The Writing of The Bonds of Love (Chapter Fifteen: Family, Part Two), continued. · 6:35pm Jul 9th, 2023
And we’re back for the final part of the Ch.15(Family, Part Two) discussion!
The story so far: After a grueling impromptu therapy session, Gallus has finally won Ocean Flow’s approval, and the duo now races toward the surface world to inform Silverstream of this glorious development, alongside an explanation for why such approval was refused for so terribly long…
Will Silverstream forgive Ocean Flow for her horrendous behavior toward her and her sweetie? Will Ocean Flow genuinely mean her apology this time? Will I ever stop bullying End Zone over how pointless an addition he was to the Drama Club?
Find out now, on Author’s Commentary Z! 
~ All in the Family ~
Re-explaining to Silver all the myriad reasons Ocean was paranoid would be a massive waste of time, so instead, she already knows, courtesy of her father’s off-screen exposition. And to poke fun at myself for it, I wrote Silver’s opening line as effectively a reaction to the Gallus/Ocean scene itself:
“Seriously!? That’s the reason she’s been so angry at Gallus!?” Silverstream asked, gawking in disbelief.
Which also helped the scene transition flow more smoothly. But the tone of the line, however, has a backstory to it. I low-key feared some people wouldn’t be nearly as satisfied with Ocean’s motivations, so I wanted to low-key joke at that too by including the “Seriously!?” and “Gawking in disbelief” parts, as though even Silverstream was a touch exasperated that that was why Ocean was explicitly anti-Gallus-Stream.
Said exasperation is merely a background joke no one likely even picked up on, especially since Silver herself wouldn’t react to these particular revelations with anything shy of genuine empathy.
Said exasperation is merely a background joke no one likely picked up on, especially since Silver herself wouldn’t react to these revelations with anything shy of genuine empathy.
After oh so subtly drawing one more parallel between this and Smolder’s Subplot, Silver harnesses the same indignant bravado she leveled against her father over his intimidation attempt, demanding to know why even he hadn’t told her about Ocean’s paranoia, even when it caused her to go after Gallus.
Answer: Terramar’s dilemma in “Surf and/or Turf.” And since we just explained that last scene, I kept it brief, using it to give Silver her own taste of the themes of Ch.10(Home).
Silver then reaffirms she’d have visited more regardless, and while Sky gleefully assures how much they’d all love that, I reinforce how, despite not being to the same extreme, he was as terrified as Ocean over their daughter’s well-being, all but begging her to never stop writing them back again. And with those letters of Silver’s brought up yet again, of course I couldn’t help myself but inject some levity with Sky gushing over her doodles too.
I faced yet another roadblock here, not wanting to end this scene yet; it was the last time we’d see Silver and Sky interact solo, and I wanted to milk it for all it was worth. But how to link this part of the conversation to the next…? Eh, just throw some generic “Gallus likes Silver’s art because Silver’s art is fantastic, thus saith her father” fluff to bring the first half of their talk to a halt, in order to begin the second half which consisted of answering “How the heck do I handle Silver forgiving her mother?”
Forgiveness was obvious. Silverstream is way too kind to genuinely consider otherwise, and we just spent 7k+ words explaining Ocean’s backstory.
Silver then acknowledges how, despite Ocean’s transgressions, she isn’t innocent either, recognizing her letter scheme only worsened everything. Sky Beak, meanwhile, takes a leaf out of Gallus’ book and reaffirms Silver had every right to be peeved off, even if I also sneaked in how much he hoped she wouldn’t be, which—funnily enough—I only added later upon realizing how awkward it felt to see a parent give their kid permission to be angry at them.
I know I likely didn’t have to worry, but I’ve rarely seen a message like that in fiction, so I worried that line would make Sky Beak seem less “Adorkable, emotionally mature dad” and more “Voicebox for the story’s overall themes.” I mean? He’s both, but still. Case in point:
“You may still be a teenager, but after everything you’ve done and been through…? It would have been far wiser to talk to you about our concerns rather than hide them.”
I genuinely forgot I had Sky tell Silver this until I re-read it for this part of the commentary, and I have no idea how! This is such a great moment: Sky acknowledging/praising Silverstream’s heroics and lauding them as proof ofSilver’s own emotional maturity, and proof he and Ocean should have trusted Silver and had the courage to talk to her about their concerns.
It’s such a great mirror to Ocean’s own viewpoints regarding Silver’s heroics while being a brilliant example of how wonderful a father Sky Beak is—I love it!
And as if that weren’t enough, Silver recognizes how the same can be applied to how she should have trusted Ocean Flow enough to have an honest conversation with her about her letters—Before she let the situation fester long enough for even that to no longer succeed—and what does she do? Ask her dad what she should do? And what does he do? Tell her what she should do? Nope, Sky lets Silver think for herself and simply asks what she wants to do.
“Go and make up with Mom.”
Well? That, and:
“Can I yell at her some more too?” Silverstream asked as the two made their way back toward Hippogriffia. “Because I am still mad at her.”
Considering which came first, you know which actions Silver prefers. Although, funnily enough, I struggled to decide whether she should mention yelling first, purely to deconstruct it by addressing how that was purely the lingering anger talking, and what Silver truly wanted to do was forgive Ocean Flow.
But I didn’t think that fit Silver’s character at this point. As mentioned, she’s way too happy and kind to still be that resentful of her own mother, especially now knowing the truth. No, in fact, rather than sit on her haunches waiting for Gallus to come back, she and Sky instead decide there’s no time like the present and immediately begin trekking back toward the beach to go see and talk to Ocean themselves.
Little did they know Ocean was busy trekking back up the mountain to come see them first. 
Made the apology more meaningful that way: Ocean going to Silverstream, especially since it meant forcing her to confront one of her many fears: Dry land.
Thankfully, her conversation with Gallus lent her the development necessary to face that fear, even if it meant—
“Agh, w-wobbly legs! Wobbly legs!”
Yeah, that. Silver, Terry, and Skystar may not have difficulties switching between forms, but they transform regularly; Gallus, meanwhile,struggled to stand after being a seapony for only2-3 hours. Ocean, meanwhile, hasn’t been in her hippogriff form since the day they first fled to Seaquestria, sooo…? Yeah. She’s got it rough, but luckily, Terramar wasn’t doing anything important so he and Gallus both aid her along her way.
Which is funny when—yep!—I considered cutting him from this scene. Why? Word conservation. Why’d I include him anyway?
#1) He’s family, he deserved to be part of this scene.
#2) I may have kicked him out of the Gallus/Ocean conversation, but he didn’t go far, literally just chilling outside the door, waiting for them to finish. So obviously he’d be right there to catch them and learn of Ocean’s apology plan.
#3) The scene needed some snarkier banter. Thus:
“You know, Mom? You didn’t have to do this,” Terramar complained, straining to keep his mother from collapsing to the ground. “We could have just gotten Silver to come back to the beach,” he proposed.
Gallus’ lines were all well and good, hence they went completely unchanged between first writing it and the ultimate draft, but Terry snidely protesting Ocean’s plan—Knowing how difficult it is for Ocean to be a hippogriff again, let alone getting her up here—lends some extra perspective to the scene. Plus, it helps establish another self-jab we’ll discuss momentarily.
Luckily for everyone, Sky Beak’s rushes to the group, and Ocean’s first instinct is to ask for help. Divorced or no, they still love and care for each other, so obviously she’d ask for his assistance, fully trusting he’d provide it, which he does because the same is true for him.
This discussion wouldn’t be complete without acknowledging how I do so love Ocean’s “Holding onto him for dear life.” dialogue tag. Because you better believe she’s clutching onto Sky like he’s the land equivalent of a life preserver. 
Not far behind, Silverstream arrives, and her first instinct is to scream bloody murder, demanding to know why her seapony mother is out of her namesake. Why? Tell don’t show. Although Silver admitted she wanted to make amends with Ocean Flow properly, she also said she was mad enough to want to yell at her again. Which, while funny and showed irrefutably that Ocean’s actions had lingering nasty consequences, it implied Silver’s anger was greater than let on. Perhaps too much so.
Throughout this entire arc, I was ghastly afraid of overselling Silver’s anger toward Ocean to the point of OOC.
Making her paranoid for Gallus’ well-being and worry herself sick over him, Smolder, and everyone else? Cool. I made that work. Angry over Ocean Flow? Also good. So far I’ve made that work. But I also couldn’t help myself and had Silver technically make up with Ocean earlier. And while that enriched the beach blowout when Ocean betrays that prior forgiveness, it also meant making Silver double down on her outrage, despite forgiving Ocean being inevitable.
This concern reached its peak with this scene, resulting in another balancing act. Validating Ocean’s feelings while furiously condemning her actions regardless, allowing her to be forgiven while acknowledging her actions severely hurt all present creatures, and validating Silverstream’s own anger while not going so overboard as to make her forgiving Ocean seem unrealistic.
Thus, I wanted to take a moment to clarify Silverstream undeniably cares for her mother despite everything,allowing her acceptance of Ocean’s second apology to not feel OOC.And what better way to deliver that message than by seeing Silverstream frantically demand why Ocean’s out and about, so panicked she even yells at her sweetie, and fervently insists upon Ocean returning to the water, just barely accepting otherwise for the moment?
This scene isn’t deprived of my usual brand of non-subtlety, however.
“Apologize to me?” Silver questioned, torn on whether to still be angry at her mother or to hug her and apologize repeatedly herself. At the moment, she was leaning more toward the former.
Similarly, there was another pit-trap I wanted to avoid: The theatrics of the apology outweighing the apology itself. What do I mean by that? Easy. Silver just learned everything we did about Ocean Flow and her paranoia. And now, here Ocean is, throwing herself to the ground before her daughter, in the form she half-renounced, begging, pleading to be forgiven.
Now, imagine if that were Granpda Gruff or Discord doing that. Yeah. Rings a mite more hollow for them, doesn’t it?
More emphasis placed on the method of the apology than the apology itself is THE glaring red flag the apology isn’t sincere. And in Ocean’s case, there is a lot of emphasis placed on the sheer hassle it was getting Ocean up here at all on those wobbly legs of hers…
Knowing that issue, I decided to laugh at myself for it. This wasn’t like with Gruff whose apology to Gallus was halfhearted at best before the two reconciled proper; Ocean Flow, without a doubt, meant her apology. We just spent a good chunk of the last scene showing exactly that.
Even so, that didn’t mean the risk wasn’t present, so I had Ocean half-acknowledge it by also apologizing for the “theatrics” of how she’s apologizing, making it clear she’d still be apologizing even if Silver and Sky had come to her first.
But now, Silver’s left to simply stand there, unsure what to do. But since she knows a certain sweetie of hers is likely the reason Ocean came here to begin with, she looks to him for support, gets it, and decides to hear Ocean out. And then they’ll get her flank back into the water.
And with that, it’s time for the apology itself!
I am sorry,” she began.
“Yeah, I kinda got that.”
I still love that joke. But I love the actual apology even more, obviously.
“No, look, I… What I did was wrong,” she declared firmly. “Unquestionably. Undeniably. Irrefutably. Wrong! A-And while I could sit here and explain why I did what I did…? I’m not going to.”
Ocean does exactly what I’ve been saying I wanted her to do: She takes full responsibility for her actions and disregards her reasons, refusing to hide behind them as any sort of shield from the consequences she incurred. After all, the word count was ballooning and we literally just got the explanation an explanation is not a justification, and there really is none of the latter for Ocean’s behavior—something Silverstream bluntly agrees with.
But while Sky Beak may go “Silverstream…?” in response to her agreement—Because even if Ocean deserves her daughter’s fury, she still isn’t exactly malicious; also Sky still loves her—Ocean quells him. She understands she deserves Silver’s anger and explains exactly why.
“It— It doesn’t matter who or what your boyfriend is; he’s your boyfriend. He’s the one you love. A-And I should have respected that. I should have respected him,” she emphasized, sparing Gallus an apologetic glance. “And above all else? I should have respected you. But? I didn’t.” Ocean hung her head and concluded, “I didn’t trust you. I pushed you away and…hurt you.”
It’s extremely easy to merely say “I’m sorry. 
” and proceed as if everything is fine again, but it’s infinitely harder to openly admit to what you’re sorry for, proving you know exactly what you did wrong and accepting accountability for it. Still better than Scoop—She needed Vellum to prod her into apologizing for touching the painting.
Of course, this doesn’t make the pain and anger go away so easily, so Silver fulfills her desire to continue yelling at her mother, much to Terramar’s dismay.
“Did you think I liked reading all about how much you thought Gallus and I shouldn’t be together!? Or hearing you call him an ‘outsider’!? Or— Or finding out you were paranoid I wouldn’t be safe with him!?” she bellowed, flaring her wings in outrage.
Nothing more needs to be said here, but I do want to call attention to this exchange.
Ocean Flow looked at Sky Beak and received a knowing nod.
Which translates to:
Ocean Flow: “You told her?”
Sky Beak: “I did.”
More background characterization to those two’s relationship.
Back to the main conflict—It was time Gallus got a turn to interject on Ocean’s behalf. Or rather? No. I didn’t feel it’d be appropriate for Gallus of all creatures to tell Silverstream she should forgive her mother when doing so currently would be akin to telling Silver to bottle her feelings up, and that’s obviously not something Gallus would do.
I did want him to get a line though, so I changed the context to address a rather grievous sin on Silver’s part: Swearing!
“You’re pecking right it was wrong of you!”
“Did you just—” Gallus clamped his beak shut when his girlfriend shot him an irate scowl as well. “Shutting up now,” he murmured hastily.
“Thank you,” Silverstream huffed, turning back to Ocean Flow.
She got on him for using “sea kelp,” so it was only right to finally let Gallus have a chance to get on her for using “peck,” especially since she’s gotten away with using griffon swears twice before.
But of course, it’s only a joke, and the scene’s current mood isn’t exactly comedic, so Silver shoots him that look, Gallus wisely shuts up, and because they’re adorable together, Silver thanks him for doing so, returning her full attention to her mother.
“Mom, I… Dad told me how worried about me you were. And, first of all? It’s okay you were worried,” she consoled. “Secondly, I’ll obviously visit more if you want me to. And thirdly, I’m not mad you were so worried about me. I’m…actually kinda glad,” she revealed, much to Ocean’s surprise.
“What I am mad about, however,” Silver went on, grimacing again. “Is that you treated my boyfriend like dirt. I forgave you!” she shrieked, her eyes watering. “I forgave you for sending me all of your stupid letters, but you still—but! You! STILL!—tried to screw up my relationship with him!”
“I love Gallus, Mom,” Silverstream proclaimed, fighting back a sob. “Not that prince guy. And Gallus loves me too. Like, I-I get you were worried about me, but… Wh-Why did you have to be so mean to him? Why— Why couldn’t you just talk to him?” she whimpered, instinctively reaching up and double-checking that her necklace was still there.
Such a great, well-deserved rant, but what really sells it are the little touches.
Silverstream prioritizing validating Ocean’s worries first and foremost, wanting to clarify she understands why Ocean was paranoid and that she doesn’t hold it against her whatsoever—She’d be a massive hypocrite if she did. Then you have her vow to visit more and admittance to being grateful her mother was so concerned for her.
All of this was done right from the get-go to better keep in line with Silver’s character; no matter the heartache or anger, Silver is far too compassionate to risk implying she’s angry Ocean felt her feelings. Especially with her character development in mind.
Nevertheless, this doesn’t invalidate Silver’s own feelings; thus, the other hammer drops: Silver had already forgiven Ocean, but she still betrayed that forgiveness and trust by trying yet again to sink the S.S.Gallus-Stream, by continuing to treat Gallus like st—and yes, it did take considerable willpower not to have her say that word specifically.
Gotta love how once Silver acknowledges how Ocean couldn’t bring herself to talk to Gallus—the one thing Silver begged her to do at the beach—she immediately checks if she still has her Pearl-piece.
Ocean’s response?
“Because I was a fool,” Ocean Flow admitted, having no further reason, nor excuse to provide.
And you’d better believe that dialogue tag was chosen explicitly to make it abundantly clear Ocean’s backstory was in no way a justification for her actions. As mentioned before. Repeatedly. … So much so, I can’t help but wonder if you’re all sick of hearing me discuss this.
Silver’s response is lifted straight from her sweetie earlier: Wanting so very much to agree with Ocean’s admittance but holding herself back, not wanting to embrace her anger and inflict even more pain. So instead, she settles for reaffirming her love for Gallus, bringing the bluebird to smile the widest of smiles which draws similar grins from the onlooking Terramar and Sky Beak.
Ocean apologizes again, but since everything she’s said was what needed to be, she belts out one last “I’m so sorry” before we squeeze in another awkward pause to restart the conversation flow, hand-waving it away as Silver taking a second to mull over everything.
Thankfully, her mulling has led her to the only conclusion possible: Forgiveness. Though of course, it requires a wee bit more assurance that forgiveness is deserved this time.
#1) Does Ocean really mean her apology? Yes.
#2) Did she apologize to Gallus? Yes.
#2.5) Did Gallus forgive her?
#3) And the most important question of all: “Yo, Ocean, ya gonna make any more attempts to sink the S.S.Gallus-Stream?”
“Not unless he breaks your heart,” she swore, grinning hopefully.
Which is such a “Mom” response. And though I was tempted to have Silver be less than amused by it, I cut that idea so Ocean could continue, clarifying she knows that’ll never happen, considering he genuinely loves her. Either way, she promises not to be a jerk again.
Unfortunately, she’s already proven willing to break box-standard promises, and Silverstream’s not foolish enough to fall for it again.
“…Pinkie Promise it,”
And once Ocean remembers what that even means, I let Terramar and Sky Beak both chime in, assuring Ocean will never, can never break that particular vow. Because even they, completely random hippogriffs living in a far-off corner of the world who’ve never once met Pinkie proper, know of… The Pinkie Promise. 
Not that Ocean would want to break it to begin with, considering it’s her daughter they’re discussing, as she makes sure to joke back at Sky Beak—further characterizing their relationship. Terrifyingly, however, once she begins making the Promise—on account of never having done it before and not being 100% familiar with it, thanks to being constantly underwater—she almost messes it up.
Luckily(for us all), Gallus and Silverstream spend several days a week in direct proximity to the Promise’s progenitor, so the very second Ocean starts flubbing it, they immediately, reflexively correct her. Because if they hadn’t…? Ho-ho-hooo boy… Who knows what manner of madness might have been unleashed.
Which is code for: I was tempted to have Pinkie Pie pop up for a split second before slinking away again, or at least some subtle indicator she was there. This didn’t happen because it was unnecessary.
We were already getting plenty of humor with the Pinkie Promise being invoked to begin with; we didn’t need the pony herself to cameo in an arc where the focus was squarely on Gallus, Silver, and her extended family. Same reason I cut having the lovebirds twitch violently when correcting Ocean; as funny as it would be to imply the kids are downright terrified of messing up a Pinkie Promise, their compulsive correction was enough evidence of it.
And yeah. Of course the word Ocean screwed up was “Cupcake.”
With the correction made, Ocean makes the Pinkie Promise without hesitation, and I skip out on unnecessarily extending the joke by having her flub the motions too—a remnant of which is how I note she performed said motions only “well enough.”
And now, Silverstream is fully certain of the legitimacy of Ocean’s apology, rushing in to hug her mother. Or, she would, but after all the build-up, it wouldn’t be right to have Silver granting forgiveness be handled so…anticlimactically.
Doesn’t mean the forgiveness isn’t there; Silver genuinely meant it when she said she forgave Ocean Flow, hence she’s so chipper again. Rather, before she allows herself to hug Ocean, she makes sure to sneak in one last “condition” to her forgiveness: Dinner, Take Two: The Dinnering. Ocean still needs to get to know Gallus more, after all.
Ocean naturally agrees, even boasting having a new seaweed loaf recipe—Remember that loaf she made and left on her kitchen table? Yep, that was her attempt at the new recipe; shame it went uneaten.
Gallus, meanwhile, spots the opportunity and requests yet another cooking lesson from Ocean Flow, both to satisfy his natural curiosity for how seaponies cook underwater and score another chance to spend more time with her—a sentiment she returns in earnest.
The gears in Silver’s mind then grind to a halt. Her boyfriend and her mother…getting along? 
Spending time together, wanting to spend time together? Gallus, she understands, but Ocean Flow is equally elated to spend time with him, bake with him, even after all the hate she spewed his way…?
I don’t know why she’s surprised when Gallus left to talk to Ocean Flow for this exact reason: To break down whatever walls kept her from approving of him. But well? Even if Silver should understand the two have made amends simply by seeing Ocean here, apologizing, and being helped by Gallus, the conversation flowed better to have her react with shock here.
Thankfully, it’s only for a moment since Ocean quickly clarifies everyone was right about Gallus being able to charm her in under five minutes, so Silver’s bewilderment lasts only a second, certainly not long enough to register as anything even resembling a plot hole. Yet it’s always bothered me. I usuallytell myself to consider Silverstream’s shock being more to do with hearing her mother verbally confirm she approves of Gallus than anything, but still.
Either way, there’s no doubt this led to a truly great moment: Silverstream hugging her mother—cautiously of course, we wouldn’t want to wound the newly-turned-back hippogriff.
And with that… That’s it. Every last lingering remnant of drama, conflict, and emotional and psychological turmoil has been resolved.
Gallus’ trauma and insecurities. Silverstream’s paranoia and anxiety. Their romance. Smolder’s fears. Everything to do with Gruff and Griffonstone. And now, the Ocean Flow matter.
Everything, at long, long last… Is over.
And you’d better believe I was celebrating as much as everyone in-universe—even the Harmonizing Heights itself—was at seeing Silver and Ocean finally make amends!
But the conflict being concluded doesn’t mean the story itself is; however, it does mean there are only good, happy vibes from here on out! 
That said, there’s still one little matter that needs addressing: Ocean’s current state. And to start that discussion we’ve her “It’s been so long since I last had feathers, I completely forgot how wonderful they could make a hug feel.” line. Which is rather bittersweet in light of the revealed reasons she remained a seapony for so long… But the fact she recognizes and is even nostalgic for at least one of the benefits of being a hippogriff again shows significant progress.
Doesn’t mean her choice to be a seapony is undone, let alone that her fears are wholly dissipated. Thus, she frantically accepts Sky’s offer to return her to her preferred habitat, clambering onto and clutching him yet again. And praise be to Celestiathat Sky thought to ask first before taking to his namesake.
On the plus side, since we’re walking to the beach and Ocean and Silver have at last made amends… You know what that means, right? 
It means it was time to show more of non-antagonist Ocean Flow! And what better way to start than by reaffirming the theatrics of her apology were not at all a means of manipulating her way to forgiveness, but rather, the result of her overwhelming desire to apologize as swiftly as possible.
Silver naturally understands this, assuring as such and requesting her mother simply not do something like it again.
‘Tis a promise Ocean can’t quite make; after all, if she ever wrongs someone again, then her only possible course of action is to immediately apologize and make up for it. Although, she does at least compromise, vowing to try never apologizing with the same degree of “theatrics” she did here, even giving her wing a feeble flap for emphasis.
Gallus, meanwhile, isn’t the only sweetheart around.
“If you ever do need to do so, however?” Sky Beak interjected. “Please make sure I’m there to help,” he requested. “You know I will if I can.”
Ocean smiled softly. “I know. Thank you again, Sky Beak.”
“No thanks necessary, Ocean Flow,” he said, grinning at her over his shoulder. “You okay?”
“I’m okay,” she said, nodding.
One of the final chances I’d have to show the exes together and elaborate on their post-divorce dynamic, so I absolutely wanted to show as much of it as I could with what little time we had. Thankfully, whatever traces of subtlety I have came through yet again, and in this one exchange you understand exactly how they are with each other.
Yes, the feelings behind their schism remain, as evidenced by Ocean and Gallus’ conversation, but it’s not nearly enough to cancel out the love they still have for each other. Divorced or no, separate species and homes or no… There’s no doubt Sky and Ocean will drop whatever they’re doing at a moment’s notice to help the other, both wanting nothing more than to help ensure the other is happy and safe.
Basically, it’s almost exactly how Gallus-Stream’s relationship operates, just with that rather unfortunate twist…
Speaking of Gallus-Stream, Ocean officially ships them now, and already she’s giving Scoop a run for her Bits on who’s their most avid supporter.
Ocean then giggled impishly. “In fact? I’m more than okay. Our daughter has a sweetie, Sky!”
“Oh no. Here we go,” Terramar groaned, grimacing in realization at was about to come.
Hush up, Terramar, you only got a line here to remind the audience you’re even here. 
“I know!” Sky Beak squeed as his wings gave an ecstatic flutter. “You should have seen them, Ocean Flow. The first day they were here, they never once stopped smiling at each other. Not! Once!”
Still hate how generic this line is, but Sky’s enthusiasm makes up for it.
“And did you see how excited Silver was when Gallus promised her that extra long kiss? Because I certainly saw how excited he was!” she sang innocently.
Oopsie-whoopsie, Gallus. Looks like you indeed had every reason to be afraid of Ocean’s reaction to that incident; it just wasn’t the reaction you thought it’d be. No. No, it’s worse. It’s sooooo much worse! But I guess his immediate blushing and begging for mercy is enough to show he recognizes this.
He’ll find no mercy here, however! Because while I did intend Terramar to react with disgust—something I turn into a plot point by acknowledging as such in-universe—I realized it’d make the conversation flow more naturally if he too played into the teasing. Plus, it made sense he’d do so, considering he’s gotta fulfill his “annoying little brother” quota, and of course he does so in the worst possible way: By confirming the extra long kiss did indeed happen.
Because burying his head in a book could only do so much when he lives in the same treehouse as his sister, and the walls are far from thin.
Speak of the devil and she shall remind us she’s still here too:
“And I’m very glad he did because it was a good kiss,” Silverstream complimented. “A really, really good kiss,” she purred, cozying up to Gallus.
Don’t know what Gallus was whining about in the Epilogue(Love), Silverstream’s always been shameless!
And while most stereotypical parent characters might hear their children say something like that and immediately gawk at their lover with sheer overprotective malice… That’s also a stereotype I wanted to subvert with Silver’s.
“Oh, was it now?” Sky asked, shooting Gallus a sly smirk that only made the griffon blush more. “Aww, Gallus dear? Did you enjoy giving my baby girl a good, extra long kiss?”
“Oh, I bet he did,” Ocean Flow joined in the teasing. “And if I know our daughter, I bet she repaid his affection in kind.”
“Yes, I did,” Silver confirmed, raising her head proudly.
Because of course Silver would chime in with that! We are trying to sneak back in more of Canon Silverstream’s reputed endless joyousness after all, but even more so, T.B.O.L. Silverstream would not miss the chance to tease her sweetie in any capacity.
All of this, however, is to Gallus’ complete and total horror, so he does to himself what he did for Gavin back during the Griffonstone arc: Hide behind his wings. Because if you can’t see your hunters, surely they can’t see you.
This backfires horribly via Terramar continuing his teasing, this time by answering how long their extra long kiss went on for: A whopping two hours.
Because that’s a realistic amount of time couples can kiss IRL, right? … Right?
Ocean is astonished, muttering “Frankly, I don’t know whether to be horrified or impressed.”
Sky is leaning more toward the latter, given even he and Ocean couldn’t snog that long at Gallus-Stream’s age. Don’t take that as indication Sky and Ocean’s relationship was devoid of any wild times, though; those two could tell you stories that would make Silver’s risque-ness look reserved by comparison. 
But to answer why Gallus could kiss Silver for so long—Silver’s answer is obviously her natural, in-built hyperactive energy—what other possible answer could I have provided beyond:
“Probably all those beats and celery sticks, eh, Gallus?” Terramar jeered.
Because of course I’d find a way to make the dang beat soup and cheddar-stuffed celery sticks actually plot relevant!
Man, I’m having a blast re-living this portion of the story; this was always one of my favorite scenes of T.B.O.L. for a reason!
Gallus might contest that opinion, however; all the teasing has finally brought him to his knees, begging for the pain to end.
And then… Everyone laughs. The family collectively laughs, reaping pure joy out of his utter embarrassment and misery. Even Silverstream.
In the first half of T.B.O.L., this would be a plot point leading into an arc about some random insecurity vaguely connected to his orphan-hood, but we’re at the story’s end. And all that laughter is born, not from malice or misunderstanding, but genuine, wholesome joy. Even if it’s partially at his expense.
So, to clarify this is purely fluff and nothing more(And to prevent me from somehow making it more regardless), I immediately have Sky Beak—the very one to have unleashed the intimidation attempt—comfort him, affirming they are simply teasing him.
And from there, we go down the checklist of having each of the family get their own lines before culminating in, well? We’ll get there soon.
First up to bat was Sky Beak for the obvious fatherly connection between him and Gallus. And to follow up, we’ve Ocean explaining their teasing will never hold a candle to their doting.
Next we have Sky Beak againnnn, oh. Oh, wait. Terramar. Right. 
Almost forgot about him. It took… Roughly three or so editing sessions to finally determine what line to grant Terramar here, so until then, I ignored him and continued with the rest of the conversation. And the line I eventually did settle on is infuriatingly simple: It’s just him reaffirming they’ll all keep teasing Gallus, regardless! You wouldn’t think it’d take so long to figure that out, but… I wanted Sky, Ocean, and Terry to each have at least two lines of dialogue here, but Terry’s were annoyingly harder to actualize.
With Terry’s line solved, the baton passed back to Sky who swoops in to play damage control on his son’s words, explaining Gallus’ successful charming attempts have ensured he’ll be the source of constant doting, teasing, loving, and the like for all the years to come…
But no matter how much of it Gallus willsubsequently endure, it will forever come from a place of serenity sincerity, as Ocean elaborates.
And as Terramar acknowledges—thankfully without the need to waste days on end fretting over how to have him acknowledge it—Gallus is Silverstream’s sweetie.
And naturally, her brother, cousin, Auntie, all her other relations, and especially her parents will love, spoil, and dote on him accordingly.
“That’s what family’s for,” Silverstream whispered to Gallus, giving him a loving kiss.
I think this line speaks for itself. 
But if not, Gallus’ reaction certainly does:
Gallus folded his wings back in, revealing his still-blushing face and glistening eyes. “Can I just say… I’ve been here for three days, and I don’t ever want to leave,” he proclaimed, sparking another round of laughter among the others. “I’m serious. I-I really love it here. I love all of you.”
#1) Nice to see Gallus crying tears of joy for once in this story, completely unashamed about it too.
#2) He’s joked about it before, but this time it’s properly serious. Less than half a week was all it took for Mount Aris to feel more like a home than Griffonstone ever had, even if Gallus-Stream’s endgame choice was Ponyville.
#3) And of course… His “I love all of you.” Is it cheesy? Perhaps. Only three days and already he considers Silver’s family his own family and vice versa, but you know what? Screw realism. Screw “Cheesiness.” It’s so magnificently wholesome and emotionally sincere, that to even poke fun at it is a disservice to the line!
At long last, Gallus has the family he’s always wanted. Yeah, he technically got it already via his friends, but as he himself stated earlier: It’s different.
How fitting Gallus’ entire journey was kick-started by his desperate desire for some form of family, but once he genuinely accepts he already has one in his friends and doesn’t need to torture himself over the whereabouts of his biological one, Gallus is immediately rewarded with that same family he so furiously longed for… It happened earlier with Grandpa Gruff, and here it is once again.
And as if that weren’t already enough, Silverstream just has to get the last word in:
“Awww,” Silver cooed, wrapping her wings and talons around him in a joyful hug. “We love you too, Gallus.”
Gallus happily hugged her back, unable to think of anything more to say as he tried not to cry.
You know…? For everything we’ve seen and been through during the story… Gallus and Smolder’s balcony chat, Silverstream’s paranoia arc, Gallus and Silver both making amends with their respective parental figures, Starlight’s therapy sessions, and all the highs and lows of Friendship School life…
Much of it may be more compellingly written or emotionally complex or what have you. But this moment here: Silverstream’s family openly, happily accepting Gallus into their fold…?
This is the single best moment in all of The Bonds of Love.
And of course—OF! COURSE!—it ends with me laughing at myself in the text. Because Gallus being “Unable to think of anything more to say” is code for: “I can’t think of any way to extend this scene, so here’s a joke at my own expense no one will notice to lead into the rest of the conversation.”
And given we’ve been wrung through so many emotional peaks already, that next part is a nice comedic breather via Silver’s parents fawning over their daughter and her sweetie yet again, only for Silver’s risque-ness to finally bite her in the flank.
Because no way would Sky Beak hold that particular nugget of info back from his daughter’s mother. Also, we had yet to show Gallus’ side of the issue. We may have already known he didn’t like it—Terramar can certainly see why, given his reaction is pure disgust, because of course—but now we know why Gallus didn’t like it: He didn’t realize it was flirting! 
Yeah. The ultimate sweetheart who can turn giving Silver a pocket mirror he found in a random gift shop off-screen into one of the most adorable romantic exchanges in the story, yet he can’t figure out Silver sliding her tail under his beak is literally code for The following has been redacted to maintain this commentary’s E rating.
Thankfully, Gallus is still one clever griffon, so once he’s informed Ocean did it to Sky once upon a time—something I considered Terramar commenting on but decided against to save on the word count—he almost figures it out. Almost. Sky interrupts him before he can.
Sky Beak quoted, “‘When we get married’? Already considering that, are we?”
I debated whether to have Silver say “If we get married” instead, to subtly play into her paranoia arc development and how she’s capable of accepting the possibility of her and Gallus breaking up. Buuut, the Epilogue(Love) became a thing by this point, so I knew full-well they were going to get married, so I let her say “when.” And then, since I struggled on how to continue from there… I opted to have Ocean Sky comment on it, prompting Terramar to…say nothing at all! Because we didn’t need to end the scene on the conflict resuming via Silver’s parents confronting them over Smolder’s ring.
Terramar, meanwhile, grinned wickedly upon remembering a certain factoid his sister had foolishly shared with him. “Well, duh. Smolder did—”
“Nothing!” Gallus and Silverstream both roared, each slapping their talons over his beak, much to his frustration and Sky and Ocean’s confusion.
“Smolder did nothing,” Silver said, giving her brother a pointed glare. “Absolutely. Nothing.”
…
I… I couldn’t help myself. Terramar needed more lines; I needed to keep the conversation going naturally; I just— I couldn’t resist, okay! 
I debated on having Gallus say Silver’s line, but I figured if he were to deny Smolder’s actions, that’d realistically raise Sky and Ocean’s suspicions more, and I’d have to force myself to address it. Thus, Silver has the line, so her parentswill simply shelve their suspicions until they can ask Terramar about it later, hopefully when Silver’s far, far away and unable to ensure her brother keeps his beak shut.
I’ll leave you all to figure out when and how that particular situation played out.
Moving right along—Sky and Ocean do the parent thing of scolding their daughter who, thanks to making amends with both, is fully willing to listen and respect said scolding. Even if she’s still insistent on proudly displaying her boyfriend’s adorable face to both of them.
“But, Mooooom! Daaaaad!” Silverstream whined, pouting. “Have you seen his face? Look at him!” she ordered, gesturing to her boyfriend excitedly. “Look at this face. Look at how cute he is!”
I wish I had written this line better, but at least it’s better than the initial version where she grabbed Gallus by the cheeks and literally displayed him for her parents. I also wish I were better at drawing to properly convey how this appeared in my mind when writing out, but hey, that’s what we have screenshots for:
I was gonna just link a screenshot from the anime itself, but I stumbled on that midway through searching through Google Images, and since it was cuter, here ya go.
And after a needlessly annoying Google search, here’s the link to the Deviant Art itself, rather than the Reddit post: https://www.deviantart.com/keroneru/art/Tanjiro-and-Nezuko-809570719
Getting back on topic, what better way for two parents who’re 100% supportive of their daughter’s relationship to do than offer more dating advice of their own while, naturally, downplaying her boyfriend’s cuteness in favor of her own:
“He’s not as cute as you, honey,” Ocean fired back teasingly.
“He’s still too cute not to flirt with!”
“There are other ways to flirt with him that don’t involve shoving your tail into his face,” Sky Beak countered. “You know? Like when Gallus took pictures of you in the water?”
“Oh, he did, did he?” Ocean Flow asked, sparing Gallus a smirk.
Ocean did arriveafter Gallus’ impromptu photo-shoot, after all, but I guarantee you she got Gallus to show her the pictures.
And before we get to Gallus’ next successful attempt at sweet talk, we get this:
I must say he’d make a good photographer,” he complimented, winking at the griffon.
One last nod to the “Gallus’ Future” subplot. What, didn’t think we’d get another reference to that? Well, think again! Only this one has the chance to completely fly under the radar since I cut the line Gallus would have directly acknowledging this particular reference: And photographer is back on the list!or similar was what I would have written. Why’d it get cut? No internal dialogue this arc, and especially not in this scene.
Good to know if I can’t be subtle naturally, I can still brute-force myself to be. Not that it lasts long when Ocean’s next line is:
“Hmm. You made sure to get our daughter’s good side though, didn’t you, Gallus dear?”
Because of course it is!
And Gallus isn’t exactly helping matters, literally re-using his own “She’s beautiful form every angle” line, much to Sky and Ocean’s glee(Because they didn’t hear it before; that was Skystar, so they don’t realize it’s recycled) and Terramar’s “Ugh! Romance!” attitude. At least Silverstream calls Gallus out for recycling content, even if she doesn’t mind—It is the truth.
One more round of Sky and Ocean celebrating “Our daughter has a sweetie!” prompts Silver to do the same, but this in turn results in Gallus trumping all previous romantic lines and gestures with:
“And you’re my everything,” he said, smiling serenely.
I had been wanting to write that line for sooo long, yet I still hesitated to include it here. I was worried it’d come across as though, right at the very end of the story and despite all my efforts to not imply it, Gallus ultimately confirmed Silverstream was indeed the sole source of his newfound development, self-confidence, pride, etc. And that without her, he’d genuinely be left with nothing because she was his “everything.”
…
This being the end of the story, I got over it. … Well, no, not really. I spent weeks worrying about that line before the concern faded away into the tombs of my memory. But regardless, I put this line in despite that, knowing full-well it wouldn’t amount to any more drama or conflict, no matter the worst possible implications.
Thus, Gallus does indeed say the sweetest possible thing he’s ever said to Silverstream so far, and you know how she feels whenever he says things of that caliber.
Silver hurriedly hooked her talons around him and pulled him back into her embrace, passionately kissing him again. She soon leaned back, panting harshly as she extolled, “You are so sweet!”
“I can still be sweeter,” he promised confidently, cupping her cheeks with his talons.
“Later. Right now, I want you to kiss me again.”
“As you wish, milady.”
As one, they both gleefully resumed kissing.
I love these dorks so much! 
Hence, I let their latest snogging session go a full three ellipses before having Terramar break it up to remind everyone he’s still here because this scene is drawing to a close, and we’re already running that word count through the roof.
So we speedrun the last of this wonderful stretch of time, with the lovebirds barking back at Terramar that they weren’t done kissing, Sky Beak reminding everyone his parade was a thing and that, while there’s no kissing booth(To Silver and Gallus’ immense disappointment), the dance stadium is up and running by now. Thus, Gallus-Stream up and run away themselves, leaving Terramar behind to get booted out of the scene via Ocean finally getting a turn to tease him about his own lack of a sweetie.
And at last… We’re left alone with Sky and Ocean, and while I kicked some ideas around for extending their conversation…? The word count kept them from happening. It wouldn’t have been much, just more of Ocean’s “Oh woe is me, I was an antagonist; how could you possibly forgive me!!!” shtick, but since we had already drawn out her apology to Silver, and obviously Sky Beak would forgive her too, it wasn’t necessary.
So the two simply have a quiet moment together before rejoicing over raising their children right—not counting Silverstream’s tail-play shenanigans—and celebrating their daughter having a sweetie once more, departing to go plan out exactly how they’re gonna fulfill their vow to dote on him forevermore.
We, meanwhile, head back to the beach for one last scene between the lovebirds before this story finally comes to a close…
~ Happiness and Serenity ~
Here we are. The intended final scene of the entire story, and it certainly feels that way, even if we got the Epilogue(Love).
Of course, this is also the final scene of the chapter, so before we get to the lovebirds, we first spend a moment addressing the parade celebrating them.
For the longest time, it was rather bland. Not bad, just…eh. If I remember right, Skystar herself didn’t even get mentioned, just her troupe, and it was for that reason I returned to this scene far later to rectify that. In fact, I think it was a week or two before this chapter’s deadline that I finally solved how to make this section as vivid as it ultimately was.
But the parade isn’t what we’re here for. Maybe if this chapter had happened earlier in the story we would have gotten more of it—like the Science Fair and Friends and Family Day Festival—but not here, not at the story’s end.
Here, in the finale, all we’re here for are the characters, so we return to Gallus’ perspective, finding him relaxing along the beach—because why bother showing Gallus-Stream visiting a beach-side locale without actually enjoying it?
Naturally, Silverstream isn’t too far behind, joining him not five seconds later, and the two waste no time sneaking in more romantic physicality before she asks the one question they always seem to ask each other in moments of tranquility.
“You okay, sweetie?”
Short answer: No.
Long answer: I may not have gotten to do anything with her underwater volcano obsession, but I was as dead-set on resolving Skystar’s pounce threats as the princess in question was on fulfilling them, much to Gallus’ poor paws.
And while this has the additional consequence of keeping us from getting another Gallus-Stream dance, neither are too bummed since they know they’ll have one off-screen once Gallus feels better Novo shows up. Either way, that’s the lingering Skystar issues addressed.
Next, we address the trip as a whole, and that’s kept simple enough: The two express how relieved they are that they could both come to Mount Aris and that Gallus successfully charmed her family.
This then leads into:
“They love you, Gallus,” she repeated, leaning back and smirking slyly. “Just like I love you.”
“Silver…!” he groaned in protest, struggling valiantly to keep himself from blushing.
“You’re my sweeetieee,” Silver sang, running a talon through his headcrest. She then laughed victoriously at the rosy glow she brought to his cheeks. “Ha-ha! There it is!”
“Yeah, yeah…” Gallus grumbled, smiling nonetheless. “Happy now?”
“Yep,” she answered, kissing the aforementioned blushing cheek. “I love it when you blush.”
“And I love it when you make me blush,” he quietly confessed.
And there’s your resolution to Silver’s earlier admission to Terramar about how much she adored Gallus’ blush, only with the totally obvious twist that Gallus appreciates her making him blush, even if he can only admit it as a mere whisper if the dialogue tag is to be believed.
Because even now, the Gallus criticisms were still fresh in mind.
Regardless, Gallus words do elicit this exchange:
Silver gasped and playfully rebuked, “You are shameless, Gallus. Shameless.”
“Yeah, well? There’s no shame in loving you with all my heart.”
And there’s your resolution regarding Silverstream’s risque-ness. She may have already promised to keep herself in check for his sake, and her parents may have also reprimanded her behavior… But at the end of the day, Gallus is totally as head-over-paws for her as she is him.
But of course, Gallus just said something sweet, so you know what that means: Silverstream arbitrarily commenting on how he’s always out-sweeting her!
“…Dang it,” she cursed, shaking her head in defeat. “Every time. Every time… You really do try to make everything you say sound as sweet as possible, don’t you?”
“I am your boyfriend,” he boasted, snickering. “It’s my job.”
“No, Gallus, you’re not just my boyfriend. You’re my sweetie,” Silver purred, snuggling him.
“I’m your sweetie,” Gallus declared, snuggling her back. “And I’m so happy to be your sweetie.”
“And I’m happy to be your milady.”
…
“Geez, we really are as bad as Yona and Sandbar,” Gallus acknowledged bluntly.
“I don’t care; I love you,” Silver whispered, giving him a dreamy smile.
“And I love you too.”
They kissed.
So few things:
#1) Regarding the exchange as a whole, all I have to say is this:
#2) Uhhh… There’s an interesting story behind Silver’s use of the verb “Purred.” And it’s not one I’m going to tell, but let’s just say it’s related to why Gallus literally purrs for her next chapter.
#3) Of course we get one last major usage of the “Sweetie” and “Milady” dynamic.
#4) Quick reference to Sandbar and Yona to call back to when they were compared as such earlier in the story, and Silverstream naturally bats away whatever semblance of shame such comparison might incur—because why should the lovebirds feel embarrassed or ashamed to be “corny” or “shameless,” let alone to the same degree as Yona-Bar?
#5) This was meant to be the final exchange of the chapter originally. Yep. This right here. This would be the note they’d end on. It was obviously going to come much later in the scene, after the Prince Guy resolution, but otherwise, this right here—Gallus and Silverstream celebrating the latter’s family coming to adore the former, as well as re-validating the strength of their relationship—would be the note the chapter(And story) ended on.
As you’ve likely surmised, the scene flowed more naturally for them to have this moment here rather than later, resulting in the scene being far too short for what was meant to be the story’s true final scene—not to mention Prince Guy didn’t show up until afterward, so that was another problem.
Thus, I kept it going, and good thing too! There was another Mount Aris arc matter to acknowledge:
After breaking apart, Gallus nodded toward the beach, saying, “Hey, check it out.”
Silverstream followed his gaze and beheld the sight of Stratus Skyranger and Salina Blue merrily chatting away. Both of them, Silver noticed, were blushing.
“They look happy,” she said, grinning widely. “I hope they work out.”
“You still need to tell me about their whole story too,” Gallus addressed, reacquiring Silver’s attention. “After all? A certain somegriff completely forgot she had an honorary big sister.”
“Oh hush up,” Silver griped, blushing herself. “I didn’t forget; I just…never mentioned it.”
“Mm. Sure. We’ll go with that.”
Silverstream rolled her eyes, already knowing this wouldn’t be the last time he would tease her for this.
How Silver could tell Salina and Stratus were blushing from so far away is a mystery, but at least those two did indeed meet up!
By now, you should understand my intentions well enough to know exactly how their story ends; though I’ll leave the finer points to your interpretation. That said, as if I was going to resist the urge to laugh at myself for that via Gallus prodding Silver for their story.
And no. He’s never going to let Silver forgetting she had an honorary big sister go. Even Silver herself knows it.
But since we’re already looking around at other hippogriffs and seaponies, it was time for one in particular to make their approach so their lingering plot thread could be addressed too.
“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me,” she growled, scowling at the approaching noble.
“Hmm?” Gallus noticed the hippogriff as well and guessed, “That him?”
“Yep.”
Yep! IIITTT’SSS PRINCE GUUUYYY!!!
Like I mentioned before, he wasn’t going to have dialogue as a joke, but it didn’t work here since it’d necessitate Gallus and Silver somehowcorrectly guessing his intentions and talking forhim. And since this would all be put through their “We don’t like you” filter, they’d come across as huge jerks.
Thus, I bit the bullet, wrote his dialogue here, then circled back to the ambush scene to insert dialogue there. I considered keeping his dialogue-less-ness present there, thinking I could keep the joke somewhat intact by only letting him have dialogue here, but that idea didn’t last long, clearly.
Regardless, let’s see what dialogue he got:
Once the prince approached them, he awkwardly fidgeted under the furious frowns of the couple. After clearing his throat, he began, “H-Hello. My name is—”
“I don’t care what your name is,” Silver cut him off mercilessly. “What do you want?”
Well, I mean… Just because I didn’t want the lovebirds to treat him like dirt, didn’t mean I was going to pretend they weren’t angry at him. Plus, I won’t deny I got a kick out of brutally rejecting giving him a name.
As for his personality? Truthfully, he’s simply another ordinary hippogriff/seapony, nobility or no. And like all hippogriffs and seaponies, he takes both being kind and apologizing VERY seriously. 
And why shouldn’t he? Ignorant or no, he played a monumental role in Silver and Ocean’s blowout, hence the former’s cold bluntness, and now here Prince Guy is, fully aware of Gallus’ existence, yet sporting a big bouquet to bestow upon her regardless.
Yeah, not a great look. But for one thing, I’m not about to let this particular droplet of drama become anything greater, and for another: Canon Gallus would never let the bouquet matter happen lying down, and since he’s reached the end of his own development, T.B.O.L. Gallus doesn’t either.
Gallus immediately seized the flowers from him, gasping. “For me!? Aww, thank you. You shouldn’t have, Mr. Prince Guy,” he ended, smirking.
Ahhh, good ole snarky Gallus. 
Good to see him back once and for all. And heck, he even offered Prince Guy a way out of this conversation on a silver platter; such a shame Prince Guy didn’t realize/take it, but at least it leads to Silverstream joining in on the fun:
“I— I wanted to apologize for the whole ordeal, a-a-and I didn’t have any apology cakes on talon. So I got her an apology bouquet instead…?” he ended weakly.
“In that case,” Silverstream spoke up icily. “Where’s my bouquet? You gave Gallus his, so where’s mine? I was the one you hit on, after all; don’t I deserve an apology bouquet too?”
There’s your resolution to the “Apology cakes” joke as well; nice to see Prince Guy would have brought them too if he had any.
For those curious why Prince Guy didn’t bake any between the ambush scene and now, it’s a matter of time. Only a few hours passed, and Prince Guy spent a good chunk of it figuring out how exactly to even react to the ambush imploding in his face, let alone apologize for it.
Thankfully he is apologizing for it, even if Gallus and Silverstream won’t stop bullying the poor lad.
“Um, th-that was supposed to be your bouquet,” he clarified, pointing to the flowers Gallus still held. “But, as you can see, h-he took them.”
“Are you saying I don’t deserve an apology bouquet?” Gallus snarled, whipping his tail angrily. “Even though it was my girlfriend you tried to hit on behind my back!?”
“I-I-I didn’t say that!”
“Then where’s his bouquet!?” Silver inquired, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, you only brought one, even though you needed to apologize to both of us.”
“In, uh, in that case, I-I’ll go get another one for you, Mr. Gallus!” the prince swore, already stepping away from the enraged couple.
“Get two,” Gallus demanded, sneering coldly. “This one rings rather hollow now.”
Seriously, Gallus and Silverstream, dial it back, would ya!? 
I adore Gallus’ last line too, but come on, I didn’t want you guys to be aholes to him, remember? Cut him some slack!
Jokes aside, I was genuinely worried I still overplayed the lovebird’s frustrations, but I managed to quash that worry, knowing what came next:
“T-Two bouquets it is then, one for each of you! Is, uh, is that better?” When neither of them responded, the prince shuffled anxiously, apologizing, “I-I really am sorry for the whole…situation…that happened.”
“And we’ll forgive you once you get back with our apology bouquets,” Silverstream deadpanned, waving him onward. “Go on. Go get ‘em.”
Though Prince Guy already apologized once he showed up, having him take a moment, fight back his fear of their vitriol, and apologize again with utmost sincerity—and with no bouquets implying he was trying to “buy” their forgiveness or other such nonsense…? It’s good.
Prince Guy genuinely is sorry for what happened and for his role in it. And that alone makes him better than 99% of all other stereotypical, snooty noble characters, both in MLP and otherwise.
But what really sells it is how Silverstream—the one who’s been most aggressive toward Prince Guy throughout both the arc and this scene—openly assuages she and Gallus will forgive him. … As soon as he gives their privacy back and fetches them some more bouquets. And furthermore:
“Before you go though!” she suddenly called out.
The prince paused and turned around, apprehensively muttering, “Y-Y-Yes?”
“If you’re still looking for a girlfriend, go find my cousin, Skystar,” Silver commanded, smiling politely. “She’s been looking for a boyfriend herself, and…? Eh, you’ll do.”
“R-Really!? You think— You think so?”
“Hey, as long as you know how to dance. You do know how to dance, right?”
“I do.”
“Then bring us those apology bouquets, and I’ll introduce you two,” she offered.
The prince squeed and raced off to find said flowers.
There’s your resolution to Skystar’s earlier “I wanna go to the Friendship School and meet BOOYYYSSSS! ” subplot.
More importantly, this shows, despite all the anger Gallus-Stream directed toward Prince Guy—deserved or no—they don’t hold any true animosity toward him. They don’t particularly like him, for obvious reasons, but they aren’t going to hold what happened against him(Like a certain filly would).
Honestly, their initial ire was more them screwing with him than anything, though Silverstream wouldn’t exactly deny she was venting her frustrations as well… Yet, because she’s got her own character development, she sidelines whatever dislike she has for him and offers to help him find another date, specifically Skystar ‘cause that kills two birds with one stone.
It is a wee bit indicative how Prince Guy immediately switches to being over the moon about dating Skystar when this whole time he’s been pining after Silver… But well? Nothing was meant to come of that. I did realize the implications of his sudden switch in romantic attractions, but I ignored it, thinking either most wouldn’t notice it or those who did would consider that the one piece of stereotypical snooty behavior I let Prince Guy be burdened by.
Either way, that’s the Prince Guy debacle resolved, leaving Gallus and Silverstream alone, and a lustrous bouquet firmly in the talons of the former.
Gallus and Silverstream then looked at each other, sharing a smirk. He then gifted her the flowers, saying, “For you, milady.”
She gasped excitedly, sniffing them and sighing happily. “Aww, thank you, Gallus. I love them.”
“And I love you,” Gallus crooned, kissing her.
I couldn’t resist, and Gallus wouldn’t even try to. Especially since it further proves their anti-Prince Guy sentiment was mostly theatrical. But if that still wasn’t enough:
“It was pretty nice of you to offer to set the guy up with Starry.”
“Yeah, well… We were pretty rough on him for a minute there, so I wanted to throw him at least one bone.”
“You are too pure for this world.”
“And you are too sweet,” she praised, kissing him.
Yep. I’m not subtle, and I don’t trust myself to fully communicate how non-serious their ire truly was; thus, I take a moment to confirm in-universe how even Silverstream was “Yeaaahhh, perhaps I treated him too harshly.” She made up for it in the end though, and I’m certain Skystar would agree.
But with that matter FINALLY wrapped up and shoved aside, it was time to grant the lovebirds one last moment to simply…be.
Silverstream then smelled the flowers again and whispered, “I’m really happy, Gallus.”
“I’m really happy too,” Gallus said, holding her talon as he snuggled her even more. “I’m really, really happy with you.”
“I’m really, really happy with you too!” she sang, draping her own wing around him and nuzzling him ecstatically. “Thank you so much for being with me.”
“And thank you for being with me.”
They both laughed and kissed again. About five minutes passed before they stopped and broke away, each breathing a little heavier.
#1) Get it? Silverstream’s happy? See, that’s what I decided halfway through the story her character development endpoint would be, like how Gallus’ was serenity, so since this is the end of the story, we gotta emphasize how she’s finally found that happiness? Do you get it? Get it!?
#2) More romantic physicality! Yay!
#3) Question for you: Are Silver and Gallus sitting on their flanks, or are they lying down like normal horses do? I know I certainly couldn’t figure out which they’d be doing, so I left it ambiguous, but with how much cuddling they do here…?
#4) Yeesh, I really loved showing them running out of breath halfway through their kissing sessions, huh? I… Honestly don’t know why that happens to them so much throughout the story; I think I just defaulted to that as the easiest means to get them to believably stop and continue talking. 
Mission accomplished regarding that last point, I guess. They do indeed stop so Silver can try her luck at getting Gallus to dance with her again, but much to her and Gallus’ disappointment, he’s still reeling from Skystar’s ambush. Thankfully, he promises they will dance before the day’s over; bluebird might not have the confidence to sing before a crowd, but he’d never hesitate to bust a move, especially if it’s to impress someone, especially if that someone’s his girlfriend, and especially if it’s to a tune as cool as he is.
But plans are never meant to last, and the one last, lingering plot thread we had regarding Mount Aris has just finished her own plans. And she’s out for blood!
Not ten seconds later, a snow white seapony with a lush violet mane-fin burst out of the water, transformed back into a hippogriff, and landed on the beach.
Many of the hippogriffs and seaponies immediately noticed her presence and bowed respectfully only to cringe when their Queen roared, “WHERE IS MY NIECE!?” louder than even Princesses Celestia and Luna’s Royal Canterlot Voice.
Yep! Novo showed up after all!
I’ve already discussed why I didn’t want to include her in the arc proper, but even here I debated on including her. I was already past 30k+ word count, and honestly, what would be the point in including Novo now?
The arc was over, the story itself was over, and all she’d do is serve as a quick jolt of comedic drama that’d fizzle out with no real conclusion. And as funny as it was to have Gallus-Stream flee Novo’s wrath, to end the story on that rather than the two continuing to embrace one another lovingly…? Yeah, a funny note to go out on, but not the best one.
In short: Including Novo here would have been for nothing more than pure self-indulgence, and might have even detracted from the ending itself. Thus, she shouldn’t have been included.
…Is what I initially told myself. But then I decided to write an Epilogue(Love). And since I fully intended to include Novo there—partly to make it up to Great White Prime for booting Novo out of the arc they directly inspired—and this was literally the only chance I’d get to introduce Novo beforehand…? Needless to say, I jumped at the chance with reckless abandon.
I was having an absolute blast writing this scene! Novo spawning into existence out of sheer outrage over her niece finding herself a sweetie, Gallus immediately nope-ing out of the situation, Silver having the bravery to troll Novo without hesitation—A good showing of how far Silver’s come in overcoming her paranoia, even if this came at the expense of Gallus almost having a stroke—all the citizens of Mount Aris “D’aww”-ing over Gallus-Stream’s brief kiss, and who couldn’t forget:
Queen Novo shrieked, “THAT GRIFFON HAD BETTER BE A PRINCE!”
Upon breaking away, Silver shouted back, “He’s not, but I love him anyway! Deal with it!”
And there’s your resolution to the “Gallus isn’t a noble” issue. I still crack a smile every time I read this line; Silverstream is amazing! Only further proven by her taking Gallus’ talon and fulfilling his desire to run away and dance with her, specifically acknowledging the hippogriff dances she taught him.
So there’s your resolution to that particular element too.
So it is, with Novo hot on their tails and both this chapter and story coming to a close, we end things on this beautiful line:
Gallus and Silverstream both merely picked up the pace, laughing serenely as they happily fled back toward Mount Aris to dance the day away.
Eyyy, I sneaked in both derivatives of “Serene” and “Happy,” yeah! I’m not subtle! Still a great line though. Even if we hadn’t gotten the Epilogue(Love), I’d be perfectly satisfied with this being the final scene/line of the story. Gallus and Silverstream, the lovebirds and main leads of The Bonds of Love, ending this glorious tale of love, healing, therapy, trauma, fear, and pain by running off into the sunset together, laughing all the while, at peace at long last.
And that was Ch.15(Family, Part Two) and the end of the Mount Aris arc.
If it weren’t obvious enough already, I adored this arc. It was, in no uncertain terms, the most fun I had had with writing in a LONG time. After Ch.6(Stagnation), writing T.B.O.L. felt equally as draining as it was enjoyable, and while I had mostly recovered by this point, writing this arc completely overhauled whatever lingering traces of that burnout I still possessed.
Seeing Gallus-Stream finally, FINALLY be happy, be together, both free from any significant fears or woes or other various personal drama…
Writing the absolute delight that was Sky Beak and his immediate adoration for Gallus alongside his loving relationship with his children…
Giving Terramar some time to shine, despite his almost getting screwed out of it, and showing him and his sister being the goofy, bickering siblings they are…
Unleashing the terror of Skystar upon the lot of ‘em, even if I had no clue how to write her half the time, and just basking in the unrestrained, air-headed joy she brought to the group…
Letting all the citizens of Mount Aris, hippogriff and seapony alike, be the kindhearted, passionate creatures they were, relishing in their freedom from the Storm King, and portraying their kingdom(s) in such a positive light…
Everything to do with Ocean Flow, from weaving such a tragic backstory of a parent forced to sit and watch as their child’s life is put at stake nigh-constantly for the sake of the world, to repairing the bond she had inadvertently shattered with her daughter over those fears…
Really. It all speaks for itself.
Smolder’s subplot may have been better from a sheer quality standpoint, but the Mount Aris arc will forever hold a special place in my heart for how jubilant it was to both write and read.
The only major flaw this arc even has, to be frank, is all that “Hand of the Author” nonsense… Well? That and length. Goodness these chapters are LOOONNNGGG!!! And for that, I once again apologize.
I’m extremely glad I went through with writing this arc. The Bonds of Love legitimately wouldn’t have been half as good as it was had this arc never come to be.
So once again, I offer my sincerest gratitude to Great White Prime for setting me on the path to making it a reality and for helping me figure out exactly what I wanted to do with it.
But of course… That brings us to the alarming reality of our situation: We’ve only got one more chapter to discuss. And it's gonna take us three more Blog Posts to fully discuss it.
~ Additional Tidbits ~
— 1) How do seaponies cook underwater, anyway? Ocean said it was easier than one would think, after all. Your answer: Underwater volcanic vents. Simple, right? And a continuation of that particular element of Skystar’s part in the story; ironically, this idea came about because I couldn’t do anything more with the aspect where Skystar was concerned.
— 2)
Do yourself a favor: Read this line without the second half of it after “sheepishly.” … Yeah. Rather bittersweet, huh? And it was written the way it was with exactly that in mind. I caught onto the implication as soon as I wrote it, and even considered having Sky Beak notice it as well, becoming rather downtrodden afterward. But given the scene’s tone, I couldn’t bring myself to have Sky be hurt from Ocean protesting reminiscing on their days together yet bottle it up to avoid bringing the mood down like on the ship with Gallus last chapter.
As for whether Ocean does or doesn’t enjoy reminiscing on that particular period of her and Sky’s life…? She does, just like Sky. But also like Sky, there will always be that sting of pain when dwelling on those memories, knowing where their courtship ultimately led…
— 3)
Sky Beak got his turn last chapter to discuss how his and Ocean Flow romantic relationship was like, but now, with the apology over and this being the only chance I’d have, it was Ocean Flow’s turn. So, for this brief second, we’re given a glimpse into her side of the flirting. Also, now we know where Silver gets her love of Gallus’ blushes from.
— 4)
All this time, Ocean’s hippogriff form has been something of a sour spot. Her paranoia regarding returning to the land, her atrophied state upon returning anyway… Yet here, right at the end of the scene, chapter, and story, we see one last glimpse of her getting accustomed to the form once more via the physicality of her wings(Because it’s always the wings with T.B.O.L.). And it’s only fitting what drew the moment out was her celebrating Gallus-Stream.
— 5) Regarding Gallus’ line:
He was going to draw her name out as “Silveeerrr…!” like how she drags out “Sweeetieee,” but every time I read the line, it looked silly, so I reduced it to “Silverrr…!” and then later, just “Silver…!”
— 6)
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Yes you can, Silver, yes you can. The only reason you’re denying it is because the plot demands you say otherwise to keep the conversation flowing smoothly, to comfort Gallus, and to even remotely pretend that Skystar is somehow more hyperactive and energetic than you… And I have no idea why I wanted any of that at the time.
— 7)
When first writing the ending scene, Gallus’ immediate reaction was to escape Novo as quickly as possible, no hesitation. Upon reflection, I realized that didn’t quite align with Gallus, both in terms of personality and development, so even though I had him clam up with fear, I slipped this line in before that point, clarifying he did have the fortitude to try charming Novo… It’s just that Novo’s Royal Aris Voice was too intimidating for him at the time.
I blame Skystar. First she disclosed all the dirty secrets about the S.S.Gallus-Stream—a holdover from how I considered having Skystar fetch Novo to rein in Ocean Flow—but she also completely wore him down with her sneak-attack! If she hadn’t done that, Gallus would have sucked it up, marched right up to Novo, and charmed the crown off her.
…
Or at least, that’s what Gallus would have me tell you anyway.
— 8) Dreadlight asked a few questions at the end of this chapter, and the two I’ll answer here are:
#1)
Because she was worried what would happen between the two of them, especially after the incident down at the beach mere moments prior.
And #2)
Even at her worst, Ocean would never have brought up “Cozy Glow”; plus, Silverstream didn’t specifically mention anything about Gallus seeing the fake “Cozy Glow” to her family. To their friends, yes, but not her family. She only told them Gallus was having an unbearably hard time, and she kept it otherwise vague to respect Gallus’ privacy.
However, if none of that had held true and Ocean did use Gallus seeing “Cozy Glow” or Silver’s own paranoia as reasons Gallus-Stream shouldn’t be a thing…? Silver would have genuinely cut Ocean off with almost no hope whatsoever that they’d reconcile.
Thank goodness that didn’t happen then, so Silver and Ocean made up easy-peasy.
Something else Dreadlight mentioned was that if Gallus allowed a plushy of himself to be created, it’d be a hit in Mount Aris. And well? I’mma just say that did indeed happen sometime between the Mount Aris arc and the Epilogue(Love).