard. She probably wouldn’t have noticed anycreature coming right up to her. Thinking quickly, she glanced over her shoulder, but the corridor was still deserted.
“Gallus, that’s a wonderful thing you’re doing for your friends.” There was tangible sincerity in Twilight’s voice. “But it doesn’t mean you have to be lonely for the holidays. You can stay with me and my family instead. The more, the merrier!”
For the first time since she’d gotten there, Silverstream felt like smiling again. It was all going to be okay! Gallus’ bizarre decision to keep this from them didn’t matter, he’d be happy with Twilight and the other Professors!
“Sorry, Headmare Twilight. I can’t do that either.” Faster than a candle being blown out, Silverstream’s smile vanished.
“Don’t worry, it’s no trouble –”
“No, it actually is trouble. You said you had family coming, didn’t you? Not only will you be celebrating with them as well as your friends, you’re all going to be busy catching up with each other, right?” With an audible strain in his throat, Gallus continued. “If I’m there, you’d be dedicating time you could be spending with one another, just so I wouldn’t be lonely. I couldn’t ask you, or the other Professors, or especially your family who doesn’t even know me, to do that. It… it wouldn’t be right.”
This time, there was no response. Silverstream was sure of this, as she could feel her heart thumping in her chest at a speed she hadn’t felt since a close escape from some Storm Creatures several years back. Since then, she’d never ventured near the surface until their defeat.
“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like it, but it’s the way it has to be. It’s like you always say. ‘Friendship isn’t always easy, but it’s always worth it.’”
“Gallus…” It took Silverstream a moment to realize that had been Twilight, and not her own thoughts inside her head. Silverstream had had no idea. Looking back, it all made sense: Gallus hadn’t sounded all that enthusiastic when the subject of their holiday plans had come up, and especially when, now Silverstream reflected on it, he had brushed their questions off. Was he really willing to have a miserable time, and not tell them, just so they’d have a great time and wouldn’t worry about him?
“Thanks for listening, Headmare Twilight.” There was the distinctive sound of several papers being stacked together. “I needed to say that to somecreature, even if nothing can come of it.”
Silverstream felt the color drain from her face as the unmistakable sound of Gallus’ wings beating grew louder, loud enough that she’d have heard it regardless of her ear’s proximity to the door. Scrambling backward so fast her limbs almost got tangled together, she took off at an even greater speed than she had come here, zipping around the corner just as Twilight’s magic opened her office door. Silverstream didn’t stop her flight even as the distance between her and Gallus grew so great, and it became crystal clear she hadn’t been spotted. She was so focused on separating herself from what she had just overheard that nothing registered in her vision. That is, until she flew into something very solid.
She bounced back, landing painfully on her rump. Once her vision had settled from a good head shake, she saw a light gray and arctic blue changeling in front of her, looking very dizzy, a few papers and books scattered around her.
“Ocellus! Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry!” Silverstream quickly gathered up a few sheets, handing them out as her friend got up.
“That’s… okay, Silverstream,” groaned Ocellus, taking the papers. After handing them over, Silverstream hastened to pick up the rest, darting around with an undue wing speed. “What were you flying so fast for?”
“You’re not going to believe this!” As soon as Silverstream returned the last few sheets, she hovered back, throwing her talons to the air. “I just heard that –”
She felt something catch in her throat. As Ocellus stood there, her insectoid head cocked, Silverstream heard a familiar voice inside her head.
I don’t want them worrying about me again. They all deserve to celebrate their traditions to the fullest.
“Yeah? What did you just hear?” Diverting her attention back to reality, she registered that Ocellus was still there, looking up at her, waiting for an answer.
“Oh! I just heard that, um…” Silverstream’s eyes darted back and forth, while she racked her brain for something suitable. “I… just heard my final grades!” Surely that would stick, it was the truth, after all. “Yep, got really high marks on my Kindness project. Can’t wait to tell my family back home! Anyway, gotta dash, want to get a start on packing. I’ll see you later!”
Before Ocellus, looking very confused, could say anything else, Silverstream bolted, blood still pumping in her ears.
Silverstream found herself pacing listlessly back in the direction of Twilight’s office. She still needed her report card back, after all. But she barely noticed where she was going, as her thoughts were still racing, even now.
It was such a… complex thing Gallus was doing. Feeling lonely about spending the holidays alone and wanting his friends to enjoy their holidays, that was easy to understand. But keeping it secret so they wouldn’t worry about him? So he wouldn’t worry about them worrying about him? And not wanting to stay with Twilight so her holidays wouldn’t be compromised? It was enough to make Silverstream’s head spin.
The worst part? She had no idea what to do. Silverstream couldn’t think of anything she could do without talking to him, and she wasn’t even supposed to know! And she couldn’t ask any of their other friends for help, or it would become their burden too. She already suspected this would weigh on her conscience all holiday, but much like Gallus, she didn’t want it to become any other creature’s burden. Looked like she would have to bear it out. Maybe they could do something for Gallus in the new year. That was all she had.
All too soon, she was back at Twilight’s office. She limply raised her talon to request entry, but paused when she heard a voice making no trouble to keep itself down.
“He really said that he didn’t want to stay with you either because it would mean you, I, our friends and your family would have to accommodate him rather than focusing on each other?” Silverstream’s ear perked up, drawing her to the wood again.
“Yes,” came Twilight’s slow reply. “And get this: he attributed his choice to your lessons. He said, ‘Sometimes being generous to others means putting up with something you yourself would rather avoid, darling.’” Silverstream’s mind almost reeled from processing the reality of Twilight’s dulcet tone imitating Gallus’ scratchy voice imitating Rarity’s cultivated dialect. In any other context, it would have been hilarious. “You used the time you fetched Mistmane’s flower as an example?”
“Well, I suppose that’s… quite flattering,” Rarity said after a pause. “And I am very glad he’s taken what he’s learned in Generosity class to heart. I may have to give him extra credit!”
“Uh, Rarity,” came a third voice, accompanied by the distinctive sound of dragon wings beating to keep afloat – Smolder had been in Silverstream’s life too long by now. “We’re getting sidetracked here.”
“Oh, yes, of course.” A clearing of the throat followed. “Well, good thing you called me, if it’s my lessons he quoted.”
“Yeah,” chuckled Spike. “We certainly don’t need a repeat of the time Pinkie Pie met Cranky.”
“It’s amazing he’s doing this,” continued Rarity, “and were I in his hooves – ah, talons – I’d completely understand, but truly, Twilight, I don’t know what we can do. It would be unfair to disrespect his wishes and let it leave this office, and he clearly doesn’t want our help. From what you told me, he seems set on just enduring this alone.”
The ensuing silence was enough for Silverstream to realize she was overhearing something she shouldn’t be. Drawing herself back up to full height, albeit with a slouched stance, she finally knocked on the door sharply.
Following a trio of surprised grunts, the door opened, Spike floating there. He cocked his head, as did Rarity, standing beside Twilight’s desk. Twilight herself looked slightly less surprised, but still surprised nonetheless.
“Oh, uh… hey, Executive Assistant Spike, Professor Rarity,” Silverstream said sheepishly with a forced grin, waving a talon, before she turned her attention to the alicorn. “Headmare Twilight, I think I left my report card behind.”
“Oh, yes.” Clearly Twilight had noticed herself, for she promptly levitated it from her desk’s corner and across the room in a flash. “I was going to send Spike along with it later.”
“Thank you!” Flashing what she hoped was a warm appreciative smile, Silverstream took the report card, making to leave.
“Wait.” Rarity’s declaration, gentle yet firm, made Silverstream stop in her tracks. Very slowly, she turned around to find all of the room’s occupants looking at her, concerned. “Darling, is something wrong?”
“Wrong? With me?” Silverstream doubled her efforts on her false smile, moving back and forth with a wobbly gait. “Nothing’s wrong! Why would anything be wrong?” But it seemed Applejack’s Honesty classes were working too well, for her flimsy attempt wasn’t fooling any of them.
“If something’s wrong, you can tell us,” added Spike, bobbing over and resting a claw on her shoulder. Miraculously, Silverstream felt calmer already just by his touch. Clearly familiar territory for him. “There’s nothing worse than having to shoulder the burden of a problem alone.”
Oh, if irony could maim. Silverstream paced on the spot, racking her brains for what to do. Her eyes darted from Spike’s gentle look, to Twilight’s soft patience, to Rarity’s outstretched hoof. Feeling their gazes piercing her, she looked around, ready to make an excuse and backpedal out. As she did so, Silverstream’s eyes caught her back talons, standing on the thin line separating the office from the outside corridor.
With the same serenity as resting on the beach back home, all the problems weighing on her mind seemed to dilute, enough for her to focus. Slowly, she stepped forward two paces, moving her hindlegs fully inside the office.
Everything seemed so much clearer now, if only for the next step.
She barely even registered moving sharply to close the office door, nor Spike scooting back to avoid getting knocked sideways. Nonetheless, they waited patiently, sensing her about to speak.
“The thing is… this isn’t the first time I came back for my report card.”
“Is something wrong with it?” An unusual level of panic settled over Twilight’s face, and before Silverstream knew what had happened, her report card levitated across the room, stopping under Twilight’s watchful eye. “I’m sure I transcribed everycreature’s grades perfectly –”
“No, no, it’s fine! I’m very happy with it!” The frantic waving of her talons seemed to be enough to calm Twilight down. It had the opposite effect on Silverstream, with all of them watching patiently again.
“Headmare Twilight, when I came back earlier, I…” Silverstream felt something catch in her throat again. “I…” She leaned forward, trying to force it out, an avian caw squeaking through her neck. They all leaned forward too, equally eager.
“I… overhead you and Gallus talking!”
It only took a moment for these words to sink in, but it was among the more nerve-wracking moments in a day already full of them. Spike scowled, while Rarity looked slightly hurt, mouth ajar, which made Silverstream feel even worse. But it was Twilight’s tight frown that really pierced her feathers.
Thus, Silverstream was surprised when, just as Twilight opened her mouth, she found herself cutting across. “I didn’t mean to hear! Once he started talking about the holidays and how he was feeling, I couldn’t stop listening!” Maybe they sensed Silverstream’s distress, or it showed in her face, because she could see the frowns fading. “And I haven’t told anycreature! I remembered what Gallus said about not wanting this to be any other creature’s burden. It may be mine now… but I won’t make it any other creature’s.” Hoping it would boost her case, she stood up tall, trying to look dignified like those hippogriffs in the Royal Navy.
Silence reigned, though compared to the previous bouts outside the office, this was tranquil. Spike and Rarity turned from Silverstream to Twilight, whose expression remained static. Slowly, she got up, pushed her chair back, and walked around the desk. Every clip of her hooves on the polished floor echoed in the quiet, until she was only a foot away. Nonetheless, Silverstream kept her noble stance. Surely it would help?
“Silverstream.” In a moment, Twilight was smiling proudly. “I can’t say I agree with you having heard, but given that, you’ve done the right thing since.”
“Indeed, darling.” Either through being teachers or best friends, the pair must have had an unspoken agreement to let Twilight start before chiming in, because now Rarity moved up just as close. “Respecting a friend’s desires is always very important.”
“Yeah,” added Spike, rubbing his neck. “We were just talking about that ourselves.”
“Oh, I know, I heard you outside.” Before she’d even registered their shock, she pressed on, all prior hesitation gone. “That’s why I knocked, before I heard too much.” Just as quickly as their frowns had returned, they were gone. Finding their smiles contagious, Silverstream kept pace. “Plus, it’s also why I told you I knew! You already know, so I wasn’t making it anycreature’s burden more than it already is. And like Gallus wanted,” she added in an aside, glancing over her mane at the door, “it never left this office.”
This time, there was no tense wait. Silverstream wasn’t sure what she had expected, but both Twilight and Rarity stepped up, each placing a hoof on a shoulder.
“I'm very proud of you, Silverstream,” Twilight said softly, her eyes sparkling with warmth.
“You not only remembered the friendship lessons you’ve learnt in class,” Rarity said, her eyes watering, “you’ve worked out from them what to do in new and difficult situations.”
“Aw, thank you!” Before they could react, she’d pulled the pair of ponies into a hug, using her wing to draw Spike into the tight squeeze. This time, she could feel them all returning the hugs, as sincere as their words.
“So!” Letting them all go, Silverstream rose slightly off the ground. “What do we do now?”
“Huh?” Twilight stepped back a pace or two, cocking her head as she looked up. “You want us to help Gallus together?”
“Of course!” It was such a relief to know how to proceed forward again. Silverstream could feel it making her hovering practically effortless. “It was so tough, thinking about this alone. But with four of us, that’s –” Silverstream paused, counting on her talons “– four times more likely to come up with something!” Twilight pursed her lips, which shot a small spasm of doubt into Silverstream. Surely she wouldn’t say no?
“Why not, Twilight?” Twilight turned her head, as did Silverstream, seeing Rarity with a contemplative look. “She already knows, and an extra head always helps. Besides, she’s Gallus’ friend. If anyone knows him, she would.”
“Well, okay.” Flashing an approving smile, Twilight returned to her desk. With a squeal of delight, Silverstream approached, with Spike and Rarity moving to its sides.
“The thing is, Gallus is right. My friends and I, we’re really, really looking forward to our holidays back home!” Silverstream could already feel some luster leaving her face at the knowledge of what she was about to say next. “I don’t want Gallus to be alone… but I can’t miss the Three Days of Freedom Celebration again. I just can’t.” Despite being a hippogriff and above land, her cheeks felt wet.
“Darling, it’s okay.” Though Silverstream didn’t look, she felt Rarity gently wiping away a tear off her feathers. “No creature would expect that of you, or anycreature. Even if this is a difficult crossroads, we all have our own priorities.”
“Cross…” Silverstream was sure something snapped inside her skull. Jerking her head up, Silverstream leaned in to Twilight, forgoing the alicorn’s surprise. “Twilight, hadn’t you started teaching us about cross-canceling equations the other week? They’re, uh…” She really wished Ocellus was here. It was she who was good at this sort of thing, not Silverstream. She pounded her head sharply, trying to think.
“They’re when you list all your problems and use a process of… elimination! That’s it!” Silverstream was almost saddened this was remaining in the office, she’d have loved to tell her parents about this epiphany. “You use elimination to cross out your problems until you have the answer! And I know you were teaching them for math, but Ocellus was researching them later, and apparently they can be used for other things too!”
“Very good, Silverstream.” Springing to life as though a fire had been cooked under her, Twilight got up, igniting her horn. A blackboard on wheels rolled out of the corner up to them. “Stepping back to gain some objective distance and listing the obstacles is always a good step. Why don’t you start?” Twilight levitated out a chalk, sporting a grin similar to when she was in the middle of a heavy lecture.
“Oh! Okay, um,” hummed Silverstream. Well, might as well start from the top. “Well, first, Gallus doesn’t want to spend the holidays alone at home.” Twilight nodded sharply, scribbling furiously on the board.
“Second,” chimed in Spike, flying forward and picking up a chalk of his own, “Gallus doesn’t want his friends to know, because he wants them to enjoy their holidays without worrying about him.”
“Spike,” interjected Rarity, giving his wing a gentle tug with her magic. Startled, Spike floated back to hover alongside her. “Let’s let Silverstream have a go first, it’s good practice.” With a small huff Silverstream personally thought was adorable, he folded his arms, glowering.
“Third,” Rarity said with a sharp command in her voice, the chalk Spike had previously held scribbling across the board so fast it almost knocked away Twilight’s. “None of Gallus’ friends, especially Silverstream, want to give up their holidays at home.” Rarity angled her head high, proud as ever, until she registered Spike staring at her with a gobsmacked look Silverstream felt could give Sandbar a run for his bits.
“What?” Rarity shrugged, her smile never leaving her face. “Silverstream said so herself a minute ago, she didn’t need a reminder of that.” Silverstream gave a cheery nod to show she agreed. Spike looked as though to protest, but evidently thought better of it, returning his attention to the board.
“Anything else, Silverstream?” Twilight tapped lightly but sharply on the board with her chalk, and just like that, control returned to the group.
“Yeah, fourth would be,” Silverstream said, pausing for a moment to gather the point coherently. “Gallus doesn’t want me or his friends to make sacrifices in our holidays just for him. Oh, and he doesn’t want you or your friends and family to do so either, Headmare Twilight!” Giving a proud nod, Twilight wrote it up, leaving them with a sizable chunk of points on the board. This was actually kind of fun!
“Fifth!” Silverstream raised her talon, ready to leap up. She remained that way for a few moments, just about perceiving their expectant expressions.
“…Actually, I can’t think of a fifth.” She slumped slightly, her posture slouched enough to bring her to Rarity’s level. It was always weird, being taller than your teachers.
“That’s okay, Silverstream, I think we’ve got everything.” Still holding the chalk, Twilight levitated up a lecture stick alongside it, jabbing it at Spike’s line. “We can cross this off, as Silverstream’s second point means none of Gallus’ other friends can know anyway.” Twilight drew a thick line through the second point on the board. “As long as Silverstream doesn’t let him know she knows!” While Spike gave a puff of a grunt at his insight being rendered negligible, Silverstream nodded her approval. One problem down already. Maybe they were onto something here.
“If I may, darling,” added Rarity, raising a hoof. Smiling, Twilight relinquished her hold on the chalk and lecture stick just as Rarity grabbed them. “As solid as my contribution was, Silverstream’s second point shares a lot of overlap. Gallus wants his friends to have their holidays, and so do they. They’re basically two sides of the same bit!” With that, Rarity drew a semicircular line at both ends of the third and fourth points, connecting them. Silverstream could feel her beak straining from her grin again. They were nearly there!
Several minutes later, however, she had to admit the excitement had worn off. Rarity narrowed her eyes while she cocked her head, as though hoping the board’s contents might make more sense that way. Spike mouthed silently as he flapped near it, running through the points over and over. Twilight, meanwhile, was scribbling small notes furiously at the board’s bottom, then erasing them just as quick.
“I’m sorry, Headmare Twilight, I can’t think of anything!” Silverstream threw her front legs up. “How can any of us help Gallus without making sacrifices in our holidays, and without making him think we’re making sacrifices?”
“They do seem mutually exclusive,” pondered Rarity, turning her head sideways so much it was a wonder she didn’t topple over.
Even Rarity didn’t know what to do? Silverstream buried her beak in her talons. All that work for nothing. Now she’d have her failure at coming up with a solution on her mind over the break too. And worse, Gallus would still be all alone for the holidays. Ever since the incident in the caves below the school, where he’d given her the confidence to face her fear of the Storm King returning, she’d felt that bit closer to him. And now… she couldn’t do anything for him.
“Silverstream, some problems can’t be solved in the classroom.” She felt a hoof, not magic, gently pry her talons off, before the hoof cupped her face up, looking into that of Twilight’s. “Even I can’t puzzle this out easily. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Yeah,” Spike said, throwing his arms up and retracting back to the group. “This really is like a tricky math problem.”
At these words, Silverstream wouldn’t have been surprised if somecreature had lit a candle above her head. Now it all made sense.
“Pearl of Queen Novo!” Sparing not a moment, she flew over to the board, grabbing a chalk. “Headmare Twilight, remember that division you taught us last year? I couldn’t divide a problem, but then you pointed out it actually couldn’t be divided! Not perfectly, anyway.” She noticed a smile creeping up Twilight’s face, and pressed on, excited, scribbling a division workflow on the board. “But you can still divide as best you can, and get a remainder.” Silverstream floated back, showing the result of dividing twenty by three: six, with a remainder of two.
“If a perfect solution isn’t possible,” concluded Silverstream, taking the lecture stick and, with giddy excitement, pointing at the two-and-a-half problems they still had to solve, “what’s the solution that breaks these problems the least?”
Never had Silverstream felt so happy since this had all started as when she watched Twilight smile, then look to Rarity, who grew an equal smile, before she did the same to Spike. Twilight’s eyes were so starry with delight at her workaround, however, that it fell to Rarity to respond.
“Given that stipulation, darling,” she said, taking a step forward as Silverstream landed down, “should we take it you have a plan?”
“I do, and it’s perfect! Well, as perfect as it can be.” Setting down the stick and chalk, Silverstream jogged excitedly in place. “There’s just one difficulty in pulling it off. Headmare Twilight, Executive Assistant Spike?” The pair leaned forward, sporting smiles that could rival those of Silverstream’s, though perhaps not those of Pinkie Pie’s.
“Can you get mail to travel faster than normal?”
Silverstream had been reasonably positive the answer would be yes, but even she wasn’t prepared for Twilight to lean back up with a smug smile on her face. Spike, on the other hand, grinned more than Smolder on their class trip to the Lava Fields.
“Oh yeah,” chuckled Spike as he picked up a quill and a scroll Twilight had levitated over. “We’re kind of experts at that.”
“You guys go on ahead!” Keeping her beak in a forced smile she hoped would fool her friends, Silverstream jerked her talon back in the direction of the dormitories. “I just want to double-check my room, make sure I didn’t miss anything.” The group seemed to take this in their stride, turning around and proceeding away.
As soon as Yona led up the group’s rear, Silverstream took off, though not towards the dormitories. She instead joined a group of ponies headed in the opposite direction, then ducked past them as they reached a fork, flying deeper into the school. As she flew, she glanced everywhere nervously, hoping to find her target before she reached her destination. She may have been flying fast, but it was nothing compared to the speed of her heart. At the rate it was going, she was surprised it hadn’t burst out through her feathers –
In a familiar sensation, she bumped into something very tangible, though this time, she was high enough to reaffirm her flight before hitting the ground. Straightening her earmuffs that had been lodged loose, she saw she had collided with –
“Executive Assistant Spike!” Sure enough, the young dragon was right in front of her, having also steadied his flight quickly – Smolder appeared to have taught him well. Seeing her, Spike relaxed, worry instantly fading for relief. He had been searching for her too.
“Did it…?” The only response she got was the dragon holding out a scroll, his expression unreadable. Quivering with anticipation, Silverstream took it, unwrapping it with shaking talons.
The words went into Silverstream’s eyes, but she barely absorbed any of them as a grin crawled across her features, doubly so once she pulled out a small envelope stuffed inside the scroll. It had worked. She couldn’t believe it, but it had worked. Only one step left now.
When she looked back up, Spike gave her a short nod, a polite indication that it was okay to go. With a squee of joy, she swung him around, giving him a tight hug before she took off. Spike’s role in this had been, and still was, invaluable. He deserved it.
On the return flight, Silverstream was lucky. Enough students had already left for the holidays that there were sparingly few winged creatures still in the school, none of whom were flying as high as her. In no time at all, she had recovered her luggage and was at the main atrium, where –
“Gallus!” Startled, the griffon turned around, just about to fly out the school doors with his bags. Coming in for a landing, Silverstream felt her heart slowing down at a gradual rate, panting as she caught her breath.
“Uh, what’s up, Silverstream?” Gallus raised an eyebrow, pulling at and adjusting the red-and-orange headband above his eyes that matched the scarf wrapped around his neck. Taking a deep breath, Silverstream grabbed his talon, leading him to the side of the main doors. She knew a question was forthcoming, but before he could ask it, she thrust out the envelope. Time seemed to pass slowly as he took it, turning it over, looking at both sides.
“What’s this?” asked Gallus bluntly, holding it to the side.
“Oh, right,” chuckled Silverstream, stifling the laugh with her talon, “there’s no label on it!” Indeed, other than the official seal, there was nothing on the envelope. No wonder he was confused! “It’s an early holiday present for you!”
A moment of pregnant tension followed, before a smile, small but perceptible, crossed his face. So far, so good. “Wow. Thanks.” Pulling his bag close, he reached to open it and stuff the envelope inside, but Silverstream was too quick for him – she gently took his talon again.
“Yeah, this is the kind of present you should open now!” At this news, Gallus didn’t merely raise his eyebrows, he cocked his head, his mouth hanging open. It reminded Silverstream of nothing so much as the way Applejack’s dog had reacted when first brought to their class, upon seeing creatures she evidently had not come across before. Bewilderment, that’s what Gallus was feeling, she realized.
“Ooh, ooh!” Silverstream squealed. Midway through unfolding the envelope, Gallus stopped, and it was almost gratifying to see a familiar, normal eyebrow raise. “Read it out loud!” Gallus paused for a moment, looking around to see if anycreature was nearby, and then shrugged. Flipping the parchment fully open, he began to read, while Silverstream waited patiently. She may have known the general contents inside it, but not the specifics.
“‘In accordance with the newly established tradition of the Three Days of Festival Celebration, Her Majesty Queen Novo, of Mount Aris and Seaquestria, is delighted to extend an invitation to Gallus of Griffonstone…’” Gallus’ words slowed, his flat tone slipping to one of rising surprise. Silverstream, meanwhile, could feel her smile threatening to burst through her beak again. Her mouth felt like Pinkie Pie’s party cannon, loaded with confetti and other party supplies.
“‘…to accompany his friend Silverstream to Mount Aris for the festival, and partake in it with her and her family.’” Very slowly, so slowly that every crinkle in the parchment made itself known, Gallus lowered the invitation, looking back at Silverstream with an expression the hippogriff had to rack her brain to place. Astonishment, she eventually landed on.
“Well?” Silverstream said when the silence dragged on. “What do you think?” Gallus remained frozen for a moment, and then sighed, lowering his head.
“Silverstream, this is really something, but… I can’t accept this.” He handed the parchment back, a sad frown plastered on his face that he didn’t even bother to hide.
“Oh?” Startled, Gallus looked back up, only for his surprise to double when he caught sight of Silverstream putting on her best skepticism, complete with eyebrow raised in a manner he needed no introduction to. Clearly he had expected her to look distraught. “And why’s that?” She hovered slightly off the ground, crossing her front legs, a technique often used by parent hippogriffs and seaponies back home when interrogating their children for answers or information. To judge by the elicited reaction here, it was working.
“Because…” Gallus rubbed his neck, his eyes darting around, to which Silverstream winced slightly. This was the part she most regretted as a side casualty, but the mild discomfort Gallus felt now would be worth the end result tenfold. “Because you’re really looking forward to spending it with your family. I can’t ask you all to take extra time to accommodate me.”
“Ah,” responded Silverstream, returning to her usual comfy attitude of unrelenting giddiness, “but this isn’t just from my family, it’s from Auntie Novo herself!” With a soft landing, she jabbed a nail at the invitation still clutched in her other talon. “The Queen has everything prepared for an extra guest. If you don’t come, all of that would have been for nothing.”
None of Gallus’ previous surprises compared to this, with his mouth hanging open for a long, prolonged moment. Silverstream hadn’t caught him this stunned since his quick turnaround in Loyalty class late last year. She could almost see the cogs ticking away under the headband and tufts of head fur. Just like how Silverstream, with the help of Twilight, Rarity, and Spike, had examined all the problems and figured out the solution with the least casualties, now Gallus too had to make a choice, balancing his desire not to be a burden on any other creature’s holiday against the fact that his presence was expected by the whole Hippogriff kingdom, all the way up to Queen Novo. As Silverstream waited patiently, willing to give him the time he needed, she admitted to herself that, while this was not something she would normally do, there was a certain satisfaction in planning something like this and watching it all play out exactly as she hoped it would.
“Well,” Gallus said eventually, rubbing his neck again slowly, “if the Queen’s expecting it, and everything’s ready… I guess I could come.”
Letting out a squeal to rival Pinkie Pie, Silverstream yanked him into a tight hug, spinning him around, barely registering the griffon’s choked splutters. “Oh, thank you, Gallus, thank you! It’s going to be so much fun! No time to lose!” Breaking from the hug, she rapidly pulled her bags over, stuffing the royal invitation inside. Gallus scarcely had time to grab his own luggage before Silverstream yanked him into a fast flight, streaking out the school doors and into the snowy air.
“Wait!” called out Gallus as the duo flew around one of the spires of the Castle of Friendship, bearing for Ponyville’s center. Silverstream let go of him, allowing the griffon to gather himself, wings beating furiously to keep up. “I’ve got to send a letter to Grampa Gruff saying I won’t be coming!”
“Already taken care of!” Slowing enough for him to catch her, Silverstream fingered in her bags, pulling out a small sealed bottle. “Headmare Twilight gave me some enchanted dragonfire!” Gallus peered close, observing a small green flame inside, darting and dancing all over the bottle. “Isn’t it great? You can write the letter on the train, and then just ignite it with this to send it back to Executive Assistant Spike! He promised to send it straight to Griffonstone – it’ll get there before you would have!”
“Wow,” Gallus said after a moment, watching with eyes wide as she stowed the bottle away. Silverstream tightened her red scarf snugly around her neck, the pair soaring over Town Hall. “You really planned this all out, didn’t you?”
Oh, you have no idea, thought Silverstream as Ponyville’s train station emerged out of the white blanket that seemed to cover the horizon.
The last few hours had passed in a blur. They’d reached the platform with just enough time to tell the rest of their friends, and to bid Sandbar Happy Hearth’s Warming, before departing. The pair had given a more detailed explanation on the Friendship Express to the others, though per Gallus’ secret desire, Silverstream never let on she knew of the turmoil he’d been feeling about the holidays. One by one, though, Yona, Ocellus, and Smolder had all departed to board connecting trains to Yakyakistan, the Changeling Kingdom, and the Dragon Lands.
Now, it was nighttime, their sleeping car empty but for the two of them. Across from her bed, Gallus was snoring loudly, occasionally giving a kick with his back leg, but Silverstream barely noticed, watching the endless sands of the Bone-Dry Desert blur by the window as the train made its way further south.
She knew the solution hadn’t been perfect. At some point or another, Gallus would have to know that she knew. It would be unfair to remain dishonest forever. But generosity was more important here, for both of them. It was hard, balancing different aspects of friendship like this, but if there was one thing Silverstream had learned from Twilight and the other Professors, it was that friendship isn’t always easy, but it’s always worth it.
Besides which, the solution may not have been fully perfect – Gallus would still feel like a small hindrance, and some minor effort had been made to accommodate him – but Twilight, Rarity, and Spike had all agreed it was the best possible way, encouraging her to plunge ahead. Gallus wouldn’t spend the holidays alone, and because he was directly invited and expected, he not only wouldn’t be a burden, but he wouldn’t think he’d be a burden either. Like he wanted, his grievances never left Twilight’s office. And the best part, she mused with another beak-breaking smile, was not only did they manage this without Silverstream or any of their friends sacrificing their holidays with their families, but on her first year of the expanded Celebration, she got to share it with a friend.
“Oh, you’re gonna love Mount Aris, Gallus,” whispered Silverstream, watching him slumbering peacefully as she curled up to sleep for the remainder of the journey – it helped when your destination was the last stop. “Griffons’ bodies are so similar to hippogriffs that you’ll have no trouble with all the land activities! And you haven’t lived till you become a seapony, even if only for a day.” She fingered a nail around her purple string necklace, watching her reflection gleaming in the surface of her twirling pearl fragment. “I can’t wait for you to meet Mom and Dad and Terramar and…” Silverstream stifled a yawn, her eyelids drooping. “Cousin Skystar…”
With all the events of the past few days weighing on her mind and body, Silverstream finally drifted off to sleep, while the train hurtled on to Klugetown. Mount Aris was only a few stops further: they’d be there in the morning. And so would a new holiday tradition, all the more special because she was sharing it with a friend who, honestly, needed it more than she did.
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Very nice. I think you might've gotten Ocellus' colour wrong though, says she's green.
Pretty devious solution to getting someone that stubborn to budge.
Oh my god this is so freaking cute.
I thought you got Silverstream's scattered, upbeat personality down really well! I love the way that she's bubbly even when she's concerned or just trying to puzzle things out.
Gallus would totally just be grumpy about how wet everything is. XD
Awww, this was great. You had Silverstream down to a tie. Seeing all the friendship lessons being brought up really gave it a feel that this was truly the second year for these guys. Truly they are learning from the best.
I loved it ❤️
I doubt there will be a sequel featuring the Three Days of Freedom but you got my support if you do!
Finally managed the time to sit down and have a read. This was really good, dude! Silverstream is at her best when she's trying to help others. She's a giver, the kind to put her whole heart into everything she does and nothing less. You really did a good job with her characterization. My only complaint was that Gallus was mostly off-screen, as my favorite thing about best birbs is when they're together and playing off one another, Gallus's deadpan and sarcastic attitude contrasting with her bubbly and sincere one. They're a great example of opposites attract. The scenes where they interacted were awesome, but I just wish there was more of it!
Considering this is the first fanfic you've written in four years, color me impressed. Writing is a bit of a perishable skill, but you did a good job on this regardless. And it was big! Way bigger than most of the other jinglemas entries. When I saw the wordcount it felt like waking up Christmas morning and seeing that the biggest present under the tree had my name on it! I appreciate the effort you went to for this story. You did good with the best birbs. Thank you so much for this wonderful gift. Happy Hearth's Warming :)
Thank you everypony for the kind words! They really do mean so much, truly.
10592764
Fixed! Along with close to a hundred other things - only a few are typos, most were swapping some words out for suitable synonyms to avoid word repetition, cutting the odd adverb or adjective, or correcting occasional incorrect tense usage. Nothing that changes the story's beat-by-beat incident at all.
10593665
Aw, thanks buddy! My main desire was to present a complex, nuanced problem, and how Silverstream approaches it, and the theme of shouldering a burden so others have a better time, and how that works on both Silverstream and Gallus' sides, and the general complexity and density of all that. But, the second most-important part after that was how I handled the third-person POV. Which is basically another side of the same coin of her characterisation.
The thing is, the great majority of fanfiction I've written in past fandoms has very much been in "this is a movie/tv episode, but written" mode. Mostly because getting into animation was my goal for a long time, and I learnt how to write scripts well and everything. If I'm being frank, while I could write a good story and keep the characters in check (though I rarely expanded them beyond what the property itself would do), this had two side effects. Firstly, my need to describe at least partially the visuals of every scene - they never got bloated, but it didn't really help all that often all the time. Second, I tended to have a wide 3rd-person POV, rather then a limited one. So direct character thoughts and insights were limited.
Coming back to this, having not written a published fanfiction in so long, I knew I didn't have the time to courage to totally change style. So I made a decision fairly early on to do a limited 3rd-person POV, and have the whole story be from Silverstream's POV - basically to force me to adapt. And, well, it did. Sticking to just one character forced me to get inside her head, and then bring that out here, and let it inform how she perceives every other character and every event. And that she is already super-familiar with every physical location in the story already was a nice side effect, meaning there was no need for most visual scene descriptions either.
However, I didn't want to go to a super-tight 3rd person POV either - that can get overbearing, and be hard to handle for both the writer and the reader. So, I sought to try and emphasise Silverstream's characterisation less through constant "this is what she's thinking!" moments (the big moment where I do, however, do this is the several paragraphs on her initial trip back from the office, which serve to set up her personal stakes in heading home for her first Three Days of Freedom Celebration), and more by small asides in the middle of sentences, and brief thoughts on how she perceives things. Unobtrusive characterisation, I guess you could call it.
Look like it worked, seeing as Silverstream's characterisation has been the constant source of praise from every commenter thus far! Glad you liked it!
He would, wouldn't he? Although to a fish and an underwater creature, water doesn't feel wet when your totally in it - the feeling we associate as 'wet', and what Gallus too would, is to do with the reaction to the air and how non-marine bodies react to it. I can picture Gallus getting a lecture on that from Silverstream or some other seapony, and just rolling his eyes at it all.
10594798
Thanks for the praise! That wasn't a totally intended effect, but the notion of more complex friendship lessons, and having to make choices between two conflicting principles, absolutely was. While remaining subtle about it, my intended effect there was to show how in learning something, you move from a surface-level understanding of it to a more deep understanding, and rather then learning the answers in a spoon-feed manner as you did before, use what you learnt before to be able to puzzle out the answer. There's a reason the story features Silverstream recalling two workarounds central to math, one theoretical and one very number-focused, and reaplying them to her current situation (also, I wanted to side drop the fact that the School of Friendship does teach other things, but not call attention to it - unobtrusive world building, you know).
But yes, the story does very much play into this being their second year, being the same Hearth's Warming that "Best Gift Ever" happens in, and that bleeds into every facet of it, some intended and some not. Glad that satisfied you!
10596316
Aw, and I loved that you loved it!
Funnily enough, the original draft of this story DID have all that too, and the events depicted here existed in a super-truncated form as a prelude (I've seen plenty of fanfics around that have some of the setup be only in the blurb, and not in the story, so even what I had in mind is mild compared to what others have done - to me a story should always make sense even without remembering what the blurb says). The problem was, other then the notion of Gallus being a sad sack through it all, and it leading up to a quiet, intimate (but platonic!) heart-to-heart between him and Silverstream, I couldn't figure out an actual story. Which probably would have been fine for many viewers, and for Jack of a Few Trades, but while I wanted a nice, heartwarming story, I wanted it to actually, you know, have some meat to it.
So I decided to just outline the events of the prelude, figuring that outlining that as a short story might help to get me going in the writing process, or see if it could stand on its on… and it just followed from there. And I ended up with this lengthy tale (for Jinglemas word limits) of a complex friendship problem, what it means to handle a burden alone and for others to shoulder it with you, respecting others' desires but working around them to still help them, and all that.
That said, I haven't discarded the notion of a followup chapter of the events that the three go through at the Three Days of Freedom Celebration! The only issue is, I both needed and wanted this story to end in a manner that felt complete and fully resolved, so some things I might have left open-ended were resolved in the coda. That, and I still would need to figure out what happens in the second chapter. And it needs to thematically and tonally feel of a piece with this story, in terms of more complicated friendship problems, how one tackled them, burdens, and all that. Right now, I can't help but see it as slightly more dour.
So I'm probably going to leave this story as-is. But, it could still happen! Keep your eyes peeled, my friend.
10596583
Aw, I so happy you really liked it! While producing something I personally felt was worthwhile, had substance and, frankly, could stand on its own beyond being a light and fluffy Jinglemas entry, was my primary goal, producing something that you deserved (and yes, I really do mean that; I really like you as an author and your work) and that would please you was a close second.
You should see my reply to hawthornbunny a bit above for more on this, but the end result of my characterisation of Silverstream was dialling back my old style of fanfiction writing into something that was more intimate in the prose voice - a 3rd person POV that was confined to one character, but without being a super-tight, limited, 3rd-person POV either. I didn't want to do the kind of POV that breaks every other sentence for character thoughts, nor did I feel comfy making that big a leap in style. I wanted us to be seeing it through Silverstream's eyes and perception of events, but not obtrusively so (hence Twilight and the others only having their teaching prefixes in dialogue, not in description).
So, sometimes consciously and sometimes subconsciously, I sought to drop little details here and there to boost her characterisation. Many of these are simply how she perceives things (writing Twilight, Rarity and Spike as Silverstream perceives them proved to be a very interesting writing exercise). Obviously there's her having to decipher a certain emotion or facial reaction, given her time hiding away, and those are great, but I didn't want to overuse them. Some are her making comparisons to previous events that are similar, which are both for the purpose of humour but also to illustrate how she sometimes uses past things as a basis for current ones (the moment with Gallus where he reacts a certain way, she recalls how Winowa looked at them when Applejack brought her to class, and then she placed that as bewilderment, shows off both of these).
And yes, of course, her bubbly approach to everything is key to her characterisation. Again, I sought to not overdo it, keeping the number of her thoughts and dialogue that used exclamation points to emphasise excitement to the right amount, for instance, so it's not overbearing or distracting. And it was a similar story with her wanting to help Gallus, which really is the main thrust of the story, of course. As you might have guessed, I wanted more depth then the usual "one character is being a sad-sack loner" type of story, so hence we have both Gallus not wanting to be a burden, not wanting others to accommodate him for selfless reasons, and Silverstream respecting his wish and not just telling all her friends and them figuring out how to help him again (incidentally, the callback to "A Friend In Deed" only came to me while writing that moment, but its so apt, showing how Silverstream is less-hyper then Pinkie just enough to stop, think about what he wants and why, and at least think about what to do before proceeding).
My writing plan is basically to outline the whole story, incident-by-incident, before actually writing it, and while I can and will change things after the fact, this is so I can focus on it technically when writing it, make the prose all needed and feeding into the story and characterisation. At least, it was for this. That's probably why I'm a little surprised people are mostly talking about Silverstream's characterisation, and not the friendship complexity and themes and everything to do with that - for me, I wrote the latter twice, in outline and prose form, so it's more vivid to me. But it's fair - good characters are often everything, and they're why we love this show.
You may also notice that I have very few paragraphs that are just lines of dialogue. This originates as a holdover for my "visual-heavy" writing style, but most of the time, lengthy chunks of text that are almost nothing but dialogue are lazy. It can be done with a purpose (more often in comedy) but it usually is not. With little exception, that's now how I write. But, I wanted the story to be economical in words, so I sought for every non-dialogue detail in those scenes to have a purpose. Much of the time, they're to show how Silverstream perceives things without drawing attention to it, of course. When I was done, this (I hope!) has the nice side effect of making the story dense despite not necessarily having as much incident as others with a similar word count. It it still meant to be an easy read, friendship complexity and all.
I get that, I do. I really, really do. Honestly, it wasn't intentional. While this story didn't write itself, once I knew the key points, a lot of the incident did, and it was just where it took me. You already know I'd decided to make Silverstrem the POV character, and that was enough of a challenge. I'd never given writing the Student 6 a thought before, frankly, and while Silverstream was already my favourite, I found myself liking her even more upon rewatching her for research in "The Hearth's Warming Club" and "What Lies Beneath". Gallus, I found a lot to work with from a plot perspective, being the inciting incident and all, but perhaps I didn't yet feel as comfy with writing his normal flat, blunt sarcastic attitude? I'm thinking that's it, and since I really wanted this story to be well-executed all around, and stand on its own, I (subconsciously?) narrowed the focus a little to be mostly Silverstream onscreen, and still have Gallus be the plot's main focus and dilemma. I'm very much a "be ambitious, but on a manageable scale" sort of person. Plus, while Gallus and Silverstream are the main focus, I don't really favour a story that totally ignored that there are others around the main focus either, except when doing so actually strengths the story. Hence the way it evolved.
I can certainly see the possibility of you, during that middle sequence with Silverstream and Twilight, Rarity and Spike, thinking "okay, this is great, but when are we getting to Gallus being around again?" And, you know, fair enough. Other then that being where the story took me, it was largely because the main draw for me was still the complexity of this friendship problem, and the many layers to burden and how we shoulder them, and how to help a friend who doesn't want others to help them so they can focus on their own happiness in the short term.
There were points throughout where the thought struck me "should I rework this so there's more of Gallus onscreen, as that might be what Jack wants?", but every time I tried to, the story suffered from the changes made to it. Moreso, it didn't actually give him more time, it just shortened the length of scenes he wasn't in. Plus, given the story's length, you still got a fair share of Gallus in terms of words, so I figured it would be okay.
You might be intrigued to know that the story's original version had the events here as a prelude, and the actual story being the Three Days of Freedom Celebration with the pair at Mount Aris & Seaquestria. That would have had Gallus onscreen nearly the whole time. However, I could never figure out the actual story, other then him being a sad-sack the whole time for reasons I hadn't calculated yet, and it ending with a quiet, intimate (but platonic) heart-to-heart between the two. So I wrote the prelude's events first, just to see if it could stand on its own - and the story just built from there. So I scrapped the original main chunk, down to having the coda epilogue to wrap this one up. I'm still floating the idea of doing the original version's events as a second chapter, and I know you'd love that. Personally, I think this stands best as it is, but it could work! I'd just need to balance its final story and tone so it feels like a necessary piece with this, rather then a separate story that just happens to follow on from this one.
Ah, I haven't PUBLISHED fanfiction in that time (truthfully, it's closer to five years). I've written a few I haven't published, several more in finished, detailed outlines, and other in varying stages of completion. Then there's my original fiction, screenplays, and non fiction writing like my YouTube channel. So I've never stopped writing (including revising and trimming), generally. It was just an acknowledgement that it's been a while since fanfiction specifically. But as I view all fanfiction I write nowadays as partly a grounds for buildings towards writing some novels (not that I aim to be a full-time author, this is for the sake of stories I want to tell more then anything), that was my main prose purpose.
While I didn't mean for the word count to get that high, I did want it high enough. As I said, I wanted it to be more then a simple and short fluff piece like many Jinglemas entries often are. But I did also think that it felt right to give you a big, fat, juicy story too. Perhaps on a subconscious level, I was thinking it meant you'd still get plenty of Gallus. Who knows?
This story was actually close to 10K words originally! Most of the cutting came from general prose and scene description, but some was from taking Applejack out of the office scene (which strengthened it, given the decision of favouring generosity over honestly would be much harder to make fly with her around). Originally, that part was close to half of the fic, while in the final version, that middle sequence is only 35%. All that time spend on the group puzzling out the problem is important, so I kept cutting some parts and putting them back in because of the way it flowed. Similarly, I also cut the Prologue and Epilogue at one point, but put them both back. I needed the latter to show that Silverstream will tell Gallus the whole story eventually, while ending on a mostly happy and upbeat note nonetheless. The Prologue in Twilight's office was needed to set the general scene and tone and mood before the conflict starts without being obvious about it, as well as allowing the inciting incident of Silverstream leaving behind her report card to not be a lazy plot contrivance that happens offscreen.
Long story short, I cut a lot, but felt everything left in was needed for one reason or another. Besides which, I certainly know I'd have loved getting a story with this much in it and this much substance, and writing for yourself is often the best advice. I'm happy to see that was the same for you!
Aw, thanks man! I don't know if that scrapped original version will ever resurface as a second chapter, but I'm sure you'd love if it did. I'll keep you posted! And while I don't know if I'll ever write for Silverstream or Gallus again, or at least in the short term, as my main love lies with the Mane 7, by and large, you never know! Hope my lengths reply and explanations entertained you - Happy Hearth's Warming!
This was pretty sweet
Mike Cartoon Pony,
I approve!
this is your debut, eh?
strange that it's better than about half the site
anyways, i need a sequel detailing the time spent during the festival
also, idk if the heavy GallStream undercurrent was intentional or nah, but it's nice imo
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Thanks for the compliments! Well, first Pony fanfic - I’ve written fanfiction before on and off since 2009. And various other writings, fiction and non-fiction. Me saying that it was my first published fic in 4.5 years was more for the giftee’s benefit.
Ha, as you might have seen mentioned in the Author’s Note blog or another comment here, the original plan was for the events here to be more of a prelude and the festival itself to be the story’s bulk. But in outlining it, I found myself more drawn to this events depicted here, and felt compelled to flesh that out instead. I couldn’t come up with what would actually happen at the festival in any case. Couple that with this fic being written as a Jinglemas gift, and eh… that sequel won’t ever happen. The events therein are left to your imagination!
Not intentional, though I can certainly see how someone would read it that way. The user who the fic was written for, Jack of a New Trades, they do ship them, so perhaps my knowledge of their preferences filtered in there a bit? Maybe!
Glad you enjoyed the fic! It was just a minor little writing exercise, as they go. Nice to write sometimes fuzzy and warm and uplifting around Christmas, but with realistic depth factored in too.
Silverstream has become a big fan of the Wonderbolts, and while Rainbow Dash had kick-started that fascination, Silverstream knew it endured because of her own interest. A group of ponies who made a career out of flying and doing cool stunts? No wonder Rainbow Dash had wanted to be one her whole life!
Yeah I remember silverstream has a dream about becoming a Wonderbolt which I think that is a pretty cool idea
Aww this is really a nice story and silverstream really wanted to help Gallus but but he didn't want to be a burden to every creatures which I guess that's makes sense but I did like the plan how silverstream did it and that is very sweet of her to do that for him this was a really nice story as I said before keep up the good work
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Continuity nods to future episodes for the win!
In any case, thank you for the kind words, and glad this fic felt nice and sweet, and made you feel all fuzzy and warm. Sometimes, that’s what it’s all about.
Congrats on the EqD feature!
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My Little review & Feedback I did your review.
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