//------------------------------//
// Chapter Five: Normality 
// Story: The Bonds of Love 
// by Summer Script 
//------------------------------//

The sun shone through the windows of the Friendship Express as the train shot across the countryside, transporting a certain group of creatures back to their home of Ponyville.

“I just want to once again congratulate all of you, darlings,” Rarity said blissfully. “Last night was an absolute success; you were all phenomenal!”

“Awww, thank you, Professor,” Scoop said, blushing. “I’m glad we did our best.”

“And I’m glad the whole thing didn’t turn into a complete disaster,” Vellum moaned, fanning himself with his hoof. “I thought for sure something was going to happen…”

“Like what?” Peppermint Goldylinks asked, looking up from her book.

“Well, we did lock Discord up in a chest…”

Starlight quickly turned to face him. “Oh-ho! Don’t worry, Vellum. Discord won’t be messing with any of you for a long time,” she said, grinning heinously.

Vellum blinked and protested, “Even if that were the case, there was still quite a lot that could have gone wrong! One of us could have suffered stage fright, the stage crew could have messed up the lighting; Zone could have botched a line…” he suggested worriedly.

“Hey!” yelped the affronted stallion.

“Let it go, Zone,” Shimmy Shake soothed, placing her hoof on his shoulder.

“Yeah, but… I shouldn’t,” he argued. “C’mon, Vellum, I worked hard to learn my lines!”

“And you performed them spectacularly, darling,” Rarity assured comfortingly. “All of you did. I am very, very proud of each and every one of you.”

“I am too,” Starlight weighed in. “Sorry again about the whole thing being thrown upon you so suddenly, but you all did fantastic regardless. I know I wouldn’t have done half as good a job as you all did,” she ended bashfully.

“Nonsense, darling, I’m sure you’d do just as well on a stage yourself.”

“Oh please! Don’t be silly, Rarity, I wouldn’t… Actually… Hmm?” she hummed to herself.

“I think we’ve got another newbie, Vellum,” Scoop sang.

“Well, it would certainly be an interesting club meeting if we were to criticize our Headmare.”

“One thing’s for sure though,” Gallus spoke up from the back. “You would not be able to go through that ‘spiel’ of yours.”

Everyone but Starlight laughed.

“What? What ‘spiel’ is Gallus talking about?” she asked Rarity.

“Yeah! What ‘spiel’ is Gallus talking about, Vel?” Scoop repeated slyly.

Vellum tried to melt into the train seats.

“No need to worry, Headmare!” Yona declared on Vellum’s behalf. “Yona sure Vellum stopped doing ‘spiel’ long time ago. Right, Vellum?”

“You’ve all made your point; let’s move on!” the flushed stallion exclaimed.

“Okay, okay! Fine, we’ll stop,” Scoop assured, playfully nudging her friend. “C’mon, Vellum, why don’t you tell us all your thoughts and criticisms. I’m sure you’ve been dying to do so.”

“Well, there are a few things I am compelled to address, but first? Scoop? Did I manage to maintain satisfactory eye contact with my audience?”

“Yep. Congratulations, Vellum, you finally did it,” she mock-rejoiced.

“Phew,” he sighed. “That is so relieving to know. Anyway, onto my actual criticisms…”

“Hey, Gallus?” Silverstream whispered.

“Hmm? Yeah, Silver?” he asked, turning to her.

“Um… C-Can I talk to you?” she asked urgently. “In private?”

Gallus nodded uncertainly, standing up and retreating into the next car. Silver followed suite, pausing only to glance back at Starlight and receive a slight nod.

They walked through three more cars before finally coming across an empty one at the back half of the train. It was then that Silver closed the door and turned her attention to Gallus.

And then proceeded to say nothing.

“Sooo!” Gallus began after a few seconds of silence. “Good thing we were at the back of the train car, eh? I doubt Vellum would have been too happy with us ditching his rant.”

Silverstream seemed to snap out of a daze and nodded, tittering. “Yeah. And I don’t think I want to know the kind of teasing we’d get from the others if they noticed.”

“Eh-heh-heh-heh,” he laughed.

…

“I’m sorry, Gallus,” Silver suddenly said, looking away. “Well,” she continued before he could inquire. “I guess I’m not sorry sorry since Headmare Starlight said it was okay, but… I’m still sorry anyway because you asked that I try not to be. So, I guess I’m half-sorry? No. Wait. That doesn’t make any sense. Or does it? Does that make sense?” she asked bemusedly.

“…No,” he deadpanned. “Mostly because I don’t know what you’re talking about. … Is everything okay?” Gallus asked tentatively.

“I… Well, uh…” Silver inhaled sharply and admitted, “I don’t think so.” She then pulled out a small letter and asked, “Do you mind if I…?”

“Uh, no. No, I don’t mind. Go right ahead,” he stuttered nervously.

“Okay. ‘Dear, Gallus, as you can probably guess, I’m taking a leaf out of your—and by extension: Princess Cadence’s—book. Sorry about that,’” Silver read, wincing.

“Don’t be sorry,” Gallus hurriedly comforted. “I pulled the same thing on you, so there’s no way I’m going to judge you,” he said, smiling encouragingly.

Silver snorted slightly before beginning to read again. “‘Well, the reason I’m reading this to you is that I need to tell you something, but I wasn’t really ready to just ‘say’ it to you, you know?’”

“Again, I pulled the same thing. No problem,” he said, nodding for her to continue.

“Thank you,” she said, turning back to her letter. “‘So? The thing I wanted to say to you…? I wanted to say I’m sorry.’”

Gallus remained quiet, so she proceeded.

“‘Gallus…? I’m still worried about you,’” Silver shakily admitted. “‘I have been for weeks. I’ve been scared that you weren’t doing as well as you said you were and were lying just to make me and our friends feel less worried,’” she forced herself to say. “‘I know that you… That you don’t want me or the others to worry about you, and I know that you said you were doing better, but I couldn’t get it out of my head that you weren’t! And worse… I’ve been paranoid that even if you were genuinely doing better that something would happen and you’d be upset again!’”

She didn’t dare look at Gallus, not wanting to see just how destroyed she had made him.

“‘I know! I know!’” Silver added, beginning to tear up. “‘I know you don’t want me to be worried. That’s why I tried acting as normal as I could to hide it. I was afraid if you knew how worried I was that… That it’d hurt you. And I don’t want to hurt you, Gallus! I’m your friend, and I’m worried about you! I’m so worried about you, Gallus…’” she confessed weakly.

Gallus said nothing.

“‘But!’” she declared, wiping her tears away. “‘I talked to Headmare Starlight about this, and she said it’s okay I’m scared! B-But it’s not okay that I haven’t been telling you about this. Nor is it okay that I’ve been holding it all in…’”

“‘So,’” Silver continued. “‘I’m sorry, Gallus. I’m sorry I’m still worried, and I’m sorry I haven’t told you until now. But— But please, Gallus! Please don’t blame yourself, or hurt yourself, or anything else! I’m scared, but it’s not your fault! Please believe that! Please… Because I really am sorry,’” she quietly ended, hanging her head.

Silverstream expected everything from Gallus angrily breaking up with her due to her lack of trust in him, to questioning why she, the optimistic one, could ever be so terrified and paranoid.

In hindsight, she should have known he would just hug her. She quickly reciprocated.

“It’s okay, Silver,” he promised, enveloping her in his soft wings. “It’s okay.”

“But— But— But—” she stammered, sniffling again.

“It’s okay, Silver,” Gallus repeated. “I understand. I understand…”

Silver slowly buried her face into his neck, falling into a round of light sobs.


***


“…We sat like that for a while,” Gallus explained. “And eventually, we broke apart and just talked. She was still really worried, and it, uh, didn’t help when I apologized for scaring her.”

“Uh-oh,” Starlight muttered, gulping. “What happened when you did that?”

“She freaked out and thought I was trying to blame myself again,” he answered, haunted by the recollected image. “It took a minute, but she calmed down enough for me to clarify what I meant.”

“And just what did you mean?” she asked, trying not to let her own paranoia show through.

“That I was just sorry I scared her! That I… That even if I’ve made a lot of mistakes with how I handled everything, I’m done using my mistakes as a way to demean myself. That’s not what mistakes are for anyway. Mistakes are just… Really sucky learning opportunities,” he sneered, sipping at his water.

“Huh. That’s a pretty good way of looking at the concept,” Starlight admitted, relieved by his answer. “Did she believe you?”

“I don’t know. I hope so!” he stressed fretfully. “I think so; I just don’t know for sure. … Is it bad that I kinda want to ask you how to stop making her worried again?” Gallus asked hesitantly.

“That depends on whether or not you want to hear the answer again,” she replied, smirking.

“Be with her, let her know I am doing fine, give it time, and blah-blah-blah?” he guessed.

“Take away the ‘blah-blah-blah’ part, and you’re golden.”

The two snickered at the bad joke.

“But seriously, Headmare? I’m not saying that I’m doing something wrong, but… I’m doing okay! I know that!” he preemptively clarified. “But am I just not ‘showing’ it enough or something?”

“It’s not about ‘showing’ anyone that you’re healing. It’s about—”

“It’s about healing in general; I know, I know…” Gallus muttered in irritation.

“And I’m glad that you know.”

“Yeah… Well, at least Yona and Ocellus seem to believe I’m better,” he said thankfully. “But Silverstream… Smolder…” he murmured, slumping into the sofa. “I just want everything to go back to normal. I don’t want Silver to be afraid for me, and I don’t want Smolder to be angry at me.”

“So she still hasn’t talked to you, has she?” she asked, frowning worriedly.

“No.”

…

“Gallus, everything will go back to normal,” Starlight soon comforted. “You know that, right?”

“Yeah, I know,” he confirmed, grinning hopefully. “I wish it didn’t take so long though. Like, come on!” Gallus sarcastically whined. “Princess Luna got purged of Nightmare Moon in under a day, and compared to that, my problems should have been fixed in an hour.”

“Heh-heh. Funny how a few weeks ago, you were sitting there asking if everything getting better in a day was okay. And yet here you are, asking that,” she pointed out with a proud smile.

“Yeah, well…” he trailed off, shrugging nonchalantly. “What can I say? I’m a quick healer.”

Starlight chuckled quietly. “And you’ll be an actor soon from what I’ve heard.”

“Thanks, but I don’t… I don’t want to be an actor,” he said, shaking his head. “Besides, it’s not like I’d be great at it anyway…”

“Come on, Gallus, don’t say that! You were fantastic up there the other day. If you really wanted to, I’m positive you’d be an amazing actor,” she praised, giving him an encouraging smile.

Gallus blinked in surprise. “Really?”

“Absolutely!” Starlight answered with a firm nod.

That… No! No, I wouldn’t! I… Could I? Gallus wondered. Rarity did say we all were good enough to become actors, but… He gazed down at his talons for a moment before asking himself, But… But if I really were amazing up there then…? Then why didn’t he…?

Gallus sighed wistfully and said, “Thanks for the encouragement, Headmare Starlight, but I still don’t think I want to be an actor.”

“Fair enough. I suppose I can understand your trepidation; Rarity did dump the whole affair on you all at the last minute. Nonetheless, if you really don’t want to be an actor, that’s fine. There’s plenty of other things you can be, and plenty of time to decide on what it is you do want to be.”

“Y-Yeah, I know. It’s… It’s just…” Oh, just say it, Gallus! “Grandpa Gruff wasn’t there, and… And I kind of wanted him to be,” he admitted, looking away shamefully.

“O-Oh. Oh. Ummm,” Starlight hummed, nervously tapping her hooves together. “I, uh, I don’t think either Rarity or I sent him any notification about your performance in Canterlot, so maybe—”

“He knew; I wrote to him about it,” Gallus calmly revealed. “And yes, I wrote to him about it taking place in Canterlot too. I asked Spike to send him a letter on the first day we were there.”

“Oh.” She stared down at her desk, trying to think of what would be best to say next. “Are you okay even though he didn’t attend your play?”

“Of course I am!” he protested unconvincingly. “Like you said, I rocked that play. I only wish Gramps could have seen it, so I could, er, rub it in his face that I managed to do something that awesome!” Or at least, I wish I knew what I did wrong to make him not want to show up…

“Heh-heh-heh…heh,” Starlight awkwardly chortled, scrambling to figure out exactly what she should say. “That’s the spirit…?”

“Woo-hoo!” he sardonically cheered, knowing full-well he hadn’t sold his lie.

…

…

…

Starlight face-hoofed and whispered to herself, “Figures the one piece of advice I don’t immediately know how to give would be about dads…”

“What? You got problems with yours?”

“My problems are in a whole different ballpark and more importantly, aren’t the issue. So, that being said…? What exactly did you feel when Grandpa Gruff didn’t show up?” she inquired bluntly.

“Wow, just asking all the questions today, eh, Headmare?”

“I’m aware, Gallus. I’m very much aware,” she replied, barely not face-hoofing again.

“Well, to answer your question…? I’m not sure. To be honest, I’m disappointed. Everycreature else’s families showed up, even End Zone’s grandparents! Okay, Silver’s mom didn’t show up, but there’s a reason for that,” he added, rubbing his shoulder self-consciously. “And I know why the rest of my friends couldn’t show up…”

“I’m sorry about that, Gallus,” Starlight apologized, wincing in regret.

“No, I get it. Trust me, I know how screwy managing Bits can be. But I really do wish he were there. Or maybe Gabby or Gilda? Just… Someone. I put a lot of work into learning my lines, so I wanted at least someone to see how well I did. … You know, aside from the army of reporters that ambushed us the second we came out from backstage,” he concluded, grimacing at the memory.

“Sorry about that too. If Canterlot were as lenient as Ponyville when it came to, er, certain actions… You wouldn’t have had to deal with them for nearly as long as you did.”

“Yeah, well, Vellum got his fifteen minutes of fame, and Scoop didn’t get us banned from the entire city, so it wasn’t all bad.”

“…If it helps? I saw how well you did,” she said, beaming proudly. “And so did Rarity, Twilight, your clubmates, and half of Canterlot.”

“I know. I just wanted Gramps to see too.” Gallus rested his chin in his talons and angrily added, “But it’s not like that’s ever going to happen.”

“Well, you never know; maybe Canterlot will ask for an encore?” she suggested brightly. “I’m sure Rarity would accept that offer in a heartbeat.”

“And then what? He won’t show up to that one either, so why bother?”

Starlight put a hoof to her chin and hummed thoughtfully.

“I… I wish I knew what I did!” he vented angrily. “I sent over five letters to him; you’d think he’d get the hint and show up, but nooo! I just don’t know what I did wrong…”

“Gallus, you didn’t do anything wrong!” Starlight immediately protested.

“I know there’s nothing wrong with me, but c’mon, Headmare! Why didn’t he show up?”

“Maybe there was an incident, maybe he was sick; maybe he missed the train?” she suggested.

“Or maybe he just thought I didn’t really need him to show up and be proud of me…” he grumbled, crossing his talons indignantly.

…

“Gallus? It’s not your fault that he didn’t show up,” Starlight promised softly.

You don’t know that! he wanted to protest. However, he blinked and pondered, Wait. Am I doing that again? I-I don’t think I am. Unless… Dang it! When am I ever going to be better!?

“Yeah, I know,” Gallus finally said, brushing aside his other thoughts for now. “I just wanted Gruff to be there, but… He wasn’t, and I don’t know…” He sighed and concluded, “You get it.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I do,” Starlight replied, giving him sympathetic stare. “But don’t worry, Gallus. You’re okay. And everything else will be too.”

But why isn’t it okay yet!? I should be better by now, shouldn’t I!? “Yeah. Yeah, it will,” he said.

After another minute of silence, Gallus checked the time and said, “Whelp! Sandbar and I had something to do today. And, uh, as much as I don’t like cutting this short, can I…?”

“Oh! Yes, of course. Are you sure you want to leave it there though?” she inquired kindly. “If you want to talk about Gruff some more, I’m sure Sandbar won’t mind waiting a few extra minutes.”

He opened his beak, paused, and then sighed in defeat. Eventually, Gallus looked her in the eye and said, “No. I know I should keep talking to you about this, but honestly? I don’t know what I even want to say; I only brought it up because I needed to get it off my chest.”

A part of Starlight knew she should press onward, but the other part trusted Gallus would eventually talk to her if and when he was ready. The latter half ultimately won out, so she nodded, saying, “I understand, Gallus. But don’t dwell on it for too long, okay?”

“I won’t,” he promised, shaking his head. “The moment I figure out exactly what I want to say, I’ll come running. … Let’s hope you have some advice to give me by then,” Gallus added coyly.

“Okay, I deserved that. And don’t worry, I will,” Starlight swore.

“Phew,” he sighed exaggeratedly. “Anyway, I really do need to go; otherwise, I’m going to be late. Again, sorry about cutting this short, Headmare Starlight.”

“Don’t apologize; you had another engagement,” she said cheerily, teleporting to the door. “It’s perfectly fine; I understand,” Starlight said, opening the door for Gallus.

A violet-blue stallion with an auburn mane stood in the doorway, his hoof dangling in the air an inch away from the door. A tan mare with a pink mane stood beside him.

“Vellum? Scoop?” Gallus asked.

“Hey, Gallus,” Scoop greeted. “How’re you doing?”

“Uh, I’m good,” he answered, trotting out of Starlight’s office. “What’re you two doing here?”

“Headmare Starlight asked that I see her, remember?”

“That I did,” said unicorn confirmed. “I assume that’s why you’re here, Vellum?”

“Yep,” Scoop agreed for him. “And I’m here to make sure he didn’t try to cut and run,” she elaborated, smirking.

“You finally getting that ego of yours sorted out, Vel?”

“Shut up, Gallus!”

“Whoa! Careful, Captain Codex, you don’t want that temper of yours to mess up your chances at being a big shot in Canterlot,” he warned cheekily.

Vellum practically petrified.

“Ha! Good one!” Scoop praised, giving him a hoof/talon bump.

“Could that really happen?” Vellum quietly muttered as his legs started quivering. “Could my own personal emotions utterly overrule my acting and writing capabilities?”

“Okaaay, Mr. Vellum. Come on in,” Starlight commanded, gently wrapping a hoof around Vellum and leading him into her office. “I’ll warm you up some hot chocolate, and then we can have a nice, comfortable chat about your ‘own personal emotions.’”

“Will I have to stop communicating my thoughts and criticisms lest I earn the ire of those with far greater influence in the craft than I?” he fearfully mumbled, obeying Starlight’s order.

“Ohhh, this is going to be a doozy,” Starlight whispered to herself. She then looked back to the students. “Now, are you going to be alright, Gallus?”

“Do you even need to ask?” he inquired confidently.

“Never hurts to do so,” she answered. “Scoop, Gallus. I’ll see you both later. Stay out of trouble. … And that means not touching other creatures’ valuables, Scoop,” she bluntly rebuked.

Scoop laughed awkwardly, wincing away from her Headmare.

“Well, have a nice day, you two,” Starlight said, closing her door.

Gallus and Scoop both then turned and walked down the hall. Eventually, Scoop asked, “So, what were you seeing the Headmare for, Gallus? Get a detention or something?”

“Nope. Personal drama,” he answered casually. “And if anyone is going to be seeing her because they got a detention, it’s you, painting-toucher!” Gallus teased.

“I said I was sorry!” she yelped timidly.

“And I forgave you. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to remind you every so often that you—oh, I don’t know!—messed up my pseudo-date with Silverstream,” he concluded vehemently.

“So you admit it was date!” she accused, deflecting away from her own mistake.

“Pseudo-date,” Gallus corrected. “And after your little stunt—”

“Oh Celestia! Don’t tell me I screwed up your relationship!?” she squealed, panicking.

Gallus sighed and confirmed, “No, Scoop. You didn’t mess anything up.” You did make Silver’s paranoia worse, but you don’t need to have that burden.

Scoop breathed a heavy sigh of relief, saying, “Sorry.”

“The only thing you have to apologize for is nearly getting us arrested. Why did you touch the painting anyway?”

“Curiosity,” she admitted, shying away uncomfortably. “Anywho, what are you up to now?”

“Meeting up with Sandbar. You?”

“Meeting up with Yona,” Scoop said, winking suspiciously. “What are you two planning to do?”

“What do you think we’re going to do?”

“Plan out your proper second date with Silver?”

“Maybe?”

“Are you?”

“Am I?”

“I don’t know, maybe?”

“Maybe?”

“Maybe yes?”

“Maybe yes?”

“Maybe?”

“…Yes,” Gallus admitted, grinning.

“YES!” she roared, literally jumping for joy. “Okay, okay, okay! What. Are. You. Planning. Now?” she carefully inquired, vibrating with a barely contained fervor.

“Shh, spoilers!” he warned, smirking deviously.

“Spoil me! Spoil me! Spoil me!” she chanted, biting her hooves in anticipation.

Gallus looked up and down the halls, motioning for her to lean closer which she did, perking an ear. He then cupped his beak with his talon and whispered, “The first thing I’m planning to do…”

“Yeeeees?” she asked, bouncing as energetically as Pinkie Pie on a sugar rush.

“…Is not tell you anything because I know you’re going to spoil it for Silver!” he quickly stated, spreading his wings and bolting through the air.

“NOOO! You get back here, griffon-boy! You get back here!” she screamed, chasing after him.

“Tell Silver I said hi; see ya later, painting-toucher! Mwah-hah-hah-hah!” he laughed wickedly, racing out of sight. Speaking of Silver, he thought as Scoop’s dejected groan echoed down the hall. I wonder what she’s doing right now?


***


“So everything okay now? Silver not so paranoid, and Gallus doing much better?” Yona asked, biting her tongue as she fiddled with a particularly annoying stitch.

“I… I think so, Yona,” Silverstream answered happily. “I am still worried about him, but… You were right; he really is doing a lot better. I guess I was just too busy worrying that he wasn’t to actually see that,” she grumbled in shame.

“Silver not need to be upset. Yona understand Silverstream just worried about Gallus.”

“I know. But I should have just trusted that he was doing better,” Silver rebuked herself. “We’re a couple now, and Cadence said trust was something our relationship needed from the get-go, but…”

“Silverstream trust Gallus!” Yona retorted firmly. “Silver just not trust life to leave Gallus alone. Besides, Gallus not mad at Silver for being so afraid, right?”

“No,” she confirmed. “I was worried he would be, but he wasn’t. He was okay, not upset or angry. He understood. Heh. Here I am being terrified and gloomy, and it turns out I didn’t need to be at all,” she summarized sorrowfully.

“‘It’s not the examination that freezes your blood and shivers your spine; it’s the anticipation leading up to it,’” Yona quoted sagely.

Silver snorted, feeling her spirits rise back up. “Is that yet another Yak saying?”

“Hee-hee! Nope, Yona learn that from Spike.”

The duo giggled until the door of the Carousel Boutique opened.

“Whelp!” Scoop groaned in frustration. “The mission was a complete and total bust! The guy up and—” She froze the moment she laid eyes on Silverstream.

“Oh! Hey, Scoop,” Silver warmly greeted. “Um… Do you like the dress?”

The mare continued to stand there, slack-jawed.

“Er, Scoop? You okay over there?”

“You… You… You look beautiful!” she screamed ecstatically, rushing up to where the two stood. “THIS!? Is the dress you commissioned!?”

“Yeah…? I’m guessing you do like it then?”

“There aren’t enough words in the dictionary for me to express how amazing this is!” Scoop praised, staring at the garment as if it were a gift from the heavens. “You made this, Yona!?”

“Well, Professor Rarity did most of the work,” she confessed bashfully. “But Yona help a lot! Professor actually let Yona do finishing touches for first time!” she squealed excitedly.

“All that hard work under Professor Rarity is certainly paying off then because, holy butter-biscuits! This thing is gorgeous!”

“Awww, thanks, Scoop,” Yona and Silver both said simultaneously.

“No need to thank me; I’m just stating facts,” she replied airily.

“So, do you think Gallus will like it too?”

“Silver, if he doesn’t see you in this work of the fashion gods that are Rarity and Yona and pass out in sheer joy, he’ll be in a hospital room after Patty, Shimmy, and I knock some sense into him.”

“Scoop…!” Silver warned harshly.

“Don’t worry, I’m kidding,” she hurriedly clarified. “Silver, Gallus is going to absolutely love this! He’s a lucky griffon. I know I’d love to have a dress like this,” she sighed dramatically, looking at Yona out of the corner of her eye.

“Why would Yona make Scoop dress when Scoop get Yona and friends banned from best art gallery Yona’s ever seen?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Oh come on! I said I was sorry!”

“And Yona forgive you; Yona just couldn’t resist making joke,” she said, tittering. “Scoop not need to worry; Yona will make dress for her and rest of Club too.”

Scoop immediately grabbed Yona in a tight hug, squealing in utter bliss.

“Can’t…! Breathe!” Yona struggled to say. “Is this what Yona’s hugs…! Feel like!?”

“Whoops! Sorry,” she apologized, backing away from the panting yak.

“It’s okay,” Yona appeased, catching her breath. “Yona happy to know Yona’s work so beloved by friends,” she concluded, returning to the last bit of hemming she needed to do.

“Speaking of which? Sorry, girls,” Scoop mumbled, rubbing her neck.

“Oh no! Scoop, what did you do?”

“I didn’t mess with a painting if that’s what your asking,” she grumbled hotly. “I tried to get info from Gallus about what he was planning for his second date with you. Unfortunately, griffon-boy told me I’d spoil it and ran off, laughing like a hyena,” Scoop pouted.

“Well, you would have spoiled it, sooo…” Silverstream acknowledged, glad Scoop’s efforts had failed. “Honestly? I kinda want it to be a surprise anyway.”

“Really? He could be planning to take you bowling for all you know,” she warned, grimacing. “You seriously want to go bowling for a second date?”

“Bowling can be romantic!”

“Yeah, so can candlelit dinners, walks through the park, and pretty much everything else that’s not bowling or the aquarium!”

“Ooh! I hope he takes me to the aquarium!” Silver sang, bouncing excitedly.

“Silverstream, freeze!” Yona ordered, swiftly gaining the hippogriff’s stillness. “Thank you. Now, Yona confused; why Silver hope to go to aquarium?”

“Yeah, you were a seapony, Silver,” Scoop agreed, perplexed. “You lived in the ocean; wouldn’t you find a place talking about the ocean boring?”

“Of course not! Do you know how different Seaquestria’s knowledge of the ocean is compared to Equestria’s? Hint: It’s more than you’d think,” she said with a giggle. “Finding out all of the cool, interesting details Equestria knows but Seaquestria doesn’t and vice versa sounds like a great way to spend an evening.”

“Huh. Never thought about it like that before,” Scoop murmured thoughtfully.

“Eh. Doesn’t matter anyway. Whether we have a candlelit dinner or go bowling…? As long as we’re together, we’ll have a wonderful time regardless,” Silver concluded happily.

…

“Silverstream? When you two get married, can I be one of your bridesmaids?”

“SCOOP!” she screamed, flushing crimson.

“What? What did I say?”

“Scoop, I’m not— We’re not— I— Could we…? Is that a possibility?” Silver shook the thought out of her mind and said, “Scoop, that’s not something either of us have considered yet.”

“Not according to Shimmy Shake,” Scoop said, smirking knowingly.

“…Tell me what you mean right now!”

“Remember how Shimmy asked to borrow some of the letters Princess Cadence sent Gallus?”

“Yeah?”

“Have you reached the Sixty-eighth and Sixty-ninth, yet?”

“Ohhh sea kelp!” I’ve got to get caught up on those letters once and for all! she told herself, asking, “What did they say, Scoop?”

The mare smirked, whispering, “Spoilers!”

Silver gulped.

“Well,” Yona interjected. “Placing scary marriage thoughts aside, Yona finally done with dress,” she announced, motioning for Silverstream to look in the mirror.

She did so, calming down upon seeing herself cloaked in a veil of the purest beauty and grace. Silver smiled tearfully, exclaiming, “Thank you so much, Yona; it’s wonderful!”

“Yona know,” she said smugly. “And Yona happy to help friend.”

“It bears repeating, Silverstream,” Scoop acknowledged happily. “Gallus is going to love it.”

“Yeah. Yeah, he will!” she cheered optimistically. I really hope Gallus is planning our next date because I can’t wait for him to see me in this! “What do you think he’s doing right now anyway?”


***


“…We have all made excellent progress, so I believe we can end things here for today,” decided the teacher. “We shall resume next week; until then, I expect all of you to practice your waltz.”

“Yes, Ms. Hoofer Steps!” chanted her class.

“Good. You are all dismissed.”

The doors of the studio flew open, allowing a myriad of ponies to exit from its confines. Once the crowd had dispersed, a blue griffon bolted out into the afternoon sun, bee-lining for the nearest bench and collapsing upon it with an anguished groan.

“Goodbye, darlings. It was nice to see you two today.”

“Good to see you too, Professor Rarity,” Sandbar responded happily. “Out of curiosity, didn’t you already know how to dance though?”

“Indeed I did, darling. I merely needed somewhere to be for two hours that wasn’t the Boutique.”

“Why? Was something going on?”

“Yona and I worked together on a commission a while back, and she asked to make the final adjustments,” Rarity explained proudly. “And of course, I wanted to see what she could do on her own without my guidance. She’s come a long way, and I can’t wait to see what she did!” she squealed excitedly.

“Ohhh, so that’s what she was doing,” he said to himself, chuckling. “Yeah, she is the best.”

“Hee-hee-hee. I’ll tell her you said that,” she whispered, winking sneakily. “Speaking of which, tell Gallus not to worry; I won’t tell Silverstream I saw either of you today.”

“Thanks, Professor, I’m sure he’ll appreciate that. On that note? I better go make sure he’s alright. See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, darling,” she echoed back, making her way to the Carousel Boutique.

Sandbar then trotted toward his exhausted companion, greeting, “Hey, Gallus. You okay there, buddy? You look a little tired.”

No duh, Sandbar! Gallus wanted to remark. Sadly, he lacked the energy required to go through with that, so he settled for raising his talon in acknowledgment, wincing at the motion.

Thankfully, Sandbar made no further comments and chose to simply sit in the grass and wait for Gallus to feel better enough to move again.

…

…

…

“How’d you like Dance Class?” the pony finally cracked and asked.

“Would have been easier… If I didn’t have to look down all the time… Only to get reprimanded for it a microsecond later,” Gallus lamented in-between pants.

“Well, you’re not really supposed to look down when your dancing,” Sandbar stated bluntly. “You’re supposed to keep your eyes on your partner at all times.”

“Yes. I know, Sandbar,” he muttered miserably. “I heard Ms. Hoofer Steps when she yelled that exact same thing at me twenty-three times.”

“Because you kept looking down.”

“How else was I supposed to know where I was stepping!?”

“Practice and spatial awareness.”

“Okay, so how much practice and spatial awareness do I need before I don’t need to worry about stepping on my partner’s hooves with my razor-sharp talons?”

“As much practice and spatial awareness as you need to not step on your partner’s hooves with your razor-sharp talons.”

“…Sandbar?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

“Okay.”

…

“Sorry.”

“For what?”

“Telling you to shut up.”

“Oh. I forgive you,” Sandbar said kindly.

“Er, thanks,” Gallus said, slightly put off by the suddenness of Sandbar’s forgiveness. Eventually, he added, “And thanks again for helping me out with Dance Class.”

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I help out?”

“Well, you did say you needed to foalsit your sister…”

“And I also said I got November to do it for me,” Sandbar reminded him.

“I know, I know… I just wanted to apologize for it again anyway.”

“You don’t need to.”

“…I know, Sandy.”

“If you know then why are you apologizing?” he asked jokingly.

Gallus blinked, shook his head, and deflected, “So, how did I do anyway?”

“I’m not exactly an expert, but I think you did pretty well. You do need to work on your posture and the ‘looking down’ thing, but those are things you can sort out with practice.”

“Yaaay,” he weakly cheered.

“Of course, it’d probably help if you practiced with Silverstream.”

“I don’t exactly want to do that just yet, Sandbar.”

“I’m just saying—”

“And I’m just saying!” he interjected. “Silver said dancing was one of her favorite things, and I want to be absolutely certain that I can do it perfectly before I try asking for a dance with her.”

“Don’t worry, dude, I understand. I just have this sneaking suspicion Silver won’t exactly dance the way I did today,” Sandbar elaborated with a smirk. “All I’m suggesting is you might want to practice with her too so you know how she dances.”

Gallus sat up with a groan and conceded, Sandbar’s not exactly wrong. Plus, dancing with Silverstream would totally be fun for the both of us. Hmm… “Hey, Sandbar? Could you pass me my bag?” he asked.

“Sure. Here you go.”

“Thanks.” Gallus then fished out a scroll and pen. He quickly unrolled it and jotted something down, murmuring, “Idea Thirty-nine… Dancing…”

“So,” Sandbar began once Gallus had finished. “Since my parents are gone for the day, and Yona’s working on that commission for Rarity, did you wanna come over and hang out?”

Subtle, Sandbar, Gallus thought, resting his head in his talons and closing his eyes. What? You want to spend more time with me to quadruple-check I’m not still a—no, Gallus! Sandbar just wants to hang out like we normally did—DO! he corrected himself. Like we normally do. Besides, out of all of my friends, he’s been the least paranoid, so I doubt the thought even crossed his mind.

Yikes, I really need to stop being so paranoid about my friends being paranoid. … Hey, Gallus, note to self: Stop being paranoid about your friends being paranoid about you!

Oh, right! The question! he remembered. I do have more places I need to check out. Buuut, my paws are killing me, and I need a break. Plus, maybe it could be a good opportunity to show Sandbar that I really am back to normal, Gallus considered, closing his eyes.

…

“Uh, Gallus? Are you falling asleep again?”

“Huh!?” he blurted out, snapping out of the daze he had begun falling into. “What!? Oh, yeah! Yeah, Sandbar, that sounds like fun,” he answered, trying to save face.

Note to self number two: Don’t almost fall asleep when your friends are talking to you.

“Totally. I’m sure you and my couch will have a wonderful time.”

“Hardee-har-har, Sandy,” Gallus grumbled as he stood up and followed after his friend.

A few minutes later…

“Okay, your choice: Movie or game?”

“Movie.”

“Popcorn or candy?”

“Do you really need to ask?”

“Both then. Okay, what genre?”

“Definitely not Romance,” Gallus said, remembering Cadence’s letters.

“Not a fan?” Gallus shook his head, so Sandbar advised, “Uh, don’t tell my mother that.”

“Well, that’s now four creatures I can’t tell that I don’t like Romances: Scoop, Patty, Rarity, and your mom. Anyone else I can’t divulge completely irrelevant information about my personal tastes to?”

“My dad. Never tell my dad that you don’t like war stories.”

“Not a problem since I actually kinda like war stories,” he clarified, silently thanking Yona for convincing Rockhoof to not petrify himself. “But was there a reason why I shouldn’t tell your dad otherwise?”

“He was in the Royal Guard before he retired and settled down in Ponyville.”

“Oh.” I don’t know what I was expecting, but I probably should have expected that.

“Yep.”

Silence fell between the two as Sandbar’s house finally came into view.

“So, what did he do in the Royal Guard?” Gallus asked, wishing to continue the conversation.

Sandbar stopped walking, smiled, and cleared his throat. “‘Sandbar, old colt! I did quite a number of things!’” he began trying and failing to sound elderly. “‘I stood guard over Her Majesty, Princess Celestia! I patrolled her sacred halls, protecting them from all who would dare invade!’”

“‘I stood side-by-side with pegasi, unicorn, earth pony, and batpony alike, and not a hint of judgment nor preconceptions were shared among us!’” Sandbar continued over his audience’s snickers. “‘For we all stood watch over Her Majesty’s ward with honor and dignity! Patience and perseverance! Kindness and integrity! And bravery and justice! We were not simply comrades! We were not simply allies! We were friends! All of us, regardless of whether we had wings, horns, or fangs!’”

“‘So, Sandbar? You had better make sure to remember that when you make friends of your own! Remember that appearances are irrelevant! So long as you and they share in the convictions of harmony, your friendship is always true!’” he concluded, clearing his throat after his performance.

“Heh-heh. Your dad sounds pretty wise,” Gallus said, grinning. “And you sound pretty talented. How come you didn’t join Drama Club? Vellum would have loved you.”

“Yearbook.”

“Oh. … So what happened afterward?”

“Mom called him out on the fact that all he did was stand in an empty hallway, bored out of his mind,” Sandbar answered nonchalantly.

Gallus burst out laughing. “Okay! Okay! Your dad may be wise, but your mom is awesome!”

“Thanks, I’ll tell her you said that. But be warned! She’ll hunt you down and force, like, ten gift baskets down your throat for the compliment,” Sandbar said as they finally approached his door.

“Don’t worry, Sandy. If I can handle Princess Cadence’s ocean of letters, I think I can handle your mother’s flood of gifts. … Besides, I could use some junk to fill my room up,” he mumbled.

“Huh?” he asked, grabbing a spare key from his saddlebags.

“Oh, nothing. I finished cleaning up Princess Cadence’s letters a week before our performance, and I, uh, forgot how empty my bedroom is,” Gallus elaborated morosely.

Sandbar raised an eyebrow but ultimately shrugged, saying, “Whelp! You’ve been warned; don’t blame me when you can’t find your bed after she gets through with you.”

“I won’t.”

“You say that now…” he teased, opening his door.

“AND SO!” bellowed November Rain. “THE GREAT AND POWERFUL SEPTEMBER TEMPEST ROSE TO HIS HOOVES, DRAWING UPON THE VERY LAST OF HIS POWER!”

“And!? And!? And!?” squeaked out the giddy filly sitting at the edge of the couch.

November climbed atop the coffee table and loudly proclaimed, “HE LIFTED HIS MIGHTY HORN INTO THE AIR, FIRING HIS ANCIENT POWERS INTO THE SKY, TEARING IT ASUNDER IN A GODLIKE DISPLAY OF POWER!”

Sandbar’s sister gasped loudly.

“YES! WITH A SWISH AND A FLICK HE COMMANDED THE HEAVENS AND BROUGHT ABOUT AN ALMIGHTY STORM! AND FROM THAT STORM HE DREW MORE POWER! AND WITH THAT POWER! HE! TROTTED! FORTH!” he exclaimed dramatically.

“Oooooh! That meanie is gonna get it!” she shouted, barely containing her energy.

“Heh-heh-heh… Funny that you say that,” November began quietly. “Because once The Great and Powerful September Tempest stepped forward, the Vile Codex backed away! In utter terror!”

“Yeah! Get him, Mr. Tempest, get him!”

“‘NOOO! NOOO! You cannot be this powerful! How!? How are you doing this!?’ the Vile Codex screamed in fear! And THAT! That is when the Great and Powerful September Tempest opened his gleaming eyes and looked down upon the monster in contempt and said…”

“What did he say!? What did he say!? What did he saaay!?”

“He said… ‘Do you see it, Codex!? The future! THE FUTURE IS BURNING BLUE! THIS HORN OF MINE BURNS WITH AN AWESOME POWER! IT’S BURNING MAGIC TELLS ME TO DEFEAT YOU!’ he declared angrily! The Great and Powerful September Tempest then charged at the Vile Codex, screaming in righteous fury! And the Vile Codex could do nothing more than back away in cowardice as the hero closed the distance between them!” November recounted, smiling excitedly.

“What happened then!?”

“The Great and Powerful September Tempest cascaded all of his power upon the Vile Codex! And just before he made the final blow, he said…!”

Sandbar’s sister just squealed in anticipation.

“‘Take this…’ September softly muttered. ‘MY LOVE! MY HOPE! AND ALL OF MY SORROW! SPIRIT! STORM!’ the Great and Powerful September Tempest shouted into the night, swinging his horn down, and letting loose the maelstrom of the divine onto the Vile Codex!” November explained, mirroring the described motions. 

“And theeen?”

“And then, in one last scream of agony and hatred, the demon that had caused the Great and Powerful September Tempest so much pain and so much heartache was—at last—vanquished!”

Sandbar’s sister jumped up and danced around, singing, “Yaaay! He won! He won! He won!”

“Was there ever any doubt?” November asked teasingly.

“No! Nopony could ever doubt the Great and Powerful September Tempest!”

Gallus reached for the door and silently closed it. He and Sandbar then looked at each other, processing what they had just witnessed.

…

As one, they both turned and trotted down the porch and back toward the town.

“I’m glad that November and my sister are having fun, but it looks like the movie’s out,” Sandbar acknowledged sadly. “Did you have any ideas of what to do instead?”

Okay, Gallus. What’s a good, normal activity we can try out and kill two or three hours doing? His eyes slowly wandered to his saddlebags, and he hesitantly said, “Well, I’ve got some. But I already asked for your help, so…”

“Wait. Is it more dating stuff?”

“Yeah…?”

“I’m in!” Sandbar immediately agreed.

“Are you sure, Sandbar?”

“If you’re afraid I’ll spoil anything for Silverstream, don’t worry. My lips are sealed.”

“Pinkie Promise?”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly; stick a cupcake in my eye,” he recited, performing the motions.

“…Okay,” Gallus conceded, pulling out another scroll from his bag. “I’ve got a lot of places to check out though, so if you really want to visit them all…?”

“I already did the Pinkie Promise, Gallus,” Sandbar deadpanned.

“Alrighty then. Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he droned as he fully unrolled his list and watched it fall across the road and past at least three of the marketplace stalls. “Our first stop is…”

Sadly, Lyra wasn’t planning on starting up her Laser Tag game again for quite a while. But while Gallus may have found that disappointing, he was happy to know that Lyra did intend to host it again in another few months. Sandbar was too for that matter.

The bowling alley was loud and reeked of wood varnish, but it was still a comfortable hang-out, offered decent lunches, and had couples discounts. If the former two points weren’t enough for Gallus, that last point certainly was, especially since Sandbar was generous enough to slip him some coupons.

The Ponyville Retirement Village was an interesting stop to make. For one thing, Sandbar had immediately disappeared on him to go aid the nurses in helping some of the patients. For another, Gallus discovered that End Zone hadn’t been lying about the place being livelier than one would think.

Unfortunately, while Gallus did indeed have a blast at the paintball course, there was no way the place would be suitable for the second date. The third or fourth on the other talon…?

After leaving the Retirement Village, they stopped at the Hay Café for a quick lunch…

“Dang it!” Sandbar exclaimed sourly. “This is going to take forever to get out of my mane!”

“Heh-heh, sorry about that,” Gallus apologized, trying to keep his snickering to a minimum. “Your mane does look rather dapper in black and red though.”

“No, it doesn’t! I look like one of Shimmy’s attempts at drawing an original character!”

“Oh, don’t be like that, Sandy,” he protested, munching on the last of his hay fries. “I’m sure Yona can fix it to make you look spectacular.”

“…Hmm. Well, you’re not wrong,” he agreed. “And far it be it for me to deny that I totally deserved it.”

“What did you expect would happen when you walked into the middle of a paintball warzone?”

“I honestly don’t know,” he admitted, sipping at his juice. “I was just trying to meet back up with you after helping the staff.”

“Well, at least they got most of it out with Cleanse Alpha,” Gallus offered.

“‘Cleanse Alpha’? Oh, is that the name of the spell they used? How did you know?”

“Ocellus, duh.”

“Wasn’t your project on teleportation?”

“It is. But she talks a lot when she and I play chess together,” he explained simply.

“About magic?”

“About a lot of stuff. Magic, math; history,” Gallus listed off casually. “Of course, it’s lately been her fretting over the Fair, becoming a scientist, and…” Not wanting to focus on those particular conversations, he abruptly concluded, “And whatever else she can talk about to hide the fact she has a lousy poker face.”

“I don’t know, dude. You’ve never played poker with her, have you?”

“Not yet, why?”

“Don’t. Ever!” Sandbar stressed urgently.

“Oh no,” Gallus groaned in disgust. “She’s a card counter too, isn’t she?”

“It’s worse than that.”

“…Elaborate,” he asked, terrified of what could possibly be a worse threat than a fellow card counter.

“She actually knows how to play!”

Gallus inhaled deeply, desperately burying both a frustrated sigh and a bout of elated laughter. He then exhaled and said, “Sandbar? Never change, okay?”

“Why?” he asked, confused. “‘A creature should always be able to look for ways to improve, both in how they act within the world and who they are as a creature,’” he quoted sagely. “At least, that’s what my dad always says.”

Heh. All mine ever said was: Get out there and make us some Bits, Gallus sarcastically thought. He swallowed nervously after thinking that and quickly spat out, “Great life advice, Sandy; I’ll make sure to internalize it.”

“Great! My dad’s advice is always awesome. … You know,” he began shyly. “I’m kinda glad you enjoy hearing some of it. I like talking about my parents, even if I don’t do it much.”

Gallus felt a pit form in his stomach as he struggled to not let his newfound unease show.

“Speaking of which, how about you? Did Grandpa Gruff ever give you some cool advice too?” Sandbar just had to ask.

“Well, he taught me what marketing was,” Gallus quipped briefly, hurriedly pulling his bag up to his side and searching for his other list. Stay calm, Gallus. This is a perfectly normal conversational topic; no need to be so jumpy.

“Cool. Wait, is that where you got the idea to turn the Tree of Harmony’s old home into a tourist trap!?” he demanded, irked by the memory.

“Yes! No! Probably? I don’t know; maybe a few griffon characteristics got passed onto me by Mister Gruff,” Gallus rapidly said, hoping Sandbar would get the hint and shut up.

He didn’t. “Huh. Must’ve taught you pretty well then since you did a good job making ponies want to visit the place,” Sandbar begrudgingly admitted. “I’d bet he’d be proud.”

Gallus froze. Wh-What? Gruff… Proud of me? Good job making ponies… WHAT!? He blinked rapidly and eventually asked, “Hold on, I thought you hated my ‘Roadside Attraction’ idea?”

“I did. Turning something as sacred and meaningful as the Tree’s resting grounds into a tourist trap? Not cool, dude,” he rebuked, making Gallus flinch. “But I can’t say it didn’t do some good,” he conceded with small smile. “Word got around, and a lot more ponies have visited the place ever since.”

“Really?” Gallus asked, happy to be distracted from the other topic.

“Mhmm. Just last week I saw another memorial down in the cave where the Tree once was,” Sandbar said, smiling happily.

“‘Another memorial’? As in more than one? When did this happen?”

“Off-screen.”

“Har-har, Sandy. But do both of us a favor and leave the fourth-wall jokes to Pinkie Pie.”

“Yeah, I know; I realized it the moment I said it. Anyway, yeah, the Tree’s old cave has been filled with everything from flowers and balloons to candles and pictures. Silverstream even completed a painting of the old Tree and left it there too.”

“Huh. I didn’t know that,” Gallus said, making a mental note to ask Silver about that later. “Didn’t you leave that sapling of yours down there too?”

“Yep. Or at least, I think it’s still there?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Well, it was pretty close to the spot where the Tree grew back, sooo…”

“Oh please, Sandy! I’m sure the Tree of Harmony wouldn’t have knocked over a baby tree. That’d be rude,” Gallus joked.

Sandbar chuckled lightly before saying, “Then again? Even if my old sapling is ‘knocked over,’ I can just plant another one.”

“Do you even have another one?”

“Uh-huh. I’ve got a few extra from my Science Fair project. On that note, do you think I could be a good botanist?” he suddenly asked.

“What?” Gallus responded, caught off-guard by the question.

“A botanist? Do you think I could be a good botanist?” Sandbar repeated.

“Maybe? Why would you want to become a botanist?”

“You mean other than to help the ecosystem?”

“Yes, Sandbar,” he groaned, rolling his eyes. “Other than to help the ecosystem.”

“Thought so. Well, truth is I’ve been thinking about what I want to do after we graduate. And I’ve always liked taking care of plants and animals, so I was wondering if I should take up a career where I can do those things, you know?” he elaborated, smiling peacefully.

“Oh. That explains it,” he muttered, looking away from his friend’s serene gaze.

“Of course, I am still a little iffy about it since if I take up that career path, I’d have to leave Ponyville to study for a while. And considering Yona plans to become Rarity’s apprentice, I don’t want to just leave her behind,” he added, biting into the last of his daisy sandwich.

“Mhmm.”

“Now that I think about it…? What are you planning to do when we graduate, Gallus?”

I have no pecking idea, Gallus considered admitting. “Uh, Wonderbolt,” he ultimately decided to lie, while trying to stifle his guilt over doing so.

“Sweet. I can totally see you as a Wonderbolt. Silver too for that matter.”

“Mhmm.”

Sandbar nodded then gathered their trash, taking it away to a nearby trash can. Gallus, meanwhile, took the opportunity to bring his talon to his chest, breathing deeply, and push it away, exhaling slowly.

“Don’t worry, Gallus,” he told himself. “We’ll figure that puzzle out later. Right now? Don’t bother worrying about that stuff or about Gruff,” he whispered as Sandbar returned. Sandbar and I are having a perfectly normal day, and we’re going to keep having a perfectly normal day. Nothing—absolutely nothing!—is going to disrupt that, Gallus finished internally as he finally extracted his list.

“Okay!” Sandbar declared. “Now that we’re done with lunch, where to next, Gallus?”

“I was considering the aquarium, but all things considered, it probably isn’t the best place to go,” he murmured, debating whether to skip the place to not waste time.

“Gallus! Who doesn’t love the aquarium!?” Sandbar gasped, affronted by the mere idea.

“Well, Silver’s lived underwater for a while, so I’m not entirely sure if she’d like the place.”

“Yeah, I suppose that’s true,” he admitted despite not wanting to. “Then again, she might enjoy going anyway to see how Equestria’s knowledge of the ocean differs from her own,” he proposed slyly.

His mind rewound back to when Silver first discovered stairs and practically exploded in joy. “Maybe. I’ll make sure to ask her about it before I check it out,” Gallus concluded, writing down a reminder. “In any case, are you good to keep going?”

“Yep. You?”

“Yep.” And back to normal, mundane date stuff. Thank Grover. “Okay, our next stop is…”

The Ponyville Clock Tower was honestly pretty boring, but Gallus did find the history of the building to be more than worth the visit. Sandbar evidently didn’t, considering he fell asleep ten minutes into the tour. Gallus ultimately decided to file the location as a “Maybe.”

Ponyville Antiquities was the very first compete and total bust. It was ridiculously cramped; the air was tainted by mothballs and mold; it was agonizingly cramped; the prices were gargantuan by even Griffonstone standards; and it was horrifyingly cramped. And above all else, it was cramped.

Gallus made sure to cross it off the list multiple times; only an inky black splotch of scratches and tears remained when he had finished.

The various restaurants they visited were exactly what Gallus expected: Places to eat food.

Very, very expensive places to eat food. 

No matter where he went, the prices never dropped below double his current savings, and every time he was reminded of that, he felt his heart drop just a little farther. And while Gallus resolutely kept his disappointment from marring his face, Sandbar eventually sensed something was up.

“So, what did you think?” the pony asked once they had checked out the last of the restaurants.

“Oh yeah, super nice. Top three for sure,” Gallus instinctively replied as he sat in a nearby bench to rest his sore paws once again. Oh peck. He’s totally going to see through that, isn’t he?

“I think so,” Sandbar said slowly, sitting beside him. “…Are you okay, Gallus?”

And now even Sandbar is asking me that! What is wrong with me!? “I’m just disappointed.”

“About what?”

I really don’t want to admit this. “The prices,” he practically whispered.

“Oh,” he responded shortly. “Is that all?”

Gallus frowned indignantly and asked, “What do you mean by ‘Is that all’?”

“I’m just asking if that was the only problem you had with them.”

“Well, I…” Gallus paused and asked, “Why? Did you have problems with them?”

“Eh, my parents have been to some of them, and let me tell you this: The first and fourth are a sneeze away from being shut down by a health inspector. And the staff for the fifth is terrible! Like… ‘You’d get kicked out for being a griffon’ kind of terrible!” Sandbar explained uncomfortably.

Gallus stilled, unable to process that statement. He then shook his head clear and quickly crossed those off the list, saying, “Okay then, definitely not those. What about the others?”

“Second and sixth? Yes. Third is more… Ehhh,” he groaned. “Only go there if you have to. As for the rest? Good luck getting into them; if you place a reservation today, you won’t get to eat there until two years from now. And that’s after they cancel your reservation without telling you, forcing you to make the reservation again and wait again!” Sandbar fumed.

“That happen to your folks?”

“Both them and me and Yona!”

Gallus grimaced in sympathy, muttering, “Sorry.”

“You’re not the one who needs to be sorry, dude.”

“I can be sorry on your behalf, you know.”

“Fair point. Thanks, Gallus,” Sandbar said. He then perked up and exclaimed, “Oh! And if you’re worried about the prices, I have tons of coupons you can use.”

“You already gave me that ‘Three-rounds-for-one’ coupon for the bowling alley, Sandbar!” he protested. “I mean, I appreciate the gesture, but I can’t ask you to give me more of your coupons. What am I, a griffon?”

“Uh, yes? You are a griffon,” Sandbar answered, confused.

“That was the joke, Sandbar.” But thanks for the stark reminder.

“Oh. Well, nonetheless! If you need coupons, I’m going to give you coupons.”

“But—”

“No ‘buts’! You just let me know when you decide on a place.”

“I… Thanks, Sandy,” Gallus said, feeling his good mood slowly begin to return.

Sandbar responded, nodding kindly.

…

“THERE YOU ARE!” screeched a vaguely familiar voice.

Sandbar and Gallus both jumped at the sudden shout, and the latter quickly found himself being suffocated by a large mass of feathers and enthusiasm.

“Gah!” Gallus grunted breathlessly. “Gabby!?”

“Hee-hee, yep!” the gray griffon excitedly chirped, releasing him from her grip and jumping back to stare at him through her trademark happy smile. Said smile drooped a little when she noticed his and Sandbar’s expressions. “Sorry. Did I scare ya?” she asked, wincing guiltily.

“A little bit,” Sandbar admitted unapologetically.

“Well, I wasn’t scared!” Gallus proclaimed unconvincingly. “You just surprised us is all.”

“Oh,” Gabby said, trying very hard to pretend that she believed him. “Well, er, surprise then!”

“Yep. Surprise. So, what are you doing in Ponyville? You know Spike lives in Canterlot now, right?” he asked teasingly.

“Yes, I do know, and that place is amazing! So clean! So sophisticated! So glamorous!” she sang, channeling her inner-Rarity. “Maybe I should move there someday…?” she asked no one in particular.

How many optional girlfriends does Spike have? Gallus wondered in a mixture of stunned disbelief and hesitant respect. And… Is he even old enough to have one, let alone Gabby?

“So, why are you here again?” he repeated, snapping Gabby out of her daydreams.

“Oh, that’s because it’s Sunday,” she answered.

“I know it’s Sunday, but what do you mean by… Ohhh,” he groaned neutrally.

“Yep, it’s time for weekly Grandpa Gruff letter deliveries. Yaaayyy,” Gabby cheered weakly, flinching at his expression. “I stopped by your room earlier, but you weren’t there. Somepony named Strawberry Scoop—nice pony, by the way—said you were off planning a date with your friend?”

Instantly, Gallus grinned cockily, declaring, “Of course! Why wouldn’t I be planning a wonderful day and night out with the girl of my dreams?”

Gabby radiated with sheer joy in a way that was scarily reminiscent of Pinkie Pie. She then giggled and praised, “Ooh, she’s such a lucky girl to have you; I really need to be introduced to her properly.”

“Well, if you were in Canterlot the other day, I could have introduced you, but…” Gallus stopped himself, feeling his bravado drain away as quickly as he had gained it.

“Yeah,” she sighed, looking away regretfully. “I’m so sorry about missing the play. Ever since you guys defeated, er, them, Griffonstone has been trying to get back on its paws, and all kinds of creatures have been looking into visiting the place and vice versa.”

Gallus remembered the flight team that had been training a group of griffons on the day before the performance. He then frowned and asked, “Why would anyone want to visit Griffonstone though?”

“You mean other than Gilda’s amazing scones?” she joked slyly.

“Gruff’s scones,” he compulsively defended. “Let’s not forget that they’re his recipe.”

“Fair enough. But yeah, so many creatures are visiting Griffonstone—ponies, changelings; even hippogriffs! Some have even decided to help Gilda, Greta, and I fix everything up too! Seriously, this one guy, Neighsay, donated ten thousand Bits to the Restoration Fund! Can you believe it!?” she asked, joyfully dancing in place.

Ten thousand…!? Neighsay…!? “I don’t think I can,” he admitted, shaking his head in exasperation. “I’m guessing Gruff took complete control over the Bits?”

“He tried. Twice. Gilda managed to fight him off,” Gabby elaborated, scowling at the memory.

“Dang. I would have loved to see their slap fight.”

“‘Slap fight’? Yeah. We’ll go with that. ‘Slap fight,’” she said distantly.

“Oh.”

“Getting back on topic!” Gabby yelped. “Ever since creatures started coming to Griffonstone again, a lot of the other griffons have begun helping us too.”

So griffons are finally getting off their flanks and repairing that broken-down dirt heap? Huh. How long will that last? he wondered apathetically. Probably a week.

“Anyway,” she continued. “That’s why neither I nor Gilda could make it to your play. Gilda’s been swamped with work and budget plans, and my delivery load has tripled in the past two months! It’s a bit chaotic, but I’m glad we’re finally saving our home.”

Gallus bit down hard to keep himself from retorting. Unfortunately, while he managed to stifle his distaste for Griffonstone, he couldn’t stop himself from asking, “Was Gruff also ‘too busy’?”

Gabby’s eyes darted away as a somber expression overrode her bubbly visage.

She knew I was going to ask that, didn’t she? he realized, feeling his heart break even more behind his blank expression. Why did I even ask? I already know the answer…

As Gallus expected, Gabby soon spoke the usual line: “He, uh, couldn’t make it.” She then hastily placed her typical fake smile on, professing, “But he also wanted to apologize.”

“Oh really?”

“Yep!” she chirped, pulling a bundle of envelopes out of her satchel and passing them over to him. “Here are his letters, and mine, Gilda’s, and Gavin’s too.”

Now that’s not usual. “Gavin wrote me!?” he exclaimed in shock, taking the letters and searching for the one in question. “What’s that fledgling writing to me for?” he asked suspiciously.

“Gavin wanted to congratulate you and your friends. He really wanted to visit Canterlot and watch the play too, but we were all too busy to take him,” she ended morosely.

Gallus searched Gabby for any of her usual tells but found none of them. As far as he could tell, she was telling the truth, but it sadly didn’t do much to raise his spirits.

A random kid cares more about me and our play than my… Than Gruff. That’s nice, Gallus thought sourly. “Huh. Uh, I guess you can thank him for me? I’ll try to write him back later.”

“Mhmm,” Gabby hummed, nodding enthusiastically. “Don’t worry, I will. I think he’d like it if you did,” she added with a more genuine smile. “Sooo, how about you? How are you doing?”

He shrugged and said, “Eh. Things are settling down and going back to normal around here, so that’s good. Then I got my date with Silver planned, so that’s even better.” Minus the finance issue. “What about you? Anything going on in Griffonstone besides its ‘restoration’?”

“Not really. The next place we plan to fix up is the library, and we’re hoping to get it back up and running by this year’s Blue Moon Festival.” She then gasped and exclaimed, “Hey! Did you have any ideas for what kind of books we should stock up on?”

“The Starswirlian’s Guide to the Arcane. All forty-two volumes,” Gallus answered immediately. “Also, if you can, get yourself a copy of both Stygian’s Me and My Shadow trilogy and Twilight and her friends’ Friendship Journal too.”

“Already have five copies of that last one,” Gabby elaborated, giggling. “The Starswirlian Guide to the Arcane and Me and My Shadow? Got it! Thanks, Gallus.”

“No problem,” he brushed aside. “Was there anything else?”

“Nope, that was it. Sorry again for scaring you.”

“I wasn’t scared!” Gallus mock-protested.

“Right. Sure. We’ll go with that,” she joked back, winking. “Anyway, I’ve got more deliveries to make while I’m here; speaking of which, where is Rainbow Dash? Gilda wrote her a letter too.”

“Check the spa. If she’s not there, find Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie always knows.”

“Got it. Thanks again,” she said, spreading her wings and readying for takeoff.

“Gabby, wait!” he blurted out before he could stop himself.

“Hmm? Yeah, Gallus?” she replied, folding her wings back in.

“I, uh, well…” he uselessly stammered, still warring with himself over whether to ask it or not. Gallus ultimately caved and asked, “Do you remember that science project I mentioned a while back?”

“Uh-huh. How’s that going by the way?”

“Well, we finally figured out how stabilize the matrix properly.”

“Right, I remember you said that was giving you some trouble. But you and Ocellus got it working now? Yay! Congratulations, Gallus!” she praised.

And now even Gabby is prouder of me than him! Gallus silently fumed, saying, “Thanks. I bring it up because the, uh, the Fair is coming up soon and…” He hesitated one last time before finally relenting, “Could you ask Gruff to be there?”

“…Of course, Gallus,” Gabby promised warmly.

“Thanks,” he murmured. He’s not going to be there either, is he?

“Mhmm. Well, I’d better be off. Are you going to be okay?”

Everyone. Literally everyone has asked me that! Why do I keep making creatures ask me that!? “Of course, I’m always okay,” he lied spectacularly.

“Alright. See you later!”

“See you, Gabs.”

She gave him one last hug before trotting off, eventually spreading her wings and taking to the sky in search of the Ponyville Spa.

Gallus sighed, whispering, “Stupid,” to himself. He then trotted to the bench he had been sitting in and plopped back down onto it, leaning back and closing his eyes against the burning sun.

Why!? Why did I ask that!? Why did I even think asking that was a good idea!? I’m so stupid; if Gruff wanted to be anywhere near me, he would’ve…! He would’ve…

Then again, maybe he’ll actually show up this time? he tried to encourage himself. Maybe he’ll actually try to show up for once?

Ugh, who am I kidding, and why am I trying to get my hopes up!? Of course he won’t come, and of course he won’t care! Why would he? Gallus questioned, leaning forward to stare at the ground.

A moment later, a bright green earth pony trotted up and sat next to him silently.

Oh Grover… Here we go. “Hey,” Gallus greeted casually.

“Hey.”

…

“So, who’s Gavin?”

So that’s where we’re starting, eh, Sandy? “He’s another kid Gruff took in,” he explained calmly. Sandbar was silent, so he added, “He’s, uh, he’s a pretty good kid from what I know, even if I don’t know him that well. Neither of our families are…around.”

“Ah.”

Gallus blinked and stared at Sandbar in confusion. “‘Ah’? That’s all you can say?”

“Well, yeah?” Sandbar answered, puzzled by the question.

“I… You… Okay,” he sighed, shaking his head and looking back at the ground.

Sandbar looked at him curiously before shrugging and reclining against the bench, basking in the warm sunlight and relaxing his own tired hooves.

Gallus looked back at Sandbar out of the corner of his eye, seeing only a tranquil smile upon the stallion’s muzzle. He then turned his sights toward the Friendship School, remembering his confession to them about his breakdown and each of their reactions. A moment later, he gazed back at the ground, thinking.

Everything is fine, Gallus, he told himself. Sandbar clearly thinks you’re doing okay, and why wouldn’t he? You are okay! Today has been a perfectly normal day!

Exploring Ponyville? Normal.

Gabby showing up and delivering mail from Gruff? Normal!

Disappointment that Gruff would rather hide away in Griffonstone than see me do something I enjoy!? Normal! Even if it shouldn’t be, he admitted, scowling in furious sorrow.

Sandbar’s voice broke through his current thought train, asking, “Gallus? You in there, buddy?”

“Huh!” Gallus yelped, scrambling to regain his practiced smirk and erase all traces of his other feelings. “Sorry, Sandy. I was thinking about something else and zoned out. What were you saying?”

“Oh. Sorry for interrupting. I just remembered that I hadn’t apologized for not being able to attend your play either,” he said, frowning awkwardly.

“O-Oh. Nah, it’s nothing to worry about, Sandbar,” Gallus weakly assured. “I know you and everycreature else would have come if you could. But train tickets are expensive, and I’d rather you have Bits for the trees and ecosystem than one wasted night of watching me bomb.”

“Uh, you didn’t bomb. At least, according to everycreature I heard talk about it.”

Gallus flinched, realizing he had done it again. “Yeah. I know.”

“If you know then why are you saying otherwise?” he inquired, perplexed. “Or did something happen I don’t know about?”

“Nope, nothing happened; I’m just being, er, self-deprecating,” Gallus explained, trying his best to not dwell on Sandbar’s specific choice of phrasing.

“Why?”

“I’d rather degrade my own abilities than risk overselling them,” he randomly suggested. The moment those words left his beak, he winced, knowing the paranoia he had surely just wrought.

“You don’t have to degrade your abilities to not oversell them. Just don’t oversell them,” Sandbar advised nonchalantly.

“Of course,” Gallus said sarcastically, face-clawing. “It’s so simple; why didn’t I think of that?”

“Probably because you were too busy thinking of the other thing?”

Just confess how scared for me you are and get it over with! “…Yes. Yes, that must be it.”

“Knew it.”

“Congratulations, Sandy, you knew it.”

“Aw, thanks, Gallus. Glad to know my mom’s and Yona’s advice helped,” Sandbar said merrily, closing his eyes and reclining against the bench again.

Gallus stared at the pony for a solid minute until he turned his gaze into nothingness, trying desperately to comprehend what had just happened.

So, Sandbar clearly sees I’m upset, but… Doesn’t ask if I’m okay, doesn’t freak-out and blame himself for me being upset, and doesn’t have a panic attack that I won’t stop being upset.

…

HOW THE PECK!? Gallus screamed into the corners of his mind. How can Sandbar sit there and accept I’m fine!? No paranoia, no lingering worries… Nothing!? How!? Not even Silver is— He shook his head, banishing that thought. No better way to find out than to ask, I suppose.

“Okay, how do you do that?”

“Hmm? How do I do what?” Sandbar asked, meeting his friend’s gaze.

“Act so… Is it ‘chill’? Is ‘chill’ the right word?”

Sandbar said nothing.

“Maybe it’s not that word. But, like… How are you so calm? Is that a better one?”

“Calm about what?”

“Everything!”

“…I think I’m going to need more context, Gallus.”

Well, peck! How am I supposed to answer that without screwing everything up and making him paranoid even though he currently isn’t!?

…You shouldn’t feel the need to force yourself to pick and choose what you can or can’t say or think because you want them to be happy before yourself, he remembered, gulping nervously.

Gallus closed his eyes and took another breath, telling himself, Calm down, Gallus. We’re talking to Sandbar; there’s no need to get so worked up. Nor try to micromanage his feelings.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized softly.

“Okay, now I’m even more confused. What are you asking, and why are apologizing?”

“I’m apologizing for lying just now,” Gallus said, flicking his tail anxiously. “And I’m asking how you’re able to act like everything is back to normal even though it’s… Not.”

Sandbar blinked. He blinked again. Suddenly, his eyes widened as what Gallus meant finally dawned on him. “Okay… Please continue elaborating?” he requested calmly.

And I made him paranoid. Good job, Gal—nope, I’m not going to think that! I shouldn’t think that; I should be better enough to not think that! “Look, I know I didn’t suck at the play, alright?” Gallus confessed warily. “I only said that because… Well? Honestly, I don’t know why I said that.”

“Oh. Well, that’s okay,” Sandbar gently comforted. “Everycreature has things they say without knowing why they say them.”

“Is that more of your parents’ advice?”

“Nope, that’s my uncle’s.”

Gallus snorted.

“But, uh, as to that second statement…?” he asked hesitantly.

And. Here. We. Go. “Right. Look, I don’t know how to explain this, so please bear with me?”

“Of course!”

“Thanks.” Deciding it would be best to be fully honest from the start, Gallus admitted, “Sandbar, Silver is still worried about me. And while I know they’re not as afraid as they were anymore, I know Yona and Ocellus are still worried too. And then there’s Smolder who still isn’t talking to me,” he added, flinching at the memory of his most recent exposure to her silent treatment. “And I know it’s been a while since Friends and Family Day, but everything is still…” he trailed off, sighing.

“My friends are still worried,” Gallus eventually continued. “I’m still worried! And it doesn’t help when I either don’t know what to do for my second date with Silver or can’t afford to do what I want! Not to mention I suck at dancing and got you coated in paint,” he mumbled, slumping.

“You’re not that bad at dancing; you just need more practice. And everycreature needs to practice at something before they’re good at it,” Sandbar acknowledged wisely. “Plus, I already forgave you for the paint thing, and like you said, Yona can totally fix this up.”

“And if she can’t?”

“Assuming there exists a single, worst possible timeline in the whole of the multiverse where Yona would ever fail at anything, and we live in that world? Eh. I was due for a mane-cut anyway.”

Gallus couldn’t help but laugh.

“But just to make sure I’m getting it?” Sandbar began cautiously. “You’re saying that everything is not okay? Because dating is hard and the others are worried about you?”

“It’s a lot of little things,” Gallus tried to explain. “A bunch of little things all getting thrown out of whack at the same time, and…” he sighed again.

“I just want everything to go back to the way it was, you know?” he resumed, shrugging. “I want Silver to be happy and optimistic again, not panicky and worried; I want Smolder to talk to me again, not look away every time I wave hello; and I want my second date with Silver to be absolutely perfect, not a complete disaster. Why do you think I asked you to help me out with Dance Class?”

“So you could have a partner you knew instead of some random pony from down the lane?”

“Okay, that too,” Gallus agreed, earning a bark of laughter. “But seriously, Sandy, I want everything to go back to normal. I want to be normal! And you know what else I want, er, wanted?”

Sandbar’s grin drooped a little as he guessed, “You wanted us to be there for your play?”

“I wanted Gruff to be there for my play,” he corrected. “But no. Instead, he’d rather hide away in that stupid hovel than come to watch me and my friends perform in Canterlot and risk encouraging me. All because I apparently don’t need to know he’s proud of me,” he angrily growled.

“Okay, hold on. I think I’m lacking some context here again,” Sandbar pointed out softly. “I thought you said Gruff wasn’t your real grandpa?”

“He isn’t.”

“Then why does it matter if he’s proud of you?”

“…Because he’s the closest thing I have to one,” Gallus mumbled, rubbing at his eye.

“Oh.”

“Yeah. ‘Oh.’”

…

Gallus soon felt Sandbar place his hoof on his shoulder consolingly. He then said, “Sorry, dude. I didn’t know you felt that way about the guy.”

“It’s okay, Sandbar. To be honest, I’m not sure I know how I feel about Gruff. I don’t even know why I suddenly care so much anyway,” Gallus admitted, wincing. “I just wished he’d have been there for our play. I should really know better than to get my hopes up, huh?”

“No…? It’s totally fine to have hope, dude.”

“Even in something that clearly will never happen?”

Sandbar shrugged and answered, “Yeah.”

Gallus stared at him and stated, “See, this is why I asked you how you do it.”

“Do what exactly?”

“Act like everything is normal even when it’s not,” he repeated. “Or… Now that it’s not anymore.” Gallus rubbed his temples and acknowledged, “Sandbar? You know you’ve been the least paranoid of all my friends, right?”

“I have?”

“Did you not hear a word I said about Ocellus and Yona still being worried, Smolder shutting me out, and Silverstream… And Silver… But then there’s you,” Gallus chose to say instead. “You talked about your awesome parents in front of me. You didn’t have a panic attack when I self-deprecated again! And you’ve been sitting here listening to me ramble for hours!”

“Uh, you haven’t been talking to me for hours. It’s only been, like, ten minutes.”

“Yeah, well, it feels like it took hours to figure out what to say.”

“Huh. Relativity is weird,” Sandbar stated completely out of nowhere.

“Well, you’re not wrong,” Gallus agreed, remembering the time Ocellus had tried to explain it.

“Oh, so I did use the right word? Yes!” he cheered. “Sci-Fi movies for the win!”

Gallus rolled his eyes and concluded, “And that is what I’m talking about; I’m literally dumping all of my problems on you, and you’re not panicking at all! Like… How!? You know what? When you guys first found out about everything, and I said I was doing better? You believed me just like that!” he said, snapping his talons. “How, Sandbar?”

Sandbar put his hoof to his chin, humming in thought. “I don’t know,” he eventually answered.

“You don’t know?” he echoed back.

“Well, I’m just not sure how to really answer that. I mean… The reason I believed you when you said you were doing better was that you said were doing better,” Sandbar acknowledged as if it were that simple.

“Sooo? What? You’re saying you trusted that I was telling the truth?”

“Yeah.”

Gallus blinked, completely taken aback. “And you didn’t suspect I was lying to make you all feel better?” he inquired, thinking back on his conversations with Ocellus and Silverstream.

“The thought did cross my mind once or twice,” he admitted hesitantly. “But then I remembered that you’re you. You’d never lie about something as serious as mental health.”

“I had already lied once before,” he argued, still not accepting Sandbar’s apparent trust.

“True. But the Yaks have a pretty cool saying: An inclination toward falsehood is not equatable to an unpreparedness for veracity,” he recited sagely. “Basically, it means some creatures lie not because they want to hurt somecreature else, but because they’re not ready to accept or tell the truth.”

“And that means what exactly?” Gallus asked, shrugging aggressively.

“I guess in this instance, you didn’t lie because you wanted to mess our friendship up or something. You just didn’t tell us you were upset because you weren’t ready to,” he explained calmly.

“And— And you didn’t just expect I was lying again anyway!?”

“Nope, I didn’t. But if you did, it’d probably be because you still weren’t ready to talk about your problems yet then either. Kind of like Smolder and that dress horde she has.” Sandbar blinked. “I probably shouldn’t have said that,” he whispered fearfully, looking over his shoulder.

“And if I had done that, what then!? When would I have been ready to talk about my problems!?” he demanded, searching Sandbar for even a single hint of dishonesty.

“When you were ready,” he said, turning back to Gallus. “If you weren’t ready to talk about something then you weren’t ready to talk about something. I don’t think there’s any shame in that.”

Gallus reeled back and gaped, trying to process that statement. “You mean that? You genuinely mean that?” he asked disbelievingly. “That’s why you’ve been acting like everything is fine? Because this entire time, you’ve believed me when I said I was doing better?”

“Uh, yeah? Why wouldn’t I?”

“Even though I lied to all of you…! Even though I was miserable, had a meltdown, and hid it from you all…! Even though I’m a griffon…! In spite of all of that, you still trusted me?”

“I feel like we’ve been here before; have we been here before?”

“Answer the question, Sandbar!”

“Yes! Yes, again!” he quickly confirmed. “And also again, why wouldn’t I?”

Gallus wrapped his talons around Sandbar’s torso and proceeded to squeeze the life out of the pony. The hug lasted for all of five seconds before he pushed the stallion away and squawked, “Okay, that’s enough hugging; don’t tell any creature about this!”

“Wasn’t planning on it,” Sandbar assured, glad to be able to breathe again. “So, uh, if you don’t mind me asking…? Why is me trusting in you such a surprise?”

Because even Silverstream doesn’t. “Like I said, Sandbar, everything is messed up right now, and… And I know I shouldn’t blame myself, but there’s still a part of me that knows all of this is technically my fault,” Gallus explained wistfully. “So, seeing that something—Anything!—remained normal after my breakdown? It’s… It’s relieving.”

Sandbar tilted his head in confusion, asking, “So the others have been worried about you because they thought you were lying?”

“I’m not sure about Yona or Smolder, but Ocellus certainly was paranoid that I had been. And Silverstream is… She’s… She…” he struggled to elaborate before giving up and falling silent.

“Hey, don’t worry, dude. I get it,” he said, placing his hoof on the griffon’s shoulder again.

Gallus sighed. “I shouldn’t put all of this on you out of nowhere, Sandbar; I’m sorry! I just… I just needed somecreature to talk to about this. … Other than Headmare Starlight,” he added.

“Again, I get it. Don’t worry.” Sandbar was quiet a moment until he murmured, “I’m sorry I talked about my parents to you. I didn’t even think you would be uncomfortable with—”

“Don’t, Sandy,” Gallus commanded sternly. “Don’t be sorry. You don’t need to feel sorry for loving your parents on my account. I only brought it up as an example.”

Sandbar stared at him for a moment before saying, “Alright. But, uh, if I ever do start, er, talking too much again? Will you let me know so I stop?”

“Don’t worry. I know not to hide my feelings; I’m just bad at it.”

“Everycreature is bad at everything when they begin. It’s only after they practice and learn do they get better,” he commented sagely.

“Another Yak saying? Or your family’s?”

“Nope, that’s one of mine.”

“Heh. It’s a pretty good one too.”

“Aw, thanks, Gallus!”

The two shared a quiet chuckle.

“…So, were we done with the date stuff then?” Sandbar suddenly asked.

“Uh. I guess so?” Gallus answered, thrown off by the question. “At least with the first and second lists. I can, uh, finish the third through the twenty-fifth on my own, I guess…”

“Oh-ho-ho, no! I’m helping you with those too!” he vowed. “I just want to make sure we’re done with everything before we head back to my house.”

“…What?” he asked, trying to understand Sandbar’s current mental gymnastics.

Sandbar thought for another moment and began, “Gallus, look. I’m not going to deny that I don’t understand half of the stuff you’re going through either. I don’t know what to tell you to make you feel better about Gruff not being there for you in Canterlot or how to make you not feel like it’s your fault the others are worried about you… I don’t know how to help solve that,” he admitted sadly.

Before Gallus could reply, Sandbar continued enthusiastically, “However! I’m still your friend! So while I may not be able to solve all of your problems, I can at least help you solve some of them!” He then stood up and faced Gallus, clearing his throat and reciting, “Cross my heart! Hope to fly! Stick a cupcake in my eye! I Pinkie Promise I’m going to help you out as best I can!”

Gallus leaned back in awe of the usually calm stallion’s sudden determination. He then smiled gratefully and said, “Thanks, Sandbar. Just, thanks. … But, uh, what exactly are you talking about, because now I’m confused.”

“You know how earlier you were annoyed that your room was empty and bare now that you got the Princess’s letters all cleaned up?”

He remembered that? “Uh, yeah?”

“I’ve got an idea of what we can put in your room first,” Sandbar said, smirking deviously.


***


“Seriously, Sandbar, you don’t have to do this!”

“Nope, I Pinkie Promised. And you never break a Pinkie Promise,” Sandbar argued, grunting in exertion. “Not that I would want to anyway. Now come help me hang this thing up, would ya!”

“I don’t feel comfortable with this,” Gallus repeated, hurrying to his friend’s aid.

“It’s just a mirror, Gallus; what’s the problem?”

“It’s your mirror!”

“And I’m giving it to you!”

“But it’s the mirror you made for Friends and Family Day!”

“And you’re my friend!”

“Yeah, but…! This is just too much, Sandy,” he said guiltily. “This is the thing you made for your family, and—”

“And you are as good as family to me,” Sandbar stated bluntly. After a brief silence, he nodded at the mirror, saying, “Now c’mon. I think we’ve almost got it on the hook.”

Gallus silently pushed the mirror up a tad more until it jerked. After another round of jostling, the mirror fell into place against the wall of his bedroom with a resounding clunk.

Reflected back at them from within a circlet of glass, mahogany, and macaroni were the smiles of both a sea green earth pony and a sky blue griffon.

“Okay, it is a pretty cool mirror,” the latter acknowledged quietly. “Even if macaroni isn’t exactly my favorite food.”

“What do you mean by…? Oh! Oh,” Sandbar groaned, remembering their first Generosity Class after the holiday. “You do know Professor Rarity was giving me too much credit, right?”

“Nonsense! This totally ‘visually encapsulates your love for your friends and family.’”

Sandbar blinked then rubbed his mane awkwardly.

“Besides, you’re practically forcing it on me, so I certainly hope that’s what it’s meant to convey,” he concluded jokingly.

“…Gallus, are you okay with the mirror or not?” Sandbar asked gently. “Because if you really don’t like it, I’ll take it back; I don’t want to come across like I’m ‘forcing’ you to have it.”

“It’s fine, Sandbar,” Gallus said, smiling more genuinely. “I am really grateful for the gift. It’s just… I don’t feel like I deserve it. This was your creative expression for your family, not me.”

“No offense, Gallus? But you might need to go to the ear doctor.”

Gallus snorted.

“Don’t laugh; I’m serious!” he continued. “With how much I keep having to tell you you’re family to me, I’m not sure if you either aren’t paying attention or legitimately can’t hear me.”

“I can hear you, Sandy; I can hear you. Just a personal hang-up is all.” One I shouldn’t have.

“Well, that’s good to know.”

“That I have a personal hang-up?”

“That you can hear me,” Sandbar corrected. “And if it helps? November was completely spot-on when he said I had just bought a mirror and glued macaroni to it. I mean, I technically bought the mirror for my mom, but then my sister found where we kept our macaroni and decided to ‘help’ me out. With glue. My dad’s special, name-brand, industrial glue.”

“Your sister didn’t try to eat it, did she?” Gallus asked, chuckling slightly.

“No, she’s old enough to know better than to do that. Just not old enough to know better than to touch my stuff without permission,” he added, shaking his head exasperatedly.

“Heh-heh.” After a moment, Gallus went to his desk and opened a drawer, saying, “At least let me reimburse you so you can get your mom a new mirror. Here, I think I have enough Bits to—”

“No, Gallus!” Sandbar protested, leaving no room for objection. “Those are your Bits, and you’re going to spend them on something else. Like a poster, or a concert ticket, or—better yet!—for your date with Silverstream,” he suggested. “There’s only so far coupons can go, you know.”

“Yeah, but—”

“No ‘buts’! I’m not going to make you waste your Bits on a dumb mirror when you need them. This is a gift. From me. To you,” he stressed emphatically. “Generosity 101, dude.”

Gallus paused for a moment before sighing in defeat. “Thanks, Sandbar, I really appreciate it. But just so you know? I am going to pay you back for this.”

“Pay me back by giving Silver a good time on your second date,” he requested smugly.

“Heh. I was already planning on it.”

“Good. … Well! Now that that’s settled, there’s one more thing I wanted to do with the mirror.”

“And that was?”

“You know how Headmare Starlight has her own mirror, but it has pictures of her friends on it?” he said, holding up an envelope.

“…You don’t mean…?”

“Yep! I’ve got photos of everything from the school’s reopening after Tirek and his cronies attacked, to when we all saw you guys off for the play in Canterlot.”

Gallus stared at Sandbar in pure disbelief for a moment until he finally blurted out, “How!?”

“Yearbook,” Sandbar answered plainly.

“May I?”

“Sure, here ya go,” he said, passing the envelope over. “There’s over four dozen in there, so let me know which ones you want—”

A gentle knock at the door interrupted them.

Gallus and Sandbar exchanged glances before the former said, “Come in.”

The door creaked open, allowing Silverstream’s head to peek through. She then caught sight of Gallus and beamed, saying, “I thought I heard your voices. Hey, Gallus; hey, Sandbar.”

“Hey, Silver,” Gallus greeted, trying to quash the uneasiness that had returned. “How are you doing?”

“I’m great,” she answered, dashing over and giving him a quick hug. “You?”

“I’m good,” he said, reciprocating her hug. “What have you been up to today?”

“Oh, nothing. Just hanging out with Yona and Scoop,” she answered casually. She then looked at the newest addition to his room and asked, “Are you and Sandbar switching rooms or something?”

“Nah, I’m just giving him my mirror,” Sandbar clarified. “I don’t need it anymore, and he asked if he could have it,” he lied.

“Really? Gallus, I didn’t know you liked to be symbolically surrounded by macaroni!” Silver playfully proclaimed. “I guess now I know what our next cooking lesson will be on.”

“Yeah, well…” Gallus couldn’t think of anything to say in his defense, so he opted to change the subject by asking, “So you hung out with Scoop, huh?”

“Uh-huh,” she confirmed, giving him a knowing smirk.

“I’m betting she spoiled you on what else I was doing today?”

“Maaaybe! Is it too much to ask what you’ve got planned so far?” Silver softly prodded.

Well, at least she didn’t end it with: If that’s okay with you. Or something similar, Gallus noted, finding a bit of relief in that. “Why, Silver! I thought you wanted it to be a surprise?” he joked.

“Oh, definitely! But according to, uh, what number was it again?” she mumbled, pulling one of Cadence’s letters out of her bag. “Ah! According to Advice Thirty-three, knowing what the date entails is essential to determining the proper attire.”

That reminds me, I need to ask Yona for a suit. “Well, I’m still trying to figure out all the minute details, but I have at least some of them sorted out. I’ll run everything by you before I decide an actual schedule for the day.”

“I suppose that’s acceptable,” Silver said formally. “And by that I mean: Scoop will probably leave me alone now that I’ve confirmed that,” she deadpanned. “Speaking of which! Gallus, you think bowling can be romantic, right?”

First stop confirmed! “Totally. On that note, how do you feel about the aquarium?”

“Well, I would certainly hope you plan to take me there!” she answered excitedly. “I don’t know if you know this, but there are so many differences between Equestria and Seaquestria’s knowledge of the ocean! Seriously, it’s astounding!” she squealed. Silverstream then coughed and bashfully advised, “Just try to save it for the third date since we’d be there all day if we did go.”

Don’t say it, Sandbar. Don’t say it, Sandbar. Don’t say it, Sandbar.

“Told you so,” the stallion said, giving him a friendly nudge.

Dang it, Sandbar!

“Huh? Wait a minute,” she began, looking at the two suspiciously. “Sandbar, were you helping Gallus figure out what to do for our next date?”

“Maaaybe.”

“Hmm. Well, I guess I’ll just have to tell Yona that then,” she said with a sly smile. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate her boyfriend being an awesome friend to mine.”

Translation: Sandbar, you’re in for a kiss, Gallus thought, giving the pony a smirk.

“Uh, thanks?” he said, not getting it quite yet. “Speaking of Yona, where is she anyway?”

“She went to the post office to mail a tape of our play to her family. They might have come to the play, but Yona wanted the rest of Yakyakistan to see her performance too,” Silver explained. She then noticed Gallus and Sandbar had both gone still and asked, “Is something wrong?”

“Hold on, our play was recorded?” Gallus asked hopefully.

“Mhmm. Princess Twilight sent copies for all of us. Oh, I almost forgot!” she said, extracting a video tape from her bag and passing to Gallus. “This one’s yours, Gallus. Headmare Starlight caught me when I came back to the dormitories and asked that I give it to you.”

Gallus gingerly took the item into his talons and looked it over, gaping. He then held it up and gave Sandbar the same shocked expression. The pony merely calmly shrugged, so he turned back to Silver and joked, “Silverstream, how are you always the solution to all of my problems?”

“‘P-Problems’?” she repeated in a cracked voice.

Phrasing, Gallus! Phrasing! he rebuked himself, quickly clarifying, “I’m gonna pull a Yona and send this thing to Gramps since he was a no-show that night.”

“Oh!” she chirped, visibly relieved. “Wait, he wasn’t there? I thought you asked him to be?”

“And he was a no-show.”

“Oh. Sorry, Gallus,” she murmured.

“Eh, no big deal. At least, not anymore. But on that note? Sandbar, Ocellus, and Smolder didn’t get a chance to see us either, you know,” he suggested coyly, holding up the tape.

Silverstream stared at him blankly before gasping in realization and asking, “Movie night!?”

“Movie night,” he agreed happily.

“YES!” Silver shouted, giving Gallus another hug. “It’s been a looooong time since we last did that! Okay, standard procedure?” she guessed, looking to Sandbar for confirmation.

“My place. I’ll make the food and drinks,” he said.

“And kick the Great and Powerful September Tempest out too,” Gallus reminded him.

“That too.”

“I’ll get Yona,” Silver volunteered, choosing not to ask about the “September Tempest” line.

“And I’ll get Ocellus and Smolder,” Gallus said, feeling a flare of anxiety flicker to life upon muttering the latter’s name. “Meet up in ten minutes?”

“Meet up in ten minutes,” they echoed back, hurrying out the door to do their respective tasks. Gallus followed suite, closing his door after one last grateful glance at Sandbar’s gift.

After waving back to Silverstream before she rounded the corner, Gallus trotted up to his friend’s bedroom. Before he finished approaching, the changeling poked her head through the open door, asking excitedly, “Movie night!?”

“And here I thought you were an emotion reader, Ocellus,” he quipped, coming to a stop in front of her door. “But nope, you’re a mind reader too apparently.”

Her warm smile vanished instantly as she frantically stuttered, “T-That— I k-keep telling you guys that th-that’s not how it works!”

“And yet you never tell us how it actually works,” Gallus fired back.

Ocellus reeled back and proceeded to look away, biting her lip.

“…Okay, okay! Sorry,” he apologized, seeing her discomfort. “I didn’t mean any offense.”

“No, no, I know! Sorry. My door was cracked, s-so I heard you guys talking about the movie night,” she explained nervously. “Totally has absolutely nothing to do with mind-reading! Heh-heh-heh,” Ocellus laughed weakly.

“Okaaay… So, what’s your answer?” Gallus asked, ignoring her weird nervousness.

“Well, I am almost done with explaining the foundation of the third tier of our second teleportation matrix model,” she stated slowly. “But I am kind of tired, and you seem pretty excited, so yeah! I can finish it tomorrow. Standard procedure, I presume?”

“Sandbar’s place. Ten minutes.”

“Got it.” Ocellus then looked at Smolder’s door and frowned worriedly. “Uh, do you want me to talk to her, or…?” she offered timidly.

Gallus considered it for a moment before shaking his head, saying, “Nah. I’ve got it. You go on ahead; we’ll catch up.”

“Okay,” she slowly conceded. “Meet you at Sandbar’s.”

“Meet you at Sandbar’s,” he echoed, waiting for her to disappear down the corridor. He then cautiously approached Smolder’s door and stared at it.

…

Gallus looked out of the corner of his eye, expecting some half-formed, imaginary ghost to be standing there, smiling maliciously. Of course, like every other time he had done it in recent times, he found no such phantasm.

Encouraged by that fact, he took a deep breath and thought to himself, She’s your friend, Gallus, and your hers. Silent treatment or no… You’re friends.

No more cowardice, he concluded as he knocked on the door.

…

He knocked again, a little less gently this time.

“C-Coming!” she blurted out.

Gallus then heard the telltale sound of books falling and a dragon tripping. That was quickly followed by a rather loud swear that he hoped went unheard by both his teachers and fellow students.

Eventually, Smolder opened her door and froze upon seeing just who waited on the other side.

“Gallus! Uh, er, uh… Hi!” she yelped nervously.

“Hey, Smolder,” he greeted as confidently as he could. Please don’t shut me out; please don’t shut me out; please don’t shut me out! “How are you doing?”

“I’m doing fine,” she answered neutrally. Smolder then shot a panicked glance back at the sea of books currently hiding her bedroom floor.

Gallus had just enough time to recognize some of the titles were from the Psychology section before she slammed her door shut and leaned against it protectively, crossing her claws. “How about you?” she asked, deflecting away from her previous action.

“Good,” he answered, choosing not to ask further.

…

Ah, awkward silence! Truly the best way to interact with my friends, Gallus sarcastically lamented. “So, how’s your Science Fair project going?” he tried.

“Eh. Well eno—I mean! Fine! Just fine,” she course-corrected. “Yours?”

“Practical part is done. Now Ocellus and I just have to finish the written part.”

“Good… Good…”

Just get to the point, Gallus. “Okay, so you know how Silver, Yona, and I went to Canterlot a few days ago to do a play?”

Smolder seemed to perk up a bit, saying, “Yeah! I heard you guys were great! … Sorry about not being there,” she murmured, scowling at the floor.

“You don’t need to apologize, Smolder,” he calmly assured. “I get it.”

If he didn’t know any better, Gallus would have thought he saw Smolder flinch.

“Yeah, well… I still feel like apologizing,” she countered. After a brief stretch of silence, she added, “I mean, we’re friends! The least I could have done is come and cheer you on, right?”

YES! Gallus mentally celebrated. She does still think of me as her friend! “Aw, thanks, Smolder. I really appreciate that,” he admitted.

She finally tore her gaze from the floor, staring at him in surprise. “Uh, you’re welcome?” she offered briskly.

“Mhmm. But, uh…? Do you still want to watch me and the others perform?”

Smolder blinked and asked, “Wait, are you guys performing The Epoch of Majesty Serendipity Daydream for the school too?”

“Try: Princess Twilight recorded our play and sent us all tapes,” he clarified.

Smolder stood there, blinking owlishly at him for almost a minute before she sighed. “Look, Gallus…? I… I can’t. I’ve got, er, studying to do. And, well…”

No, no, no! “Smolder,” he began carefully. “I know you and I are still… Whatever it is that’s going on between us…”

Smolder flinched.

“Look, I get it. I’m not asking you to figure out what it is you want to say to me or anything. I’m just asking you come and watch our play with us tonight. Like we used to,” he appealed softly.

She looked at him for all of a second before nervously averting her eyes again. After another moment of silence, she took a deep breath and said, “So… Basically, movie night, huh?”

Oh thank Grover! “Movie night.”

“Heh. Been a long time since we had one of those.”

“Yeah, well, it’s about time we did something normal for a change, don’t ya think?” he asked with a shrug. “You know, instead of stopping world-ending threats and resurrecting ancient god trees.”

Smolder snickered. “You’re not wrong. Standard procedure?” she asked, visibly relaxing.

“Standard procedure.”

“Sandbar’s place?”

“Sandbar’s place.”

…

“Well? What are we waiting here for?” she inquired rhetorically. “Let’s go get some popcorn and watch you, Yona, and Silver rock a play!”

I guess things really are returning to normal, he thought, nearly exploding in relief. Bit-by-bit. Step-by-step. Everything is becoming okay again. “You know it,” he said, smiling happily.

Smolder chuckled quietly.

“You wanna race?” Gallus asked as his smile became decidedly more competitive. “Winner gets to watch the show in Sandy’s recliner?”

After a moment of silence, she grinned confidently, proclaiming, “Ha! You’re on, fluffy boy!”

“On three?”

“On three!”

“One…!”

“Two…!

“THREE!”

They both flared their wings and streaked through the halls of the Friendship School.