Sandbar leaned on his hoof and stared up at the front of class as Applejack continued a very long story from her family and what it taught her about honesty. With the nice spring weather, it was easy to get distracted by glancing at the fresh green grass and new leaves outside. A swish of blue appeared in the corner of his eye and caught his attention.
Sandbar turned to look ahead and saw the silky fur tuft of Gallus’s tail flicking softly on the edge of his desk. Sandbar pulled back his notes and pencil before the tail could swish them away. Gallus seemed to be distracted with some doodles or maybe he was actually taking notes, but the griffon didn’t seem to notice what his tail was doing.
Sandbar leaned forward and had to resist laughing as the soft tuft tickled his chin. He stretched out a hoof and brushed it slowly. Sandbar hadn’t looked carefully at Gallus’s tail tuft in some time, but now that he could see it so closely, it seemed as soft and silky as the best manes or tails of ponies. Gallus also hated if anyone grabbed his tail or stepped on it. It was one of the easiest ways to earn an angry tongue lashing from the griffon. But something this soft was worth taking some risks for.
Sandbar leaned further forward and trapped the tail tuft under his chin. It had the nice, almost spicy smell that Gallus usually had, although that smell was always the most noticeable after gym class or in their dorm room.
Sandbar didn’t notice that he was rolling his chin over the velvety strands of Gallus’s tail until his friend let out a loud coo. Applejack stopped her story and raised an eyebrow.
“You okay, Gallus?”
Gallus’s wings were spread wide and the feathers were fluffed out. He turned to glare at Sandbar with a fierce blush.
Sandbar lifted his chin off the amazingly soft tuft. Gallus wrapped his tail around his chest and held it with one paw.
“I’m fine,” Gallus answered. “Sorry for the interruption.”
“Anything else you’d like to say?”
Gallus shook his head, and Applejack continued her story. Gallus kept giving Sandbar odd looks when Applejack wasn’t watching them. Some were curious and inviting. Others were angry and embarrassed. Once the story was over, Applejack handed out a little worksheet about the morals in the story. Sandbar was having trouble filling it out, and Gallus wasn’t helping. His silky tail kept flicking against Sandbar’s legs under the chair. Sandbar got better at ignoring it, but it seemed that Gallus was getting back at him for earlier. Sandbar’s pencil slipped as the tail brushed his belly.
“Okay, class!” Applejack announced. “Fill out those worksheets if you didn’t complete them. I’ll have a quiz for ya soon, so watch out!”
The bell rang. As they walked out into the hallway, Gallus pulled Sandbar aside. Gallus poked Sandbar in the chest with a claw. “What do you mean by messing with my tail like that? Especially where everyone could see.”
Sandbar’s ears flattened. “Sorry. I got bored, and it looked so soft! I didn’t mean anything.”
Gallus’s face went red. “Are you sure? You really don’t know what it means to play with a griffon’s tail?”
Sandbar shook his head and smiled. “Just some innocent curiosity. What does it mean?”
“It... umm… I’ll tell you later in our room. But what would a pony think if you started playing with their tail? Or if they saw you playing with someone’s tail?”
“Oh? Oh!” Sandbar’s eyes went wide and he blushed. “I didn’t think about it like that.”
The bell sounded and signaled that the next class would be starting soon. Sandbar couldn’t think of what to say. He scraped a hoof against the floor. Half of him wanted to run from Gallus. The other half wanted something more. Lately, he seemed to always have such mixed feelings around the griffon. Gallus could be both comforting and intimidating.
“That’s fine. I’ll see you after gym class.” Gallus grinned and gave Sandbar a friendly pat on the shoulder. He gave him a quick punch right after that.
“Ow!” Sandbar rubbed his shoulder.
“That’s for doing it where the whole class can see. I’m sure there will be rumors by the end of the day.”
Sandbar’s ears fell flat. “I’m sorry. What should we do?”
“Rumors are always more fun if there’s a bit of truth to them.”
Gallus spun to head to his next class, but he swished his tail up. The silky tuft made Sandbar shiver as it brushed him from flank to muzzle. Gallus winked and laughed as he scampered off before Sandbar could recover enough to say anything.
Sandbar turned to go to his next class and was surprised to see Ocellus staring with a happy grin.
“You have a nice flavor of love today,” she said. “I think you should explore it more. Spring is bringing out an interesting side to lots of creatures here. But let’s get to Fluttershy’s class before the last bell rings.”
“Are you sure it’s love?” Sandbar asked as they walked toward the distant classroom on the edge of campus. “There’s always this strange tension around Gallus.”
Ocellus giggled. “A changeling can always tell. But the flavor of love between you and Gallus seems to be changing. But it’s not so bad as long as you accept that it’s changing. I had to learn that myself, and now me and Smolder are closer than ever.”
“Umm, so what did you do to get closer?”
“We, uh… shared love in new ways! I think that’s how I’m supposed to put it. Changelings aren’t as shy about sharing the particulars, but Thorax and Twilight said I should try to follow pony propriety while I’m here. That’s all I can say in public.”
Sandbar wasn’t sure if she was teasing him now.
“It’s not nice to tease a stallion when he has to walk around in public.”
He chuckled and tried not to think too much about Ocellus and Smolder in the wrong ways. He turned his thoughts back to Gallus and smiled. He was looking forward to being done for the day in a way he never had before.