Gallus was panicking at the situation and the sack he was in. It was tight and difficult to move much. He was breathing heavily as the bag was being tossed around. He quickly tried yelling to get someone’s attention. The bag then shook as if the lizard man was trying to shut him up.
“Hey! Let him go!” Valiant’s voice was heard from beyond the burlap. Gallus felt a sense of relief. Knowing Valiant, he should be able to take on the lizard man. Gallus calls out to Valiant in desperation.
“Val! I’m in here!”
“Shut up, you!” The lizard man scolds, shaking the bag again.
Soon, the bag begins to shake differently, probably due to the ensuing fight going on Gallus couldn’t see it, only can hear the grunts, the landing of hits, and even something cracking. The lizard man's voice is the one he hears a lot more, struggling after the sound of hard hits and cracks. He felt that Valiant was winning.
But then, a different noise came. The sound of something getting punctured with Valiant crying out in pain. The bag felt tight but wasn’t moving as much. Gallus had no idea what just happened, only that he felt more tense after it happened. It became worse as the bag felt wet. As Gallus rubbed his talon against the wet surface, he found the tips of his claw were red with blood. Gallus was completely still. What had happened in the fight?
Another jolt of movement occured before the sound of a body dropping to the floor echoed. Gallus’s heart drops as the carrier of the bag hadn’t fallen nor did he feel it ever let go. What had happened to Valiant? He begins to shout out his name to get an answer.
“Valiant!? Val! What happened!?” He cried out. “Are you okay!?”
The lizardman grew furious and suddenly swung the bag up before slamming it on the ground. Gallus hits the floor and loses consciousness.
Gallus suddenly wakes up and gets up only to hit his head on a metal ceiling. He winces in pain before looking around to see that he was in a small tight cage. He began to hyperventilate, his fears of tight spaces began to crawl onto his wings as there was barely enough room to move. His cage rattles about until a lizard man slams the door open.
“SHUT UP!” He scolds with murderous rage. “If you don’t, I’m gonna sell you in parts.”
Gallus’s body automatically freezes upon hearing those words. The lizard man, seeing the fear in his eyes, is pleased now that peace and quiet had returned to him. Gallus calms down and takes a look around. He sees ponies in cages like him as well. Shelves of them in fact with a white unicorn on his right. She was weeping, trying to hide her fears by hanging her head low and her mane covering her eyes.
Gallus looked to his left to see empty cages. They looked clean, which may mean that they’re collecting enough until it’s a full house. The unicorn next to him continues to sniffle uncontrollably, barely holding on. She’s wiping her nose and lets out another squeak between her sobs.
“I SWEAR, if that pony keeps crying...”
Gallus quickly reached out to the mare in the hopes to calm her down. He reaches his talon out of his small cage and manages to poke her side. She jumps a bit, hitting her head on the ceiling of the cage before looking at the blue griffon.
“Um… sorry about that,” Gallus apologized.
“N-No, no, it’s alright,” she sniffled, rubbing her head. “I-I’m sorry if I’m being too loud...”
“It’s alright, just… let’s talk, alright?” he suggested, hoping to keep her mind off of it. “What’s your name?”
She rubs her eyes, fruitlessly trying to rid her tears. “S-Snowy Trails. You?”
“Gallus.”
Snowy calms down some more. Her tears keep going but her hiccups of whimpers have ceased for the time being. They take a moment before continuing the conversation.
“How long have we been here?” Gallus wondered.
“They took you here ten minutes ago...” she answered. “I… I’ve been here for three days.”
“Three days…!?” She nods to confirm. Gallus wipes his sweat off his head, wondering more about where he was taken to. “What are those guys doing with all of us?”
“I-I don’t know,” she states. “B-But I think they’re not from around here. They k-keep mentioning Klugetown.”
Gallus recalled hearing that before. It wouldn’t do him any favors telling her she might get sold off. Now that he knows what he’s facing, he has to figure out how to escape. But just as he can start figuring it out, Snowy begins tearing up again.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
“I-I miss my parents...” She tells him. “I wish I didn’t run away...”
Gallus raised his eyebrows, not expecting that from her. “Why’d you run away?”
“I found out… they weren’t my real parents.”
“Oh...” Gallus muttered.
“I don’t know why I did… I was just so shocked and upset.” she told him. “They kept it from me… and I… I don’t even know why…!”
“Well… They were probably just worried about how you would feel,” Gallus thought. “I mean… talking about families is hard. Even with others you trust to talk to and stuff.”
“... What about your family?”
Gallus sighs at the recollection of it. He doesn’t remember them and no one has met them either. “Don’t have one...”
“Oh… I’m sorry...” she apologized.
“Nah, don’t be,” Gallus assures her, waving it off. She smiles at him before looking down again.
“You know… Thinking back on it… I definitely got too emotional… I should have stayed and talked to them about it...”
“Your parents?”
“Yeah...” She breathed softly, her storm of thoughts now subsiding. Her mind is clearer than the mess she had before. “I mean, even if I wasn’t their daughter, they treated me like one. They talked through my problems and were always willing to help me out with whatever I needed.”
Gallus smiled warmly to her and said, “They sound like good parents. I’m happy for you.”
“Thank you...” Snowy says gratefully. “I… appreciate you listening to me.”
A sense of warmth envelopes the two, finding the quiet tender moment in a bleak situation. One that brings a cruel reminder of where they are as the door slams open once more with a lizard man bringing another mare. He tosses her into the cage and locks it up. Gallus looked to the mare next to her and saw a familiar mare. She gets up and rubs her forehead, looking at all of the cages and to Gallus beside her.
“You…?” she speaks softly, tired from whatever she just endured. “You’re that… child’s friend.”
“You’re the cop from before!” Gallus pointed out.
“A police officer!?” Snowy looked over to see the roughed up pony. “You don’t look so good...”
“Don’t worry... the police will get you out of here,” Copper Top assures them. “My squad will be out looking for me.”
The lizard man laughs, still hanging around watching the three talk. “You think a couple of ponies will find us? If they do, I’ll be sure to toss them in with the rest of ya!”
The lizard man laughs as he walks away with the three glaring at him. At the door, he pauses and starts rubbing his teeth. Gallus noticed something strange about his mouth. He squints to look at his fangs closer and realizes they were stained with blood on them. He hears him curse under his breath, “Stupid freak had tough skin. Might’ve chipped a tooth.”
Gallus feels his heart shrink as he remembers that Valiant wasn’t able to help him. His mind ponders over to his friend that he ran away from. For all the blue griffon knew, he could be dead. He holds his head as he tries to find some hope that he’s alive, maybe getting the others to help. He just didn’t want to believe that Valiant might have died just because he got too emotional over another griffon’s words. Suddenly he stops thinking as Snowy’s hoof reaches over to him.
“Gallus, what’s wrong?”
He stutters, trying to keep the dark thoughts at bay while trying to tell Snowy what happened. “I-I… I ran from my friend… And that guy… He might’ve... ”
Snowy places her hoof onto Gallus’s shoulder. She sees Gallus tearing up, fearing the worst. She caresses the scared griffon, comforting him bit by bit. “It’s alright… It’s okay...”
“I might have gotten him killed...”
“I’m sure he’s okay...”
“How would you know?”
“I don’t...” she admits. “But I want to believe that he’s alright. Unless we see it for ourselves, he can still be okay...”
Gallus stares into Snowy’s cerulean eyes. She’s right about what she said. Gallus remembers that Valiant had survived worse. He had to be strong and try and find a way out. If that could even help Valiant a little bit, he had to take the chance.
“We need to figure out a way to get out.” Gallus told her. She looks at him with surprise but a certain spark of bravery ignites in her when she looks at Gallus. They look around and notice something by the door. A key lies on the ground, most likely from the lizard man dropping it on the ground. It’s far from them, but Snowy knows what she can do.
“I’m going to try and use my magic,” Snowy tells him. Her horn glows a pure white aura wrapping its energy around the key. She pulls it from the ground but it wavers and threatens to fall to the ground. She sweats under the pressure that it may fall to the floor, but she keeps on at it. Soon, the key flies over to Gallus’s talons, offering him to be the first one to be free. Gallus leaves his cage, stretching his wings before getting the key to Snowy’s cage. As the key gets into place, the door opens once more.
“YOU!” He roars as he begins charging at the blue griffon. Gallus panics and tries to unlock the cage but the lock refuses to turn so suddenly. The lizard man grabs Gallus’s wings and throws him at the wall. Snowy’s eyes shrink as she reaches out to him.
“Gallus!”
Gallus wobbles his head back and forth, dazed as the lizard man gets close to him. Snowy quickly claps her hooves on the key and unlocks the door. She gives the key to Copper Top before running towards the lizard man.
“You made a big mistake.” he said as he loomed over the griffon. “Now I’m gonna have to chop you up, part by part.”
Snowy jumps on the lizard man’s back, causing him to panic and thrash about. Gallus recovers from the floor before seeing Snowy get grabbed and thrown toward the cages, rattling all of the metal containers on the shelves. The noise echoes around the roads and streets as Snowy lies on the floor. Gallus grit his beak and began charging at the lizard man. He picks up a chair he finds in the room and smashes it onto the lizard man. The creature glares at Gallus and swings his hand at him. Gallus crashes on the floor, flinching from the accumulated pain. As the lizard man closes in on the lizard man, the ceiling of the room collapses. Everyone stared at the center of the room to see something standing tall. He had a bandaged shoulder within his torn sweater and eyes screaming bloody murder as they gazed at the blue griffon on the ground and the lizard man next to him.
“Valiant…!” Gallus muttered.
“You again…!?” the lizard man growled. “Don’t make me ki-”
Suddenly, Valiant reappeared in midair near the lizard man. His knee digs into the jaws, extracting another tooth from the lizard man before his body is sent rocketing towards the shelves of empty cages. Valiant quickly helps up Gallus and gives up a tight hug before Gallus could even thank the human. The lizard man emerges from the pile of empty cages, making Valiant let go of Gallus before continuing the rematch with the lizard man. The lizard man swings his claws at Valiant, but he ducks and weaves before landing two powerful punches to his stomach. The lizard man stumbles back from the blows before Valiant grabs one of the empty cages and slams it onto the lizard man’s head. The lizard man is immediately rendered unconscious as Valiant breathes heavily from the amount of movement he just did.
“Whoa… kid...” Copper Top mutters. She was secretly freeing everyone in the back, but paused when Valiant infiltrated the room.
The human boy looked over Gallus who smiled at him before he realized Snowy Trails was still hurt from earlier. He rushes to her side and checks on her. She opens her eyes to see the concerned griffon looking at her and smiles.
The rest of the police arrive at the scene of the crime. Copper Top was inspecting Valiant carefully as he managed to handle the situation so swiftly and with such strength. She was genuinely impressed by his performance.
“You know, you’d be perfect in the line of defense when you’re all grown up,” Copper Top stated.
“Thanks, but I’m more on the line of attack,” Valiant implied about his military statues.
“Ah! The Royal Guard? Or the Royal Army? Both good choices.”
As Valiant gave a somber smile, Gallus was talking with Snowy. She’s never felt so happy and relieved now that she was free to go back home. Gallus was happy for her.
“Thank you so much!” Snowy said with incredible gratitude. “If it weren’t for you and Valiant, I… I would have… Thank you!”
“I mean, when I found out, there was no way I could just do nothing,” Gallus stated. “And, I wouldn’t have made it out without you either.”
Snowy blushed at Gallus’s words before Copper Top approached the two. “Alright, we’ve got a lot of ponies to return home. I’ll take you kids back home safe and sound.”
“Um, i-is it okay if… If Gallus walked me home?” Snowy stammered.
“I don’t think that’d be a good idea,” she responded, surprised she’d suggest that after what she’s been through. “The biggest threat in Manehattan may have been taken care of but we can’t guarantee the safety of the streets, especially at this late at night.”
“I’ll take her home,” Valiant assured Copper Top. “Gallus and I will be going to the same place.”
“Well, since it’s you, then that should be more than enough.” Copper Top admitted. “Besides, we’re spread thin as it is getting every pony else back. So you’d be doing us a favor.”
Working everything out, the three leave the crime scene and start going by Snowy Trail’s directions. They soon find themselves in a familiar part of Manehattan as they cross dark alleys. Gallus was feeling a bit nervous but Valiant pats his shoulder to assure him everything is alright. They soon find themselves wandering the Griffon Market once more, surprised and perplexed as to why. It wasn’t long until they saw two familiar faces of the market. The shop keep of the trinket store that Gallus ran away from and the griffon who sold enchanted artifacts. They were closing up shop for the night and were about to head home until they saw Snowy, slowly approaching the two with shaky legs.
“H-Hello… Mom… Dad...” she greets them with tears welling up.
“... S-Snowy…!?” they muttered. “Snowy Trails, you… You came back!”
Snowy Trails begins crying again as she runs up to her griffon parents. They embrace her as they’re finally reunited once more. Valiant and Gallus were shocked at the revelation. The fact that the shopkeepers of the Griffon Market were actually the parents of Snowy Trails. They had no idea where Snowy ran off to when she fled from home and were completely unaware of where she was after searching for two days straight. When they heard of what Snowy Trails went through, she told them of her saviors. The two griffons looked at the familiar pair and smile at them warmly.
“Thank you…!” the mother told them. “Thank you, so much! I can’t imagine what would have happened if… If you didn’t...”
“I must apologize with the way I talked to you before...” the father told him. “I belittled you about family when you helped me reunite with mine… Please, take this. I… I know this isn’t much, but this is the least I can do for you right now...”
The father brings Gallus a Familial Seal, free of charge. The father promises to repay them if they ever need help. Snowy walks up to Gallus and says, “I… I can’t… I really can’t express how much you’ve helped me. Talking to you really helped.”
“Yeah, I mean...” Gallus stumbled at his words, not sure what to say in this touchy moment. “You helped me too. I feel like I can talk about my problems more too…” Gallus looked to Valiant as his friend was just happy Gallus was safe. “Er… I hope that didn’t sound too weird.”
Snowy giggles as she brings herself close to Gallus and gives him a peck on his beak. “Not at all...”
Gallus blushes immensely as by the end of the night, he did receive a kiss after all. Valiant couldn’t help but smile smugly as the two said farewell to their new friends. On the way, Gallus looked to the exhausted Valiant, ready to retire for the night. He held his thoughts on the way, wondering whether or not to talk about it now. They go into the hotel and up to the hallway with their room near. At that point, Gallus decides to say something before they return.
“Hey, Valiant...” Gallus speaks up, catching his attention. “Listen, about earlier… I was just frustrated when he started talking about families and stuff.”
“Oh?” Valiant stopped at the door, looking to the blue griffon. “What brought this on?”
“Well, this wouldn’t have happened if I just… calmed down.”
“There’s no need to regret over what happened,” Valiant assured him. “We saved a lot of ponies because of you.”
“Still… I feel like I should just tell you about it. I… owe you that much if you still want to hear me whine about it...”
Valiant moves himself away from their door and sits down on the ground. He pats the floor to have Gallus sit by. “I’m always here to listen.”
Gallus grins and sits next to him. He looks up and wonders where to start. “Well… when Snowy’s dad talked about families, it… made me angry. I went to the market because it’s the closest thing to home, but...”
“But…?”
“I didn’t have any family,” Gallus stated. “I went there to have a good time and remember a bit about home. And yet… I guess I also didn’t want to remember that I didn’t really have a childhood to look back to? It’s… kind of weird… I don’t know if you’d get it...”
“Gallus… I’m about to attend a culture festival revolving around my people,” Valiant reminded him. “I’m in the same exact situation as you.”
“What about your family?”
Valiant hunched over and brought his knees close to himself. “Well, I don’t really have a family. My parents were proud soldiers and were heavily dedicated to helping the tribe. They gave me to the Training halls to take care of me and follow in the footsteps of two people I’ve never met.”
“No one took care of you?” Gallus was astonished by this ridiculous string of woe placed upon Valiant. Though, the human still didn’t feel despair, especially since he was concerned about Gallus's past.
“The Training Hall raised me, but no one stuck by me that long.” Valiant told him. “You definitely have it worse than me though… That’s what I think.”
The two laugh as they realize they’re two sad boys sitting in the hallway of a fancy hotel. Valiant understands Gallus’s loneliness was still lingering within him. Something he too can understand and felt a strange sense of desire to call another family when he met Fluttershy. Perhaps this is a chance for him to do something similar. Something that can help both of them. He plucks out a few strands of his hair, something that Gallus notices right away. The blue griffon looks at him, perplexed, and asks, “What are you doing?”
“Do you still have that necklace he gave you?”
Gallus nods and brings out the necklace. Valiant places his strands of hair into one of the clips of the Seal. “If you place your feather there, we can be considered brothers-in-arms.”
Gallus looks at him as he gives a sarcastic chuckle at what Valiant just said. “You’re kidding, right? I mean… Can’t just be family just like that.”
Valiant chuckled as well, admitting to the silliness of the concept. “It’s true, it’s quite ridiculous.” He pauses as he holds his hands together, clasping onto each other. “Though… Back during my days doing missions, many of the comrades I’ve worked with formed kinship in brothers-in-arms. None of them ever considered forming such a pact with me… But perhaps it may be because I’ve never asked.”
Gallus sees Valiant opening up to him as well over the matters of family. “We may not be related, but… We fought together, you watched over me, and I want to help you too. You don’t have to think about it too much, but… I want to assure you that I’ll do what I can to make you feel less alone.”
The blue griffon pauses. He didn’t consider the idea of forming some sort of kinship, but the thought of it didn’t sound bad. He plucked a feather off of his body and placed it in one of the clips. The two smirk at each other as this was their symbol of brothers. They open the door quietly and return to their room, sneaking past their sleeping companions. As they reach the bed and wrap themselves under their blankets, they sleep with happy thoughts over a nightmarish trial.
“Good morning!!!” Silverstream sang as everyone rose from the slumber and began to begin their day. Gallus and Valiant’s eyes shot open, cursing under their breaths.