//------------------------------//
// Path 2: Sound of Silence 
// Story: Studying (with) You 
// by PonyPlays2014 
//------------------------------//

The rest of the exams go by in a flash without any real interaction between Sandbar and Gallus except from seeing each other in every single one. Sometimes, Sandbar wonders if it really is the right decision to leave him alone. Maybe Hotshot just misunderstood him and, in reality, Gallus wants to talk about it but every single time he sees a chance he hesitates and, after a bit of thinking, decides against it. In his mind, what his classmate said made sense. Of course Gallus needs some time for himself and being forced to deal with the one that deceived him would stress out and hurt the griffon even more than he already was that day. Hotshot's warning eyes, when Sandbar attempts to start an interaction, and approving nods, every time he steps back again and minds his own business, are more factors which ultimately keep Sandbar away from his former friend and, with no idea what else to do, he retreats into his room, drops himself on his bed and just... stays there quiet until sleep takes over his body and mind.


That is the plan for the last day of the exams too. The last exam, which is Twilight's History exam, takes place in the early evening. He only spends as much times as he need, which is a bit more because of his constant problems remembering things and concentrating, and, right after handing in his scroll, he heads for the dorms. He reaches the entrance of the dorm building but before he can enter it a pale grayish arctic blue foreleg, which suddenly appears in front of him, wakes him up from his gloomy trance as he lets out a shriek.
"Hey Sandbar, sorry for surprising you like that but I need to tell you something."
The pony takes a quick breath before answering her with a visibly forced smile.
"No, I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention at all. What is it, Ocellus?"
The Changeling analyzes the stallion inconspicuously and notices the strange smile but decides to not bring it up now. Instead, she tells him why she stopped him.
"My original plan was to tell you, Gallus and Yona together but when I met her at the exam room she told me that you two were already done and left early so I came here because I figured you or Gallus would come here sooner or later but, so far, only you showed up. Strange... So, the group wants to meet tomorrow to talk about how the exams went. You're coming too, right?"
A meeting? That could distract me from... wait, he will be there too... I don't know if that is such a good idea. I don't want to cause a scene and bring the others into this mess. Then again, this could be a good chance to finally talk to him without Hotshot around and without a way of dodging it! I'm sure he does not want to generate Buzz either!, the pale-green pony thinks to himself before agreeing to his friend's idea.
"I could need some distraction from this whole thing. Sure, when and where?"
"We thought that we could meet in the garden behind the school at about 2pm to eat something too. You know, where we met before the big study sessions began."
Where this entire mess began... how fitting..., he criticizes the choice of place in his mind as he nods his head again.
"Of course I know. 2pm, count me in", Sandbar accepts the female's invitation and waves her goodbye as he passes her but she quickly grabs his tail, forcing him to stop once more.
"S-Sorry! But do you know where I can find Gallus? I thought, if somepony should know, it would be you. So, do you?"
No, I don't... Why should I? The last thing he said to me was to leave him alone. I don't think he would tell me anything anymore...
The stallion feels how his eyes begin to burn and a knot begin to form in his stomach as he shakes his head and replies with a simple "No... Sorry..." before rushing off into the dorm building and, without wasting any second, straight into his room, leaving Ocellus behind, who faintly shakes her head as she gazes after him.
Something is different... I can feel it... I can sense it...


As soon as Sandbar slams his door shut, the tears begin to travels down his cheeks and his intestines feel like the knot, that began to form before, became even bigger on the way and has now reached its maximum size, filling his entire body and causing him to feel a mixture of numbness and pain. To prevent his body from collapsing on the floor, he quickly throws himself onto his bed, where he spend every single second since the confrontation with Hotshot, excluding his daily meal in the cafeteria and the hours during the exams. Sometimes he cries, sometimes he screams into his pillow how mad he is at himself for screwing everything up, other times he thinks about how Gallus must feel like right now and the times between that he just lies there without any motivation to do anything or go anywhere. He quickly buries his face in his pillow, which begins to absorb the clear liquid that exits the stallion's body through the tear glands, gaining darker parts in the process. It takes a few minutes until he withdraws his head from it's soft and wet surrounding and drops it next to it, taking a few deep breaths as the burning sensation in his slightly reddening eyes begins to fade away slowly. He remembers what Ocellus told him about their upcoming plans the next day and recalls his train of thought surrounding it.
Yeah... Gallus will be there too, there is no doubt about it. I will use this chance and finally talk to him! We can't just leave it like that, no matter what Hotshot said. We are friends after all... right? I mean, sure we are! If not more than at least friends and I won't give up on that! And if Gallus shows up too I am sure he thinks the same. We've been together since day one, we've made it through good and bad times! There is no way of changing that... I hope...
A trace of insecurity begins to cloud his mind but his will to fix what he destroyed clears the air and fills him with new dedication and, for the first time since that dreadful day, the pony falls asleep with a smile on his face.


No bad nor good dreams haunt or embellish his night of rest as he awakes from his slumber roughly half an hour before the destined time but, since there is no other thing to do, he quickly grabs a few Bits and leaves his room, setting his goal on the table they met when all this started. He arrives at the cafeteria, which seems to be more busy than the last few days but not nearly as populated as it is during the normal school days. He can recognize a few ponies from his class such as Faint Breeze and Velvet Sky, who are sitting at a table talking. His mouth forms into a faint smile while grabbing a food tray and taking a look at today's menu.
Hmm... That apple pie looks delicious and something sweet sounds not bad.
The stallion places one of the slices on his tray and continues his search for something else until his gaze settles on a jug filled with delicious lemonade, which he carefully pours into an empty glass before placing it next to the pastry. As he prepares himself for paying his food he passes by the Griffonscones Gallus loves so much and an idea pops into his head.
I should buy one for him! He loves those and I'm sure eating one will cheer him up a bit. That's a great idea!
With now three items on his tray he gives Mrs. Frosting the Bits she requests before heading for his real destination, the garden. It is quite empty, as most of the students are either inside or not in the school at all, and he can't see any of his friends so he reserves the right for himself to pick one of the three free tables to sit down and wait until the others arrive. He picks the one closest to the garden's exit, which leads to a little path, that later runs into the main way connecting the dormitories and the school-building, and sits down in the middle of one of the two benches belonging to the table before placing the plate with the Griffonscone to his right, reserving this seat for the feathered male.


The first of his friends to arrive is Silverstream, who, upon seeing her friend, immediately raises to the air and rushes towards him to give him a big hug before sitting down across from him and greeting him with a big smile. She ordered herself a cupcake, which does not surprise Sandbar. Only a minute or two after her, Yona and Ocellus make their entrance, both equipped with a tray filled with something delicious to eat. The female yak filled her tray with several different treats which makes the Changeling's tray look emptier in comparison, only having a Peanut-Butter and Jelly Sandwich to show. Yona takes her seat next to Silverstream and gives her a bright smile. The female Changeling decides to choose the free spot to the stallion's left. She greets him with a nod and Sandbar answers it with the same motion. Smolder, the last female member of their clique, takes a bit more time to show up, about five minutes after the other two ladies with nothing in her claws.
"Smolder not hungry?", Yona asks and receives a head-shake as a response.
She sits down next to Silverstream and across from Ocellus. The group continues to wait so its final member can show up but that does not happen.
"He sure is taking his time", Ocellus comments the griffon's tardiness as she takes a look at her watch, proving him to be five minutes late.
Sandbar gets nervous as he also takes a quick look at the bigger clock above the door they all came through and confirming her statement.
It is not unusual for him to be late but I thought today would be different... Guess he overslept.
"I bet this lazygriffon is still sleeping. I will give him one wake-up-call he will never forget", the dragoness impends as she stands up and leaves the garden, aiming for Sandbar and Gallus' dormitory.
Oh... Smolder is gonna give him a piece of her mind... most likely with her fists. Now I am really glad I bought those Griffonscones. He will need them to get in a good mood again, the pale-green stallion predicts the future as he watches the dragon disappear from his field of vision.
It takes a few minutes before she returns but without the griffon and with her arms crossed in front of her chest as she heads for the table and sits down again.
"So... Where is he?", the Hippogriff asks confused, which gains a sigh from the scaled female before she explains.
"He said that he doesn't want to leave his room the next few days. He doesn't feel like himself and has a major head- and stomachache. I told him to get better or else and now I'm back here."
Sandbar hears a loud sound, like glass breaking, in his head as the image of him and Gallus finally making up and hanging out again begins to crack and, in the end, turns into nothing else but a pile of shards. Without really noticing it, his look moves away from the dragon and refocuses on the scones he placed next to himself on the bench.
Th...That can't be real... I bet its because of me... Of course it is! No wonder he doesn't want to come! Why did I even think it would work just like that? How can this get any worse!?
"I guess it can't be helped", Ocellus comments the griffon's condition and the others agree with her.
"But, I think, this is the first time I've heard him admitting being too sick to come. Like, ever!", Silverstream says and the orange dragon agrees with her.
"You're right!", she adds as she nods her head, "Usually he says its to boring or he's too tired to come but actually saying that he's sick is new. Sandbar! You've spend a lot of time with him lately, right? Do you know anything? Was he acting strange or looking sickly?"
Of course... I had to challenge my luck...
The pony, whose eyes were still focusing on the delicious treats next to him, finally faces his friends again and, without saying a word, he shakes his head.
"Pony doesn't know either?", the female yak asks again but Sandbar doesn't answer. He stays completely silent, not even his body-language grants any room for interpreting so they accept the situation and begin to talk about the exam and how they all did. They all think they passed but, of course, some have subjects they aren't as sure about. For Ocellus, it was PE as she knows she did really bad in one of the tasks. Yona had a few problems with Fluttershy's exam but, by far, not enough to fail it. And so the conversation goes on until a loud voice echoes from the various speakers scattered all over the school and the dorms, overshadowing any way of communication with its volume.


"My dear Students of this School. Here is your principal, Twilight Sparkle. All exams are officially taken and our staff is currently busy with grading them, I am sure all of you passed so it won't take that long and I'm already looking forward to seeing your happy faces when you get your grades. But that's enough of that. For now, let us all forget about the stress and enjoy the last week of the semester and, to celebrate it the correct way, I asked Miss Pinkie Pie to take over this announcement. "
A short period of silence fills the hallways, the rooms and the garden before a loud voices almost bursts everyone's eardrums.
"ALRIGHT! LET'S PARTY!"
Silence follows again as muffled voices can be heard before the voice returns but way quieter than before.
"I mean... The preparation for the big Heart's Warming Dance is already in action and many volunteers are helping with the decoration, food, music and cleaning up so I want to thank all of you! Yay! You are AMAZING!We can always need help so, if you don't have anything else to do, JOIN US! The Dance will take place at evening on the day after the day after tomorrow... at evening, so when the small thing is at the bottom of the clock and the big one is at the top! And then... the party will go on forever! … Which means sunrise, if that is okay. Everyone is welcome and is also welcome to leave whenever they want. You can come alone, come with your best friends, with your normal friends or you could takes this chance to ask your very special somepony out, it's the perfect opportunity! But no matter who you will come with, come, have fun and enjoy the time... and NO PARTYPOOPERS! Be happy! That's all. Back to Twilight."
Silence fills the school for the third time but, surprisingly, Pinkie Pie's voice returns.
"Almost forgot! The Dance takes place in Town's Hall since it has the biggest hall in Ponyville. Okay, noooooow back to Twilight!"
Again, you guessed it, silence before Twilight Sparkle thanks her fellow teacher and friend for her well-chosen words and repeats the important parts so no one forgets it. She wishes everyone a lot of fun and hopes to see as many of her students as possible before ending the announcement, which cues the students' conversations to take over again.


"Oh yeah! I totally forgot about the Dance! Soooo excited!"
Silverstream's eyes sparkle as she takes the lead and steers their little talk into a new direction, "Do we all want to go together? Just imagine, all of us having fun like on our first day! Just without the danger and running away and standing up for our friends and ourselves. Instead we will have food, music and dancing!"
"So...", Smolder comments her friend's argument, "not like our first day... at all? It sounds stupid but I guess hanging out with you again will be pretty cool... But first: Do I need to wear a dress?"
The female dragon looks at her friends as she gains various reactions. Silverstream, Ocellus and Yona nod their heads, much to Smolder's displeasure, but Sandbar shakes his, with a shocked expression decorating his head.
"Three to one, I guess a dress it is", Ocellus announces the result with a smile but Smolder is not happy at all.
"Why me...", she mumbles as she crosses her arms in front of her chest.
Yona also agrees with Silverstream's idea and, after being silent for so long, Sandbar also gives his opinion on this matter.
"Sounds good, I'm in. Wanna meet up fifteen minutes before so we can all enter together?"
That idea receives approval from all attending members and Ocellus volunteers for telling Gallus about their plan. Now that everything considering the party was taken care of, the students continue their non-sensual talking but Sandbar only understands small chunks of it. His mind is currently occupied with something, or someone, else.


The next two days are filled with staying in his room, sleeping and doing a bit of needlework to distract from the inner conflict he couldn't resolve since its creation. From time to time he pays a quick visit to the cafeteria to get something to eat and to drink before returning to his own four walls. When not feeling like doing nothing he takes a break from doing... nothing and watches the other students walk by from his window. In contrast to his friends, the other students seem very stressed with finding a date or just people to go with as they run from the school-building to the dorms and vice-versa. He can see a few stallions with presents like flowers or something else in their mouths, on their backs or floating in front of them in their respective magical aura. Without even noticing it Sandbar begins to drift off into his own mind, which visualizes the memories with the Aurora's Kiss. From the first time seeing it with Gallus to buying it secretly and ending with the memory of giving it to Gallus when they got back. Remembering that immediately lowers his spirit, drains his motivation and makes him feel even worse than before as he remembers the way Gallus reacted to the present and comparing it.


Finally, the day of the Dance is here! The school-building itself is very quiet and empty and only a few ponies can be seen walking around, either back to their dorms or heading for the school-building, most likely to get something to eat. Sandbar, who belongs to the firstly named group, returns from his meal and disappears in his room again. He immediately heads for his closet and, after a quick search, takes out a dark gray jacket, a white shirt and a dark greenish bow-tie. His parents send him those items when they heard about the Big Dance a longer time ago so he stored them in his closet so he wouldn't lose them. As he tries on the bow-tie, a knock on his door surprises him.
"Just a moment", he shouts as he quickly puts the accessory down and heads for the door.
He opens it and already begins to ask what the unexpected guest could want but his words die in his throat as he realizes who stands in front of him.
"Sandbar! Perfect! Finally the right room. I've been knocking on dozen of other doors before finding yours! I need your help", the pink mare says as she jumps up and down over and over again.
Miss Pinkie Pie?! What is she do- Wait... She needs my help? Wow! That's my chance to show what I can do!"
"O-O-Of course Miss Pinkie Pie! What is it? Is a villain taking over Equestria? A big catastrophe? Parasprites? Windigos?"
He gasps before continuing in a whispered voice, "Is Chancellor Neighsay back? I knew something like that would happen... We co-"
Pinkie Pie quickly covers his mouth with her hoof and giggles.
"No Silly! Nothing like that... Well, maybe the catastrophe-part is not completely wrong if WE DON'T DO SOMETHING! I need you"
"Yes?", Sandbar asks her with big eyes.
"To save the world"
"Yes!"
"by"
"YES!"
"finding a very special item in the cellar of the Town Hall for the party later. A dangerous task, I know, but I believe in you."
The pink-maned teacher waits for a reaction with a big smile and closed eyes.
"YES! I knew I-", Sandbar cheers excitedly before processing the words and his excitement quickly fades away, "Wait, what?"
Did she say... find party-stuff? That's it? Doesn't sound like a big and important task. Buuuut... she did come to me and it did sound like I am the only one who can help. I can't let her down!
The male pony sees Pinkie's expecting expression and he quickly changes his own reaction accordingly.
"W-What? And you think I can handle that? Wow! Thank you! I'd be honored to help you with... that important task... Hehe..."
The mare's smiles widens as she turns around and leads the way until the two ponies reach Ponyville's Town Hall, the location of the party, and now also Sandbar's mission.
"Follow me! Down those stairs and we're almost there!"
Two more minutes of walking and the two ponies find themselves in front of a bigger closed door in a darker hallway.
"Here we are!", Pinkie Pie whispers as she points at the door.
Were are we?, the stallion thinks to himself the same moment Pinkie exclaims their arrival.
He takes a look around but nothing here rings any bells... most likely because he was never down here AND it's pretty dark right now.
"Oh... good. So here is where I'm needed?", Sandbar asks and Pinkie nods.
"Exactutaly! I'm sure you two will find it pretty fast!
"I sure hope so too... You two?"
Pinkie ignores that questions and pulls the door open, revealing a shadowy figure, who is looking around but stops as it hears the door.
Oh you've got to be kidding me! What are the chances even!?
"I figured you could use a helping hand... or wing to reach the higher places so I asked your friend for his help as well. Found something already, Gallus?"
He stays silent for a moment, clearly taking in the situation and the image of Sandbar in front of him, before shaking his head.
"Nope because of two reason: Number one: this room is filled with useless stuff, broken things and... objects I couldn't even identify! It will take hours to find anything in all this junk! Can't you ponies throw ANYTHING away? And number two: You never said anything about WHAT I'm looking for!"
Yep... that annoyed voice belongs to Gallus, no doubt.
"Oh yeah! Silly me", Pinkie Pie lets out a giggle before explaining everything the two need to know, "Alright! We need a special... erm... what was it again... Some kind of stone that Twilight got from... No... Ah! Yes! A blue balloon with the symbol of the school! It's a key object for the Dance!"
A... balloon? That's all? No magic object, no rare gems, not even cups! One single balloon?!"
The two males' jaws drop as they hear those words and they give each other a quick look which says something like 'is she serious?' before refocusing on the pale-pink-coated mare.
"We are here... for a balloon? The important task is... looking for a balloon?", the griffon-boy asks and his voice shows a touch of anger and annoyance.
"Not any balloon, THE balloon! We have all the time we need so take all the time you need! … And with that I mean three hours. I'm upstairs so come find me when you are done here!"
Before Sandbar can even make any sound Pinkie already left the room and closed the door behind her. He is now alone... with Gallus... in this room.


He can hear the feather-covered male utter something under his own breath as he sits around and, even though he can not understand any word his classmate says, he can tell it's nothing positive. The room now captures his attention and he begins to take a look around. He is sure it is a fairly big room but the many shelves filled with all kind of stuff for different occasions makes it seem way smaller and cramped. The shelves are divided in eleven long, equally-sized sections. The lowermost one goes, in height, from the floor to the upper half of Sandbar's legs and is, in length, superior to Sandbar. Unlike the dark hallway leading to it, this room has a working light, which showers it in a pleasant glow, not too bright but bright enough to see everything perfectly. Most of the stuff on the shelves look like trash or obsolete items stored in here for a long time. Sandbar begins to investigate the shelf that catches his attention first and notices many strange, dusty objects.
No offense but most of it look like trash. How are we suppose to find a single balloon? It sure isn't even inflated so we are basically looking for a small, rubbery bag.
He sighs and notices a little thing that could be a not inflated balloon... or trash, which he carefully picks up. At first glance it looks like a small, dirty bag with nothing on it but, just to be sure, he blows of the dust, which stays in the air like a small, dirty cloud before fading into nothingness. Sadly, it still looks like a normal, little bag.
Oh you have got to be kidding m-
His thought comes to an abrupt stop as he feels something on his hoof, a slight tickle of some sort, and his eyes widen when he detects its source. A little, black bug, who hid inside the bag, crawled out when Sandbar blew on his home and is currently making his way down the leg, much to the pony's horror. An instinct kicks in and he immediately starts shaking his leg as fast as possible, aiming for fending off the little animal while shouting as loud as he can.
"AHHH! Get off, get off! Shoosh!"
The dark spot disappears from his brightly coated limb and his mind deactivates the security measurement, leading to Sandbar to calm down more and more and his hectic movements to slowly cease. He inspects his foreleg once more and, with a sigh of relief, comes to the conclusion that the spider is gone.
That... was terrifying... This room is the worst! There are bugs everywhere, its small but still filled to the brim AND dusty. Finding this balloon is impossible... 
A chuckle catches his attention and he could swear it was Gallus' voice but, after taking a inconspicuous look at him, he immediately drops that possibility and, instead, blames one of the many different objects here for that sound. And, with the goal in his mind, he officially begins his search and, judging by the sounds he hears, Gallus also starts searching. The time goes by slower and slower in this, besides the rustling of objects and the sound of blowing, silent room and Sandbar has the feeling that every single second feels like ten seconds. He already finished the first four sections, which felt like an eternity, and is now working on a way to get to the fifth one, which is out of his reach.
There must be something here I can use... Ah!
He finds a big, sturdy-looking box, that should be able to carry him, not far from his position and so, without losing any time, he places it exactly where he needs it. Carefully, he climbs on the box and notices something immediately.
Wow! That thing was even bigger than I thought! I can easily reach the eighth or even ninth level but now I have to bow down a bit to reach the fifth one... A bit annoying but manageable. It was a good idea, good job me!
He continues the search in the level he was aiming for. Some more time goes by and, just like before, silence rules the environment, which slowly gets into Sandbar's head more and more!
This... is really awkward... I swear I can hear the dust flying to the air! One more minute and I'll go crazy! Maybe I should say something, something normal and unrelated. Or should I talk about...
While his mind is busy working on a plan his body continues with the search, which mostly consists of taking something out, investigating it, cleaning off the dust if necessary and, ultimately, placing it one shelf below to have some kind of system. He already finished the eighth level and is now aiming for the ninth one. It's a bit higher than he thought but he manages to reach it by standing on his hind leg. A strange noise begins to add itself to the orchestra of rustling, clanging and rasping but, due to his inner monologue, the earth-pony manages to completely dismiss this sound and, unbeknownst to him, a completely different one.
". o..", a voice tries to break the barrier and reach Sandbar's mind but only parts of it manage to pass through.
What was that? It sounded... different than the noises around me. Kind of... calming...
An even louder sound attempts the same and, once again, parts of it succeed, this time more than before.
"..y! W.t.. o.t, .a..y!"
Sandbar feels how his inner voice begins to drown in the noise and he awakes from his state. The first thing his senses pick up is a very familiar voice echoing throughout the room.
"SANDY! WATCH OUT!"


But before he can even begin to grasp the situation, he feels how the ground below his hooves breaks away and how he loses his balance. The shelf in front of him begins to back away and, ultimately leaves his field of vision. Instead, the ceiling takes its place as he falls and prepares himself for a painful, hard landing... which never comes. He can feel how some parts of his body make contact with something soft while others meet something solid but not nearly as hard and uncomfortable as the floor he expected to land on. And the image of the ceiling his retina captures is being invaded by two blue eyes looking down at him, a yellow beak, which moves rapidly, as well as blue and yellow feathers.
G...Ga...Gallus! How? What happened?! Huh...
Sandbar knows his classmate is saying something but his brain has not yet recovered from the shock and a ringing sound drowns out the words. But slowly the voice begins to fight back against the annoying sound.
"W..t we.. .ou ! I ..ew . hea.. som...ing stra..e."
And, finally, all words find their destination.
"Do you even know how dangerous that was? I mean, respect and all but seriously... Hey! Are you okay? Can you hear me?"
"I... guess...", the stallion answers, not daring to interrupt the bond their eyes created, "What happened?"
His mind is still in a paralyze-like state but that doesn't stop his mouth from doing its job.
A sigh escapes the griffon and the shocked expression begins to morph into a worried one as he still holds the other male in his arms.
"That stupid box you were standing on gave away. To be honest, it didn't look that sturdy to begin with. A miracle it held as long as it did. What were you thinking?! You could have really hurt yours-"
"Thank you, Gallus", Sandbar interrupts the feathered male who stops his jabbering immediately.
"Come on... Don't mention it, really. I couldn't just let you fa-", the griffon tries to response but once again he gets interrupted.
"For catching me... for being worried about me... for talking to me... and for calling me..."
The stallion's voice begins to tremble as tears begin to form in his eyes, which he immediately tries to cover up with his hooves but all that hiding shows no use when the one hiding them from already noticed it. The sound of muffled sobbing adds to the image in Gallus' arms, a crying pony he never stopped caring about.
"... Sandy...", the griffon-male completes his friend's sentence, who answers with a pained wheeze.
The griffon slows down his flaps to slowly descend while still keeping the pony in his arms. Upon lading, he stays completely quiet to give his pony-friend a bit of time to get everything out of his system while not even thinking about letting him go even for a second.