That next morning, Twilight came into Gallus’s room to wake him up.
“Gallus, sweetie, time to get up!” Twilight called.
On cue, Gallus woke up, stretched, and greeted his mother. “Good morning, Twi- I mean, mommy! It’s gonna take a while to get used to that”
“I understand. Spike’s making breakfast right now. I’ll meet you in the dining room in fifteen minutes” Twilight said.
“Ok!” Gallus said as he got out of bed and got ready for the day.
Once Gallus washed up and brushed his teeth, he met Twilight and Spike in the dining room. He took his seat and began eating his breakfast.
“I’ve been thinking, Gallus. Since you’ve graduated from the school, you don’t know what’s next for you, is that correct?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah. That’s another reason why I didn’t want to graduate. I’ve never thought about what I’d do after my academics are done. My friends have gone on to do bigger and better things, but not me” Gallus replied.
“You remember our little talk last night, right?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah, I do. It was tough having to relive the memories from my first Hearth’s Warming at the school, but that’s a weight taken off my shoulders. Sort of” Gallus replied.
“And do you remember when I said that you could possibly break barriers?” Twilight asked.
“I think so. I’d really like for the griffons to start believing in friendship again, but under Grampa Gruff’s rule, fat chance!” Gallus responded.
“Well, maybe the griffons are deprived of the magic of friendship, but you certainly aren’t! Adopting you was only the beginning of my plan to change your life for the better” Twilight replied.
“Wait! You’ve been planning this whole thing?” Gallus asked.
“Sort of. Like I said, you’ve gone through so much in your past and I don’t want you to go through that again, and that was why I decided to adopt you. Now, for the next part of my plan: Gallus Griffon-Sparkle, how would you like to be a member of my royal guard?” Twilight offered.
Gallus was utterly shocked. He looked at Twilight like she just grew five extra heads. “You’re kidding! You want me to be a royal guard?”
“Of course! You really enjoyed learning about friendship, I’m one of your favorite people, and you’re looking for work. It’s a dream come true for you!” Twilight replied.
“Well, being a royal guard sounds cool, but really? Me out of everyone? Adopting me was one thing but asking me to be a royal guard?” Gallus asked. He didn’t know how to feel.
“I know it comes as a shock to you, Gallus, but I’d think you’d be the perfect candidate for the job!” Twilight replied.
“I don’t know. That’s gonna take a lot of thought and consideration. Besides, I’m terribly out of shape from last night’s dinner” Gallus said as he rubbed his big, round belly.
“Don’t worry about it! Remember when Rainbow Dash helped you lose a good amount of weight?” Twilight asked.
“I think so” Gallus replied.
“She’ll help you get into shape in no time. Want me to call her over?” Twilight offered.
“Eh, why not? Gives me something to do” Gallus responded.
A couple hours later, Rainbow Dash arrived at the Crystal Kingdom to help Gallus get into shape.
“So, let me get this straight. You adopted Gallus, overfed him again, expect him to be a royal guard, and now you want me to help him get into shape so that he can be a royal guard” Rainbow Dash said.
“Yes. Let me go get him” Twilight said as she went to get Gallus from his room.
Gallus was in his room doing a jigsaw puzzle. He put the last piece in.
“Yes! It took me longer than I wanted, but I finally got it! Yay me!” Gallus cheered as Twilight went into his room.
“Gallus, Rainbow’s here!” Twilight announced.
“Finally!” Gallus replied as the two went to meet Rainbow.
“Hey, Gallus! How ya doing, buddy?” Rainbow greeted the griffon.
“Fine, thanks!” Gallus replied.
“So today, we’re gonna work on keeping you fit, just like the good ol’ days, because your mom just can’t stop feeding you!” Rainbow said as she gave a menacing look at Twilight.
“To be fair, Mommy Twily says that my pudgy belly makes me look cute!” Gallus replied.
“Being fat doesn’t make him look cute, Twilight! He looks like he’s two years pregnant! We went over this the first time!” Rainbow retorted.
“Well, excuse me for making sure that my son is well fed!” Twilight retorted.
“More like overfed!” Rainbow replied.
“Ladies, break it up! We can’t be wasting Rainbow’s time like this! Besides, Twilight can’t have a royal guard who’s fat!” Gallus chimed in as he attempted to break up Twilight and Rainbow’s argument.
“And that’s why I think you’d be a perfect guard, Gallus!” Twilight replied.
“Alright, let’s get started, Gallus. Let’s go outside.” Rainbow said as she dragged Gallus outside the castle.
“Alright, for your warm-up, you’re gonna do ten laps around the castle. Try to go as fast as you can. And running, no flying!” Rainbow Dash announced.
“Ten laps around the castle? On foot? That sounds so hard!” Gallus complained.
“Hey! Less complaining, more running!” Rainbow retorted.
“Fine!” Gallus retorted as he began running his ten laps around the castle.
An hour and a half later, Gallus finished his last lap around the castle.
“Took you long enough! My great grandmother can run faster than that!” Rainbow said.
“Well, at least I finished my laps. I’m surprised! But my gut’s still round!” Gallus replied.
“Exercise alone won’t help you lose weight. You’ll also have to eat a healthy diet, like fruits and vegetables. Protein and dairy products are also important” Rainbow replied.
“What about Pony Cola?” Gallus asked.
“No! Soda’s the worst thing you could drink!” Rainbow retorted.
“Really, because that isn’t what Twilight thinks. In fact, she taught me that when I drink enough soda, I’ll burp really loud and that makes me feel less full” Gallus replied.
“That’s true, but it won’t help you with weight loss. In fact, that’ll have a negative effect on your progress! When I’m here, the only things you’ll drink are milk and water, nothing else! And no more big feasts, either! I’m gonna make sure Twilight gives you three 400-calorie meals a day” Rainbow announced.
“So, you’re gonna have me eat salad for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Don’t you think I would get tired of eating the same thing over and over?” Gallus asked.
“You’ll eat salad, but that’s not the only thing you’ll eat. Like I said, you also need your grains and proteins” Rainbow replied.
“Okay, well, how long will I be doing this?” Gallus asked.
“Until that big gut of yours goes away!” Rainbow responded, pointing at Gallus’s big belly.
Later, they went back into the castle for lunch. Rainbow talked to Twilight about Gallus’s diet and she was willing to comply. For lunch that day, Gallus was served a salad. Twilight’s royal guard, Houston, came into the dining room to eat his rather unhealthy lunch: a microwaved hayburger, a helping of hay fries, a box of cookies, and a can of Diet Pony Cola.
“Do you really have to eat that in front of me?” Gallus asked Houston, feeling annoyed at the guard for eating all that rubbish in front of him. It’s like he’s mocking him.
Twilight walked up to the boys to correct the problem. “Good catch, Gallus. Sorry, Houston, but you can’t be eating this anymore” she said as she knocked Houston’s lunch all over the floor.
“Princess! That was my lunch!” Houston cried, feeling upset at Twilight for knocking over his lunch.
“No, it wasn’t. This is your lunch!” Twilight replied, presenting a small plate of salad to Houston.
“That’s all I get for lunch? You can’t do this to me, Princess!” Houston retorted as he began to cry.
“Houston, you are not going to cry over a salad! You are a royal guard and I expect you to show more maturity! This is what you will eat for lunch and that’s the end of it!” Twilight retorted, feeling cross at her guard for his childish behavior.
“Fine!” Houston replied, crossing his arms and pouting.
“Thank you for your cooperation. Just know that I’m not doing this to punish you, I’m doing this to get you to make healthier decisions in your life, something that I expect all my guards to think about. What do you want to drink: water or milk?” Twilight replied.
Houston let out a disappointed sigh and said “Milk, please”
“I want milk too, please!” Gallus chimed in.
“Coming right up!” Twilight said as she went to get milk for the boys.
Houston wasn’t happy that this change was happening, and he gave Gallus an annoyed look.
Gallus scoffed in annoyance and said “Quit complaining, you big baby, and eat your salad”
“Says the manchild who calls the princess ‘mommy’” Houston replied, wearing a smug grin on his face.
Gallus just ignored him and went back to eating his salad. Twilight came back with two small milk cartons, one for each of the boys.
“Enjoy, you two!” she said.
After lunch, Twilight introduced Gallus to the home gym. This gave her and Rainbow Dash an opportunity to work on his physical exercise some more.
“This is a really big gym!” Gallus remarked.
“Sure is! So, what do you want to do first? We got treadmills, ellipticals, weights, bicycles, etc.” Twilight replied.
“I wanna do bicycles!” Gallus replied.
“Ok then! Let’s do 20 minutes on bicycles, a 5-minute rest, then 20 minutes on the treadmill, another 5-minute rest, then we can do weights” Rainbow replied.
“Sounds good!” Gallus said as he made his way to one of the bicycles.
After a couple hours of exercise, Gallus felt very proud of himself. And Twilight and Rainbow were proud of him too.
“Your stomach is starting to shrink. Good job, Gallus!” Rainbow praised.
Right on cue, Gallus’s stomach growled. “Yeah, it’s shrinking but it’s also growling. We gotta get dinner, and fast!” he said.
The three then made their way to the dining room where they waited for dinner. Several minutes later, Twilight came out of the kitchen, levitating a platter right above her.
“Gallus, I’m sure you’re going to love this. Grilled salmon with rice and broccoli. Good and good for you!” Twilight announced.
“Yum! Thanks, Twilight!” Gallus said as he served himself and began to eat.
When it was time for Gallus to go to bed, Twilight and Rainbow came to say how proud they were.
“We’re very proud of all the progress you’ve made, Gallus” Twilight said.
“Yeah, and tomorrow, we do it all over again!” Rainbow added.
“Good night, sweetie. See you in the morning!” Twilight said before tucking Gallus in, giving him his nightly kiss, turning on the nightlight, turning off his regular light, and leaving the room.
The next morning, Gallus met Twilight and Rainbow in the dining room for breakfast.
“So, what’s for breakfast?” Gallus asked.
“Fiber O’s, small bowl of fruit, and milk to drink. Enjoy!” Rainbow responded.
“Sounds good, I guess. Thanks!” Gallus said before he began to eat. However, after eating, he felt a slight discomfort in his stomach.
“Is something wrong, Gallus?” Twilight asked.
“My tummy feels a little funny” Gallus replied.
“Yeah, fiber can do that to you. It means you have to go poop” Rainbow added.
“Well, if you say so. I’ll be right back” Gallus said as he rushed to the bathroom.
Rainbow looked to Twilight and asked, “You taught him how to wipe, right?”
“Of course! That’s one of the first things he learned. Although, I think it was Sandbar who did most of his potty training” Twilight replied.
A few minutes later, Gallus went back to the dining room.
“Feel better?” Twilight asked.
Gallus nodded in response.
“Good. That means that we get to do more exercise! Wanna go back to the gym?” Rainbow offered.
Gallus nodded.
Today’s workout was going to be harder than yesterday’s workout. Gallus set really high goals for himself: one hour on the treadmill, one hour on the elliptical, one hundred push-ups, and the rest will be weight work. After exercising all day, Gallus felt maximum results. He felt much stronger, had much more stamina, and his belly had completely shrunk. Twilight and Rainbow were amazed at all the progress he made.
“I didn’t think you’d do it, Gallus, but you blew me away! I am so proud of you!” Rainbow cheered.
“As am I. Now, I think you’re ready to become a royal guard. That is, if you still want to become a guard” Twilight added.
“Hmm, I’ll think about it” Gallus replied as the three went to dinner.