The exam goes by without any problems and Gallus is among the first ten to hand in their papers. A few minutes later Snowflake, a white-coated Pegasus mare with a light-blue, curly mane and tail and Sandbar follow their example and finish their exam. The earth-pony leaves the classroom and notices his griffon-friend, who is taking a quick sip from a water-fountain. He stops when he sees his friend heading his way with a faint smile decorating his face.
"So... How did it go?", Sandbar asks with a hint of nervousness in his voice but it quickly vanishes when he sees the smile on the griffon's face.
"One or two questions were a bit too difficult but I am pretty sure I was way better than Hotshot. I saw him freaking out and almost snapping his quill in half. It was a blast to see! Luckily for me, most of it was a breeze, thanks to you", Gallus answers with a chuckle as he ruffles his friend's mane, who also lets out a little giggle, " Now we just need to ace the rest. And you? Did the master of fabric nail it?"
This new title creates a faint blush on the pony's cheeks as he nods with the same smile as before.
"Nothing that big or complicated so I should be fine..."
The way Sandbar answers shows that he is still worried about the thing from before, which is not very surprising, and it pains Gallus to see him this way.
Damn... I hoped he cheered up a little by now but, thinking about it, I guess getting confronted with the exact thing makes it difficult to accept it... Just two more days and everything will be fine, I promise!
"I know we, I mean you will. You're the smartest pony I know so cheer up and lets kicks those exam-butts! And... do you want to come to my room after Rainbow Dash's Sport Festival? I think we could both use some time to relax and catch our breath. You in?"
He can see a bit of hesitation in his friend's eyes but it quickly vanishes before he nods with a more obvious smile on his lips.
"Sounds good. Wanna get a quick snack before taking on Twilight's super-exciting history exam?"
"Oh totally... I can't wait for that snore-fest of a test. I hope I can even stay awake long enough to read all the questions", the griffon jokes as they make their way to the pretty empty cafeteria.
"Oh yeah, I think Hotshot even managed to destroy his quill in the end. I heard something break and it came from his direction. Poor quill though, not its fault he's as dumb as a pile of pebbles", the pony remembers Gallus comment and adds to it, which causes his friend to break out in a loud, hearty laugh.
The rest of today's exams go by without any big problems, like Gallus imagined they would. He only had problems with Miss Rarity's part after all and Sandbar seemed prepared for anything. The next day is, again, occupied with scrolls full of questions, the sound of quills scratching over parchment and muffled cheers, groans and confused mumbling and so is the first half of the third and final day. The group already finished Applejack's farming test and just returned from Fluttershy's test on Equestrian Wildlife, which gives them a thirty minute break before their last and surely most physically exhausting test takes place: Rainbow Dash's Sport Festival!
Sandbar, Yona and Gallus got themselves a cup of juice and decided to sit down at the bottom of the empty stair, which leads to the second floor, in the main hall. They talk a bit about the exams they've been through and the easy question Miss Fluttershy asked in her exam.
"Some questions were so easy, I thought they were trick-questions! Name one yellow flower, really!? Or which of these animals live in trees. I mean, come on! And the options were birds, moles, cats and fishes. I know she is the representative for the Element of Kindness but... that was way too nice of her! Almost felt bad answering them", the griffon cackles as he takes a sip from his apple juice.
"Yeah!", Yona agrees and giggles and so does the stallion next to her.
"She said they would be a bit easier but that's was a cakewalk! Even more than Pinkie Pie's lesson when we literally walked over cakes to learn about their different textures. How is that even possible!?"
The pony's giggle turns into a loud laughter and Yona joins him.
Looks like he relaxed a bit. He was still very tense this morning but seeing him laugh like that... it feels really good... I hope it stays that way..."
Gallus begins to smile as well as he watches his pony-friend enjoy himself. Sandbar notices his friend's glances and, much to the griffon's joy, gives him one of those beloved smiles. Gallus can hear how his heart beats faster, he can feel his entire body burning up and how an indescribable tickle covers it. A feeling he enjoys every single time and a feeling he wants to enjoy for the rest of his life. And, for a moment, he can swear he sees a hint of blush in the pony's face.
But, sadly, the time flies by quickly and its time to get to the third floor. The three quickly finish their drinks and head for their destination, Yona leading the way and the two males following behind her next to each other.
The exam goes exactly the way she explained and, after about three hours, every student had their turn with each sport and the numbers needed for the marks are written down. The first team sport was a game of Buckball, followed by a 250m sprint, high-jump, shot-put, rhythmic gymnastics and a few rounds of Dodgeball. The students had a thirty minute break before taking on the second half of the activities, which were 100m freestyle, long jump, climbing, triple jump and, for the last push, a relay race. Miss Rainbow Dash also explained that Headmare Twilight created a spell, which disables the use of magic and wings for the duration of the tests. That way cheating was impossible and every creature had, in theory, the same chances.
"Not bad, not bad", the mare with the rainbow-colored mane mumbles as she goes over the results, "Most of you were even better than expected. A few slowpokes here and there but that's no biggie. Pretty sure all of you passed. But, for now, were done here... And I think this was the last test on your schedule so... You're free to go now."
The students begin to leave the gym in a wave of movement and mumbles but her teachers stops them one more time, blowing into the whistle that hangs around her neck. The loud noise completely catches the students of guard, causing some of them to let out a shriek while others immediately turn around witch shocked expressions.
"That... was louder than I wanted it to be...Hehe, sorry about that. Anyway, Twilight said she will make an announcement tomorrow around lunchtime so make sure you're either somewhere in or close to the school-building or in the dormitories so you don't miss it. Okay... Now I'm finished!"
The crowd stares at her to make sure she doesn't use the whistle once more but, once they are sure that this is not the case, the mass of creatures begins to leave and, it doesn't take long until the three friends return to the first floor and head for the big entrance, which will serve them as an exit now.
"No more exams! Freedom!", the female yak shouts as she jumps excitedly, "Yona wonders if the others are already done with theirs..."
"Probably", Sandbar replies, "This exam took the longest so it wouldn't surprise me. I guess they already returned to the dorms. At least, that's what I will do after a nice, refreshing shower... I'm drenched!"
The stallion wipes some sweat of his forehead and shakes his head a bit to dry his slightly wet mane.
"You can say that again! Miss Rainbow Dash really pulled every single punch she had. Running, climbing, jumping, swimming... I can still feel the cramp in my claws that I got from climbing", the griffon adds as he shakes one of his claw to finally get rid of that feeling, "Gotta admit though, compared to the other tests, this was by far my favorite! Those question-answer-tests were boring but that was actually really entertaining."
"You completely destroyed us at the high-jump, Yona! I had no idea you were that good at it!", the stallion goes into detail and Yona blushes a bit.
The group reached their exit and fresh air surrounds them as they make their way towards the dorm buildings.
"Well... Yaks are best at smashing. The higher yak jumps, the better it smashes. Gallus was best at climbing though! Really fast."
Now the attention is on Gallus, who tries his best to keep his cool.
"To be honest, it wasn't really that fair. Claws like these", the griffon raises the claw he shook and moves every single talon, "are way better at grasping and holding onto things than hooves. But, since Miss Rainbow Dash said only magic and flying were forbidden, I rolled with it. What I want to know is how can you swim so fast Sandy- Sandbar!? I never saw you move like that before."
That was close! Luckily I corrected myself in time so Yona shouldn't have noticed, the griffon thinks to himself after he finished talking.
The pony chuckles before he increases his walking speed a bit.
"I'm just better than you, that's all", he says jokingly as he slowly increase the distance between them.
"Sure, let's go with that", Gallus answers sarcastically as he slightly shakes his head.
After a few more jokes and laughs the trio reaches the fork and Yona follows the path leading to the females dormitory while Sandbar and Gallus follow the one that leads to the males'.
"So... when do you want to come over?, the griffon asks his equine friend, who must have completely forgotten about the offer.
"What? Oh! Right! I... I don't know... It could take a bit of time."
"Doesn't matter. I need about an hour for showering and tidying up the room... So just come whenever you want to, okay? No pressure."
Sandbar nods his heads for his room, therefore parting way with Gallus, who flies up the stairs and heads for his room, where he gathers all the stuff he needs for a nice and refreshing shower.
A yellow-coated pony is currently brushing his teeth and, upon noticing Gallus, gives the griffon-boy a nod as a greeting.
"Hey", he greets back before heading for the empty showers. Twenty minutes and a lot of warm water later he returns to find a different stallion, who is completely engaged in combing his dark ruby mane. Gallus takes a quick look at the mirror to check his feathers and, after making some corrections, leaves the area and returns to his room, which is surprisingly clean.
Alright... half-an-hour or so left until Sandbar potentially shows up... And the room looks... good enough.
He quickly scans the room for things he needs to throw away or store away but, besides a few crumbled up papers, two empty bottles and some wrappers, nothing catches his eye. It only takes a minute to take care of that and, still with a lot of time to spare, Gallus sits on his bed and begins to think about stuff that could be part of the upcoming conversation. A few things come to his mind but most of them aren't that surprising and he already spent enough time thinking about them so he tries to dig a bit
deeper. Without noticing it, the griffon shifts from a sitting stance to a lying one but his body quickly shots up again when a knock resonates from the door.
He's here! Alright... calm down... We're just chilling, nothing big... As if...
Gallus makes his way to the door and opens it, giving his expected pony-friend access to his room.
"Hey, sorry for being late", Sandbar greets the other male as he steps inside and takes a look around. The pale-yellow wallpapered room looks more organized than the last time he has seen it but, to be honest, he didn't really pay much attention to it last time. He had other things to focus on.
Late? How much late? Actually, it doesn't matter.
"Don't worry. Make yourself at home", the feathered creature offers.
Sandbar shows a faint, but genuine looking smile as he sits on the chair and, from there, watches the griffon-boy lower himself onto his bed again.
"Even after the shower I'm still feeling sore... That was really something, huh?", Gallus tries to start a conversation but the lime-green coated stallion only answers with a single word, which severely lacks confidence.
"Y-Yeah..."
The griffon takes a closer look at his friend's face and immediately notices that a casual conversation can't take place until they dealt with the problem at hand.
"Alright Sandy, I'm all ears. What is it you wanted to tell me? It's obvious you're still thinking about it so...", he raises his upper-body so that he is now in a sitting position and turns his body towards his friend, causing his legs to drop from the bed and stand firmly on the floor, "Tell me."
A little bit of panic can be seen in the pony's eyes as he confronted with the problem but, after closing them for a few seconds and taking a deep breath, he works up the courage and begins.
"You're right... I need to admit something. The thing is... well... I promised you that I would help you with your studies and you remember the problems we had, right?"
The feather-covered creature nods.
"After that... I talked to Miss Rainbow Dash and, well, to make it short, I realized in which way I could help you but... I had no idea how to do it so I just enjoyed the time with you until I figured something out... But, in the end, everything that happened were coincidences. You finding out about my hobby, being interested in it and wanting to try it was nothing I planned but... it helped me help you. That way I could teach you something about the art of sewing and fashion and, to be honest, I didn't need to teach you anything about generosity because you proved to me many times that you have it in you! I know not telling you about any of this was bad and I'm really ashamed..."
Silence fills the room as the two males look at each other, one's impression telling a story of fear and shame while the other's reveals nothing.
"So", Sandbar asks, "How... mad are you?"
"Honestly", the griffon replies after a short break in which he adds the new information to the one he already stored in his brain from his own realization, "Not at all. You had a good reason for not telling me and, in the end, you really saved me with that so I can't possibly be mad at you. And it wasn't like everything we did was just because you needed to help me study, right?"
"No!", the stallion almost shouts while jumping out of his seat, "Not at all! I had no idea how to help until you asked me about my hobby, I swear! So, you're not mad? Or disappointed or anything? You don't need to hold anything back, you know. Whatever it is, let it out. I can take it... I think."
"You sure? Fine, if you say so."
Gallus stands up and slowly moves in front of his buddy, who watches him without even a trace of doubt or fear on his mind. In one quick motion, Gallus embraces his friend in a hug, who is a bit shocked but quickly regains control of his body and hugs back.
"Thanks Sandy, you're the best"
"Says my number one student", the pony replies cocky and the two share a laugh, still holding each other for a few seconds before letting go. A hint of redness covers their faces when they finally release each other but Sandbar's focus changes onto something he notices out of the corner of his eye.
"Isn't that the Aurora's Kiss? It sure is looking healthy! Look at it bloom. Even better than before!"
He is completely fascinated by the flower's beautiful blossoms and doesn't notice Gallus, who's scanning the flower with a more confused than amazed impression.
Now that he mentioned it... I never saw it bloom like that... Strange but Sandy is right, it looks nice... Oh damn! I forgot to give her water!
Without saying a word he grabs the empty bottle he always uses and rushes out of the room, leaving Sandbar alone and confused for a short time before returning with a half-full bottle of clear water.
"I didn't give her any water yet", he explains to Sandbar as he showers the plant in the refreshing liquid, "Here you go, buddy."
"You sure are taking good care of your little friend", the pony says as he watches his griffon-friend tend to his flower, "No wonder it looks that healthy! You're really good with plants."
"It's not that difficult and besides,", Gallus comments as he puts the now empty bottle back and returns to the windowsill, "You gave it to me so I don't want to lose it."
Hearing that causes the pony to blush even more, which the flower reacts to by slightly intensifying the colors of it's blossoms.
"You liked that, didn't you?", the griffon whispers with a chuckle after noticing the slightly changed blossoms.
"That's... really sweet of you...", the pony mumbles while keeping his eyes locked on the male, who is still looking at his flower.
"Did you say something?"
Another wave of red coloration runs over the pony's face as he realizes what he just said and how lucky it is that his significant other couldn't hear it.
"No! Not really! Wanna go for a snack? I could really need something to eat! I'm starving! My treat!"
"Well... sure, food is always good and when you're paying even better! Let's go!"
With that the two males leave the room and head for the cafeteria, not knowing what happens in Gallus' room. A faintly glowing light emerges from the flower.
They stayed in the cafeteria for a while after they finished their meals and just talked about anything really. When they noticed how late it has become they decided to make their way back to the dorms, where they said goodbye to each other. Gallus immediately plunks into his bed the moment he locked the door and, without even realizing it, fell into a deep slumber.
Thanks to his late return he wakes up a bit later than expected, only a bit before lunchtime. The sun already covered some distance when Gallus notices it and the sky looks a bit more cloudy than the last few days but it still looks like it's gonna be a pleasant day. The griffon stays in bed for a bit and just enjoys the silence and the comfortableness of his own bed but a sudden voice gains his attention.
"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."
The sound cuts off and Gallus, who is now sitting on his bed, raises an eyebrow as he waits for the voice to return... Which it does, way louder than before.
"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 today... which is tomorrow... at evening. That means when the little hand of the clock is at the bottom 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 take this chance to ask your very special somepony out, it's the perfect opportunity! But no matter who you will come with or without, just 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!"
A short pause takes place before the alicorn's voice returns but Gallus' mind is drowning her out as it repeats the earth-mare's words over and over again.
take this chance to ask your very special somepony out... take this chance to ask your very special somepony out... ask out... It's the perfect opportunity... No, I shouldn't, I couldn't. Then again... We did promise each other to be honest and he admitted everything and here I am, still hiding something and keeping it to myself! But... it's too risky! It could totally freak him out! I don't wanna ruin what we're having. Recently, we've been closer than ever before but maybe because of that it makes the most sense to tell him. Maybe he would understand it better... or the complete opposite could happen... ARGH! Why is this so freaking difficult! Why didn't they teach us anything useful about making decisions?! The only thing Twilight ever said about that was that a sign is always helpful but WHAT IS A SIGN? And what will it even say?! Why does EVERYTHING have to be a freaking riddle!
Frustration reaches its peak as he buries both of his clenched claws as well as his face in his blanket and lets out a muffled groan of agony. It takes a bit of time until the griffon removes his face from its prison but only to go back to the pillow it rested on during the night.
"... what should I do...", he asks mumbling and adjust his position a bit so he can see the pot of his plant, "What do you think? Should I ask him or not?"
He knows a flower can't answer him but just asking it already helps him a bit so he repeats the question once more and adds a bit of details to it.
"So? Any idea?"
The flower doesn't answer... obviously but it still disappoints the male, who, with a grunt, gets up and grabs the bottle to fetch the daily portion of water.
"I'll be right back... Think about it!", he shouts jokingly before leaving the room.
The hallway, unlike the former days, is filled with ponies talking, laughing and looking for something or someone and Gallus can already think what all the ruckus is about. Seeing all those smiles makes him even more nervous so he hurries into the closest restroom, which is luckily empty, and fills the bottle with water. He keeps the same speed when returning to his room and, in almost no time, he is back in his own four walls.
"I kind of forgot how many ponies live here", he mumbles as he comes closer to the flower, which he carefully showers in the glistering liquid.
"So, any ide-?", he asks with a chuckle but his voice dies when he notices something new in the pot. Two different colored stone-like objects, which are slightly covered in earth, appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
Gallus, without noticing it, drops the luckily now almost empty bottle, which lands on the floor and rolls for a bit before stopping when hitting one of the desk's feet, and carefully picks up the two mysterious objects. The water washed the last stains away, revealing the objects' entire color spectrum. They are almost as big as a marble but only almost and not as round, more oval-shaped.
What are those? Are those... seeds?Miss Applejack and Fluttershy showed us some seeds in their classes and they look pretty similar but I've never seen such colors!
The griffon focuses more on the colors and notices something very strange. The seeds have completely different colors, which is not impossible bur very unlikely for flowers... Then again, this is a magic flower after all so who knows what is normal. One of them is a mixture of two shades of blue with seemingly random speckles ranging from a pale yellow to a very bright one while the other one combines three different shades of green, which Gallus immediately recognize.
That's impossible... This looks like Sandy's mane... and his coat? How is that... Wait... And that one has the same blue as my wings and my feathers... and the yellow also fits in many ways! Okay... that is scary... but also crazy! Why are they here and... why do they look completely different from each other AND the flower that produced them?
Gallus switches his focus between the two seeds in his claws and the flower while his mind browsers through his brain, hoping to find any information about the flower and, luckily, it finds something very helpful. The image of the mare that sold the flower appears in his mind and her voice begins to echo in his ears.
That flower is called Aurora's kiss and it helps people to relax and find things that make them happy. It feeds on the happy feelings and thoughts of those around them and, when it collected enough happy energy or feels an immense amount of happiness, it releases it's seeds... find things that make them happy... Sandbar makes me happy... Wait! Is that one of those signs Twilight talked about?! It feels like a sign... Yeah... I'm gonna do it! I'm gonna ask him! And nothing will stop me!
A new source of dedication fills the griffon who, after placing the seeds back in the pot, storms out of his room and, as soon as he has the hallway's ceiling above his head, rises into the air with one powerful flap of his wings, ready to dash down to the 1st floor. He reaches it in no time and only a few seconds later he stands in front of the stallion's door, ready to admit everything... but how?
Okay... Deep breathes... Just say it and ask him to go to the Dance with you... Nothing can go wrong... Just be direct but not too direct and it will work out just fine!
The dedication he feels began to fade a bit as insecurity returned but he managed to push through, ready as ever to put his plan into action.
Knock Knock Knock
A few seconds go by in which Gallus just waits for his target to open the door... but nothing happens.
...Huh?
He repeats the procedure but, again, no luck. His stomach begins to hurt a bit as an uncomfortable feeling begins to emerge from it. Could it be doubt?
"Hey Sandy? You there? It's me, Gallus... I wanted to talk to you about something... Can you open the door?"
"Sure... But could you let me unlock it first?", a voice, that does not sound like it would come from inside, answers followed by a chuckle.
"S-Sandy?", the feather-covered male stutters, completely surprised by the pony's sudden appearance, "I thought- Why are you- … Where were you? I mean, of course!"
While stammering those words with cheeks as red as peppers, he makes some space for Sandbar to unlock the door and trot inside.
"Treating myself to something nice in the cafeteria. I even met Sil-"
The pony stops mid-sentence when he notices the unusual behavior of his griffon friend. He seems to be less, well, Gallus-like.
"You okay?", Sandbar asks in a more quiet and gentle tone, giving his question a worried ring, "Did something happen? You wanna lay down a bit?"
"Me? Haha! No no no, I'm fine, totally cool."
Wow... What happened to 'I can do it!'? Be a griffon and just ask him! Its not that hard! Hey Sandy, I was wondering if you want to go to the dance with me. This one, simple question... GO!
"Soooo", Gallus continues and he starts to rub the back of his neck while his eyes begin to take a look around the room, trying their best to ignore the beloved stallion in front of him,"I came here because I wanted to ask you something. Regarding the latest announcement. I was wondering"
The words get stuck in his throat when his eyes meet Sandbar's questioning ones, erupting a volcano of fear and anxiety in the feathered male's brain.
"Erm... How the food was? Is it worth going today?"
Judging by the earth Stallion's reaction and the longer pause before he answers, that was not the question he expected.
"Huh? Oh, well I, I", Sandbar stutters, "I liked it. They had good oatmeal and the apple pie was as fresh as ever but... Why would you ask me that? You had no idea that I went there. And how is that related to the Dance?"
Exactly! What an idiot! Stop making stuff up and ask. The. QUESTION!
The griffon stares at him with a blank expression and widely opened eyes before he begins to laugh awkwardly. Sandbar, also a bit confused, joins the laughter for a few seconds before Gallus corrects himself.
"Oh, you're right, hehe... I guess that question just popped into my head when you mentioned it. Hahaha... What I really wanted to ask was... Do you...-"
want to go to the dance with me? As my date?
Again, he stops before completely changing the context of his question.
"Have a needle I could borrow? I need it for... well... needling."
You... have got to be kidding me...
"...Sewing?", the pony corrects his friend, even more confused than before.
"That. I need it for sewing."
Yep... We blew it. Retreat to minimize damage!
"I...", the stallion, who is still a bit unsure about this whole conversation, takes a quick look around his room but he can't spot one right away, "don't see one right now. I cleaned my room right before the exams. Clean space, clean mind and all. I must have put them somewhere though... If you want I could quickly look for o-"
"No no no, it's not that big of a problem. I'll find one eventually so... That's that! No more problem here. Back to my room for me Hehe... yeah... erm, See ya!"
The griffon begins to slowly back up against the door behind him as he forms his reply and, immediately after finishing it, he pulls the door open and rushes out of the room, giving the stallion barely enough time for a single word.
"W-Wait!"
He takes a few steps towards the now empty entrance but, thinking that his friend is already gone, stops and continues to just stare at it. After a brief moment, he turns his attention towards his desk and its drawers. A thought runs through his head and an idea, like a light-bulb, begins to glow in his mind.
Directly after leaving Sandbar's room in a questionable rush, Gallus flies up the stairs to reach his own little kingdom as quickly as possible. Upon reaching his door, he violently pushes it open, causing it to hit the wall connected to its frame and to almost fall shut again, leaving just a little creek, and crash-lands in his bed, pressing his face into the pillow and letting all of his self-targeted frustration loose.
"Ahhhhh! What for griffons' sake was that? A big portion of awkwardness, a pinch of stupidity and a whiff of embarrassment mixed with the worst choice of words in the history of Equestria!", the muffled voice goes on and on, creating a wet spot on the part of the pillowcase that aligns with his beak, before falling silent for a second, followed by the sound of air being sucked and immediately being exhaled again. Gallus, who is clearly not happy with how the situation compares to his original plan, lifts his head a bit before turning his whole body 180°, causing him to lay on his back now and facing the ceiling.
"I had it, I knew the right words", he begins his monologue in his usual alone-in-my-closed-room volume, "but... asking him something like that in real life is completely different than playing it out in my head. And talking to a plant is a whole different case too!"
He lifts his head and turns it a bit to get a better view of the pot on the windowsill before adding two words to his statement.
"No offense..."
Again, he drops his head onto the soft object and continues to stare at the ceiling while his thought continues his speech.
That was so embarrassing! I was just rambling on and on about completely unimportant and unrelated stuff! And needling... NEEDLING?! We've been doing stuff like sewing day after day but all I can think of was needling? He must have thought I was a total idiot! Maybe it was a bad idea after all... Why did I even think I could do it? I should just forget about it and move o-
A cracking sound erupts not far from the griffon's position. A sound that manages to cut through his inner voice and silence it for a moment, long enough to gain the male's attention and causing him to raise his upper-body.
W-What was that? Where did it come from? It sounded close... A bit too close for my taste...
The griffon takes a look around, searching for any evidence of the sound's origin. Another similar sound reaches his ears, making localizing it a bit more easy.
My... windowsill? Is the glass breaking? Or the pot? Or both?!
Taken aback by the thought of something suddenly breaking, Gallus gets up from his bed to check for himself. The sound stopped after the second time, which calms the griffon's worries a bit but it still leaves him wondering what the sudden sound could have been. The window looks fine, the pot is completely unharmed and, as far as he can see, the seeds, not surprisingly, are without cracks as well but, to make sure, he first lifts up the pot and check the bottom for anything that could have created such a sound. He can't find anything that fits that description so he places the pot back on its spot as carefully as he can before focusing the little objects inside of it as they are the only things left.
Oh no... Please be okay, the griffon thinks as he gently picks both of them up before investigating each of them separately. First the blue and yellow and then the green one but, just like the pot, both of them are without cracks of any sorts.
They look fine... That's good...
He keeps the green seed between two of his talons as he looks at it a few more times, slowly getting lost in its color scheme as he comes closer and closer.
It really looks just like him...
As thoughts and memories fill the griffon's mind, heat begins to spread in his body and the former thought of giving up completely vanishes from his mind. Instead, the old feeling of dedication and hope take its place. Its almost as if those seeds possess a secret power. A new ember begins to grow again, big enough to act like a candle in a dark room. Not big enough to reveal it entirely, but enough to be of help in discovering it.
"No", Gallus begins another monologue in the same volume as before, "I don't know the concept of giving up and I'm not planning on learning it now! It was my first try after all. Princess Celestia wasn't able to raise the sun on her first try either but she never gave up and now look at her!"
Wow, I really learned useful stuff here... Not bad!
The griffon begins to recreate a situation in his head, trying his best to pay attention to the panic he felt and its cause.
"Okay... Let's see... I will go down, knock on his door, enter his room and immediately ask: Sandy, I was wondering if you have any plans for the dance tomorrow? Then I'll wait and hope he says no so I can ask him if he wants to go with me. I'm sure he will be confused so, before he can even ask why, I need to give him a few reasons. Hmm... but there are so many! How can I decide? I shouldn't say strange things so maybe just normal stuff one would say in a situation like that would be a good idea… He is kind, reliable, smart and one of the most selfless creatures I know. He was the first creature ever that tried to be my friend and he always treats creatures equally, no matter what they are or who they come from. He really tries to see the good things in others... It's always fun spending time with him, no matter what we are actually doing."
Gallus doesn't notice how his focus drifts further and further away while his eyes are glued to the beautiful little object in his claw, giving his mouth access to all of his thoughts.
"Even doing completely nothing can be the time of my life when we're together. No matter how bad my day went, Sandy can easily turn it into a good one and... all of that and much, much more... I guess falling in love with you really was unavoidable..."
Suddenly, the sound of something hitting the ground echoes through the griffon's room and, a bit more quiet, the hallway. Gallus, who's eyes never dared to lose the seed out of their sight, immediately disconnect from it and look for the noise's source, which is very quickly discovered. There, right in his door-frame, a pale lime-green coated young earth-stallion with a moderate cyan and brilliant arctic blue mane and tail stands with a dropped jaw and wide eyes. An open box filled with a pair of scissors, a few sewing needles and reels of differently colored thread lays on the floor directly in front of him. A few of the reels spilled bounced out of the box when it landed, now laying next to it.