“Okay, now turn around for Yona.”
Gallus turned to the right.
“Turn other way please.”
Gallus turned to the left.
“Hmm…? Hold on! Ah-ha!” Yona proceeded to fiddle with a random seam in the side of the suit, declaring, “There! Now, please face forward.”
He did as instructed, desperately keeping his aching body as still as possible.
“Mhmm, mhmm! Yona love it; Yona love it,” she chanted to herself, gazing over every inch of his body as if he were a Bit. “Okay, Gallus, spread wings for Yona please.”
Gallus did so, trying to ignore the tingling sensation of both appendages awakening from their frozen slumber. He then twitched nervously when she gently tapped them with her hooves.
“Yona, why are you doing that?” he asked, unable to stay quiet.
“Seeing which feathers Gallus need preened. Also how wings fit in suit sleeves,” she clarified, too busy observing the latter item to register his uneasy grimace.
“Oh.” For the love of Grover’s Treasure! Somecreature save me from my crazy friend and her pecking sewing kit! Gallus silently begged the world.
The Carousel Boutique’s doors didn’t so much as twitch.
Figures.
Several more uncomfortable minutes passed by before Yona finally allowed him to fold his wings back down, much to his relief. She then pointed to the nearby mirrors and said, “Okay, now what does Gallus think of suit?”
It was a relatively simple affair: A deep ebony suit with dark indigo highlights and a snowy white dress shirt worn beneath it. And yet, for as simple as it was, it was undeniably glorious.
All-in-all, Gallus found himself looking more formal than he ever had in his entire life before this moment, and considering Yona hadn’t even finished yet…?
Oh yeah, I really think Silver is going to like this, Gallus thought to himself, weakly smiling at his reflection. Eat it, Gruff; I look dapper as peck!
“Would you believe me if I said it were comparable to the creation of a deity?” he asked.
“Yona would be flattered but not convinced. Yona good, but Yona not that good. … Yet!” she declared, her eyes brimming in determination.
“Well, I beg to differ; this is amazing, Yona!” Gallus praised, looking over himself once more in appreciation. “Thank you so much! Seriously, how do I repay you? How much do you—”
“No!” Yona shouted, stamping her hoof down. “Yona already tell Gallus Yona neither need nor accept any repayment.”
“Yeah, but…” He turned his gaze back to her and gestured toward himself. “Look at this! Look at what you made; you can’t just do all that hard work and expect nothing in return!”
“Yona expect only one thing return, and that’s Gallus and Silverstream both having fun on second date,” she countered with a happy smile. “Repay Yona with that.”
Gallus snorted and shook his head, thinking, Yona and Sandbar really are meant for each other.
“So suit does feel well?” she asked again.
“It feels wonderful!” he answered, turning in place once more and savoring the unrestricted looseness of the ensemble. He gently flapped his wings again, feeling no resistance whatsoever. “It’s not uncomfortable or tight in the slightest.”
“Hee-hee! Professor Rarity know everything about making attire comfy for all creatures,” Yona proudly proclaimed. “Even griffons. Which reminds Yona… Gallus not overheated, right?”
Gallus blinked and remembered what she was referring to.
“Uh, no. Not at all, Yona,” he assured, shaking his head confidently. “How’d you do it?”
“Trade secret,” she answered unabashedly.
“I probably should’ve expected that answer, huh?”
Yona tittered as she looked over the suit once more, saying, “Alright. Yona think suit finally finished. A few last touches needed, but otherwise, Gallus ready for second date.”
“Well, clothes-wise, sure…”
“Are date plans not coming along okay? Yona can help Gallus if friends would like!”
“Hate to curb your enthusiasm, Yona, but I’m getting most of it figured it out. The problem is—” Yeah, no! Not admitting financial concerns to the yak who just gave me a suit like this for free. “—deciding which places to actually go for the second date,” he half-lied.
“Where Gallus currently planning to go?” she asked with less subtlety than Discord.
“Nice try, Yona, but I’m not letting you spoil anything for Silver.”
“Curses! Foiled again!” Yona exclaimed with a pointedly pronounced pout. “Gallus can’t tell Yona even little bit of friend’s plans?”
“Sorry. It’s a secret,” Gallus claimed, giving her a smug grin.
“Oh, fine, don’t tell Yona; Gallus can keep his secrets!”
“That’s the plan.”
Yona humphed playfully. “Well, either way, Yona think it finally time to decide on ties,” she decided, grabbing a nearby box full of said objects. “Now, does Gallus prefer normal ties or bow-ties?”
“Uh, either or? You’re the expert here, so you decide.”
“Understood. Does Gallus prefer standard or clip-on?”
Gallus frowned and admitted, “Clip-on. I don’t know how to tie a tie.”
“Really?” she asked, not a hint of judgment in her voice.
“Yeah, sorry,” he apologized, feeling a drop of shame anyway.
“Gallus not need to apologize. Yona not know how to tie ties once either, but Yona learn. Does Gallus want Yona to teach him how?” she inquired.
After a moment of thought, he turned his face away from her and said, “Yeah. Why not. It’s not like anygriff else is going to.”
“Yay!” Yona cheered, having not noticed the scowl he now had. “Hold on, let Yona first find tie that would look great on Gallus,” she requested, plunging her face into the depths of the box.
A quarter of an hour had passed by the time Gallus finally figured out how to weave the tie properly without choking himself. But Yona, of course, never did anything halfway, so yet another fifteen minutes was then spent teaching Gallus how to work bow-ties as well.
By the end of it, Gallus was almost ready to explode in sheer embarrassment over his multitude of tie-tying failures. Then again, that feeling diminished significantly once he finally got the hang of it.
“Okay, how Gallus feel now?”
“Snazzy! Dapper! And ten levels of suave!”
In that moment, Yona’s elated grin could rival even Pinkie Pie’s.
“Seriously, you really outdid yourself, Yona,” Gallus said warmly. “Thank you.”
“Hee-hee, of course. Yona best at helping friends,” she boasted, putting away the box of ties. She then trotted back toward him, asking, “So, suit feel good? Tie feel good? Everything good?”
“Pretty sure you already know the answer to that.”
“Yes!” Yona shouted, pumping a hoof into the air. “Ha, Yona best at fashion! … Er, second best, Yona suppose,” she admitted meekly.
“No, no. You had it right the first time.”
“Aw, thanks, Gallus. But sadly, Yona still only second best. Professor Rarity current best, but Yona will catch up. Yona will catch up…” she muttered confidently.
“Well, if you ever need me to model for you again, just ask. I’ve always got more spare time than I know what to do with, and I seriously do owe you one for this thing. And for, you know, putting up with my constant tie fumbling,” he added, flinching awkwardly.
“Yona already said Gallus not need to repay Yona with anything more than giving Silver good time. And Gallus not fumble tie that much,” Yona assuaged honestly.
“Yeah, well… Sorry anyway.”
Yona raised an eyebrow at his unnecessary apology, but she simply shrugged, thinking nothing more of it as she returned to one last inspection of his attire.
Gallus, meanwhile, returned to appraising himself in the mirror. There I am. All fancy and formal and… Feathery.
“‘…You’d get kicked out for being a griffon’ kind of terrible!” he remembered Sandbar saying.
Gallus stopped smiling as memories of Griffonstone played in the back of his mind. Most of them were of Gruff. The others were of…other things.
Unable to take it anymore he blurted out, “Hey, Yona!?” to distract himself however slightly.
“Yeah, Gallus?”
“Thanks for teaching me how to tie a tie.”
“Gallus welcome,” she said brightly. “Yona more than happy to help.”
“Yeah, I know. … Sorry it took me half an hour to learn it.”
“Why Gallus apologizing again?” Yona asked. “Gallus not know how to tie tie, so Yona taught Gallus how. No need to be sorry; after all, Yona not know how to tie tie once too.”
Aw peck, I’m doing that again, aren’t I? “Well, regardless of whether or not I need to, I want to apologize anyway. Pretty sure nocreature else takes half an hour to learn how to do it.”
“Yona took two hours, so…?” she admitted, giving him a questioning look.
“O-Oh. Uh… Sorry?”
“Gallus apologizing a lot today,” Yona acknowledged, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. “Did Gallus do something Gallus secretly feel guilty for?”
“Uh, no? At least, I don’t think I did anything wrong.” Other than that.
“So no prank gone awry again?”
“Nope. Been a little too busy as of late with Drama Club, Ocellus, and date plans.”
She giggled and commended, “Well, at least Gallus using time wisely.”
“Heh-heh. Yeah. So, uh, where did you learn how to tie a tie, anyway?”
“Yona once asked Yona’s father if Yona could try tying his one day. Yona’s mother showed Yona after Yona, er, failed miserably.”
Gallus immediately pictured a baby Yona being taught by her parents how to tie a tie and the shenanigans that entailed. Something stirred inside of his chest at the thought. “How badly did you fail?”
“…Yona not want to answer that…”
He chuckled, trying to fight off whatever feeling was building up in the back of his mind again. Of course, as with most feelings, it didn’t go away. And eventually, Gallus determined its cause.
“Can I say something?” he asked, remembering his lessons about bottling his emotions up.
“Sure. Yona listening,” she said, squinting and frowning at a loose stitch in his sleeve.
“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but… I wish you didn’t have to teach me how to do it,” Gallus said, despondent.
“Tie a tie?” Yona guessed, looking up to meet his eyes.
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“It’s just… For one thing, I should have already known how to do it,” he lamented grumpily.
“Nocreature knows how to do something until they first learn,” she countered smartly.
“That’s…not really what I mean.” Don’t bottle it up, Gallus. “I just wish Grandpa Gruff had taught me how to do it before,” Gallus wistfully clarified. “That’s all.”
“Oh,” Yona muttered. After a painfully silent minute, she admitted, “Sandbar told Yona Gallus also wish Gruff had seen play.”
Dang it, Sandbar! “He did, huh?”
“Mhmm.”
“He, uh, probably could have taught me… If he, uh, wanted to, but he didn’t…” he randomly mumbled. “T-Then again, it’s not like he, uh, had an opportunity to do so, considering we never really had, er, this,” Gallus awkwardly explained, gesturing to Yona’s suit.
“Well, Gallus has suit now! Yona think that what’s important,” Yona decided firmly. “And Gallus know Yona always here to help with suit if Gallus ever ask.”
“Yeah. Thanks again, Yona,” he said, trying to smile again. Gallus somewhat succeeded, but he ended up just ducking his head again while holding in a sigh.
“Yona sorry Gruff not come to play,” she whispered.
“You don’t have to be sorry, Yona,” he quickly said. “It’s not your fault the crotchety, old windbag doesn’t care about me.”
“Maybe, but Yona can still be sorry on friend’s behalf,” she argued softly. “And… Does Gallus really think Grandpa Gruff not care about him?”
“I… I don’t know,” he admitted, shaking his head. “Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t. I just… I really wish he did care.” Or at least care enough to watch me onstage. Guess I’m not really cut out for the actor thing after all, Gallus accepted morosely.
“Maybe Gruff care but really bad at showing it?” Yona suggested, sitting on her haunches and giving Gallus her full attention.
“Heh! Yeah, maybe that’s it. Self-expression isn’t really something griffons are good at unless it involves Bits…” he grumbled, frowning at his reflection again.
“Yona not know much about griffons, but Yona doubt that true. After all, Gallus express himself all the time,” she remarked, giving him a kind smile.
And how will I do that after we graduate!? What am I supposed to do!? Where am I supposed to go!? Who am I— Gallus shook his head and mumbled, “You’re right; I’m just being dumb. Sorry…”
Faster than he could blink, Yona pushed herself up to his eye-level and glared at him with an intensity scarily similar to Rarity when on an inspiration binge.
“Gallus! Not! Dumb!” Yona swore, punctuating each word with a gentle tap against his chest. After a moment of mutual silence, she stepped back down and asked, “Why would Gallus ever think that about himself?”
I did it again!? Gallus realized, recovering from her outburst. Why did I do it again!? “Sorry, Yona. I…” he said. “I don’t think I’m dumb; I just think I’m acting dumb.” That didn’t help, did it?
“Why!?”
“I guess I’m just overreacting or something… It’s not like it matters whether or not Gruff cares about me. It never mattered before, so why would it matter now?” he asked himself more than Yona.
“It not matter why!” Yona claimed. “It not matter if Gallus not care before; Gallus care now, so it matter now!”
“And why do I care now then? Because I don’t know!” Gallus stated, frustrated by that fact. “I mean it, Yona. Why do I care if he is or isn’t there for the Science Fair tomorrow?” he asked tiredly. “I already know he’s not going to show up, so… Why do I suddenly care if Gramps cares about me?”
“Gallus want Gruff to be proud of him,” she answered easily.
Gallus couldn’t think of a response since he was too busy trying to process the statement.
Yona took his silence as permission to continue. “Gallus want Grandpa Gruff to be proud of his accomplishments. His performance in play, and his work with Ocellus. And as far as Yona concerned, that not something to be ashamed of,” she concluded confidently.
“Yeah, but isn’t that bad? Wanting others to be proud of you?” Gallus realized that was absolutely going to be taken the wrong way, so he clarified, “I mean, without earning that pride first! If I had earned it then yeah, but… I clearly didn’t since Gruff didn’t come to see our play,” he ended, feeling his body sag in exhaustion. I just wish I knew what I did wrong.
“Love not need to be earned, Gallus.”
Such a simple sentiment, Yona’s words were. And yet, they managed to rekindle his energy enough for Gallus to protest, “I know that!”
“Then why Gallus suggesting otherwise?”
“I’m not!”
“Yona pretty sure that what Gallus mean by what Gallus saying.”
“No, I mean…!” Gallus face-clawed in frustration. He then blinked and dreaded, Oh peck! Why am I having another ‘bad habit’ moment!? Seriously, I’m better now, so why am I still having them!?
“Okay,” she conceded before he could figure out what to say next. “Maybe Yona misinterpret what Gallus really mean. If so, Yona sorry. Yona just think Gallus not selfish for wanting Gruff to care about him like Yona and friends do.”
After a moment, he muttered, “Sorry, Yona. I really didn’t mean it that way; it’s just…”
“Yona know,” she assured gently. “Yona just not sure Yona fully understand.”
“You’re not the only one… I’m sorry, Yona,” Gallus soon apologized. Again. “I should know better than to get worked up; I—”
“Gallus! Stop apologizing!” she commanded, silencing him instantly. Yona took a small breath to calm down, continuing, “Gallus not need to apologize, nor does Gallus need to be ashamed of speaking his feelings. Yona more than happy to listen to Gallus if it helps, however little.”
Gallus took the chance to calm down himself. After accomplishing that, he said, “Thanks, Yona. I’m still sorry for bringing this all up completely out of nowhere, but… Thank you.”
“Yona not need thanks; Yona just happy Gallus doing better.”
Now if I could only stay better… Gallus groused, hiding his frustration behind a thankful smile.
She then rose back to her hooves and returned to examining his suit, immediately mending the loose stitch she had spotted earlier. After yet another twenty minutes of adjustments, Yona deemed her job completed and had Gallus take it off.
“Now, Yona will keep suit ready for second date,” Yona vowed. “Gallus just remember to let Yona know one week ahead of time, okay?” she requested, placing the bundle away to fix up later.
“On it. Thanks again, Yona.”
“Yona still not need thanks.”
“Well, I’m giving it anyway; you deserve it.”
“Hee-hee, and Gallus deserve this!” she declared before snatching him into a bone-cracking hug.
After squeezing all the oxygen out of his lungs, Yona released him. Gallus then panted for a moment before asking, “I deserved to have to my spine compacted?”
“Yona not hug Gallus that hard!”
“You underestimate your own strength,” he quipped, smirking.
“Well, Yona best hugger. Okay, Yona second best hugger, but Pinkie Pie hold title for years!”
“Either way, I’m sure Sandbar appreciates them.”
“Oh, Yona not give Sandbar hugs that often,” she said, smiling deviously. “Yona too busy giving him something else Yona best at.”
“Hot cocoa?”
She let out a bark of laughter and clarified, “No, Gallus! Kisses! Yona best at kissing, and Sandbar… Ohhh!” she sighed, fanning herself with a hoof. “Sandbar great kisser.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“Hee-hee-hee! So, what else did Gallus have planned for today?”
“Not much. I needed to meet up with Ocellus later so we can test the final teleportation model. And so Ocellus can rant about how far we’ll go as scientists. Again,” Gallus snarled.
“Yona not know Gallus want to be scientist.”
“I don’t!” he revealed, his voice dripping with anger. After a moment, he looked down and said, “To be honest? I’m not even sure what I do—”
Before he could finish his sentence, the door to the Boutique slammed open, admitting entrance to a tan earth pony with a bright pink mane.
“YONA! YONA! YONA!” Scoop chanted, zooming up to the yak in a heartbeat. “The newspaper! Canterlot Times! Reviews!” she sang, bouncing energetically.
Of course… Gallus sighed, rolling his eyes.
“Scoop!” Yona called out. “Calm down! Tell Yona and Gallus what happened?”
Scoop stopped her giddy bouncing, cleared her throat and began, “All of us were mentioned in the—” She suddenly froze up, staring at Gallus as if only just now realizing he was there.
“Uh, hi?”
Her whole body spasmed. “He was trying the suit on, wasn’t he?” she muttered darkly.
“Mhmm. And to quote Gallus himself,” Yona began sneakily. “Gallus look snazzy. Dapper. And ten levels of suave!” she ended, meeting his smirk with one of her own.
“And I missed it?” she asked, shaking with an eldritch fury.
“Well, if you had seen me try on the suit, you’d have spoiled it for Silver. And you know it.”
“…Darn you, griffon-boy! Darn you and your inflexible attitude on spoilers!”
“Hey, you try hanging out with Sandbar at the movies, and then you can talk to me about ‘attitudes on spoilers,’” Gallus fired back jokingly.
“Try hanging out with Vellum,” she countered.
“Thanks, but I’d rather not need to be locked in an insane asylum, thank you.”
“Ha! As if an asylum could help you recover from spending a whole day with Vellum Codex.”
While Gallus shivered at that thought, Yona asked, “Wait, what Scoop say about reviews?”
***
“‘—With all that being said, so long as Mr. Vellum Codex refines the talent he displayed, then the young stallion no doubt has a bright future ahead of him,’” concluded Peppermint Goldlylinks. She then put down the paper and gave the stallion a displeased frown. “Okay, who did you bribe?”
Vellum gasped, reeling back in shock. He then glared at Patty and demanded, “You dare believe I would ever bribe a pony!? Much less one responsible for reviewing our performance!?”
“Yeah?”
He sputtered wordlessly for a moment then took a deep breath, holding a hoof to his chest. Vellum then pushed the hoof away, exhaling as he did so. “Patty? No,” he calmly claimed. “I did not bribe anypony, nor would I ever do so.”
“Suuuuure. Riiiiight.”
Gallus saw Vellum’s eye twitch violently and decided to throw him a bone. “Alright, Patty, leave the guy alone. You know as well as the rest of us how much Vellum hates nepotism.”
“Okay, okay,” she said, waving her hooves in defeat. “I’ll stop teasing you, Vel. Sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. I don’t think I can blame you for thinking such things, considering how much hogwash this is,” he declared, glaring at the newspaper in pure contempt.
“Yona not understand; why Vellum think that? Yona thought Vellum would be drooling over all the praise he receive,” she acknowledged, smirking knowingly.
“Bah! Praise is acceptable when it’s earned, but this? There is far too much emphasis on my strengths and barely any reference to my shortcomings. A proper review would cast light on both equally; this is clearly a ‘fluff piece,’” he sneered. “After all, how can I work upon my flaws if I am not aware of them, and how can I be aware of them if my performance is treated as perfection?”
“That is assuming your performance wasn’t perfect,” Scoop suggested slyly.
“Perfection is unattainable, Scoop,” Vellum stated nonchalantly. “While that doesn’t mean we can’t seek it, it does mean we’ll always possess flaws despite our work to overcome them.”
By King Grover’s Treasure, let Vellum be wrong! Gallus silently prayed.
“Well, okay then, Vel,” she said, looking to the others with a raised eyebrow. “Where’d you get that from? A fortune cookie?”
“Headmare Starlight,” he answered. “She insists I keep meeting up with her to talk over my ‘issues,’” he groaned, rolling his eyes.
“Well, bad habits are always hard to break,” Gallus felt the need to interject. “Best to know what they are so you can work on fixing them, right?”
“Yes, exactly! See? Gallus gets it.”
“That being said, maybe you should keep seeing Starlight,” he added, grinning innocently. I know I have to…
“U-Uh? Hmm. Well, I suppose I can…”
“Good. Now try saying: Thanks for the advice, Gallus,” Scoop sarcastically suggested.
“…Thanks for the advice, Gallus,” Vellum repeated, much to the Scoop and Patty’s amusement.
“You’re welcome, Captain Codex.”
At that conveniently precise moment, a blue unicorn with a dark indigo mane stepped out of a nearby store and was immediately spotted by Patty.
“Oh! Hey! November!?” she called out, waving. “November, over here!”
“Huh?” the stallion yelped. Once he turned and saw them, he quickly trotted over, greeting, “Hey, guys, how are you?”
“Good,” Patty answered, offering him the chair nearest her which he gladly accepted. “You?”
“I’m good. I just had to return some bottles I didn’t need. What are you guys up to?”
“Oh, nothing… We just got reviewed in the Canterlot Times is all,” Scoop bragged pompously.
“Wait, really!?” Scoop and Yona were quick to nod, so he said, “Wow! Congratulations, guys.”
“Thanks. Bet you’re kicking yourself for quitting and missing out on the praise, eh?” Gallus joked.
“Heh-heh,” he laughed uncomfortably. “Not really,” November sighed, glancing at Vellum.
“Yeah, well…” Scoop began, catching November’s tone. “If it helps? Vel’s been throwing a fit over his review,” she said, much to Vellum’s displeasure.
“Really?” November asked, holding back a scowl. “Yeah, guess that figures. So, you get revered to Tartarus and back, and it’s still not enough for you, huh, Vellum?”
“I appreciate the praise; I simply wish we had received criticism as well,” Vellum explained, staring back at the other stallion neutrally. “Nothing more, nothing less, November.”
November’s expression morphed into one of compete shock. After a moment he worriedly mumbled, “Did… Did you just call me by my name?”
“Well, ‘November Rain’ is your name, correct?”
No way am I letting this opportunity slip by! Gallus resolved, sneering, “Naw, Captain Codex! I could have sworn his name was ‘September Tempest’!”
“How did you know about that!?” November squealed, blushing gloriously. He then remembered Gallus wasn’t the only one present and quickly chuckled, embarrassed. “Uh, moving on! Yes, my name is ‘November Rain.’ Not the other one! I, uh, was just asking because you… Well…?”
“Haven’t called him by his proper name since he quit,” Scoop finished explaining on his behalf. “It’s been ‘traitor’ this or ‘betrayer’ that with you for a while, Vel.”
“Yes, I’m aware. … Headmare Starlight is aware too which is why she said I shouldn’t hold others accountable for their own personal decisions,” he clarified sourly. “No matter how much I may disagree with them.”
“Seriously, am I dreaming? Am I brainwashed again? Or has the world finally come to an end?” November wondered, leaning away from Vellum.
“Don’t be so melodramatic, November. If this were a dream, Princess Luna would have popped out of the moon by now,” Vellum pointed out smartly.
“She does tend to do that a lot,” Patty acknowledged, thinking back to her own past dreams.
“Not to mention if other two were true,” Yona began. “Professors likely fix everything in next twenty minutes or so.”
“Unless we really are being brainwashed. If that’s the case, it’ll take the full forty-two minutes,” Gallus reminded her.
“Oh, right. Yona always forget that part.”
“So,” November began warily. “That means this is real? Vellum really is sitting in front of me and not calling me a traitor repeatedly? … What exactly have you guys been doing to him since I quit?”
“Well, Silverstream sort of scared him into not criticizing Gallus on his first day…”
“No, no, Scoop. I couldn’t properly criticize him for the first week,” Vellum corrected, sounding almost disappointed by the fact.
“Whoa!” November exclaimed in awe. “Gallus? Whatever you do, do not lose Silverstream.”
Gallus took a deep breath, stifling several ignited emotions. “I wasn’t planning on it.”
“Yes, well… Uh…” November took notice of the stern frown being thrown his way and decided to not comment on that subject further. “Thanks for, uh, addressing me by my name, Vellum.”
“Don’t thank me,” Vellum sighed. “I shouldn’t have held your, ahem! Quitting… Against you so fervently. Realizing my mistake and attempting to make up for it is not something to be proud of when I should never have made the mistake to begin with,” he grumbled, blushing faintly.
Peck, if that’s not relatable! Gallus agreed self-consciously.
“O-Oh. Still, thank you. I think? Anyway, I’m glad you caught me, Patty; I’ve been meaning to come and congratulate you guys on your performance in Canterlot,” November admitted.
“Aww, thanks, November,” Patty said, smiling happily. “Sorry you weren’t able to come with us. I know you quit because of…” She shot Vellum a glare. “Reasons. But it was a lot of fun. I wish you hadn’t missed out,” she ended sadly.
“Eh, it’s fine. Science Club and Yearbook are still tons of fun too. Plus, I’ve been busy for the past three weeks figuring out how to make my project work, so even if I hadn’t quit, I probably wouldn’t have been able to come anyway,” he acknowledged timidly.
“Oh yeah! The Science Fair is tomorrow, right?”
“Yep.”
“Cool. Hey, aren’t you participating in the Fair too, Gallus?”
“Uh-huh,” Gallus affirmed, nodding. And I cannot wait for it all to be over with so Ocellus will get off my back, he added to himself.
“So is Smolder,” November said, frowning. “Though… None of us are sure what she’s been doing.”
“Huh. So Gallus, Smolder, and November? All scientists in the making, eh?” Scoop questioned. “Vellum will be so disappointed neither of you wish to become actors like him.”
“Oh, shut up, Scoop.”
Gallus remained silent while November lamented, “Me? A scientist!? Celestia, I wish! But I doubt it; I have a long way to go and right now? Being one is practically just a dream…”
“Wait,” Vellum interjected. “You actually do wish to become a scientist?”
“Meteorologist,” he clarified shyly. “I may not have wings, but I’ve always been fascinated with weather and how it works. Plus, Atmokinesis Alpha is an awesome spell! Seriously, I should totally show you guys what I can do with it; it’s amazing!” he proclaimed, grinning widely.
Well, he’s not wrong, Gallus conceded, glad the conversation was back on November.
“It certainly sounds fun. Is your project something to do with weather spells then?”
November smirked slyly and settled for saying, “You’ll see…”
“On that note, what are you and Ocellus working on again, Gallus?” Scoop asked politely.
Ah! There we go, he quietly grumbled, answering, “Teleportation.” Please don’t focus on me.
“Now that is a glorious oversimplification,” November just had to say. “You guys aren’t just working on teleportation; you’re working on inter-species magic conversion too.”
“I’m going to assume by your tone that’s significantly more impressive than Gallus is letting on?” Vellum guessed, raising an eyebrow.
“Vel, do you have any idea how insanely hard it is to change one type of magic into another?”
He waved a hoof over his mane, highlighting his lack of a certain appendage.
“Oh. Well, uh, for comparison? It’s harder to do that than it is for you to say that acting sucks.”
Vellum gaped at Gallus, asking, “Is what you’re doing truly that impossibly difficult!?”
“Eh-heh-heh,” Gallus awkwardly laughed. “Depends on the types of magic really. But yeah. Ocellus has put a lot of work into it.”
“So have you from what Ocellus has told the rest of us in Science Club,” November, once again, just had to say.
Oh geez, Ocellus, what have you been telling everycreature!? “Wait, what?”
“Yeah! She’s gone on and on about how smart you are, and how you’d totally make a great addition to the Club,” he explained kindly. “Lighthoof has even considered asking you to join up, but… Well? Trust me on this. Never be in both Drama and Science Club.”
I! Am not! A scientist! Gallus fumed behind a blank expression. “Uh… Yeah. But me? A scientist? Nah, that’s not something I’d be good at,” he argued weakly. No matter how much Ocellus says otherwise.
“Maybe. But if you don’t want to be a scientist, you’d always make a good actor,” Scoop complimented, pulling the newspaper to her. “‘For a griffon, Mr. Gallus gives a phenomenal performance of the second lead protagonist, expressing and selling every last moment of selflessness, heroism, and compassion,’” she read, beaming at him smugly.
For a griffon…
“Whoa! Is that real?” November asked, grabbing the paper and reading it for himself. “Wow, dude, that’s high praise! Good job, Gallus,” he commended, offering up a hoof.
“Y-Yeah,” he said, bumping said hoof. “Thanks.” He then looked down at the table worriedly.
Yona noticed his discomfort and took it upon herself to deflect the conversation. “Well!” she began loudly enough to acquire everypony’s attention. “Yona just happy ponies enjoyed Yona and friends’ performance! It hard work, but Yona know our play was very best!” she shouted, raising a hoof into the air in victory and giving her friend a wide smile.
Gallus grinned back at Yona, thinking, I suppose we were pretty good. Even if I could have been better, Gruff could have been there, and I actually wanted to be an actor…
Gallus, you’re doing it again! he rebuked himself spitefully.
“Yona’s not wrong about that at least,” Patty agreed shyly. “We were amazing.”
“Speaking of which, where are the others?” November inquired. “I wanted to congratulate them too.”
“Zone is with his grandparents in the Ponyville Retirement Village, and… Huh. Actually, I’m not sure where Silver or Shimmy are to be honest,” Scoop answered, shrugging. “But I bet the latter’s probably helping Professor Pie plan this year’s Nightmare Night party,” she supposed.
“Oh yeah. I forgot Shimmy got roped into that,” Patty commented. “Celestia help her.”
Come to think of it… I haven’t seen Silver all day either, Gallus realized, turning his gaze to the Friendship School. Eh. Maybe she’s finishing that flower painting or something.
“So they’re not around? Aw. Oh well, I’m sure I’ll see the others tomorrow at the Fair, so I’ll congratulate them then,” November decided. “It was nice talking to all of you again.”
“It was nice talking to you too, November,” Patty said, nodding.
“Yeah, and I’m sure it was nice for you to talk to us without Vellum scowling and calling you ‘traitor’ repeatedly,” Scoop added with a smirk.
“Yeah, that was a nice change of pace,” he agreed, shooting a sly smile at the stallion.
Vellum just grabbed the newspaper and hid behind it as he pretended to reread the reviews.
“Whelp, I need to get going,” November said, rising from the chair. “I still have some last minute things I need to do with my project. See you all later!”
Everycreature wished him farewell, watching him disappear down the streets of Ponyville.
“Speaking of the Fair,” Gallus soon started. “I need to go and meet up with Ocellus so we can finish our own project. Did you guys need me for anything before I go?”
“Remember to keep refining your skills, Gallus,” Vellum said, folding down the newspaper and giving him an encouraging grin. “November was right about your review being high praise, but you still have quite a lot of work to do if you do wish to become an actor one day.”
Gallus quietly gulped, muttering, “Thanks, Captain Codex. Anything else?”
“I’ve nothing to add. Scoop?”
“Nope. You go and have fun breaking reality with Ocellus, Gallus.”
“Not technically breaking reality, Scoop. Ocellus isn’t there just yet,” he acknowledged, standing up. “Talk to you later, Yona. See all of you Thursday.”
“Bye, Gallus,” Patty said.
“See ya, griffon-boy,” Scoop said, failing to notice Gallus flinch.
“Remember to tell Yona when Gallus ready for second date with Silverstream!”
“I will,” he swore, trotting away and trying to ignore the sounds of Patty and Scoop frantically ambushing Yona about the suit she had made for him.
Me? An actor? Really? he pondered as he spread his wings and lazily glided his way toward the school. No, no, no! I… I’m not good enough for that! I don’t even want that anyway!
At least, I don’t think I do…? I mean… Seriously? I don’t belong on a theater stage.
“—Silver said she was afraid that you’d endure Drama Club on her behalf, even if you didn’t like it.”
“Geez, thanks for the reminder, Headmare. But guess what!? I did enjoy Drama Club!”
“Yes. Yes, you did, yes. And if you hadn’t?” repeated in his mind.
I didn’t join Drama Club to be an actor, and I didn’t choose to help Ocellus with her project because I wanted to be a scientist! I… I just wanted to be with my friends.
“—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?” Sandbar’s voice echoed back to him.
Gallus shook the thoughts out of his mind, putting off those worries for later. Forget all of that, Gallus! Let’s just find Ocellus and get this dumb project over with!
Afterward, I’ll see what Silver’s been up to today. Probably something fun.
***
Every instinct in Silverstream’s body and mind screamed at her that this was a bad idea. In spite of this, she continued forward, slowly inching her way toward her friend’s room.
C’mon, Silver, what’s to be so afraid about? she asked herself. All you’re doing is talking to your friend—one of your very best friends at that!—so there’s no need to be so worried.
But what if she doesn’t want to talk to me!? Silver fretted. What if she only came and watched our play with us because she felt she needed to!? What if she really is still angry at Gallus!?
Why would she still be angry at him? she wondered, feeling her fear twist into something akin to anger. Why would she ever be angry at him in the first place!? How dare she be angry at—
Silverstream stopped in the middle of the hallway and took a deep breath, letting it out despairingly. “Okay… No more of that, Silver. We are not angry or paranoid; we’re optimistic!” she declared firmly. “Besides, she came and watched our play with us, so… Maybe everything is going back to normal? And even if it isn’t, we’re not going to bottle anything up this time.”
Silver then pulled out Cadence’s first letter and reread a particular part of it.
Relationships are relationships regardless of whether they’re friendships or romances. They’re all “Bonds of Love” as Twilight told me you were fond of calling them. However, ever relationship has its ups and downs. And that applies to romances just as much as it does to friendships.
To put it simply: Relationships can get strained. A little frustration here, a bit of irritation there. Something said in the heat of the moment here, something thought in a moment of vexation there. It doesn’t take much for creatures to be upset with one another.
Why is this such a big deal? Because a lot of creatures will bottle up their anger, fear, or sadness instead of expressing it openly. Why is that such a problem? Because it goes against the one fundamental rule of any healthy relationship.
Communication. That’s my first major piece of advice for you: Communicate with Silverstream.
“Or in this case: Smolder,” Silverstream mumbled, folding the letter up and tucking it back into her bag. “C’mon, Silver, Starlight said she was mad at Gallus for a reason; let’s find out what it is.”
Obeying her own command, Silver nodded and resumed her trot with renewed determination. Mere moments later, she turned the corner and came to a stop when she heard somepony talking.
“—asked for my help, Smolder! But I can’t give you any advice if you won’t tell me everything about what’s going on!”
Is that Shimmy Shake? Silver quietly approached Smolder’s door and leaned against it, trying to listen in to what was going on.
“I told you, Shimmy; everything is fine now!”
“I’m not convinced,” she deadpanned. “C’mon, Smolder, you’ve missed three cheer-leading practices, and Lighthoof said you haven’t been to Science Club in weeks! And then there’s…this!”
“And I told her the same thing I told Vice Headstallion Sunburst!” Smolder argued back hotly. “I’ve been busy with my Science Fair presentation!”
“On what? Psychology? How hard is it to write up two thousand words on how the brain works? Ocellus always says it’s unreliable anyway!”
“Yes, and that’s her problem! What’s yours!?”
“You tell me yours first!”
“I don’t have a problem!”
“And now we’re going in circles!”
“Sounds more like your problem than mine…”
Silver frowned at her friend’s remark in the silence that followed it.
“Okay,” Shimmy chirped neutrally. “You’re clearly not in the mood to talk, so I’ll leave. If you do ever change your mind and need some help or something, you know where to find me.”
Silver had only a second to back away before the door opened, permitting Shimmy’s exit. The mare then locked eyes with her and yelped, “Silverstream!?”
Several books crashed to the ground from within Smolder’s room.
“Uh, hi?” Silver greeted awkwardly. “How are you, Shimmy?”
Shimmy glanced into Smolder’s room before turning back to Silver, frowning. “Oh, I’m just dandy. Maybe you can talk some sense into her,” she groaned, stepping around her. “Good luck.”
What was that about? Silver wondered as the pony’s hoofsteps faded down the hall. She then gulped and entered Smolder’s room, gawking at the sight before her.
Almost every surface was covered haphazardly in books that Smolder was in the midst of organizing. However, her attempts seemed so frantic and mindless that Silver was scarily reminded of how Ocellus got during exams.
She then looked down and read some of the titles, questioning, Are these the books from the Psychology section? Wait! So it was Smolder who—
Her thoughts were interrupted when Smolder apologized, “S-Sorry about the mess. Been meaning to clean it up, but…” she trailed off, too busy tidying her book hoard to face her proper.
“Huh? Oh! No, no, it’s fine,” Silver defaulted to saying. “Besides, it’s not that bad.”
Smolder didn’t say anything else.
After some time, Silver casually asked, “So, what were you and Shimmy talking about?”
Smolder accidentally knocked over the tower books she had created not one second prior. She then swore under her breath and answered, “Nothing.”
“It didn’t sound like nothing.”
“Well, it was nothing!” she snapped, flinching at the anger in her own voice. She then picked up another cluster of books and muttered, “Just— Just some, uh, personal drama is all.”
“Between you and Shimmy?” she asked, completely unconvinced.
“Between me and—” Smolder paused and shook her head, professing, “Between me and a, er, friend. Back home. In the Dragon Lands. … So, yeah.”
The lie was obvious, and they both knew it.
“Well, er, what’s going on with your fri—”
“Nothing!” After organizing another pile of random tomes, Smolder calmly resumed, “Nothing is wrong. Everything is fine. Everything. Is. Fine.”
Silver shuddered involuntarily and asked, “So, the whole book thing is…?”
“J-Just me, er, overreacting! Yeah! Yeah… Just me overreacting.” She sighed and elaborated, “My friend? I thought he—I mean, she!—I mean, they…! I thought they were…upset. But I was wrong. They’re fine now! They’re fine now…”
If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was talking about Gallus, Silver deduced, not knowing why Smolder would pretend otherwise. “That’s great. It’s never okay when a friend is upset,” she said softly.
“No. It’s not,” Smolder agreed, glancing at Silver out of the corner of her eye before turning away again. “I’m glad that he— That they are okay! … For now.”
“Hey!” she snapped, incensed by Smolder’s word choice. “Don’t think like that! If he’s doing okay now then you shouldn’t be afraid he’ll stop being okay later!”
Smolder stood up straight and looked at Silver properly, a mixture of confusion and protest etched upon her face. After a moment, she whispered, “You really think so?”
Silver was taken aback by just how nervous Smolder suddenly sounded. The shock wore off in a heartbeat, and she quickly stated, “Yes.”
Smolder looked down and murmured, “Well, I’m glad you can be so optimistic.”
It’s harder than you think, Silver wanted to joke but felt it was too inappropriate to do so. Instead, she said, “It certainly beats the alternative.”
“…Fair point,” she conceded, grinning faintly. “So, what are you up to?”
“I wanted to stop by and thank you,” she answered, glad to be talking to Smolder normally.
“For what?”
“Hee-hee! Watching our play the other night, silly!”
“O-Oh! Uh, it was no big deal,” Smolder said, shrugging. “I’m just happy I got a chance to actually watch it; you guys were awesome!”
“Aww, thanks, Smolder, that’s so sweet of you!”
“Odd, considering dragons aren’t known for our sweetness,” she jokingly countered.
“Hey, griffons aren’t either, and Gallus is the Lord of All Things Sweet!” Silver sang merrily.
“Huh?”
“It’s a running joke between us,” she explained. “It’s a little silly, but neither of us really care about that. Especially since it’s not like the title’s wrong,” Silver ended, smiling dreamily.
“Heh. Regular couple of lovebirds, aren’t you?”
“That a problem?”
“Of course not,” Smolder answered, smirking. After a moment, she started fiddling with her tail and admitted, “You know? I was surprised when I found out you and he were together.”
Silver blinked and asked, “Why?”
“I don’t know. I guess I never took Gallus to be the kind of guy that, er, was up for romances. No offense,” she clarified, wincing back slightly.
“No offense taken,” she assured, trying not to be paranoid about Smolder’s uncharacteristically timid stature. “Besides, I’ve heard you don’t like Romances either,” she joked.
“Yeah, well… I’ve seen some really, really terrible ones,” she elaborated, leaving it at that.
“Oh.”
“He’s… You and he are happy, right?”
“Yes,” Silver immediately confirmed. She bit down to keep herself from accidentally adding, You’d know that if you weren’t avoiding him like a plague.
“Good. Good… That’s good…” she muttered, looking away again.
A silence fell between the two that Smolder decided to fill with the sounds of books being sorted. Silver, meanwhile, was trapped in a vicious mental battle.
Okay, maybe I shouldn’t ask about her silent treatment? she considered fretfully. Maybe I should just leave; we had a nice, friendly chat for once, and I shouldn’t try to ruin it by prying into—
She hurt Gallus! the other half of her mind roared. She shut him out, and for what! For what!? What could possibly justify hurting Gallus even more—
Silver took another deep breath and let it out slowly, thinking, Nope! I am not going to think the mean, paranoid thoughts. I don’t like that Smolder has been avoiding Gallus all this time, but she is still my friend! And I don’t like being angry at my friends.
In fact? I think I’m going to leave, Silver decided regretfully. I know I shouldn’t, but I don’t want to start a fight. Everything is fine; I’ll just ask about her “silent treatment” later.
“Whelp, I can see you’re pretty busy, and I don’t want to keep you,” she eventually said, stepping for the door.
“S-Silver, wait!”
Silver paused and turned around, facing her friend again. She then fought off another shudder at Smolder’s worried expression.
“Yeah, Smolder?”
“I… You… H-How is Gallus?” she asked, biting her lip in anticipation. “Is he okay?”
“Uh, I already said he was.”
“No! I mean… H-He’s not doing anything, er, reckless, or…? Or dangerous, or…?” Seeing Silver was just confused, Smolder groaned and spat out, “Is he better!?”
Silver was momentarily quiet, still trying to figure out what Smolder was really asking. She soon snapped out of it and answered, “Yes. He is.”
“How do you know for certain?” Smolder murmured distantly.
“How do I…? I’m sorry, Smolder; I don’t understand what you mean?”
“How do you trust that he’s doing better?”
“Easy. I trust him,” she elaborated, hoping she didn’t sound too much like a hypocrite. “Plus? I… I have to remain optimistic. Otherwise, I’ll just be paranoid, and I don’t like being paranoid.”
“Paranoid of what?”
Oops. “Um, paranoid that he isn’t doing well?”
“Wait! You— You think he’s still not okay?” she asked, a hint of fear in her voice.
“N-No, Gallus is doing better!”
“Then why are you paranoid!? You’re you, Silver, you’re always optimistic!”
A dagger to the heart would have hurt less than that comment.
“I-I know… It— It was just hard to believe that he was okay,” Silverstream admitted, praying it wouldn’t make everything worse.
It might have made everything worse.
“He’s still having panic attacks, isn’t he?” Smolder asked shakily as her eyes shrank in terror.
“No!” Silver said, deciding not to mention Discord. “He’s a lot better, Smolder; I promise!”
“Then why would you be paranoid!? Something must have been seriously wrong if you were!”
“…There wasn’t. I thought there was something wrong too, but there wasn’t. Gallus was perfectly fine, but I was too busy being worried to realize it,” she mumbled, hanging her head in shame.
Smolder blinked and fell silent. Soon, she asked, “But he is doing better now though. Right?”
“Yes,” Silver confirmed happily. “He’s doing a lot better.”
“B-But… But all the books I read said…” she whispered to herself before shaking her head. “But how do you know for certain?” Smolder asked once again.
“Because I trust him, Smolder,” she repeated resolutely. “I want him to be happy and okay again too. … Just like you do,” she acknowledged, shooting another look around the book-laden room.
“A-And you really believe he’s not lying to you again?” she inquired, not meeting Silver’s eye.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because…? Because like I said, I have to be optimistic. I want to be optimistic, not upset and worried! Besides, I can’t just spend our time together always being paranoid that Gallus isn’t okay. If I do then… Then my fear will just overshadow my love,” she concluded calmly.
Smolder snorted ruefully and stated, “Sounds like something Yona would say. I wish I could be optimistic too…” she lamented.
Silver felt a shiver run down her spine, wondering, Has… Has she been paranoid too? “Smolder? What do you mean you can’t be optimistic too? W-What’s wrong?”
Upon being asked that, Smolder hastily stepped away from Silver, appearing to fight off her own shiver. “N-Nothing!” she claimed, forcing a wide grin. “Everything is fine!”
No. No, no, no, this can’t be happening again! Why is this happening again!? Silver briefly panicked at the familiar deflections. “Smolder, please tell me what’s wrong?” she fearfully requested.
Smolder inhaled sharply and sternly declared, “Look! Everything is fine, Silver. I’m fine; Gallus is fine; my ‘friend’ is fine…! Nothing’s wrong! Okay? Okay.”
“Smolder,” Silver whispered gently. “Please don’t lie.”
“I’m not!” she snapped. Smolder let herself calm down before adding, “I’m fine. And you said Gallus was fine too, so unless you were lying…?”
“I wasn’t.”
She searched her for any indication of dishonesty. Upon finding none, Smolder sighed and muttered, “Don’t worry about me, Silver. I’m fine. Don’t know why you’re even worried anyway…”
“Because you’re my friend,” Silverstream stated softly.
The corners of Smolder’s maw twitched faintly. “Heh. Thanks, Silver.”
“You don’t need to thank me, Smolder. If the roles were reversed, you’d do the same for me,” she said, confident in that statement’s validity.
“…Assuming I’d know how…”
Okay, now where did that come from? Silver contemplated. She opened her beak to inquire as such, but Smolder quickly interrupted.
“So, this has been fun and all, but? I, uh, really need to get back to studying. And cleaning,” she added, indicating the mess around her. “So, um, if it’s not too much trouble, could you…?”
“Leave?”
“Please?”
Not again… Silver gulped and tentatively asked, “Do you really want me to leave you alone?”
Smolder hesitated for a second before nodding. “Y-Yeah. Not to sound insensitive or anything, but… I’ve got a lot of stuff to do. So, if you could…?”
I shouldn’t leave, should I? Something is clearly wrong with Smolder too, but… Oh sea kelp! What should I do? I want to believe everything is fine, but if it’s not… How do I help my friend!?
“Be there for him,” she remembered Starlight advise. Or in this case: Her…
“Okay,” Silver reluctantly agreed. “I’ll go. But only if you’re really okay, Smolder.”
“I’m. Fine. Silver,” she repeated fervently. “Nothing’s wrong. Sorry for freaking you out…”
“Hey, don’t worry about it; I just don’t like seeing my friends upset… I want everything to back to normal, you know?” she admitted cordially.
“Ha! Yeah. Yeah… You’re not the only one.”
“Well, if you’re sure…?“
“I’m fine!“
“Okay, then.” I trust her. I trust that everything really is okay, Silver told herself weakly. I… I have to believe everything is okay. “I guess I’ll be leaving now,” Silver lamented, making it halfway out the door before stopping and turning back around. “Hey, Smolder?”
“Huh?” she blurted out, already working on another book tower. “Yeah, Silver?”
“…If something is wrong, and for whatever reason, you… You can’t talk to me about it? Can… Can you promise you’ll talk to someone about it at least? Please?”
Smolder simply gave her a neutral look as she answered, “Yeah. Totally.”
“Thanks. See you later, Smolder.”
“Hey, Silver?”
“Yeah?”
“…Thanks. For— For helping him out.”
“I wouldn’t do anything less.” That might not have been the right thing to say, Silver realized when Smolder seemed to slump a little. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
“Ugh! For the last time, yes!” Smolder yelled. “Now go have fun on your dates or whatever it is you’re going to go do. I’ll be fine.”
“Alright then,” she conceded slowly. “See you later.”
“See ya.”
Silverstream then left her room and trotted down the hallway. Once she was certain Smolder couldn’t hear her, she let out a pained whine and leaned against a nearby wall, trying to hold back tears.
“Ev-Everything is fine!” she whimpered, desperately trying to believe it. “I-I just need to s-stay optimistic! Just stay optimistic! Don’t be paranoid, Silverstream!” she commanded herself.
…
“Everything is fine, right? Right?” Sniffling, she answered, “Y-Yeah. Everything is fine. I just need to stop being paranoid. I— I can’t keep worrying when I don’t need to; that’s not healthy!”
…
“Oh, please! Please let everything be fine!” Silver begged as she wiped her eyes and hugged herself. “Please just let everything be okay…!”
***
“Are you ready, Gallus?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure you’re ready?”
“Yes, again.”
“Are you absolutely, positively—”
“Just do it already, Ocellus!” he snapped tiredly.
“Okay, okay, okay!” she conceded shyly, lighting up her horn. “Beginning teleportation in three! Two! One!”
A ring of turquoise fire flared to life around the blue griffon and slowly dragged him into its shapeless, ethereal depths. A moment later, another circlet of magic formed, allowing Gallus to rise up from the void, unfazed and unharmed.
“You know it still boggles my mind how cool it feels to teleport,” he said casually. “Always wondered why Headmare Starlight does it all the time.”
“It certainly is an experience. Now, could you further elaborate as to what exactly it felt like?”
“Exactly as it always does, Ocellus,” Gallus deadpanned.
“So no drowning sensation, correct?”
“‘Drowning sensation’?” he echoed disbelievingly. “We fixed that a long time ago; why are you suddenly worried about that again?”
“We need to make sure it’s still fixed in the final model, Gallus.”
“Of course it’s still fixed in the final model; we made sure it was!”
“And I want to make absolutely certain it still is!”
It took quite a lot of effort, but in the end, Gallus successfully kept himself from face-clawing.
“In any case,” Ocellus began again. “Any vertigo, hallucinations, or loss of bodily functions?”
Gallus blinked incredulously.
“Okay, so ‘no’ to that too?”
Gallus continued to blink incredulously.
“Yep, definitely a ‘no.’ Sorry,” she said, scribbling down some more notes.
“No problem,” Gallus sighed neutrally. After a moment, he caved in and asked, “Why do you need to keep asking these questions anyway? You know full-well that the final model is ready.”
“Well, y-yes, but…”
Please don’t go on a tirade about what I think you’re about to go on a tirade about, he wished, closing his eyes and counting down for its inevitability.
With his eyes shut, Gallus failed to see her horn flicker with a blue light. After the light winked out, Ocellus frowned worriedly and asked, “Gallus, are you okay?”
Oh come on! What did I do this time!? he shrieked internally. “Yes, Ocellus, I’m good. Just a little irritated is all,” Gallus answered as calmly as he could.
Ocellus thought for a moment and apologized, “Sorry. I… I know it’s probably a little annoying asking all these questions again, but I just want everything to be ready for tomorrow.”
“I don’t hold it against you,” he assuaged truthfully. “You’re not the only one who’s worried.”
“I can tell…”
“Reading my emotions again, eh?” he asked jokingly.
Ocellus was dead silent, but she eventually whispered, “Even if I could, it clearly wouldn’t help…”
“Huh?”
“N-Nothing!” she squealed. “I just k-keep telling you all that’s not how it’s supposed to work.”
“Oh, I know. It’s just fun joking with you that it does.”
“Mhmm…”
…
“So, how was the energy drainage?” he asked, trying to shoo away the awkward silence.
“Oh, far better,” she answered, just as glad as Gallus for the silence to be over. “I think I might be able to perform this spell over forty times an hour now, assuming I’m resting between uses.”
“And no discharge, right?”
“Not a spark outside of my control.”
“Thank Grover.”
“Thank Grover indeed. …Although…?”
“No, no, no, nooooo!” Gallus droned, rubbing his temples in agitation. “Come on, Ocellus!”
“The Science Fair is tomorrow, Gallus; we need to have everything ready!” she repeated.
“And we do!”
“No, we don’t! We still haven’t tested out the maximum teleportation passenger capacity!”
“Yes! Yes, we do know that because we already calculated it!”
“We calculated an estimation of that,” she corrected. “But we haven’t run any actual tests to determine the proper number, especially in regards to the final model.”
“Is this even anything worth worrying about?”
“Of course it is!” Ocellus protested stubbornly. “We need to have everything known and accounted for; otherwise, we’ll risk coming across as lazy! And scientists shouldn’t be lazy.”
And I’m not a scientist! Gallus wanted so much to shoot back. He ultimately chose not to say that, instead wondering, “And what have we done to communicate that idea?”
“You mean other than not account for the maximum teleportation passenger capacity?”
“Yes. What exactly have we done that is worth being so paranoid about?” he asked impatiently.
Ocellus opened her mouth to answer honestly but then slowly closed it, sensing he wasn’t in the mood to argue. “Nothing,” she soon begrudgingly admitted, rubbing at her horn.
“Exactly,” he said curtly. “If the judges want to throw a temper tantrum over us not knowing one single, stupid number they can figure out themselves…? Well, that’s their problem.”
“And it could be our problem should we ever try to get into the field,” she just couldn’t stop herself from retorting. “Think about it, Gallus! Not accounting for this one, single fact could make it seem like we didn’t research the spell properly! And if it seems like we didn’t do the research properly then we’ll never be able to get into the profession!” she fretted, biting her hoof nervously.
Gallus fought off a twitch and argued, “Yeah, but you’re you, Ocellus. If the ponies judging the Fair don’t take one look at your work and immediately praise and hire you, then they’re either a special kind of stupid or too egotistical to accept that you’re smarter than them.”
“I— You— I—” Ocellus stuttered in surprise. Eventually, she blushed and said, “Thank you, Gallus. That’s… That’s really sweet of you to say.”
Well, I am the Lord of All Things Sweet, Gallus thought, smiling slightly. “You deserve recognition for your work. What? Am I supposed to deny that or something?”
“Heh-heh. I appreciate that, Gallus. … But don’t try to make it seem like it was all my work; it’s not,” she reminded him. “If you hadn’t helped me, I’d still be struggling to figure out the first tier’s arrangement at this point, nevermind solving the discharge problem.”
“Oh please, Ocellus, you would have done just fine without me.”
“No,” she stated resolutely. “I wouldn’t. So, thank you, Gallus. Thank you for all of your help.”
Gallus blinked. “You’re, uh, you’re welcome,” he said shyly.
But… I didn’t do half of the work she did! I haven’t earned that kind of praise! I don’t even want it because I don’t want to be a scientist, but— Gallus stopped that train of thought, shifting gears to reprimand, Stop thinking those things! You stupid brain, why are you still devaluing yourself!?
“…Are you sure you’re okay, Gallus?” Ocellus whispered, trotting forward and placing a hoof on his shoulder. “You seem a little… A-Anxious,” she decided to go with.
Gallus stepped away from her hoof and answered, “Yeah, I’m—” Doing it again! “Actually? You know what, Ocellus? I am a little anxious,” he forced himself to admit.
“About the Science Fair? Or… Was there something else going on?”
I’m still screwing up with all these dumb ‘bad habits’! Just like I’m doing now!
I want Gruff to be there, but I know he won’t be!
I don’t want to be a scientist like you, but I don’t want to tell you that and hurt your feelings!
And speaking of that! Grover forbid I actually become an actor! I don’t want to be that, and I’m clearly not good enough to be that if I did! I don’t even know what I do want to be!
“A lot of little things,” he deflected, waving a talon dismissively. “But yeah. Mostly stuff pertaining to the Fair,” he ended, feeling his heart shrivel in guilt at the half-lie.
“Sorry,” she murmured, putting her hoof back down.
“No! No, it’s not you, Ocellus,” Gallus said, happy to finally say something honestly. “You aren’t the only one who doesn’t want all of our hard work thrown out the window because of one dumb oversight.” Or because I made a mistake or something. … Dang it! I did it again!
Ocellus took a deep breath and let it out heavily. “Yeah, we’ve worked a lot on this project. I just want everything to be, well? Perfect. I know I shouldn’t strive for perfectionism, but… This could be one of the most significant chances we’ll ever get! The Fair is being judged by actual representatives from the E.E.A. And if they see our project and think we did well…”
Ocellus let the rest of her statement go unsaid. Ironic, considering the rest of it had already been said enough times the past week alone that Gallus could quote it verbatim.
“Yeah, no. I get it,” he promised, hoping she didn’t continue any further.
Soon, she sighed. “Well? As much as I would really, really like to keep testing the final model? It’s getting pretty late,” Ocellus acknowledged, nodding to the setting sun beyond the windows. “And you’re right too, Gallus. We’ve gone over every… Almost everything we could for the final model,” she corrected, much to his amusement. “It’s ready, and we’re going to have to accept that.”
“It’s not that hard,” Gallus said, giving her an encouraging smile. “You worked hard on this thing. And so did I,” he quickly added for both of their benefits. “I know it’ll work.”
“I’m glad you’re optimistic at least,” she said, returning the smile.
After a minute, he placed a comforting talon on her shoulder and said, “Everything will be fine, Ocellus. Come on and say it with me: Everything will be fine.”
“Everything will be fine,” she repeated, taking a deep breath. “Everything will be fine…”
“See? That’s the spirit! You and I are going to do spectacularly!”
“I know, I know. Kindness Lesson Forty-eight: Have confidence in all that you do. Whether in the face of judgment and persecution, or acceptance and encouragement… Have confidence. Both in yourself and for yourself.”
“A simple lesson, but an important one,” Gallus agreed wisely. Now if only I could learn that lesson and actually internalize it, he sighed rebukingly.
“That it is,” Ocellus agreed, nodding. “Anyway, we’ve got everything sorted out for now; all that’s left to do is set it all up tomorrow. Why don’t you start heading back while I clean this up,” she suggested, pointing at the veritable ocean of books surrounding them.
“And let you have all the fun of putting a bunch of heavy books back?”
“…Yes. Yes, please.”
“Understood. Just make sure I don’t catch you sleeping in here again, alright?”
“You won’t.”
“I better not. Goodnight, Ocellus.”
“Goodnight, Gallus. Sweet dreams.”
“You too.”
Gallus then grabbed his bags and left the library, allowing Ocellus to lose herself in the calming rhythm of sorting books. Once he had trotted out of earshot of the library, he paused in the empty hallway, taking a moment to simply breathe and relax.
Calm yourself, Gallus, he ordered. You’re okay. You’re okay. You’re okay.
He let out a long sigh.
“Love not need to be earned, Gallus,” his memories replayed.
“But why can’t I stay okay?” he whispered, remembering his talk with Yona. Why do I keep demeaning myself? I don’t even realize I’m doing it, but I shouldn’t even be coming close to doing it!
It was just a stupid tie! he rebuked himself. I got upset! Over! A tie! How pathetic can I be to—
“And there I go again! Why can’t I stop doing that!?” he shouted in frustration. I’m better! I know I’m better! he maintained, resuming his trot back to the dormitories. But why do I keep making the same, stupid mistakes!? I shouldn’t be making mistakes! I can’t afford to make mistakes!
What is wrong with me? Gallus wondered for the first time in nearly a month.
As if in response to that thought, a voice immediately called out, “Gallus?”
“Huh! Silver?” he yelped, turning around and nearly bumping headfirst into his girlfriend.
“Hey, how are you doing?” she inquired, giving him a quick hug.
“I’m good,” he reflexively answered, hugging her back. “You?”
“I’m…good too,” Silver said hesitantly. “What about you? What are you up to?”
Why does she look like she’s been crying? Gallus asked, feeling a mixture of horror and rage bubble up in his stomach. What! Happened!?
“Silver? Are you okay?” he asked carefully.
“I-I… Yeah, I will be, don’t worry,” she requested. “I just need to talk to Yona about something is all. But enough about that, what did you say you were up to?”
Gallus thought about pressing the issue; however, he ultimately chose to trust Silverstream rather than make yet another situation worse.
“I’m going to bed,” he slowly answered. “The Fair is tomorrow, and I just spent the past three hours trapped in the library with the perfectionist that is Ocellus.”
“Oooh,” she cringed sympathetically. “How bad?”
“Exam week bad.”
“Oh no…”
“Yeah. But what about you?”
“I’m going to bed too,” Silver sang softly. “I may not have a science project due tomorrow like you and Ocellus, but I plan to get up a little early anyway. I want to check out all of the cool things everycreature did!” she proclaimed, hopping excitedly.
“Honestly, so do I,” Gallus said as they traveled down the hallway together. “With the play and the Fair going on, I haven’t had time to check out the competition.”
“Same. Oh! That reminds me, I heard the judges will be from the E.E.A. Is that true?” she asked, giving him an encouraging smile.
“That’s what Ocellus has told me.” About forty-nine times. Or was it fifty-nine?
“Huh. That might explain her, um, ‘exam week’ behavior. She really wants to impress them.”
“You don’t know the half of it!” Gallus vented, trying to keep his tone neutral. “‘Ohhh! Gallus! We must test our spell no less than two hundred million times!’” he sarcastically whined, earning a giggle. “‘Otherwise, neither of us will become professors! I’m not sure why we won’t be able to become professors, but we just won’t!’” he concluded, grimacing in disgust.
“Hee-hee! So? ‘Professor Gallus,’ huh? I like it,” she teased playfully.
“Aghhh! Please don’t…!” he groaned. No, seriously! Please don’t let this go there!
“Oh come on! I can see you now—wearing a snazzy lab coat and goggles and messing with a bunch of beakers filled with cool science stuff…! Hee-hee-hee!”
“…”
“You’re not laughing,” Silverstream realized, turning around to see Gallus staring at the floor quietly. She gulped nervously and asked, “Gallus? What’s wrong?”
For the love of Grover! When am I going to stop making her ask me that!? Gallus wanted to scream as he snapped his attention back to her. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just…”
“Did— Did I say something that upset you?” she inquired, looking horrified by the prospect.
“No!” he immediately answered. “No, Silver, it’s not you. It’s… Ugh, it’s something stupid.”
“Then tell me. Please… I won’t care if it’s stupid or not,” Silver promised.
She is way too good for me. “I… I don’t want to be a professor.”
“Oh! Well, that’s okay,” she said, noticeably relieved. “You don’t have to be a professor just because Ocellus wants to be one. Besides, thanks to Professor Rarity, you now have an opportunity to be a world-class actor,” Silverstream suggested.
“What if I don’t want to be that either?” he asked timidly.
“That’s fine too; neither do I.”
“You— Wait, you don’t? Even after what the reviews said about you?”
“Huh? What reviews?”
“Oh, right! Uh, ask Vellum and Scoop about it. Sorry for interrupting; what were you going to say?” he asked, feeling his tail swish nervously.
“Oh! I was saying that I didn’t want to be an actress either,” she repeated calmly. “Don’t get me wrong—acting is a lot of fun! But I like painting and flying way more! Besides, can you really see me on a theater stage, let alone a movie set? Ha! No.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Silver; you’re amazing in Drama Club!” he praised. “How did Vellum put it? You’ve got the grace of an angel and the voice of one too?”
“Vellum did not say that; he would never say that!” she yelped, blushing.
“Really? Huh. I guess that means I’m the one saying it.”
“Wha— Oh, Gallus! C’mon, stop it…!”
“Only when you stop deserving it, sooo? Never!” Gallus declared with a happy, teasing smile.
“Agh, fine! But only if you must,” Silver bemoaned dramatically.
“Which is always.”
“Okay, okay! You made your point. … Now come on, tell me what’s really the matter.”
His smile faded once the conversation was directed back onto him, but Gallus simply began, “It’s just… You know how I said Ocellus was ‘exam week’ bad, right?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, I’ve been dealing with that for a while now. And…”
“Uh-oh! Do we need to go to our professors about it again?”
“Ocellus could definitely do with a sit-down with Professor Fluttershy, but to be honest? That’s not the part that’s been bugging me.”
“Then what is it? What’s wrong?”
“It’s… I know it sounds stupid, but every time she got worked up earlier these past few days, she went on a rant about how much of an ‘opportunity’ this Science Fair is,” he explained, scowling. “About how if our project gets noticed by the judges we could improve our chances of becoming scientists and mages and whatnot. But…? I don’t want to be those things,” he finished honestly.
“And that’s okay. It’s like I said: You don’t have to be a scientist if you don’t want to be.” Silver then frowned and asked, “Ocellus hasn’t been trying to push you to become one in spite of what you want, has she?”
“What? No! No. I haven’t told Ocellus about this, so I doubt she even knows.”
“Uh, she’s a changeling, Gallus. Pretty sure she should have some inkling about your feelings.”
“She also keeps telling us that’s not how her whole ‘thing’ works,” Gallus reminded her.
“True. But she also never explains how it does work,” she countered.
“Okay, fair point. But still? No. Ocellus hasn’t been doing anything like that. … Silver? I don’t want to be a scientist, and I don’t want to be an actor either,” Gallus admitted bitterly. “I don’t even think I’d be allowed to be those things, considering…” he trailed off, staring pointedly at his talons.
“What!? Of course you could be those if you wanted to, Gallus!” Silver swore, draping a comforting wing over his back. “It’s knowledge and skill that get somecreature a profession, not appearance! And certainly not species,” she concluded adamantly.
“You forgot connections,” he deadpanned. “Connections get you jobs too, and you can’t exactly make ‘em if everycreature just thinks you’re…” He didn’t finish that thought.
“What are you—oh! Gallus, don’t listen to Vellum,” Silver said gently. “You know he doesn’t know what he’s talking about half of the time.”
“Maybe. But he’s not exactly wrong. We only got to perform The Epoch of Majesty Serendipity Daydream because of Rarity. Not to mention stay in the Royal Palace,” he added dejectedly.
“I reiterate: Don’t listen to Vellum Codex. We both know he’s in the Friendship School for a reason, and it’s not because he couldn’t go anywhere else.”
“Kinda makes you wonder what’ll happen the day he graduates from the school?” he asked, trying to segue into his real concern.
“Ooh, that’s a scary thought,” Silver half-joked. After a moment, she optimistically claimed, “But I’m sure he’ll be fine. Trust me, he’s a lot better now than he was when I first joined the Club.”
“I guess Scoop is good at more than just ruining pseudo-dates,” Gallus sneered.
“You’re never going to let that go, are you?”
“Depends. Are you?”
“…No comment,” she murmured, pretending to look ashamed of herself.
“Heh. But what about you? What do you think is going to happen when we graduate?”
“You mean other than the awesome ‘Graduation’ party Professor Pie will probably throw for us?” she inquired knowingly.
He snorted. “Yeah. Other than that.”
“Hmm… Honestly?” Silver shrugged. “I’m not sure. I definitely want to take a few more art courses; maybe then I’ll become a proper artist?”
“I bet all your paintings will get in Silver Frames’ Art Gallery if you do,” he praised coyly.
“Oh good heavens, I wish!” she admitted breathlessly. “But then again? Maybe I’ll try out for the Wonderbolts? I like flying, and Professor Dash always talks about how awesome they are.”
“That’s because Professor Dash can’t go two sentences without saying the word awesome itself, but I digress.”
The two shared a small chuckle.
“And what about you?” she finally asked. “You said you don’t want to be a scientist or an actor, so what do you want to be?”
Be honest, Gallus. “I don’t know,” he whispered.
Silver tilted her head in confusion, asking, “You don’t?”
Gallus turned away, a haunted, pained grimace marring his visage.
Silverstream caught on to his discomfort and quickly added, “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean anything by that! I’m just surprised. Out of all of us, I figured you’d have the most ideas of what to do.”
“What— What makes you say that?” he asked, barely keeping his voice steady.
“Because you’re smart, talented, crafty, and amazing!” Silver answered genuinely. “If any of us had any ideas for what to do after graduation, I always assumed it would be you.”
“Yeah, well… I got nothing,” he sighed, sounding exhausted.
“Why don’t you want to be a scientist?” she slowly inquired. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
“I don’t know,” Gallus moaned weakly. “I mean… You’re not wrong about the snazzy lab coat; I could rock that thing all day long.”
“You would look rather cute in it, yes.”
Gallus immediately froze, reddening, much to Silver’s amusement.
“Hee-hee-hee,” she tittered. “Gotcha that time, Gallus!”
“Yeah, yeah, you got me,” he conceded, chuckling as his blush faded slightly. “But as awesome as it would be to wear a lab coat and solve multi-dimensional time-space equations for years and years and…years…and… Years…” He stopped for a second before resuming, “But it’s not what I want to do. It’s probably not even something I can do,” he said, combing his headcrest where a horn wasn’t.
“Now don’t you start that again!” Silver protested. “I already told you it’s your skills that could get you the job. And you’re super smart, Gallus; who else could have kept up with Ocellus when you two were figuring out the spell? I know I sure couldn’t, and I was just watching you guys.”
“And you also know she would have figured everything out on her own, with or without my help,” he said bluntly. “She can keep saying otherwise, but we all know she didn’t need me.”
Silver let that statement sit for a moment before pleading, “Gallus? Please don’t do that.”
OH! COME! ON! What did I do this time, and why do I keep doing it!? “Don’t do what?”
“You helped her, Gallus,” she stated. “I don’t care if she ‘maybe’ could have figured it out on her own; you! Helped! Her! … I know you did; I’ve seen you help her!”
It took a second for her meaning to click, but once it did, he face-clawed. “Dang it,” he groaned. “Sorry, Silver. I promise I didn’t mean it like that; I was just trying to emphasize my point.”
“I understand, Gallus. But I really don’t like it when you wave away your accomplishments just to ‘emphasize your point,’” she said, giving him a pained look.
“Well, then I guess I’m going to promise not to do that from now on!” he declared confidently.
“Please don’t promise that for my sake. If anything, you should be doing that for your own,” she murmured forlornly.
He gently cupped her cheek in his talon, compromising, “How about I promise that for both of our sakes?”
She smiled and pulled him into a soft hug, saying, “Fine. For both our sakes then.”
“Will do, milady,” Gallus agreed, wrapping his wings around her.
They soon broke away, each smiling warily at the other.
“Whelp,” Gallus soon began. “Sorry about doing it again. I really do promise not to devalue myself again. Accidentally or otherwise.”
“It’s okay, Gallus. I believe you,” Silver said honestly. “But! Back to the matter at-talon: Why didn’t you want to be a scientist?” she asked once they finally reached their bedrooms.
“I… I don’t know. Maybe it’s just because I don’t really ‘see’ myself as one? I’ve never really thought about being one before. … I haven’t really thought of being anything before,” he confessed. “I’m not even sure where I should start or what I should be,” he ended, trying to ignore some of his worse memories.
“Well, we have both the rest of this year and next year before we graduate, so you still have plenty of time to eventually figure that out,” she pointed out optimistically. “Plus, I’m always here to help too! And so is everycreature else!” Silver stopped and shot a worried glance toward Smolder’s door. “So, yeah. Don’t worry too much about the future, Gallus. We’ll figure it out together.”
“Heh. Yeah,” he said half-heartedly. “Yeah, we will.”
***
Gallus opened his eyes.
Surrounding him on all sides was a dark, impenetrable fog. Flickering wisps of smoke rushed by him, their strange whispers echoing in the silent, empty land. He slowly looked around him, searching for something—anything!—to guide him.
His heart began to race upon finding nothing.
“Hello!” Gallus cried out into the shadowy abyss.
…
“HELLO!”
…
“HELLO! Is anycreature there!? Can you hear me!? I… I’m lost! I’M LOST!”
…
“Aw peck,” he quietly cursed. “Now what’s going on!?”
…
Gallus raised his talon and cautiously placed it back down. Much to both his surprise and relief, it connected with something. He couldn’t see what it was as there was nothing to see, but at least he now knew for certain that he could move forward.
He then took another step. Another. Yet another. And finally, he threw caution to the wind and trotted forth briskly.
…
…
…
“Okay, this is getting ridiculous,” he growled. “Where the bloody peck am I?”
Anywhere.
“Huh! What the—” Gallus yelped, rapidly turning around, only to find more darkness staring back at him. “Who’s there!?”
Anyone.
“Of course,” he sighed, shaking his head. He then looked down and gulped. He turned around again and again until he was even more lost. “Oh peck! Which way was the way forward!?”
You’ll figure it out.
“For the love of— SHOW YOURSELF!” he demanded, flaring his wings instinctively.
Impossible.
“Oh really!? So you can flit around in the darkness like some alleyway psycho and whisper in my ear, but you can’t take one step into the light? How convenient…” he droned angrily.
Isn’t it?
“Shut up!” he screamed into the void.
…
…
…
“Brilliant, Gallus. The only thing that’s interacted with you so far in this place, and you tell it to shut up. Brilliant,” he grumbled at himself.
From somewhere in the distance, a small splash echoed.
Gallus hastily swiveled to face the direction the noise had come from. Another drip sounded off, and after a moment of indecision, he decided to move toward the sound.
The shadowy fog seemed to grow thicker as he advanced, and soon, flakes of…snow? Dust? Ash? … Whatever it was began falling from the dark sky above, yet none seemed to land upon him.
Eventually, he noticed something out of the corner of his eyes and turned to stare at it. It wasn’t until yet another splash sounded off that he saw it.
A ripple.
He took a step closer and tentatively placed his talon down, causing another series of ripples in what appeared to be a vast ocean of…something. It didn’t feel like water, but…
A quiet sniffle caused Gallus to tense up and turn around.
She sat upon a bench, facing the ocean; her head ducked low, hiding her eyes under her mane. And considering her slumped posture, she might have fallen asleep while sitting up.
“Silverstream?” he asked, feeling his body tremble in terror.
…
She slowly turned her neck to face him.
Gallus nearly vomited.
“Silverstream!? What— What’s— Y-Your eyes…” he uselessly stuttered.
“Why must you always demean yourself?” whimpered the eyeless ghost. A large blob of dark ink exploded out of the empty sockets, filling the ocean with even more blackened tears. “Can’t you see you hurt more than just yourself?”
“…Dream!” Gallus screamed, swiftly backing away. “Dream! Dream! Dream!” he repeated, desperately trying to accept that fact. “This has to be a dream!”
“Silly, Gallus, this isn’t a dream. After all, how could it be when you have no dreams?”
Gallus froze. He then forced himself to look behind him.
Before, there had been nothing. Nothing but an empty world hidden in the veil of a dark fog. But now, standing there a few paces behind him and smiling innocently was…
“Howdy! Golly, it’s been a while, huh?”
…
“Yeah, peck no. Bye!” he yelled, turning around and running away. Two seconds later, he stepped right back up to the sea of tears and the brat standing before it.
“Really? First thing you do is run away?” Cozy Glow asked in frustrated disbelief.
“You sound almost disappointed,” he growled through a clenched beak.
“Of course I’m disappointed! Running away from your problems was your go-to response last time, and it’s been how long since we last chatted!? Golly, you must hate listening to Headmare Starlight more than I do if you deliberately ignore her counseling to this extent,” she gleefully drawled.
“Says the psychopath who nearly murdered the world with a magic bell.”
“Oh-ho! You’ve finally gotten your spine back, I see. Good! More fun for me when I rip it out!”
Gallus cocked an eyebrow.
“What? What’s with the stare?”
“First of all: This is a dream. You can’t do anything to me other than flap your stupid lips. And second: Even if this weren’t a dream, I can kick your flank in less than five seconds.”
“How do you figure that!?”
“You’re tiny.”
“Like your self-esteem?”
“I’m working on it!”
“If that were true, neither I nor she would be here,” Cozy Glow sneered, pointing to the disfigured, hollowed-out abomination that was Silverstream.
Gallus refused to flinch, but that unfortunately didn’t stop her from continuing.
“Typical Gallus. Just as pathetic as ever but always finding a new reason to be so. Doesn’t have to be big; doesn’t have to be small. You always find a way to be a horrible griffon.”
“Well, at least I’m not evil like you!” he snarled back.
“You think that’s an accomplishment?” she laughed wickedly.
“Hey, I’ll take what I can get.”
“Even if you don’t deserve it?”
“I deserve love.”
“Not hers.”
“Care to explain why? Oh! No! Wait! Let me guess? I’m an orphan?”
“Nice try, but no. Although that certainly doesn’t help. No, no, no…” she hummed, stepping closer. “You don’t deserve her because… You. Hurt. Her,” Cozy whispered joyfully.
She barely came up to his chest, but Gallus still found himself scrambling away fearfully.
“Oh wow! You actually are listening for once! Guess you only ever listen to somepony when they’re telling you just how screwed-up you are. Figures. I mean… What else could you be but a screw-up anyway?” she asked, smiling predatorially.
“I’m not a screw-up!” Gallus argued, leering at the nightmare before him. “And… Maybe I did hurt Silverstream, but I’m moving on! I’m getting better, so I don’t—”
“‘Hurt her again’?” she guessed. “Oh, silly Gallus! Don’t you know you’re going to keep hurting her no matter what you do?”
“Shut up!”
“Come now, you know I’m right. You’ll keep hurting her so long as you don’t move on. And you don’t seem to be doing that. Almost as if you don’t want to… Almost as if you don’t know how…”
“I do want to! And I have gotten better!” Gallus protested in spite of his shivering body.
“Really? You’re still demeaning yourself; you’re still afraid of being honest around her and the others in case you hurt their feelings; and you’re still terrified of talking to Smolder,” Cozy recounted joyously.
“Well, then I guess I’ll just have to promise myself to do those things going forward then!”
“Ha! Like you promised Ocellus the first time? Like you promised Silver the second time? Like you promised Silver again. And again. … And again…”
“I get your point!” he groaned. “You got anything new to add this time, or are you just going to sit there doing your best impression of a broken record?”
Cozy Glow’s devilish giggle rang throughout the darkened world, and it continued to reverberate as she took another step toward him.
“Why, Gallus? Why do keep demeaning yourself?”
Gallus trotted back further, feeling an unnatural cold descending upon the world around him.
“Why are you still so afraid of your own feelings?”
The ash began to billow forth as harsh winds began to roar all around him.
“And why are you still not better?”
Silverstream’s corpse released a tortured scream as dark, crimson ooze burst out from every inch of her flesh, leaving her to slip and fall into the ocean of blood and tears.
“I’ll tell you why, Gallus,” Cozy Glow declared, growing in size until she dwarfed even the Friendship School. Blood-tainted armor formed around her body as large, demonic wings replaced her feathery ones, and a long, twisted horn emerged from her skull in a shower of blood.
Gallus tripped over something, only to realize that it was a body. Silver’s body.
His heart began to beat wildly against his chest as he scrambled to get up. However, the moment he tried, several melted appendages burst out of the ground and latched onto his thrashing body.
“GET OFF OF ME!” he screamed, momentarily forgetting that none of this was real.
“IT IS BECAUSE YOU DO NOT KNOW WHO IT IS YOU WISH TO BE, PATHETIC LITTLE ORPHAN BOY!” bellowed the gargantuan, demonic alicorn.
Cozy leaned her head down and gazed into his very soul through fiery red-and-yellow eyes.
“YOU CANNOT BE ANYCREATURE ELSE—ANYTHING ELSE!—BECAUSE YOU! DON’T KNOW! WHO! YOU! ARE!”
The abomination opened her fanged jaw and clamped down around his body, swallowing him.
Gallus tumbled down a tunnel of darkness until he eventually slammed into the cold hard floor of Starlight Glimmer’s office.
Groaning in pain, he placed his talons beneath him and pushed himself upward. However, once he opened his eyes, he found himself sitting down in her lime green couch as opposed to lying on the floor. Starlight’s chair then swiveled around.
“Hello, Gallus,” greeted the shriveled, eyeless mare. “What ‘stupid subconscious psychological mumbo-jumbo’ shall you ignore my advice on today?”
Gallus didn’t even try to respond, immediately leaping off the couch and throwing open her door. Unfortunately, he was only met with a mirror of the room behind him.
“Running away is all you ever do, isn’t it, Gallus?”
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” he screamed, darting through the window and landing back in yet another clone of the guidance counselor office.
“I suppose that it is all you know how to do, isn’t it?” growled the mare as a storm of crimson smoke spewed out of her every orifice.
“Get away from me!” Gallus fearfully shouted, backing away into the corner.
“How can you face your problems?” asked the approaching Starlight. “You haven’t done anything; you never will do anything! LOOK AT YOURSELF!” she screeched hatefully.
Gallus fell through the wall and quickly crashed head-first into another one. He groaned in agony as he gingerly held his throbbing head and peeked open an eye.
He stared back at himself.
“Do you know what I see?” his reflection asked. The mirror then cracked, shattering the reflection of himself and revealing a scrawny, sickly fledgling barely able to hold itself up.
“An orphan…!” the haunting image whimpered.
Gallus wordlessly scampered away from the mirror, only to back up into another one. He looked at it and found that reflected back was the mangled, fleshless corpse of Princess Twilight Sparkle.
“Do you know what I see when I look at you? I see a failure!” she snarled.
Gallus quickly staggered away from the mirrors, but he almost immediately rammed his beak into yet another one.
“P-Please! Stop!” he pleaded, keeping his eyes shut. Unfortunately, a gnarled claw reached out of the mirror and grabbed his face, forcing his eyes back open.
“Ah see a griffon!” gargled out the flea-ridden image of Grandpa Gruff.
Gallus yelped, tearing himself free of Gruff’s grasp and running away. However, yet another spawned to bar his path, and the creature trapped within it caused him to skid to a halt.
Smolder slowly turned to face him, wearing a scowl of pure loathing and malice.
“I see… A LIAR!” she roared, taking a deep breath and blowing a stream of fire at him.
Gallus screamed as the flames wrapped around him and burned away the floor, dropping him further into the nightmare’s depths.
In less than a second Gallus hit solid ground, but he couldn’t find the strength to get up this time. He gasped for breath and opened his eyes to meet the gaze of Ocellus.
“You can be anything…” she muttered plainly. “Yet you choose to be these things? Pathetic! But then again? You’re not like me. You’re not like everycreature else. You don’t know what you want to be, do you? You filthy griffon!” she shrieked, snapping her fangs at him.
He flinched back and pathetically argued, “N-No! I… I do know! I do know what I want to be!”
“Pray tell, what!?” demanded the newly arrived Twilight Sparkle.
“I want to be better!”
“Then why aren’t you better yet!?” Starlight Glimmer screeched, suddenly behind him.
“I-I-I am b-better! I-I am!”
“You can never be better! You’re just a liar!” growled Smolder from within the darkened din.
The world then ignited into a storm of turquoise flames and ethereal winds, and from the storm emerged the monstrous form of a giant orange-and-orchid dragon.
“Friends never lie!” she declared, gazing at him with a hungered ferocity. “But you’re not my friend, are you!? What are you then!? WHAT ARE YOU!?” she bellowed, opening her glowing maw.
“I DON’T KNOW!” Gallus admitted, slumping against the floor as blackened tears began to leak from his eyes. “I don’t know! I don’t know!”
…
…
…
He opened his eyes to find another mirror erected before him, displaying himself and two other faceless griffons.
“How can you know who you are?” it slowly asked. “How can you know what you want to be? How can you know what you want to do? When the ones who were supposed to tell you never did,” it sneered as the two figures behind it vanished.
Gallus tried to back away; unfortunately, he bumped against something small, soft, and tiny. He then looked behind him and shirked back in unbridled terror.
“And that’s the question, isn’t it, Gallus?” Princess Cozy Glow asked, bathed in the silvery light of the moon above. “Who can you be if you’re no longer the broken, pathetic, little orphan boy that you’ve always been?” she said, igniting her horn with a demonic roar.
Gallus didn’t know whether to scream, cry, or flee. But two things were certain: He wasn’t going to beg. And he was definitely not going to let her have the last word.
“I don’t know, but I’d probably still be me!”
“And just who is that?” she laughed, lowering her horn toward his skull.
“…Gallus.”
He closed his eyes.
…
…
…
When nothing happened, Gallus slowly opened his eyes only to discover the blackened void had been replaced by the lush emerald grass of Ponyville Park. And upon returning his gaze to his would-be murderer, he found the filly had been turned to stone.
Gallus then looked up and watched as a midnight blue alicorn descended from the moon, quietly alighting upon the grass.
“Accursed child…” she whispered upon approaching the petrified psychopath. “Even now that pest finds a way to be a greater nuisance than she has any right to be.”
She then blew onto the statue, causing the item to crumble away into dust and disappear completely. Princess Luna then smiled, warmly greeting, “Hello, Gallus.”
“Princess Luna!?” Instantly, everything clicked back into place. “Oh! Right! It was all a dream!” Gallus remembered, chuckling weakly. “It was a bad dream, but it was still just a dream! … Oh thank Grover,” he wheezed, falling onto his haunches.
“Indeed it was,” she confirmed, sitting beside him on the picnic blanket that was suddenly there now. “But now, the nightmare is over.”
“Yeah, thanks,” he quietly mumbled, taking the chance to regain his breath. “Sorry, Princess.”
“For what?” she asked plainly.
“For… For dragging you out of retirement,” he answered, confused by her question. “Because you retired, right? So you stopped doing your dream thing, didn’t you?”
Luna let out a bark of laughter. “Oh, my sweet, little Hero of Equestria…” she said, patting his shoulder gently. “If my dear sister thinks she can drag me off to Silver Shoals before I can make up for a thousand years’ lost time, she’s got another thing coming.”
“So, wait… You didn’t retire?”
“From ruling Equestria? Yes, I did. I have a millennia of sisterly bonding to catch up on. From watching over the dreams of my fellow Equestrians? Well, you’re a clever griffon.”
“Huh. I guess I just thought Princess Twilight would take over that too.”
“Twilight Sparkle can shoulder many responsibilities, but she cannot bear them all. Yet another reason she has so many friends to help her. On that note? Please don’t tell her I’m still doing this!” she pleaded fretfully. “If Twilight knows, she’ll tell Celestia. And if Tia knows… Well, let’s just say I’m trying to postpone that conversation until after my new earplugs come in the mail.”
Gallus couldn’t help but laugh, and soon, Luna chuckled along with him. Eventually, he stopped laughing and lamented, “I’m still sorry that you needed to stop my nightmare…”
“And I’m sorry you had to endure it for as long as you did,” Luna apologized. “It was quite the challenge breaking through it in order to reach you.”
“It’s fine, Princess,” he half-lied. “I’m just sorry for having it in the first place.”
“A nightmare is your worst fears made manifest in an assault upon your psyche,” she explained, sipping at her tea. “You need not feel ashamed for falling victim to forces beyond your control.”
“Yeah, but… I shouldn’t have had a nightmare at all!”
“You expect too much of yourself.”
“But why would I have a nightmare like that to begin with? I’m not— What do I have to be so afraid of? I’m nervous about the Fair, but I’m not that nervous,” he claimed, angry at himself.
“Hmm. ‘What do I have to be so afraid of?’” she quoted quietly. “Why don’t you tell me.”
“But— But I’m not afraid of anything!” Gallus boasted as confidently as he could. “I’m… I’m not. Or at least, I shouldn’t be,” he added dejectedly.
“Come now, Gallus. You know I shall not judge you, nor shall I think you cowardly,” Luna promised soothingly. “Do not be afraid to speak of your fears.”
After some time, he confessed, “I’m not better.”
“Oh, is that so? Odd. You seem far better than you once were,” she congratulated bluntly.
Gallus shook his head and protested, “No, I’m not! If I were really better, I wouldn’t— I wouldn’t be having stupid nightmares, and I wouldn’t need help getting rid of them! I shouldn’t need help because I should be better already!” he bemoaned, hiding his face in his talons. “But I’m not!”
Princess Luna remained silent, affording him a moment to regain his composure.
“Princess, do… Do you know about what happened to me?” Gallus asked as calmly as possible.
“I do,” she answered casually.
“Then you also know that I’m trying to move on and heal?”
“Indeed. And I applaud your progress thus far,” Luna added, giving him a proud smile.
“Yeah, but… It’s not enough! I’m still screwing up; I’m still demeaning myself; I’m still—” His voice caught in his throat before he mumbled, “I’m still worrying Silver…!”
“Flawlessness is far too lofty an expectation to hold, Gallus,” she stated wisely. “And more importantly? Help is not something you should be ashamed of needing.”
“But if I were better then I wouldn’t need help!” he argued. “I wouldn’t be dumping my problems on Sandbar; I wouldn’t be getting upset over a stupid tie; I… I’d have made up with Smolder already,” Gallus rambled off regretfully.
“I reiterate: You expect too much of yourself.”
“What!?” he snapped hotly. “What do you mean!? Are you saying I shouldn’t be better!?”
“No. I am saying you shouldn’t hold yourself to such an unreasonable expectation,” Luna clarified calmly. “You are better, Gallus, but that doesn’t mean you’re no longer subject to mistakes.”
“But I shouldn’t be!” he protested, rising to his talons unconsciously. “Princess, I hate this! I’m supposed to be healing, but ever since that stupid holiday, I keep making these mistakes!”
“Mistakes are an aspect of life,” she began neutrally. “Everycreature will make them as nocreature is perfect. You would be wise to not expect yourself to be an exception to this.”
“Tch! I wish I were perfect,” Gallus grumbled venomously. “Maybe if I were, I’d stop worrying my friends and accidentally demeaning myself…”
“It is good that you wish to do neither of these things,” she agreed. “However, it is not right to expect yourself to be flawless, especially when you subsequently judge yourself for not being so.”
“I don’t need to be ‘flawless’; I just need to be better!” he argued fervently.
“And yet you are.”
“If I were better I wouldn’t be worrying my friends, I-I wouldn’t still be screwing up; I’d know what I want to do after we graduate!” Gallus added, perking up in rage.
“I wouldn’t dump my problems on Sandbar and Yona out of nowhere like an idiot! I wouldn’t have nightmares that I need to be saved from! Who knows!” he squawked wildly. “Maybe Gruff would have showed up to our play! Maybe he’d show up tomorrow, but fat chance will that ever happen!” Gallus concluded as his shout echoed throughout the dreamscape.
Gallus fell back to his haunches, taking deliberately deep breaths in a vain attempt to calm himself down as Princess Luna stoically watched on.
“I don’t want to worry my friends, Princess,” he continued despairingly. “I don’t want to hurt them. I just want to be normal, but I— But I keep screwing up! And if I keep screwing up then—” Gallus fell silent, unable to finish his thought.
For several long, agonizing minutes, Princess Luna sat there, observing the haggard griffon hang his head in guilt, a mixture of pity and hesitance marring her otherwise tranquil expression.
Eventually, Gallus rubbed his eyes dry and looked at her. “Please, Princess,” he pleaded in a cracked voice. “Please, tell me what I’m supposed to do…”
“Gallus?” Luna slowly began, meeting his puffy eyes with her own somber ones. “I shall not disservice you by pretending that there are easy answers to these struggles. Nor shall I torment you by suggesting that I hold the solution to even one of them.”
Gallus couldn’t help but let out a pained laugh. “Heh, I’m so screwed up that even an alicorn, let alone the Princess of the Night, can’t help me?” he whimpered hopelessly.
“You are correct in that I am an alicorn, but do not take that as grounds that I am omniscient. But even still? I need not be all-knowing to know the message you need to hear most of all.”
“Let me guess: That there’s nothing wrong with me?” he guessed, irked by that possibility. “Go talk it out with the others? Be with my friends, and they’ll be there for me, right?”
“From your tone, I suspect you’ve heard these lessons countless times,” she deduced impassively. “I suppose ‘tis only natural; they are rather wise courses of action. However, I trust you know and understand the value of these messages; hence, I shall not repeat them.”
Gallus couldn’t help but be thankful for that, asking, “Okay? So what should I do then?”
“You need to love yourself also.”
Gallus stammered incoherently for a moment before managing to ask, “Wh-What?”
“You need to love yourself also,” Luna repeated.
“I… I don’t understand. What do you mean?”
“I mean that you expect perfection of yourself, and when you cannot attain it, you think even less of yourself than you had previously,” she elaborated simply.
“I-I-I’m sorry,” he stuttered, beginning to frown. “A-Are you saying that I shouldn’t feel guilty for when I make mistakes? That… That I shouldn’t be angry that I keep worrying my friends!?”
“Gallus, you know full-well that is not what I am saying.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“I am saying that you are not immutable,” Luna stated resolutely. “And you should not feel guilty that you are not so.”
“I don’t need to be ‘immutable’ or ‘flawless’ or whatever else! I just need to be better, but—”
“You are better.”
“No, I am not! If I were better than I wouldn’t be—”
“Making mistakes?”
“Worrying my friends! Worrying her!”
“Through your mistakes?”
“…Yes.”
Silence.
“Princess Luna, please… Please just tell me what I need to do!” he begged. “I don’t care what I have to do, just please tell me!”
“Love. And accept. Yourself. Faults and all.”
“No! I will not love myself!” he yelled. Gallus then grimaced and shied away, muttering, “That— That didn’t come out quite right. Erm, I… I mean… I mean…”
“Yes?” she asked softly.
“…I lied to them,” he finally managed to say. “I hurt them. I worried them, Princess. I keep worrying them! I… I can’t love that! Why would I ever love that about myself?”
“I never said you had to.”
“But… But you said—”
“If I may provide context? Do you think I love Nightmare Moon?”
Silence again.
“No.”
“Indeed. I do not love that part of myself. I do not love that buried pit of resentment and jealousy that… Well? You know the story. But do you think that one, singular aspect is enough to prevent me from caring about myself? From loving myself for who I am?”
“N-No.”
“Indeed.”
“But what I did was—”
“Do not say what you did was worse,” she chided sternly. “And do not for even a single second believe that your mistakes are unforgivable.”
“S-Sorry. I didn’t mean it that way…” he elaborated, flinching back.
“Fear not, I understand,” Luna assuaged kindly. “And… Forgive me. I do not mean to compare or quantify our sins, merely contrast them. And I do so to emphasize that it is not our mistakes that should define us, but rather how we learn from them.”
“Clearly, I haven’t,” Gallus couldn’t stop himself from saying.
“Once more, you think too little of yourself for failing to be immutable.”
“Immutable or not, I still hurt my friends. And I… I’m still hurting them. What kind of creature does that make me?” he asked, gazing at the spot where Cozy Glow had last stood.
“A living one,” she answered gently. “A young, living, breathing soul in a world teeming with life, and deserving to love and to be loved.”
“Maybe that’s what I am, but is it really who I am?” he wondered, dejected. “Or… Or was that brat right all along? And I really am nothing more than… A pathetic, lying griffon?”
“I have heard a peculiar sentiment in the time since my return: We are not always who we think we are. Oftentimes, we are who others think we are,” she quoted sagely.
Gallus blinked, contemplating the notion. After a minute, he collected himself and murmured, “A-And?”
“And…? Would you like to know who I think you are, Gallus?”
After a moment of deliberation, he gulped and silently nodded.
“I think you are a brave, caring, clever griffon. A hero to Equestria. An inspiration to Griffonstone. And a loved one to your family,” she ended, giving him a bright, proud smile.
Nothing is wrong with you.
Two tiny rivers broke free from his eyes and streaked down his cheeks before Gallus could even try to stop them.
In less than a heartbeat, he found himself being pulled into Luna’s tender embrace, her wings wrapping around him protectively, almost motherly. Gallus didn’t hesitate to hug her back.
After what could have very well been hours, Gallus shuddered, wiping away the lingering dampness and pulling away. Meanwhile, Luna retracted her wings, but never once tore her gaze away from the griffon.
…
…
…
“So do I, uh, do I talk first or do you talk first?” he asked, a smirk tugging at his beak.
Luna fell into a series of giggles before answering, “If you wish to speak, you may; I shall not impede you.”
“Y-Yeah,” he said, smiling back. After yet another minute, he said, “Sor… Thank you, Princess Luna. I’m… I wish I hadn’t— I mean! I think I really needed to hear all of that,” he course-corrected.
“‘Tis my pleasure to aid you,” Luna said, nodding dutifully.
“…Does it get easier?”
She hummed in thought for a moment before sighing and admitting, “I do not believe I can say. For many, healing is a certainty. For others? It is a long-dead hope. But if I am to speak from personal experience? Yes. Yes, it does,” Luna confirmed, smiling serenely.
“It just takes a really long time, right?”
“Indeed. Time heals all wounds, but it cannot always do so alone,” she supposed sagely, rising to her hooves.
“Heh. I guess I’m lucky that I’m not alone,” he said, grinning weakly.
“Yes. You are not alone.” She let that statement sit for a while before asking, “Gallus? You deserve to be loved. You deserve a family, friends; a home… You know all of this. Don’t you?”
He nodded without hesitation.
“I am glad,” Luna sighed, relieved. “But? Always remember that you deserve to love yourself as well. You have made mistakes, Gallus; this is true,” she acknowledged simply. “But everycreature makes mistakes. ’Tis a part of life, as regrettable as it may be.”
“‘Regrettable’ is putting it mildly,” he muttered sarcastically.
“Perhaps. But the most despicable truth about mistakes is this: You will always make them,” Luna promised. “My sister and I are over a millennia old, and we’ve both failed Equestria and our little ponies more times than I can count,” she admitted, looking away regretfully.
“Well, I think you both did fine enough.”
“Thank you, Gallus,” she said, smiling. “No one is above making mistakes,” Luna resumed. “And one should never think otherwise. All we can hope to do is learn from our failures, big or small. Learn. And grow,” she concluded, nodding reassuringly. “And you have grown quite a lot in recent months.”
After wiping his eyes again, Gallus quietly muttered, “Thank you, Princess. I don’t want to make mistakes, but you’re right. I… I can’t hate myself for making them.”
“No. You can’t,” she murmured, slowly shaking her head. “So, please, Gallus. Promise me you’ll remember that. That no matter how many mistakes you make, you will always deserve the love of both your friends and especially yourself,” Luna requested gently.
“I will,” he promised. “I… I will.”
Luna merely smiled gratefully. She then trotted toward a wooden door that had suddenly appeared in the middle of the field.
“Are you leaving?” Gallus asked, his voice soft, subdued.
“Indeed. I have yet more dreams to visit and yet more creatures to aid. … I can stay for longer if you wish, however,” she proposed, turning back to him.
“N-No! No. I don’t want to keep you.”
“If you’re certain?”
“Yeah. Besides, I…” He hesitated but ultimately said, “I need some time to… I, uh, I don’t know, er, think? … Wait, is that even possible in a dream?”
Luna smirked coyly and deflected, “Then I shall visit your dreams later tonight. But for now? I believe I shall leave you with this one,” she declared, stamping her hoof down.
Immediately, the ethereal void of Ponyville solidified. The grass flared to life as the blazing sun beat down upon the happy world, and the images of several ponies appeared, simply trotting about.
“Remember, Gallus,” Luna began, opening the door and stepping halfway through it. “Remember that you are worthy of both the love of your peers and the love of yourself.”
The door closed.
Gallus blinked at the sudden departure before he quickly found himself trapped in Silverstream’s laughing embrace.
“There you are, silly!” she squealed, completely normal and smiling brightly. “I was wondering where you went.”
“What— But— Silver?”
“Yep, that’s my name; don’t wear it out. Now, c’mon!” she demanded, pulling him along as she precariously balanced a familiar basket on her back. “Mrs. Ditsy should be getting home soon, and we want to surprise her with the muffins!”
“But… Didn’t we… Didn’t we already do that?” he mumbled, scratching his head in confusion.
“Nope! We wanted to, but we got interrupted; luckily, no more interruptions this time!” she sang cheerfully. “Now, let’s go! Mrs. Ditsy is going to absolutely love these muffins, and you want to know why?” Silver asked conspiratorially.
“Uh… Uh, w-why?” Gallus asked, blinking as he slowly lost himself to the rules of the dream.
“Hee-hee! Because you helped me make ‘em,” she answered, sneaking in a playful boop to his beak. “Now hurry, we gotta catch her before she heads out for her afternoon route!”
Silverstream then bounded forward, waving her talon for him to come along. Gallus snorted in exasperation before happily replying, “Coming, milady!”
“You better, milord!”
In the waking world, Gallus rolled over in his sleep, a serene smile tugging at the corners of his beak.