//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Coping, or How to Move On When Given Up On // by Meteor_Mirage //------------------------------// The way back to the school wasn’t exactly the best in terms of conversation. Ocellus tried, she really did, but she only managed to get short, almost terse responses from Gallus before he clammed up completely. She knew it wasn’t his fault, as there was still a bit of a troubling energy in the air around him, but she tried her hardest to provide at least some form of levity. “So, have you had any special plans for today?” She asked as she walked alongside her friend, slowing down immensely in order to keep up with his meandering pace.  Gallus gave her a strange look for a moment, tilting his head before going back to locking his eyes on the horizon and fighting any emotion from displaying itself on his face. “Nope. Just a pretty average day.” Ocellus was stunned into silence for quite a long span of seconds, expecting any form of answer but just not that one. “Oh! Okay!” She softly squeaked as she subtly increased her speed and hoped Gallus would follow suit.  He did, and they were at least moving towards the school at a reasonable pace. “No special plans with Sandbar then?” Ocellus continued, wanting to poke for more information while she still could.  Gallus simply shook his head, though he was very slowly beginning to warm up to interaction again. “Nah, Sandbar just owes me a dinner, and I’m finally gonna cash in.” He gave a casual shrug as he tried to loosen up a little. “He promised he’d take me to that new burger place in town so I can finally get some good meat around here.” Ocellus wasn’t sure if she should put on a forced smile to be happy for her griffon friend, or to turn green from the mention of eating meat. She settled on both, with little to do about how sick it made her feel. Thankfully she was able to hide the brunt of her sickness as they finally approached the School of Friendship, Gallus finally finishing the complete circle he’d formed his day around. He probably could have just stayed home and saved himself the trouble, but here he was. As they entered the school, Gallus stumbled off to the left to enter the Students’ Wing almost on instinct, wanting to just retire for the night and perhaps attempt to try a date on a less troubling day for him. It took a gentle, almost imperceptible tap on his side to remind him that he was with company.  “Could you, uh, follow me for a second?” Ocellus asked as Gallus looked down at her. She froze for a few moments, as she tried to figure out how to ask him this without laying her hand on the table completely. “I need to show you something.” She explained after the pause. Nailed it. While all Gallus wanted to do was collapse underneath some warm blankets and nest a little bit, he couldn’t fight the fact that he now owed Ocellus for what he’d done in the park. As such, he absolutely felt inclined, if not forced, to humor her for whatever she might have wanted. “Uh, sure.” He said, giving a short shrug before running a claw through his head feathers. “Do you mind if we make it quick though? I still wanna catch up on a nap before Sandy comes and gets me.” As much as he tried, he couldn’t force a yawn to provide proof. As tired as he was, the coffee and the anxiety had only served to make him the awful, jittery kind of tired instead. “We’ll see what happens.” Ocellus said in an innocently ominous way. She then wandered off to the other side of the hall and entered the wing of the school that had the classrooms. Curious, Gallus scrambled to follow behind with a quizzical look on his face. “Wai-wait, where are we even going?” He asked as Ocellus lead him down the hallways at a decently paced rate. “Patience, Gallus.” Ocellus continued to explain without explaining. “We’re almost there anyway.” As they traveled, Gallus was suddenly well-aware of where they were going. He’d made this trip just a few hours ago, though these exact same hallways.  Gallus slowed down slightly. “Hey, wait. Pinkie isn’t in her room right now.” He explained. “We should probably just head back.” “Oh I know.” Ocellus said without even slowing down. Gallus couldn’t do much else but follow her as they approached the classroom he had started his journey at. There was literally no room for response, as they were only a few hoofsteps away from the destination. Ocellus approached the door and, completely disregarding the coded note that Pinkie Pie had slaved over writing, gave the door a very specific knock. Knock-knock. Knock. Knock-knock-knock. Following the lack of response seconds later, Gallus opened his mouth to yet again suggest they just turn back. But any whiny, teenage sarcasm he could have thrown at his buggy friend died in his throat as the door slowly, ominously, creaked open. Ocellus entered the dark classroom without a problem, leaving Gallus to witness his friend sinking into the darkness without anything to really do about it.  Fun fact about Griffon anatomy vs Changeling anatomy. Changelings, having evolved to spend most of their time skulking through the night or in caves, developed a very useful form of nightvision to cope with this. Griffons did not. As such, Ocellus knew exactly what she was walking into, but Gallus was entering blind. And enter he did, dipping low to the ground as he squinted, trying to peer through the darkness with eyes more used to farsight, not darksight.  There was a beat of silence. Not even a sound from Ocellus as the door slowly slid closed behind Gallus.  And then all the lights in the room flicked on, blinding Gallus. An attack! Gripping the poster tube he’d forgotten he was even carrying as some sort of makeshift weapon, he prepared for whatever was to come next. “Surprise!” Came the loud chorus of female voices, all of which Gallus recognized.  Though he still nearly jumped out of his fur despite that. Still blind, he couldn’t exactly parse what was happening despite the sense of vague recognition he had. There was a small silence, followed by the very distinct sound of women laughing at Gallus’ expense.  It happens more often than you’d think. Blinking the bright light out of his eyes finally, Gallus was welcomed by the image of his four female friends laughing in his direction. Smolder was the most open about it, the orange dragon near doubling over with laughter as she pointed very openly and guffawed at the still shocked griffon.  Silverstream and Ocellus snickered gently, but still maintained a small amount of worry for their friend. Standing closest to the door and being the one who turned on the lights, Ocellus was a bit apologetic. And then she remembered what had happened at the park, and continued her laughter anew. Yona was the first to approach the stunned Gallus, giving him a questioning look as she did so. “Why griffon friend scared?” She asked as she placed a hoof harshly against his back, lifting him up and straightening him out in everything but sexuality with her pure strength. “Yona work so hard on party, why not celebrate?” Party? Gallus looked around curiously now that he was finally able to see the room in full detail. While always festive due to the nature of the resident, Pinkie Pie’s classroom was dressed in an almost, if not certainly offensive amount of decorations this time. The usual amount of balloons floated along the ceiling, still not having depleted their helium since Pinkie blew them up at the start of the year, but were now joined by multiple failed balloons that bounced along the floor. Not to be deterred, Silverstream continued to blow them up and wonder why they didn’t float like when Pinkie did it. Silverstream had not yet learned how to produce helium with her lungs like Pinkie had. The rest of the room continued to be festive while the occupants wondered if that was even an option yet. Streamers and lovingly painted banners hung across the walls speaking platitudes about birthdays and parties. While Gallus was still confused, he was beginning to come around to the truth. Said truth was quite literally spelled out for him by the main banner, the biggest of the bunch, that read: HAPpy BIRTHDAYGallus! This large banner hung above a long table that, while not full, had quite a few snacks stacked onto one side and on the other lay five or so presents of varying sizes. The girls, minus Yona, all looked nervously at Gallus, all at once wondering if there was a reason that none knew about his birthday until just that day. Gallus also looked nervously at the girls, wondering if he should explain the truth and what happened. In a day full of them, another awkward silence broke out. Thankfully easily interrupted by the slamming open of the door to the classroom, nearly hitting Gallus as whomever deemed themselves so important to interrupt this interaction entered.   Gallus took a few steps to the side, then spun around to take a look at the intruder.  While their top half was blocked by a large pile of a variety of sweets and cake they held in one hoof, Gallus recognized the lower half as his sweet cuddlebuddy, Sandbar. Even still, he inspected Ocellus very carefully in order to make sure he wasn’t getting tricked yet again. “Sorry, sorry, sorry.” Sandbar squeaked out as he made a beeline for the party table, not even noticing as he nearly knocked over Gallus and was knocked over by Yona as he brushed past. “I had no clue the line was gonna be so long, and apparently ponies around here don’t like line cutting.” Sandbar explained as he laid out his foodstuffs along the table, shaking his head as he did so. “So I was shoved to the back of the line… a few times. Hope I didn’t miss too much.” As Sandbar turned around he saw the five of his friends standing awkwardly in the center of the room, all an uncomfortable distance apart as they waited for someone else to make a move. More than anything, he saw that Gallus and Ocellus were present.  In response, he let out a soft chuckle joined by a calm smile. “Huh, guess I’m a little later than I thought.” Cutting through the tension in the room, Sandbar casually approached Gallus and placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Surprise! Happy birthday, bud.” He said before scratching the back of his neck with a hoof. “Uh, sorry about all the cloak-and-dagger stuff I’ve been pulling recently. We weren’t sure if you even wanted something like this, but we wanted to do something special.” “Yeah, I figured you’d hate it.” Smolder said as she approached. She moved to offer Gallus a claw-bump, but simply tapped it against his shoulder when ignored. “I mean, I figure there’s a reason we only heard it’s your birthday today. Figured someone woulda told us earlier.” She pointed a claw towards Sandbar, who rolled his eyes. Silverstream nodded in agreement, but still shrugged with a grin. “But who hates their birthday?” She too moved to near Gallus, wrapping her arms around her birdy brethren for a hug as gentle as she could manage. “Gally probably just got way too busy and forgot. Right Gally?” Gallus was appreciative, but still uncomfortable. In this moment he felt the urge to tell everyone the truth about when the date of his birth may or may not be, but he was quickly interrupted by Yona clomping a hoof down on his back. “Yona understand Gallus completely.” She told Gallus. For a moment he was hopeful the lie he wasn’t telling would be seen through and he’d be let off the hook. “Griffon Friend simply not want to make big deal of birthing day.” She concluded. Finally, Ocellus skittered up from behind to box Gallus in completely. “But we were all still hoping you’d humor us for a bit, even if you aren’t really the kind of creature for birthdays.” She shot him a hopeful smile, but moved aside to free the door as an opportunity of egress. The windows of the room were safe yet again. Gallus already knew he couldn’t say no to this considering all the work they’d put into planning. Even if it wasn’t his birthday, as far as he knew at least, did he really have to tell them that? He was especially dissuaded from protests as he turned back to his front to Sandbar basically beaming at him. There was absolutely no way he could fight back against a face like that. So he simply huffed and rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t resist a small smile. “Alright, fine. Let’s-” Instead of being allowed to finish his statement, Gallus interrupted himself as he felt five sets of appendages wrap around him as his friends all hugged him and let out a loud cheer. “Happy birthday Gallus!” They all cheered in unison, though Sandbar still somehow ended the cheer a little later than the rest. Also late was the ending of his hug. While the rest of their friends removed themselves from Gallus a few moments after the birthday wishes, Sandbar lingered for at least a half second longer. Not explicitly noticeable to anyone who wasn’t looking for it or knew about the relationship, but those in the room who were or did were very aware of what was really going on. Once Sandbar pulled back, he blushed and managed to resist the urge to nuzzle the cute face of his birdy best friend as he was so used to at this point. Not while everyone was around. To prevent any further loving, at least until they were more alone, he took a very large step back. “So, are you ready to start?” He asked Gallus with a smile. Gallus hummed softly as he spent the next few moments in thought. He then turned to the rest of his friends one by one, shooting each of the four of them a Look. “Uh, could you guys give us a second? I’ve gotta talk to Sandy alone.” He emphasized the last word, and immediately Yona and Ocellus gave him a knowing nod. While Smolder and Silverstream exchanged strange and questioning looks with their more knowledgeable compatriots, they offered no resistance as they began to leave the room. “We’ll come and get you when we’re done.” Sandbar assured. He may have smiled as they left, but after the door shut and Gallus pulled the window blinds down, he couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. “So, uh, what did you need to talk about?” Gallus said nothing, instead taking a few steps back and leaning down while shooting Sandbar a mischievous smirk.  Knowing this look very well, Sandbar took a step back and shook his head. “C’mon Gally, we can’t do this here. They’re right outside and you’re gonna make them come back.” Unperturbed by the protests of his target, Gallus only sunk his front half lower. Once Sandbar noticed Gallus’ tail thrashing about as his rear wriggled, he knew he was done for. He tried to abscond by shuffling back as quickly as possible, but it wall all for naught. Gallus pounced. Springing off of his powerful hindlegs, Gallus tackled his favorite stallion over with pinpoint accuracy and knocked him over despite his attempted escape. There was no getting away from a Griffon who wanted to snuggle. It was an immutable fact. Just like how wearing white after Winter Wrap Up was gauche, as Ms. Rarity would tell anyone who listened. Immediately as he landed on Sandbar’s now exposed belly, he wrapped his arms around the prey stallion and began to nuzzle and smooch his face in earnest. Gallus held Sandbar close as the stallion giggled, spurring quite a few giggles from Gallus as well. Even despite their shared giggling, Sandbar couldn’t help but wiggle about uncomfortably as he felt a tube of some sort pressing between their chests.“Your, uh, thing is poking me.” He squeaked. For a moment Gallus was embarrassed, mortified even, but then he remembered that he was still wearing the poster tube Gilda sent him. Pulling back from the hug and The Boy for a moment, he finally slipped it off and grimaced. Sandbar took a minute to inspect it curiously, wondering what kind of battlemat Gallus had before realizing that probably wasn’t the case. Unless it was, in which he would be so proud. “Huh, what do you got there?” Sandbar asked, gesturing to the tube.  “Just something Gilda got me.” Gallus laughed nervously, unsure of whether opening it would be the right idea given the mystery contents. “Knowing her, it’s probably spring-loaded glitter or something laced with itching powder. Whatever it is, I don’t want to open it.” He shrugged softly. With the mere mention of itching powder, Sandbar began to crawl away. Especially when Gallus began to inspect it, and the cap was ominously pointed towards him. “H-hey! Watch where you’re pointing that thing.” He said as he scrambled back to a standing position and backed away even further. “Are you sure? That seems kinda mean.” “Either or that or ants.” Gallus sighed as he shook the tube gently. Finding no angry movement, he was happy that he could at least rule out ants or any other small, violent creatures. If anything, it felt like there was an actual poster in there, but he was sure that there was a catch. “I’m not sure Gilda knows how giving gifts works. She just gives me whatever hurts the most.” “Well she’s been getting those friendship lessons from Rainbow and Fluttershy, so maybe she’s getting better?” He asked, though still eyed the canister warrily.  Gallus shrugged again. “Hey, maybe. Catch!” He gave no other form of warning before chucking the gift towards Sandbar.  The stallion scrambled to action but, never the dexterous type, he was only able to fumble with the tube for a few moments before it clattered to the floor. The top popped open. Both stallion and catbird flinched. Following a long bout of tense staring at an immobile tube, Gallus was at least now sure that nothing was going to shoot out of it this time. However, knowing that it could still be literally anything, he was apprehensive as he leaned down to pick it back up. Upon looking inside, Gallus saw a poster.  A poster tube with a poster in it. What a novel thought. Still wary and expecting much trickery, he fished it out with a claw and rolled it open in front of him, dropping the container to the side as he did so.  And then he smiled, chuckling a little. “Huh, I guess she can be nice after all.” As Gallus sat down right there to inspect his gift, Sandbar circled around him with great intrigue. “Hey, what is it? Let me see!” He stopped to stand closely beside Gallus, nuzzling him slightly before he took a peak at the New Object.  His face soured slightly, but he managed to hide it well. It was a movie poster that was slightly worn, making Sandbar wonder if it was an original that Gilda had stolen from a theater. It depicted a stallion and a mare framed from the midsection up as they embraced, though the stallion was filtered through a black and white filter. Both actors were C-List at best, but easily recognizable to older Equestrians at large.  The mare, however, was extremely recognizable to Sandbar. Not noticing the look on his friend’s face, Gallus beamed as he looked between the poster and Sandbar. “So The Postbox is probably one of, like, ten Equestrian movies that came to Griffonstone, and Griffonstone movies are usually stupidly depressing so a romance flick like this one didn’t really get much love. I guess Gilda probably got me a ticket as a joke, but I still sat through it. And I loved it.” He explained, shaking his head with a soft, gentle laugh. “I mean, it’s totally bad, but it was great. And it’s sorta the reason I’m even in Equestria, I guess.” Sandbar shot Gallus a very very confused look as he tried to process what the bird had just said, finally tearing his eyes away from the poster as he did so. “You came to Ponyville just because of an objectively awful movie?”  Gallus grumbled softly, ruffling his feathers face fell slightly. He probably should have known that it wouldn’t be taken too seriously. “I mean, obviously it wasn’t just the movie. I wanted to be out of Griffonstone as soon as possible, but this movie at least gave me a little direction.” Gallus explained further with a short sigh. “I know it’s stupid, but I saw this place that looked so safe and so different from where I lived and I wanted nothing more than to drop everything and live there instead. Maybe I could find somewhere I really belong?” A harsh silence fell over the two as Sandbar felt horrible for making fun of the birdboy’s goals. “But now I live in Ponyville, where we get attacked by monsters every other week so…” Gallus ended his half-statement with a shrug, then wrapping an arm around Sandbar and pressing his beak against his cheek.  Standing up from the floor, Gallus very carefully rolled his now-prized movie poster and stored it away to where he hoped it would be kept safe. Placing it on top of a table, he proceeded to stretch his back while giving a large yawn. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road before I pass out.”  Standing up alongside him, Sandbar grinned. “You’re gonna have to hold on for a while. I’ve got a one-shot set up, and it’ll probably last well into midnight.” It was now his turn to beam as he gestured towards the table he’d set up in the corner, ominously stacked full of minifigures, enough sourcebooks to choke an elephant, and Sandbar’s Stick of Character Slaying. Gallus was very intimidated, but he loved it. As Sandbar got the door to let the girls back in, Gallus was preoccupied by a bit of the poster tube he hadn’t noticed just yet. A slip of paper was taped to the tube, flapping free as one end had become undone.  Curious, Gallus grabbed it and ripped it away to see very unfamiliar, scratchy claw-writing: Gallus, I feel like you sort of deserve this after breaking Gruff like you did. He’s so angry he won’t even talk to me I’m actually kind of proud I promise you’ll like it and it won’t be spiders Anyway don’t worry about Gruff. He’s a dick. If you need someone to talk to come and see me or Gabby. We’re always in your corner unless you screw up bad So don’t do that Happy Early/Late Birthday, Gilda Just as Gallus finished reading this note, he watched as his friends flooded back into the room, ready to party hard and lose some characters.  There was nothing he could do to resist the smile that formed on his face and the tears that sprung to his eyes. Maybe he had found his place after all.