"... meaning that love and friendship can be just as powerful as each other."
Twilight had a wide smile on her face. "Thank you for hijacking my lesson, Ocellus."
The young Changeling blushed and rubbed the back of her head. Her new lover smiled at her in a knowing way.
"Have you been "studying" it on the side?"
Twilight's tease made Ocellus really blush. Oddly, she thought she heard a muted scream through the stifled laughter of the other students.
Twilight looked at the clock. "Anyway, I think Silver and Gallus are late enough. Smolder, could you go fetch them?"
Smolder stood up. "What if they don't come along?"
There was a moment of silence after her question. A moment that started to drag, as Ocellus realized that she had heard someone screaming.
Sandbar looked at the door. "The heck?"
Smolder flew over to the door, turned the knob... then got barreled over by something light blue, which shot right towards Twilight.
"Help! I need help!"
"Silver? What-"
"Gallus won't respond! He's just lying on the floor of his room! I can't wake him up!"
Twilight's eyes shot wide. "What? Oh no!"
Twilight flew out of the room, followed by Silver, then the rest of Gallus' friends. When the got to Gallus' room, they found him still on the floor, as Silver said. None of them expected what else was in his room.
Books. Dozens of books, all about history. And piles of notes, most of which were either scratched out or ripped up.
"What in the world?"
A number of students gathered around right outside the doorway.
"Now I feel bad."
"What was he studying?"
"Holy cow."
"Golly, I hope he's fine. He still owes me five bits."
Gilded Lily glared at Cozy Glow. "That's what you're worried about?"
Twilight let out a sigh of relief. "It's nothing serious."
Sandbar tilted his head. "Let me guess; Ocellus syndrome?"
"Sandbar!"
"Nah, Twilight was doing that long before Ocellus, buddy."
"Spike!"
Silver was disturbed. "Why are you guys joking around? Gallus-"
"Spent too much time studying." Smolder shrugged. "Probably hasn't had much to eat, may not have gotten much sleep, and really should not have that many notes."
Twilight lifted the Griffon onto her back. "Silver, let's take him to the infirmary. Ocellus, Sandbar, Smolder, Yona, you four should go through his notes and figure out what he was doing." It was then that Twilight noticed the small congregation of students just outside of the room. "The rest of you! Back in your classrooms! I'll be back to mine once I've seen to Gallus."
The four creatures watched their friends and teacher walk off, then closed the door.
Smolder scratched her head. "Why would he suddenly do this? It's not like he feels-"
"Inadequate?" Ocellus said as she started sorting the damaged or crossed-out notes from the rest. "That probably is it, actually."
That confused Smolder. "Why?"
"Our combat training means his combat level went from significantly better than ours to marginally better than ours, and he doesn't have an actual power right now, unlike the rest of us." Sandbar dumped a stack of useless notes into the trash. "Our fight with Starlight probably just brought that out more, since he became a hindrance rather than a help."
"In other words..." Ocellus read through a couple of notes. "... he went from really useful to simply present."
Yona sighed as she stacked some of the books. "It's like being a strong pony only to team up with Yaks."
Smolder sorted some of the books. "Or thinking you're a really talented flier, only to go up against the Wonderbolts. It's not that he's weak, it's that we're stronger than him."
A thought crossed Sandbar's mind. "Maybe that's what he was looking for. If he learns his power and it's as strong as the book says, then he'd go back to being our strongest member."
Ocellus smiled. "I'd welcome that."
"Rambling Rock Ridge?"
Yona's friends looked at her.
"This note says, "Mallet at Rambling Rock Ridge." What does that mean?"
Sandbar sighed. "It's that mountain range just past Saddle Lake. The lake we always go to. You can get there and back in an afternoon."
"I don't know," Smolder smirked at Yona. "Yona can move pretty fast when she's underground. She can probably get it faster than we think."
Yona shoved the note into her coat. "Yona will check it out once we're done."
Ocellus held up a note. "Amber Light... wrong era?"
Sandbar held up a similar note. "Lizzy and Nature Kiss... Too recent."
Smolder looked over the sea of books. "He was looking into all sorts of history to try and get some answers."
They sifted through the notes a while longer.
Ocellus tapped her chin. "So it looks like the team was probably Terramar, Sky Blitz, Eshan, Gabriella, Castor, Blazer, and... Baxter?"
Sandbar rubbed the back of his head. "Huh. Silver was right."
Ocellus shot him a flat look. "Don't tell me you guys actually made a bet on that."
Sandbar was confused. "No. Why would we?"
Before he could get a response, the door opened, revealing Gilded Lily. "Are you guys okay? You seem to be taking a while."
"Well..." Smolder looked at what few notes remained. "The information kinda involved, well, us."
Lily opened her mouth, then realized what the Dragon meant. "Oh. And here I thought it was because Sandbar and Ocellus were getting too affectionate."
Ocellus let out a sigh. "Why does everyone think we're a thing?"
Lily smirked at the Changeling. "Because you made out on a balcony overlooking the courtyard everyone was gathered in during the Hearth's Warming Festival."
Ocellus' face went very, very red. Sandbar held back a scream that could have made the whole room shake.
Smolder scratched the back of her head. "So much for that secret."
Gallus groaned as he woke up.
"Hey, sleepyhead." Silver was resting her head on his stomach with a dreamy look on her face. "You really scared us yesterday. And for a few hours today."
"Yesterday?" Gallus' eyes shot wide as he moved to sit up. "Wait, what hap-"
Silver pressed on his shoulder, forcing him back down. "Down, boy. You did what usually happens to Ocellus. Studied 'till you passed out."
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess I lost track of time. Pretty bad way to start off your Wednesday, huh?"
Silver's smile turned into a frown. "Thursday."
Gallus looked stunned. "... I, uh... knew that."
"Gallus." Silver held his claw tightly. "Did my words mean nothing to you?"
"Wha- No! I mean, yes! I mean, they did matter! It's just... I..."
Silver looked away from him.
"Wait! Don't cry! I'm sorry!"
In spite of his request, she had to wipe a tear from her eye. "Why didn't you take my advice?"
"It's just... I..."
"If I may interrupt." Ocellus stepped into the room. "What was the advice you gave him?"
Silver told Ocellus about what she said to Gallus at the Hearth's Warming Festival. Once Silver finished, Ocellus could only think of one thing to say in response.
"Would you leave a puzzle half-finished?"
The two beaked friends stared at the Changeling in confusion.
"While you're right about Gallus lacking something the rest of us have, the problem with your advice is that it assumes he can't have it as well when the truth is that he probably already has it but doesn't know how to use it yet."
Silver scratched her head. "Uh, elaborate?"
Ocellus sighed. "Your advice is good advice for other situations, such as Yona not being good with science, or Sandbar not being very strong. But the situation you used it in is like telling Applejack that she can't be a bodybuilder."
Silver rolled her eyes. "Pfft. That's dumb. She may not be now, but if any of our professors can do it-" Her eyes shot wide. "Ohhhh..."
"Exactly. Even if she's not cut out for it now, if she puts her mind to it, she would be able to do it. Similarly, Starlight isn't the best with science, but if she studied enough, she could probably be a great chemist or doctor."
Gallus raised an eyebrow. "So the puzzle analogy..."
"Maybe their puzzles are as complete as they want them, but your's isn't. Silver's advice was basically telling you not to find that missing part of yourself. It would have been better to say that we'll help you find that part of yourself."
"And it's not like you haven't helped us at all." Yona stepped up to Gallus' bed. "You were right about the mallet. It was exactly where you said it was."
"You see?" Sandbar said as he and Smolder stepped up to the bed. "You can be useful. No matter how. And you will always be important to us, no matter how finished your puzzle is."
Gallus' smile only lasted a second. "Wait. Didn't you just get here? How did you know what we were talking about?"
Ocellus smiled and rubbed the back of her head. "I used our telepathy to share our conversation with them."
Silence.
"...Pfft. Hehe. Hehehe."
Smolder felt her heart sink. "Gallus?"
"Hahaha. Hahahahaha. Hahahahahahaha." Something about Gallus' laughter was... disturbing.
Ocellus was worried she set something off unintentionally. "Gallus, are you-"
Gallus clutched his head and slammed back in his bed. "HAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHA! THAT'S IT! THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT!"
The other students, aside from Silver, stepped back.
He shot back up with a terrifying look in his eye. "NO MATTER WHAT I DO, ONE OF YOU IS BETTER AT IT! FIGHTING? YONA AND SMOLDER CAN BEAT ME NOW! SMARTS? I'VE GOT NOTHING ON OCELLUS AND SANDBAR!"
While the others were clearly scared, Silver's expression was unreadable. "Gallus."
He pointed right at the Hippogriff. "EVEN SILVER CAN BRING SOMETHING UNIQUE TO THE TABLE! I'VE GOT NOTHING!"
"Gallus, stop!"
Tears were rolling down his cheeks. "I MIGHT AS WELL GO BACK TO GRIFFONSTONE AND ROT AWAY IN THE STREETS! I DOUBT GRANDPA GRUFF WOULD WANT A FAILURE LIKE ME TO COME BACK!"
"Gallus!"
"BESIDES, I-"
Silver slammed both of her claws on the sides of Gallus' head and pressed her beak against his (don't think too hard on that). His eyes drifted closed, as he put his claw on her side. On her warm, soft wing. They both blushed, realizing their first kiss was being witnessed by their closest friends. Not that it mattered much since they saw two of their friends share their own first kiss.
Once they broke it off, Silver immediately spoke up. "You were right about one thing."
Gallus finally opened his eyes to meet her's. "Huh?"
"You should probably visit your home. Just to cool your head a bit."
Gallus gave her a gentle smile. "Yeah. That will depend on what the teachers let me do."
"Um, just a thought," Ocellus said nervously, "Did my prank contribute to your... feelings?"
Gallus laughed. "Yours? Yours was the only one that really didn't bother me. That was really clever."
Silver tilted her head and frowned. "What about mine?"
Gallus nuzzled his lover. "Okay, yours too. And I got revenge for it."
Smolder scratched her cheek nervously. "Uh, I may have said and done some things I didn't really mean at the festival. I was feeling a bit out of it at the time."
Sandbar remembered something. "Oh yeah. Didn't you say your chest hurt at the festival?"
Ocellus tapped her chin. "Right. Physical injuries have been linked to increases in aggressive and sometimes irrational behavior."
Silver's head whipped right towards Smolder. "I knew that hug was a bad idea!"
Smolder held her hands up defensively. "Hey! I covered that up, didn't I? That couldn't have been-"
"That's all you did," Ocellus cut Smolder off. "It was like applying a band-aid. You covered it up, but didn't actually heal it."
Smolder's eye twitched, then she took a deep breath in and let out. "Sorry, Gallus. About... going overboard with my pranks."
Yona waved her leg around. "I'm sorry for not being considerate during the festival!"
Gallus chuckled. "It's alright. I forgive you."
"That's nice to hear."
The students turned towards the doorway. Ocellus gulped. "Principal Twilight?"
Twilight giggled. "I came in as Yona apologized. Some of the other students explained to me why you two were arguing."
Gallus rubbed his neck. "So... we're not in trouble?"
Twilight gave him a soft smile. "No. You aren't." She then looked away for a moment. "Although I have to ask, did any of you feel that earthquake a minute ago?"
The students shared a confused look before Silver answered for them. "Uh, no?"
"Huh. Alright." Twilight went up to Gallus and started looking him over, pulling out a small medical machine of some kind.
"Hey, Headmare? When would I be able to visit Griffonstone?"
Twilight looked at her student in shock. "Uh, I'll have to check, but it shouldn't be before too long."
Gallus watched the device Twilight was moving across his body. "Alright. Thank you."
"May I ask why you want to go? Especially after the trouble you caused at Hearth's Warming Eve proper to avoid going back?"
Gallus' face went red. In spite of the result of it, he forgot that little "prank" he played to avoid leaving. "Uh, I, Um-"
"I suggested it." Silver took Gallus' claw. "I figured it may be a good way to calm his nerves."
Twilight smiled at Silver. "That might not be a bad idea. Especially after what happened yesterday."
Gallus smiled at Silver, who winked at him.
"Gallus, what are you doing?"
They stared out the window in the direction of Griffonstone.
"Are you looking for answers? Do your questions bother you that much? Perhaps I should just tell you."
They turned around, at the box holding the files on the students.
"No. That would be a bad idea. Your power, if used incorrectly, could cause horrible damage, even to those that you're trying to protect. If you had Gabriella's knowledge of your power, then maybe, just maybe, I could trust you with it."
They moved to leave the room.
"For now, though, it's best you don't know."
They placed their hoof on the handle, only to pause. They looked over their shoulder at their desk. After a moment, they shook their head and left.