//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Invitation // Story: Somewhere In The Between // by Closer-To-The-Sun //------------------------------// “So….this is a thing?” Silverstream happily replied, “Yup!” Smolder looked at both the hippogriff and the griffon before asking again, “I’m sorry, I don’t believe I heard this right, you two are seriously dating?” “Yes,” Gallus answered, already sounding exhausted, partly because he knew his friends were going to have a reaction along these lines, “we are dating.” Seated across from Silverstream and Gallus was their friend Smolder, and next to her on one side was the earth pony Sandbar, and the other was their changeling friend Ocellus. The light blue changeling spoke up, “Oh, I’m so excited for you two! It’s so nice to see my friends find happiness together!” “Yeah, congrats,” Sandbar stated as he took a bite from his dinner plate. “Thanks, Sandbar!” Silverstream happily said as she leaned next to her, onto Gallus’ body. The griffon, while he didn’t mind the affection, did not care for the attention from his friends.  The dragon smirked as she noticed Gallus was getting annoyed, “Are you gonna tell us how it happened? Who asked who first? Come on, Gallus, give me the details.” “No,” he flatly replied. “Please?” Ocellus asked with curiosity. Before any other creature could also ask for more details, a familiar yak made her way up to the mess hall table with her tray of food, “Hello, friends! Sorry Yona late, what Yona miss?” The pony answered, “We just learned that Gallus and Silverstream have been dating under our noses for a while.” A groan escaped from Gallus’ beak, which caused snickering from Smolder. Yona happily took the free seat next to Silverstream as she placed the tray on the table, “Ooo! Yona want to know how friends started dating! Please tell!” “Can we….not do this?” he asked. The rest of the table didn’t share his interest in dropping the subject. “Come on!” “Please tell us?” “Tell us, Gallus!” The griffon sighed and gave up, “Fine.” Gallus thought for a moment as he looked down at his almost empty plate, only cauliflower remaining, something he hated eating. He looked back up at the eager faces waiting for an answer, “I guess….it sorta just happened.” The answer didn’t seem to appease the rest of the table. There were a few different reactions, particularly Ocellus leaning in waiting for more details while Yona and Smolder groaned in disappointment. Silverstream seemed to find all of the various attitudes humorous. “Come on, give us some details at least?” Sandbar asked. Gallus shrugged, “I don’t know, what do you want me to say? It just happened. Like, I don’t know, you know when you’re on a trip and you’re so focused on getting to the destination that you don’t realize you pass a five cart pile-up and you’re covered in ticks until you stop?” Smolder raised an eyebrow, “I….huh?” “Wait,” Yona thought aloud, “is Gallus' relationship the wreckage or the ticks?” “Silverstream and I just started dating without really realizing it, make sense?” Gallus insisted. “I think we’re still unpacking your analogy….” Sandbar commented as he reflected on what Gallus said. Ocellus looked as if she wanted to try and spend more time on figuring out what Gallus meant, she gave up and focused on something else, “Well, either way, I’m so happy for you two!” “Yona so happy for friends!” Silverstream smiled as she responded to all of her friends, “Thank you, every creature!” Despite the rest of the table happy and celebratory for Silverstream and Gallus, “It’s not that big of a deal. We’ve been dating for a few weeks now….” “A few weeks, then you got to tell us about your first official date!” Smolder verbally nudged. Before Gallus could shut down the talk about such, Silverstream quickly interrupted, “Oh, it was so fun! Gallus actually suggested it for me!” “Did he now?” Sandbar had a bit of sly smile toward the griffin, who glared back daggers. “Yes, he did! He recommended that we go to the Museum of Stairs in Manehattan!” Silverstream explained. “It was so neat! There were stairs from all over Equestria, and even some exhibits from other places! It was so informative and fascinating! I took so many photos!” “It’s true,” Gallus quickly interjected in an almost bored tone, “she went through five disposable cameras.” Silverstream quickly finished, “But what was really neat was they actually had some stairs from my home back at Mount Aris. It actually made me a little homesick.” Again, Gallus spoke up to the rest of the table, “I assure you, it was just a simple date and wasn’t all that extravagant.” Ocellus was the first to speak, “It still sounds like a really nice time for the two of you.” “Yona agree, that sound like fun time,” Yona said as she took a bite of her food. “Yeah, didn’t know you had a romantic feather in either of your wings,” Smolder joked. Gallus stood up from his seat, “Well, as much as I like being given the business by my friends, I do have some homework to finish. If you’ll excuse me,” Gallus took his tray and started his way to the return area. “Come on, Gallus, we’re just poking fun at you a little,” Sandbar said, hoping his friend would stay. “Or a lot. Probably more a lot,” Smolder added. Silverstream grabbed her tray and followed behind him, “Wait up, I’ll come with you. I have to finish my homework too.” After Gallus and Silverstream returned their trays, the two started trotting back to the dormitories. They chatted aimlessly for a bit until Silverstream spoke up. “Hey Gallus, I’m sorry about that,” she apologized with a smile, “I hope you weren’t too embarrassed.”  A small giggle followed. “It’s okay, I just don’t really like having all sorts of attention on me,” Gallus admitted. “It’s not you, trust me. Whenever I’m put on the spot….I don’t know, I just get defensive or something.” The hippogriff giggled a bit, “I can tell.” They continued to make their way through the hallway for a bit before Silverstream spoke up again, “Actually, speaking of surprises, there is something I have to tell you.” “Oh no, this can’t be good,” Gallus muttered to himself. “My parents found out about us and….” Gallus quickly interrupted, “How did they find out we were dating?” “Because I told them?” Silverstream admitted with a smile. The griffon was at a loss for words he wanted to say to express exactly how he was feeling. But the smile on the hippogriff’s face eased his annoyance, and he also knew there was going to be more to what she had to say, “Alright, they know we’re dating, and….?” “They invited us over for dinner tomorrow, they would like to meet you!” Silverstream finished. Gallus stopped in his tracks. For a moment, it seems he was paralyzed at the thought. “What.” “Yeah, it’ll be fun! I always wanted to show you Seaquestria!” A number of things went through Gallus’ mind. What were Silverstream’s parents like? Did they really have to go all the way to Seaquestria? Would her parents like him? What did he just get himself into? The hippogriff continued, “We’ll leave tomorrow, if you’re okay with going!” “I’m not sure about going, Silverstream,” Gallus said, “You know I’m not really the one to be the center of attention.” “It’s just my parents! I don’t even think Terramar will be home. Besides, they just want to meet you, and it’s not every day that my mom and dad get together like this, you see with my dad being so busy on Mount Aris and with my mom helping out Auntie Novo!” Another realization hit Gallus as his expression dropped further, “Oh yeah….you’re related to Queen Novo….” “Yeah, that’s right!” Silverstream obliviously smiled, “She’s a fun aunt, when she’s not worried about governing and all of that!” Gallus raised a talon up to his head as he leaned up against a nearby wall, “I guess you all really want me to stop by for a visit, huh?” He was massaging his forehead as if it would alleviate his headache. Silverstream nodded with a smile on her beak, “Totally! It’s gonna be so much fun!” With a sigh, Gallus finally relented, “Alright, tomorrow it is.” “Oh, I’m so excited! I don’t want to jinx it, but I feel like this is going to be a great trip!”