//------------------------------//
// Epilogue: Love 
// Story: The Bonds of Love 
// by Summer Script 
//------------------------------//

“Can you feel the sunshine? Does it brighten up your—” Smack!

Gallus retracted his talon from the clock, letting out a quiet yawn as he did so. He then stretched out his limbs with a chorus of small pops, and afterward, he snuggled back under the covers, smiling serenely.

…

…

…

“C’mon, Gallus,” he told himself, sitting back up. “Gotta get up. Gotta get up. Gotta get—” He then fell silent when a pink talon reached up and gently pressed against his chest, pushing him back down onto the bed. Gallus gazed a second longer at the beautiful ring adorning said talon before turning to its owner and joking, “Correction: Gotta lie down and go back to sleep.”

“And cuddle me,” Silverstream whispered giddily. “Don’t forget that part.”

“I never forget that part,” he assured, wrapping a talon around her and hugging her closer to him. Upon doing so, Gallus sighed blissfully and said, “Good morning, milady.”

“Good morning, sweetie,” she replied, nuzzling him. “How’d you sleep?”

Returning the nuzzle, he answered, “With you. So? Best sleep ever, as usual. How about you?”

“With you. So? Best sleep ever, as usual,” she repeated, waggling her eyebrows knowingly.

“One of these days, you’re going to have to come up with some original material.”

“Why bother when I can piggyback off of yours?” she argued. “Besides, I doubt any of my material would hold a candle to yours, milord.”

“Doth thou truly believeth such nonsense, Fair Silverstream?” Gallus questioned, stroking her cheek lovingly. “I beseech thee! Grant unto me thine greatest material so I may proveth thee wrong.”

Silverstream smirked and responded with, “I love you.”

“Why, Fair Silverstream! ‘Tis nothing greater than those three most beautiful, splendorous words,” he praised. “Not one single line I hath spoken in these many years doth compare.”

“In that case, say it to me,” she insisted.

“I love you,” Gallus said without hesitation.

They both chuckled and shared a kiss.

“But seriously, we really do have to get up soon,” he bemoaned, staring into her twinkling eyes.

“No, we don’t. All we have to do is lie here and cuddle,” Silverstream declared, nestling even deeper into his sky blue feathers.

“Oh? You want to just cuddle, huh?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, if you’re offering…?” she cooed, displaying her neck.

Gallus smiled and softly kissed it, savoring the elated hum it drew out of her. He then felt her talons stroke along his back, inducing him to continue.

This went on for some time until Silverstream grinned boldly and slid one of her talons toward a particular spot she knew to be a favorite of his. The second she made contact with it, he rolled on top of her and put even more vigor into kissing her neck.

Tittering, Silver worked to reward his affection by gleefully caressing her other talon through his headcrest. In turn, he ran his talons through her feathers as well, saying, “I love you,” once more.

“And I love you,” she crooned, closing her eyes and simply enjoying his embrace.

Eventually, Gallus lifted his head up and away from her neck. Silver waited for a moment, but when he didn’t resume kissing her, she opened her eyes and whined, “Oh come on, Gallus! Why did you stop? It was just getting good.”

“I had to,” he claimed. “Otherwise, I’d have asked you if we could do a bit more than just kiss.”

Her smile widening—Silverstream inquired, “How much more?” in as sultry a voice as possible.

Gallus combed a talon through her mane, replying, “Oh, I think you already know the answer to that.”

“Hee-hee, yes, I do. And I certainly wouldn’t mind if we did that again.”

“Neither would I, but you know we can’t.”

“Aww, what’s the matter, sweetie?” Silverstream asked, stroking his headcrest again. “Don’t you wanna play with me?”

“I do. I really, really do,” Gallus hummed, his eyes fluttering closed at her touch.

“Then go ahead, Gallus. Let’s play.”

“We can’t,” he lamented, glancing at their clock. “Not when we have to get up in five minutes.”

“We could have a lot of fun in those five minutes,” she sang, winking alluringly.

“And as heavenly as that sounds, neither of us would be satisfied with only five minutes,” he countered. “And you would not let me go until you were satisfied.”

“Well…?” She smiled. “You wouldn’t let me go either, would you?”

“Sea kelp no,” he swore, immediately planting his beak against hers.

Silverstream kissed him back ecstatically, returning her talons to his back and giving him a pleasant, little massage. She then giggled when Gallus rested his talons against her cheeks and caressed them just the way she loved it.

Yet another minute passed, and they mutually pulled away, each panting slightly but neither taking their eyes off the other.

“I love you,” they said simultaneously.

…

“Sooo?” Silver soon began. “Today’s the big day.”

“Yes, it is,” Gallus said, nodding. “You nervous?”

“Nope. If Cheerilee could handle the Crusaders, she can handle anything,” she reasoned.

“Fair point.”

“Mhmm. That said? If I didn’t have work today, I would totally be outside watching through the window the entire time.”

“Same.”

“You said you’ll get off at two, right?”

“Yep. I would have taken the whole day off, but, well? No one was available to cover my shift. Scheduling issues and all that.”

“Ughhh! Being an adult is hard,” she groused, pouting.

“True. But being an adult does have some perks,” Gallus acknowledged, brushing his tail against her hind leg teasingly.

“Yeah, it does,” she agreed, grinning mischievously. “And when we get home tonight, you and I are going to enjoy one of them. And we’re going to enjoy it for a good, long while.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Neither would I. Now, come on, sweetie! We still have—” Silverstream checked the clock and groaned. “Three minutes until the alarm goes off again. Let’s make them heavenly.”

“Still as shameless as ever, I see.”

“Hey, it’s like you always tell me: There’s no shame in loving you with all my heart. And I do love you with all my heart,” she whispered, giving him a small, adoring kiss.

“And I love you with all of mine,” he declared, leaning down and kissing her chest. “I love you with all my heart.” He kissed her shoulder. “And all my soul.” He kissed her neck. “Grover’s Treasure, I love you!” Gallus then finally kissed her beak proper, receiving an equally passionate kiss back.

They continued embracing each other, but much to their frustration, the alarm did, in fact, resume blaring three minutes later.

After shutting it off with a growl, Silver glanced back at Gallus and pleaded, “Ten more minutes? Pretty please?”

“Funny. I was going to ask you the same thing,” Gallus proclaimed.

“YES!” she roared, rolling them both over and taking the top position. “Thank you,” she said before going right back to kissing him.

He eagerly kissed her back, holding her in his loving embrace as his tail wagged excitedly.

Silverstream soon unfolded her wings and flapped them enticingly, and Gallus wasted no time moving his talons to the appendages and fondling them. Her euphoria was then made known when her back legs gave a quick buck.

Gallus pulled away from the kiss, laughing, so Silver swiftly seized the chance to move down and kiss his neck. “You bucked again,” he teased.

“Uh-huh. So what?” she muttered between kisses. “I’ll buck for you as much as you want.”

“Ooh, spicy!”

“You know it. Now, sweetie? Why don’t you repay the favor and purr for me,” she ordered, leaning up and offering him her neck once more.

“As you wish, milady,” he said, allowing a loving purr to escape his throat as he nuzzled her neck joyfully.

Silverstream laughed as well and ran her talons through his headcrest and down his back. In response, Gallus resumed kissing her neck, much to her rapture.

“Oh? Ohhh… Ohhh yeah!” Silver exclaimed, blushing faintly. “U-Um, sweetie? A little lower, please,” she requested. He did as instructed, and she let out a pleasured chirp in response. “Oh, yeah! Yeah, right there! Right there…” she sighed, practically melting into his embrace. “Don’t stop.”

Gallus had absolutely no plans to stop, but he unfortunately did when a loud ringing echoed throughout the house.

“Argh, that was not ten minutes!” Silver shrieked, angrily smacking their clock again.

“And that wasn’t our alarm,” Gallus noted, wishing more than anything that it had been so they could have snoozed it again.

Silverstream winced, closed her eyes, and prayed.

The ringing stopped.

“She’s up,” they both realized.

Silver hurried off of him and back to her half of the bed, cursing, “Aw peck! I was really getting into it too.”

“We’ll finish when we get back home,” Gallus promised, giving her another kiss.

After kissing him back, she reassured, “You bet we will. So? You hug me, or I hug you?”

“You know which I prefer.”

Silverstream simply smiled and shifted onto her side, feeling his talons wrap snugly around her yet again. “Love you,” she sang serenely.

“Love you too,” Gallus said, pulling their blanket back over them both.

“Hee-hee. Three,” she started counting.

“Two,” he joined in.

“One,” they both ended, snapping their talons before hastily pretending they were still asleep.

Right on cue, their bedroom door banged open, and a loud, happy voice squealed, “Daddy, Mommy, it’s morning! Wake up!” When they didn’t stir, she frowned and jumped into their bed. “Come on and wake up already,” she grumbled, giving them both a nudge.

It took a significant amount of willpower, but they both managed to remain silent.

Their daughter puffed her cheeks adorably and climbed onto Gallus, clamping her beak not-so-gently upon his ear feathers and giving them a sharp tug. “Stop sleeping and wake up,” she commanded.

“No,” Gallus deadpanned, gently batting her away. “We’re sleeping. See?” He then proceeded to make exaggerated snoring noises that caused Silver to let out a quiet snort.

“You can’t sleep; you have to make me breakfast.”

“Ten more minutes,” Silverstream requested in a falsely groggy tone.

“But I’m hungry nooowww!”

“Like Mommy said,” Gallus mumbled, hiding both his and Silver’s faces behind his wing. “Ten more minutes.”

After a brief silence, their daughter sighed. “Okaaay…” She then turned and stepped back toward the edge of the bed, intending to try her talon at making her own breakfast.

Realizing this, Silverstream bolted upright and bellowed, “Oh, no, you don’t!” as she trapped their daughter in her unyielding clutches.

“Yay, you’re up!” she rejoiced, giggling triumphantly.

“Yep, we’re up,” Gallus confirmed, sitting up himself and yawning again. “Good morning, honey,” he said, giving their daughter a small smooch before looking her over with a loving smile.

Her front half was avian, covered in a layer of bright, sunny yellow feathers with cream highlights, and her back half was feline, bearing a coat of fur as vividly pink as her mother’s.

Meanwhile, both the tuft of fur growing at her tail’s end and the small, hippogriff-esque mane sprouting from her head were the same bright blue of her father’s feathers, even sharing the same golden highlights of his headcrest.

And thanks to the wondrous power of genetics, their fledgling had luckily managed to gain both of their eye colors, one being a lustrous lavender and the other a shimmering sapphire.

“Good morning, Daddy. Good morning, Mommy,” she said, beaming jubilantly at her parents. “So, what’s for breakfast?”

“Glorious Pearl,” Silverstream began, frowning. “You haven’t been awake for five minutes and already you’re demanding food?”

“Yep.”

While Gallus snickered at their daughter’s childish innocence, Silverstream asked, “And what made you think it would be a good idea to barge into our room at the crack of dawn to make such demands?”

“Uhhh?”

“Especially when Mommy and Daddy were having a really good sleep too?” she added, giving their daughter a menacing grin. “Don’t you remember what happened last time?”

Glorious Pearl blinked in realization and nervously mumbled, “Uh… Oh…”

“I guess I’ll just have to give you a reminder…”

“No-no-no!” she mewled, trying her hardest to escape her mother’s grasp but to no avail.

“Of what happens to impatient fledglings who can’t wait ten minutes for breakfast.”

“No, please, I’m sorry! Just don’t—” Her protests instantly turned into frantic laughter as Silverstream began tickling her. “Hee-hee! N-No, please! Stop! Hahahahaha!”

“No!” she denied, showing their daughter no mercy. “You will not escape me!”

“Hee-hee-hahah! D-Daddy, ha-ha-ha-help!” Glorious Pearl pleaded desperately.

“Yeah, Daddy,” Silverstream hummed, shooting her husband an expectant smile. “Help.”

“Okay,” Gallus said, immediately joining his wife’s side in the conflict.

“No, Daddy, no!” their daughter squawked, panicking but laughing all the same. “Help me, not Mommy!”

“I can’t,” he argued, smiling mirthfully. “You’re too adorable; I must tickle you too.”

“Nooo!” she cried out before succumbing to another bout of guffawing.

After some time, Gallus and Silverstream reluctantly relented their assault before their daughter could get too overstimulated. They then both planted a loving kiss on each of her cheeks and waited for her laughter to subside.

Once it had, Gallus softly inquired, “How are you doing, Glory? You sleep okay?”

“Uh-huh,” she said, still panting from the exertion. “I had an awesome dream too.”

“Ooh, what was it about?” Silverstream asked, stretching life back into her wings.

“I was swimming in an ocean of ice cream and chocolate syrup,” Glory recounted, licking her beak. “And there were sprinkles everywhere!”

“Oh really? You sure that was one of your dreams? That sounds more like one of your mother’s,” Gallus commented, snickering when the mother in question gave him a light nudge.

“Well? I didn’t see Mommy there, but I did see a pony.”

“You did?” he gasped, pretending to be shocked. “Did she say anything to you?”

Glory’s face scrunched up in thought. “I think so. I think she said… ‘Good luck tomorrow’?” she murmured uncertainly. “I’m not sure; I can’t remember. But I do remember she was really tall!”

“Though surely not as tall as me, right?” Silverstream joked, making a mental note to write to the Princesses later.

“Nope. Nocreature is as tall as you, Mommy,” Glory extolled, flinging her talons around her mother and hugging her tightly.

Silver happily hugged her back and squealed, “Aww, you’re so sweet.”

“Bet she gets that from me,” Gallus bragged, enveloping them both in his wings and joining the hug.

“I think you mean she gets that from us,” Silver stated, sparing him a sly smirk.

“She gets that from us,” he corrected, mirroring her smirk.

“There ya go,” she laughed.

“Heh-heh-heh. You hear that, Glory?” Gallus asked, returning his gaze to their daughter. “You’re as sweet as both of us combined.”

“I guess that makes you super sweet,” Silverstream praised.

“Yay, I’m super sweet!” Glory celebrated. “Hee-hee-hee.”

“Yes, you are,” Gallus concurred, snuggling their daughter. “You are so sweet that everycreature is going to want to be your friend. Everycreature.”

“Really?” she pondered, blinking owlishly.

“Yes, really. Good thing too—Today’s your first day of school, after all,” he reminded her. “Are you excited?”

“Yeah!” Glory cheered, her vibrant eyes brimming with adventurous curiosity. “I can’t wait to go to school and learn all kinds of cool things. Like… Like…? Ummm?” she hummed, tilting her head in puzzlement. “What kind of things will I learn in school again?”

Silverstream snorted. “Well, one thing I certainly hope you learn is how to knock.”

“As opposed to bursting into our room while shouting, ‘feed me, feed me, feed me!’” Gallus joked, grinning despite his exasperation.

“I didn’t say that,” Glory protested.

“You did bite me though. And we’ve both told you not to do that.”

“But you wouldn’t get up, and I was hungry.” As if to aid her argument, her stomach gave a weak gurgle, prompting her to exclaim, “See!?”

Her parents both chuckled, and Silver soon said, “Yes, yes. We see. Don’t worry, Glory, we’ll make you some breakfast.”

“Yep,” Gallus said, retrieving two matching necklaces from their nightstand. After passing Silverstream hers, he adorned his own Pearl-piece and added, “We’re hungry too.”

“Ooh! Can we have pancakes?” Glory requested, flapping her tiny wings excitedly.

“You want pancakes?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, I’ll go make us some pancakes,” Gallus vowed, slipping out of the bed before Silver could stop him again. “What kind do you want?”

“Blueberry.”

“Nooo,” Silverstream interjected. “She wants chocolate chip. Don’t you, Glory?”

“No, I want blueberry,” she bluntly refuted.

“But chocolate chip is so much better. Why would you ever want plain, old blueberry?”

“Because it’s healthier.”

“‘Healthier’!?” Silver echoed, holding a talon to her heart in mock-horror. “Gallus, you monster! You’ve brainwashed our fledgling into liking healthy foods! How could you!?”

“I’ve done no such thing,” he objected. “Our daughter simply knows having a healthy breakfast is more important than satisfying your chocolate craving. Isn’t that right, honey?” he ended, offering Glory a talon.

“Yep,” Glory agreed, bumping her father’s talon.

“Booooo!” Silver whined in defeat. “I want chocolate chip pancakes.”

“Then I’ll just have to make both,” Gallus decreed, relishing the celebratory cheers of his family. Before he left for the kitchen, however, he gave Silverstream another kiss, saying, “I love you. And I love you,” he added, giving Glory one as well.

“And we love you too,” they both replied, kissing him back. “Now, go make us some pancakes, sweetie,” Silver ordered, smiling happily.

“As you wish, milady,” he said, smiling as well.


***


“—And be sure to stay tuned! For tonight, we’ll be hosting an interview with academy award-winning actor, Vellum Codex. Who will be telling us all about his latest role in the upcoming—”

The television suddenly switched off, cutting the news reporter’s statement short.

“Hey!” Glory groaned, frowning at her mother.

“Don’t you give me that look,” Silverstream lightly reprimanded.

“But they were gonna talk about the Power Ponies movie!”

“And you can watch them talk about it later,” she assuaged, scooping their daughter into her talons and setting her down by the front door. “Right now, you’ve got to go to school.”

Glory’s annoyance vanished instantly, and in its place was pure excitement. “Yay, school!” she rejoiced, hopping energetically.

“Yay, school,” Silver distractedly echoed as she gave their daughter her saddlebags. “Do you need to use the bathroom again before we go?”

“Nope, I’m good.”

“Did you finish your morning preening?” she asked as she inspected Glory’s wings.

“Mommy, you helped me finish my preening.”

“Huh? Oh yeah. I did, didn’t I?” Silver remembered, blushing faintly.

Glory snickered at her mother’s momentary forgetfulness.

“Oh, stop laughing,” she barked, succeeding only in making their daughter laugh more. “Hold on!” Silver yelped upon noticing Glory’s neck was bare. “Where’s your necklace?”

“Um, I don’t know…?”

“You don’t—” Silverstream sighed and shouted over her shoulder, “Gallus, where’s our daughter’s necklace!?”

“Right here,” Gallus answered, holding up the Pearl-piece as he trotted into the room and toward them. He then slipped it around their daughter’s neck and said, “And now it’s right there.”

“Thank you, Daddy,” Glory chirped, giving him a hug.

Gallus hugged her back. “You’re welcome, honey. You okay?” he asked his wife.

“I am now,” she answered, combing a talon through her slightly frazzled mane. She then looked back at the other griffon in the room and rebuked, “You really shouldn’t forget your Pearl-piece, Glory; you know how important it is.”

“I know… Sorry.”

Silver smiled and comforted, “It’s okay, honey. Just try to always remember it from now on, okay?”

“I will,” she promised.

“Thank you.”

With that minor issue settled, Gallus checked, “So, Glory? Are you ready to go?”

“Yep.”

“You sure? Did you brush after breakfast?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Really? Show me that smile,” he insisted, smiling himself.

Glory smiled as widely she could.

Satisfied, Gallus nodded. “Good. We wouldn’t want you going to school with stinky, blueberry breath, would we?” he questioned, winking.

“Nope. … Hey, wait a minute,” she grumbled, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. “Did you brush too, Daddy?”

“Yes, I did. See?” Gallus said, showing off his own shining smile.

Glory tittered and smiled again.

“You two have such lovely smiles,” Silverstream complimented, reacquiring their attention.

“As do you,” Gallus replied, stroking her cheek adoringly. “You have the loveliest smile in all of Equestria, milady.”

“Awww,” she cooed, cherishing his warm touch. “Thank you, Gallus. You’re so sweet.”

“But not as sweet as me,” Glory proclaimed, grinning innocently. “I’m not just sweet; I’m super sweet.”

“Something tells me that’s never going to go away,” Gallus suspected, shooting Silver a smirk.

“You don’t want it to go away, do you?” she fired back, raising an eyebrow.

“Never. Our daughter is super sweet, and I want her to be proud of it,” he proclaimed, giving said daughter a cheerful nuzzle that she reciprocated.

A moment later, Silverstream clapped her talons together and began, “Alrighty then. So, Glory, you’re all cleaned up and good to go, you’ve got your Pearl-piece, and you’ve got your bags,” she listed off. “And you’re absolutely certain you don’t need to use the bathroom again?”

“No, Mommy, I don’t.”

“And you had your breakfast, you have your lunch, and you have your books,” Silver maundered, talking to herself as much as she was them. “We’re not forgetting anything, right?” she asked her husband.

“Everything is fine, Silverstream,” he assured, holding her talon soothingly. “No need to be nervous, remember?”

“I know, I know. I just feel like we’re still forgetting something…”

Gallus grinned at their befuddled daughter and not-so-subtly whispered, “You’ll have to forgive Mommy. She’s a little fussy today.”

“Of course I’m fussy,” Silver declared with a note of pride. “It’s our daughter’s first day of school, and I want to make sure she has everything,” she added, looking Glory over scrupulously.

“Which she does.”

“Are you absolutely sure? I swear there’s something—oh! That’s what it is!” she suddenly cried out, trotting into the kitchen and returning with a reddish-pink bow. “Your tail bow. Don’t want to forget your tail bow.”

Glory gasped in shock and glanced at her tail, finding her favorite bow truly wasn’t there. Before she could get upset at the sight, however, her mother quickly returned the accessory to its proper place.

“There we go,” Silverstream said, planting a kiss on their daughter’s forehead. “All nice and pretty.”

“Thank you, Mommy,” Glory squealed, kissing her mother back.

“You’re welcome, honey.” She then leveled a smug smile at her husband, boasting, “See? A little bit of fussiness never hurts.”

“I never said it did,” Gallus pointed out, giving her a loving nuzzle and receiving one in return. “But thank you for being fussy and remembering that.”

“Yeah, ‘cause you sure didn’t.”

“Neither did our daughter,” he countered, aiming an inquisitive frown at the fledgling. “Which is surprising given how much you love your tail bow.”

“I forgot I wasn’t wearing it,” she admitted, looking away bashfully.

“Never fear, Glory, I’ll always remember for you,” Silver vowed, cheering their daughter right back up. “Now! Do. You. Have. Everything?” she questioned feverishly.

“I think so.” Glory double-checked she did indeed have everything, and her eyes widened once she patted at her saddlebags. “Wait, I almost forgot!” she yelped, racing back to her room.

In the wake of their daughter’s departure, Gallus and Silverstream met each other’s gaze.

“You know what she’s getting, right?”

“Yep.”

Glory soon sprinted back to them, announcing, “Okay, I’m ready.” She then came to a stop before her parents and smiled at them, raring to go.

They merely smiled back knowingly.

Before their daughter could voice her confusion, Gallus pointed to the new, noticeable bulge in her saddlebags, inquiring, “What’s in the bag, Glory?”

She immediately froze up and professed, “N-Nothing! Just— Just some books.”

“Really? It doesn’t look like books,” Silver commented, reaching for their daughter’s bags.

“No, wait! Don’t—”

Against Glory’s protests, Silverstream reached into the saddlebags and extracted a slightly worn stuffed elephant. “Horton!?” she gasped dramatically. “What are you doing in Glory’s saddlebags?”

“My guess? She was trying to take him to school,” Gallus answered, raising an eyebrow at their daughter. “Weren’t you, Glory?”

Glory shuffled under her parents’ gazes, confessing, “Y-Yeah. I was.”

“I can see that,” Silver said, hiding her amusement behind a stern frown. “Unfortunately, Glory, Horton is staying here.”

“What!? But— B-But, Mom, I have to take Horton to school!” she screeched, panicking.

“No, you don’t.”

“But Horton’s my friend!”

“And you’ll make plenty of other friends when you go to school,” Silverstream contended, giving their daughter a reassuring nuzzle.

Not reassured at all, Glory pulled away and whined, “But Horton is my friend now; you have to let me take him to school! Please, Mommy, please!”

“No,” she refused, wincing at their daughter’s trembling beak but holding firm despite it. “If you bring him to school, you’ll spend the whole day hugging him rather than listening to your teacher.”

“I won’t; I promise I won’t!” she desperately swore, tearing up. “I’ll be a good fledgling and listen to the teacher all day; I promise!” Seeing she wasn’t making any headway with her mother, Glory instead turned to her father and begged, “Daddy, please tell Mommy I’ll be a good fledgling and listen to the teacher all day!”

“Well, I would, honey, but I don’t lie to your mother,” Gallus stated calmly.

“But— But— But I really will,” Glory whimpered, sniffling and dropping her gaze to the floor.

Both of her parents’ resolves cracked, but Gallus was the first to speak. “Okay, Silverstream, come on. Let her take Horton to school,” he appealed, causing Glory to perk up hopefully.

“Sweetie, you know she can’t resist hugging Horton,” Silver countered, wanting nothing more than to give in and return the companion to their daughter.

Gallus hummed in thought for a moment and snapped his talons once he came up with a solution. He then cupped his beak and whispered into his wife’s ear, causing Glory to fidget nervously in anticipation.

Afterward, Silverstream smiled and said, “Yeah, that works. Ooh, but what if…?” She whispered something back to him, and he swiftly nodded in agreement. “May I?”

“All yours, milady,” he said, taking a step back and bowing theatrically.

“Thank you. Okay, Glory,” Silverstream suddenly began. “Your father and I have come up with a compromise. That being: You can take Horton to school. But!” she emphasized before their daughter could start squeeing in joy. “Only if you promise he stays in your bags during class.”

“Aww, but why?”

“Because Mommy’s right, Glory,” Gallus weighed in supportively. “You can’t resist hugging Horton, no matter how much you promise you can.”

Glorious Pearl hung her head, knowing she couldn’t deny that.

“That said?” Silverstream continued, smiling playfully. She then cleared her throat, held Horton out before Glory, and comforted, “‘It’s okay, Glory. I don’t mind being in your bags; they’re nice and comfy.’”

Giggling at the voice her mother put on, Glory responded, “But, Horton, I like hugging you.”

“‘And I like hugging you, but you need to go to school and learn.’”

“I know. But you’re so fluffy and huggable.”

“‘So are you,’” Silver praised, treasuring the melodious laughter of her family. “‘But you really do need to learn, and I don’t wanna distract ya.’”

“Awww.”

“Hey, it’s okay, Glory,” Gallus spoke up, patting their daughter’s back comfortingly. “You can hug Horton all you want during lunch and recess.”

“I can!?” she squeaked, her tail becoming a wagging pink-and-blue blur.

“Yes, you can,” Silverstream confirmed in her normal voice. “So long as you promise to put him back in your bags once class resumes,” she finished, relinquishing Horton unto Glory.

“YAY!” the fledgling roared, taking the toy and hugging it so tightly she accidentally squeezed a bit of stuffing out of one of its stitches. Glory then breathed a sigh of relief, nuzzling her companion and whispering, “Thank you, Daddy. Thank you, Mommy.”

“You’re welcome, honey,” they both said, each giving their daughter a kiss.

“But we really do mean it, Glory,” Gallus resumed austerely. “Horton stays in your bags during class time. Understand?”

“Okaaay,” she pouted, giving Horton another happy squeeze before stuffing him into her bag.

“If it helps, honey? I couldn’t resist hugging Horton when I was younger either,” Silverstream confessed, winking. She then swept Glory into one last warm hug, saying, “Just like I can’t resist hugging you now.”

“Hee-hee. I love hugging you too, Mommy,” Glory said, wrapping both her talons and wings around her mother as best as she could.

Silverstream’s smile widened, and she sneaked Glory another kiss. “Well, with all of that settled,” she started yet again. “Are you sure you have everything now, Glory?”

“Yep.”

“And you’re all excited and ready to go to school?” Gallus double-checked, smiling.

“Uh-huh, uh-huh!” Glory affirmed, nodding fervently.

“Okay then.” Silver then turned their daughter over to Gallus who swiftly placed her onto his back. “Let’s get you to school.”

“Yay!” Glory celebrated, snuggling into her father’s feathers.

“Yay!” her parents both celebrated with her, laughing merrily as they trotted out the door and into the heart of Ponyville.

It was amazing how little the town had actually changed over the years.

Ponyville was still composed of dozens-upon-dozens of cozy cottages with thatched roofs, but several more had been built over time to accommodate the growth in the town’s inhabitants.

And while a number of new shops had come and gone, the remaining few were the same as ever: Sugarcube Corner, Sofas and Quills, the Carousel Boutique, and so on… All that had really changed was who worked at them.

In fact, its citizenry was perhaps the only major change Ponyville had seen in recent times.

From changelings and dragons to yaks and kirins, quite a number of creatures had visited the quaint, little village only to ultimately settle down within it. And although ponies still made up most of the populace, they had welcomed their fellow creatures with open hooves and many a welcome party.

Such had obviously been the case for Gallus and Silverstream when they had decided to make Ponyville their home as well. Ever since, the couple had been simply living life together, enjoying the good times and working through the bad times.

And nowadays, of course, a certain third creature had been part of that equation.

It had taken far longer than either of them would have preferred, but in the end, the wait had been worth it. They had brought life into the world, and not a second went by that they weren’t eternally grateful for the precious treasure that was their daughter.

Their Glorious Pearl.

Said daughter currently clung to her father’s back, smiling brightly at the great, wide world around her. Eventually, the faint sound of laughter reached her ears, and she turned to behold a pink unicorn mare with a fiery orange mane still snickering from whatever her kirin companion had said.

Glory sat up and watched them curiously, vaguely recognizing the mare, but the friends soon turned around and trotted off toward the towering Castle of Friendship and the school nestled beside it.

Once the duo had disappeared from view, Glory looked back at her parents and griped, “I still don’t understand why I can’t go to the Friendship School. Everycreature else gets to go there, so why can’t I?”

“Aw, don’t worry, Glory,” Silverstream placated. “You’ll go to the Friendship School one day.”

“But why can’t I go there now?”

“Because, honey, you need to learn a few more things before you can.”

“But I already know lots of things,” she argued.

“Well? You need to learn a few more things,” Gallus asserted vaguely.

“Like what?”

“Oh, you know… Math, science, history; grammar,” he listed off, waving his talon dismissively.

“And I do know that stuff, so how come I can’t go to the Friendship School too?”

“Okay. You know what, Glory?” Gallus began, stopping and giving her his full attention. “I’m gonna ask you a question, and if you can answer it correctly, we’ll turn around and take you to the Friendship School.”

“You will?”

“I will,” he promised, shooting Silver a wink. “You ready for it?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Alright. What is sixteen multiplied by…?” After giving the anticipation some time to build, Gallus brusquely ended, “Twenty-nine thousand, one hundred and ninety-four.”

“Um…? U-Um, uhhh?” Glory muttered, staring at her talons while trying her best to count in her head. Unfortunately, she felt dizzy just thinking of numbers that high and ultimately conceded, “I-I don’t have enough talons for that!”

“And that’s exactly why you need to go to school,” he said, reaching back and ruffling her mane. “So you can learn how to count that high without needing to use your talons.”

“Wait, that’s the thing I’ll learn in school?”

“That’s one of the things you’ll learn in school,” Silverstream specified, her smile brightening. “This world has so many more wonderful things about it, and in school, you’ll learn about them all. No matter how big or small they may be,” she concluded with a wink.

“Whoooaaa!” Glory gasped, eyes widening in sheer wonder. The gears in her mind then began to turn, and she soon resumed, “But if I learn those things in school… And the Friendship School is a school… I’d learn that stuff there too, wouldn’t I?” she theorized.

Gallus and Silverstream shared the same proud-yet-exasperated smile. “You are correct, Glory,” the latter confirmed, much to the fledgling’s excitement. That excitement was sadly dashed away once Gallus added, “However, the stuff the Friendship School teaches is a little too advanced for somegriff your age.”

“Your father’s right, honey,” Silver concurred, only worsening their daughter’s dismay. “You’ll go to the Friendship School one day, but you need to learn the basic stuff first.”

“But you teach there, Mommy. Couldn’t you teach me the basic stuff instead?”

“I could. But if you go to Mrs. Cheerilee’s school, you’ll get to meet more kids your own age,” she explained encouragingly. “And cute, little fledglings like you need to make some friends your own age.”

“Yeah, Glory,” Gallus spoke up serenely. “I know it’s called the ‘Friendship School,’ but you can make friends at Mrs. Cheerliee’s school too. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

“I guess…” Glory sighed, looking away and hugging her father tightly.

Her parents exchanged a worried glance, and Silverstream soothed, “Hey, it’s okay, Glory. You’ll have lots of fun at Mrs. Cheerilee’s school.” That didn’t seem to cheer her up, so she added, “Plus, when you get back home, Daddy and I will help teach you some more too.”

“Really?” she asked, pepping up somewhat.

“Of course,” Gallus assured. “We love reading and learning with you, so we would obviously love teaching you too.”

“And like a certain clever fledgling pointed out,” Silver said, tickling their daughter for a second and eliciting a surprised yelp. “I can teach you the basics just as well as Mrs. Cheerilee can.”

It was at that point Glory realized she wasn’t going to win the argument, and she absolutely despised it. “I still wanna go to the Friendship School,” she pouted, disappointed.

“You will one day, honey. You will one day,” Gallus promised, turning his head to give her a comforting nuzzle.

“And when that day comes, I’ll get to be your teacher!” Silverstream rejoiced, instinctively hovering into the air in her excitement. Once she noticed she had done so, she quickly descended back to her husband’s side and finished, “And then you’ll get to call me ‘Professor Mommy.’”

Glory’s smile returned in full-force along with her giddy giggling, and Gallus and Silverstream both laughed along with her as they resumed trotting through the streets of Ponyville.

“While we’re talking about the Friendship School,” Gallus soon began, addressing his wife. “It’s your first day back too. You ready for today, Silverstream?”

“Yep,” she nodded. “I just hope this year will be less hectic than the last one.”

“You and Twilight both,” he chuckled, rolling his eyes. “I don’t think she can handle receiving another incident report about Luster Dawn.”

Silver’s eye twitched at the mention of that particular pony, but she ignored it and said, “Yes, well? Have no fear, Luster’s come a long way since… Er?”

“The ‘Want it, Need it’ incident?”

“Yes. That.”

“I sure hope so. I don’t want to come home to find my wife making goo-goo eyes at the school tapestry again.” While Glory snickered at the recollection, her father shot her mother a smirk and boasted, “Especially since I’m the only one you’re supposed to make goo-goo eyes at.”

Silverstream couldn’t hold back a grin and reassured, “Oh, don’t you worry, sweetie, I love you far more than I do some dusty tapestry.”

“Lucky me,” he cheered, draping a comforting wing around his wife.

“Lucky you,” she agreed, cozying up to her husband.

“Hee-hee-hee.” After waving hello to a passing Ditzy Doo, Gallus asked, “By the way, how are November and Patty doing?”

“A little tired, but otherwise, they’re doing good,” Silver answered.

“And their foal?”

“Perfectly healthy.”

“That’s great to hear. Any magic surges yet?”

“Not yet, but plenty of crying.”

“Ooh,” Gallus winced. “I remember those nights.”

“As do I,” Silverstream said, glancing at their daughter out of the corner of her eye.

“Think they’ll have to deal with a climbing phase too?” he wondered sardonically.

“Patty certainly hopes not.”

“Well, make sure she’s ready, just in case.”

“Oh, I have. Believe me, I have.”

“Aww, you’re so kind.”

“And you’re so sweet,” she said, sneaking him a quick kiss. “Thanks for asking about them, Gallus.”

“They’re my friends, and they had a baby!” he laughed. “Of course I’m gonna ask if they’re doing okay.”

“And I’m sure they’ll appreciate your concern.”

“Pretty sure they’d also appreciate it if we stopped by more often to babysit for ‘em.”

“Nah, Scoop’s got the babysitting covered.”

“Really?” Gallus asked, raising an eyebrow. “She has time for that?”

“For an acting coach, she has a surprising degree of free time,” Silver confided.

“Huh. More power to her, I guess.”

“Yep. All that said though?” she continued, returning to the original topic. “We totally should stop by Patty and November’s more. We haven’t had a good hayburger grill-off in a while.”

“Mmm, that does sound good,” Gallus said, licking at his beak.

“Yeah, it does. I’ll get up with Patty, and we’ll work something out,” she said, already mentally planning the details. “Just make sure Twilight doesn’t randomly call you in again on your day off.”

“As long as Luster doesn’t do anything stupid, Twilight shouldn’t have a reason to.”

“Then I’m gonna make darn sure she doesn’t do something stupid.”

“Heh-heh. In that case, all we have to do is wait for a day November and I are both off.”

“Which shouldn’t be too hard since he makes his own schedule.”

“True. How has November been doing at the Weather Bureau, anyway?” Gallus inquired, a note of concern slipping into his placid tone. “The manager role isn’t getting to him, is it?”

“Nope, he’s actually really enjoying himself,” Silver happily clarified. “Although, he has told me some of the other ponies miss working with their favorite griffon,” she recounted.

“Yeah, I kind of miss working there too,” he admitted, sighing. “Cloud wrangling is so much more relaxing than recruit training.”

“At least you still have the paperwork,” she reminded him, placing a talon upon his shoulder.

“Except there’s only so much paperwork for me to do, Silver,” he bemoaned, grateful for her comforting touch. “And when I get done with it, it’s back outside to train the newbies.”

“Yeah, but End Zone’s one of those newbies, isn’t he?” she recalled. “Come on, he has to be doing well at least. With all the sports he played back at school, I would think he’d be pretty fit.”

“Oh yeah. He’s certainly better than most of the other sign-ups,” Gallus confirmed, nodding tiredly. “So far, Zone’s one of the only five ponies who are keeping up with the drills.”

“Oof.”

“Yeah. ‘Oof.’”

“They are all getting better though, right?”

“Most of ‘em, yeah.”

“Then have some patience with them,” she soothed. “I’m sure with some time, they’ll do the Royal Guard proud.”

“Can’t deny that,” he conceded, smiling serenely at her. “All things considered, this batch is pretty good; it’s just that whipping them into shape is taking longer than I would like.”

“It’s okay. I know it’s tough being the Captain,” Silver said, giving him a comforting nuzzle.

“All the challenges are worth it so long as I can come home to you,” Gallus replied, gracing her blushing cheek with a loving kiss. “And you,” he added, shooting Glory a wink.

Glory had grown bored of the conversation a while ago, but she instantly snapped her attention back to her father upon being addressed by him. “We love you too, Daddy,” she squealed, hugging him.

“We really do,” Silver agreed, kissing his cheek as well.

“I love you both too,” Gallus sang, his tail wagging happily.

After sharing another joyful laugh, the family fell into a comfortable silence and continued on their way. Mere minutes later, the bright red coloring of the Ponyville Schoolhouse finally came into view.

“There it is,” Silverstream announced, pointing to the building. “We’re almost there, Glory.”

Rather than express her excitement, Glory nervously clenched at her father’s feathers once again.

Gallus spared her a questioning glance and found their daughter staring blankly ahead, a slight frown tugging at her beak. “Are you okay, honey?” he asked.

Glory blinked and grinned a little too widely, professing, “Uh-huh, I’m okay. I’m just glad I’m finally going to go to school!” she rejoiced with a tad more sincerity.

“Yes, you are,” Silver celebrated with their daughter. “So, come on! Let’s get you to school!” she cheered.

“Yeah! Let’s go, Daddy; take me to school,” she demanded, nudging her father firmly.

“We’re going, we’re going,” he chortled, shoving aside his worry for now and trotting closer toward the schoolyard. “Have some patience, Glory.”

After blowing a raspberry, Glory sneered, “I don’t want patience; I want to go to school.”

Her parents both rolled their eyes at their daughter’s attitude, and yet, they couldn’t help but smile.

Soon, the front of the building finally became properly visible, as did the many other families dropping their own children off for their first day. And while almost all of them were ponies, one specific group had noticeably more feathers.

Upon seeing the aforementioned group, Silverstream smiled and urged, “Hey, Glory, look who it is.”

Upon spotting the group herself, Glory gasped and jumped off of her father, bounding toward them. “Grandma! Grandpa!” she shrieked ecstatically, running as fast as she could.

While all five beaked faces turned at the sound of the fledgling’s call, two in particular darted forward as well.

“Glory!” Sky Beak and Ocean Flow both shouted, meeting the fledgling halfway and trapping the giggling ball of fluff in their embrace. “Ooh, it’s so good to see you!” they both squealed.

“It’s really good to see you too,” Glory said, smiling at them widely. “But, Grandma, why are you out of the water?”

“Because it’s your first day of school, and I’m not gonna let a little dry land stop me from seeing you off,” Ocean explained. “But thank you for the concern, honey; that’s really sweet of you.”

“Well, Daddy and Mommy did say I’m super sweet,” she bragged innocently.

“And for good reason,” Sky said, nuzzling her cheek. “You are super sweet. And super adorable. And, my goodness, you are getting so big,” he observed after looking her over. “You’ve been eating all your fruits and veggies, haven’t you?”

“Hee-hee, yep.”

“Ha! I knew it,” he chirped, bringing Glory into another happy hug.

Ocean Flow, meanwhile, turned her gaze to her approaching daughter and son-in-law. “Good morning, you two,” she said, waving politely. “How are things?”

“Good,” Silver said, striding forward and hugging her mother. “Thanks again for coming.”

“Like we would ever miss today,” Sky scoffed, switching hug partners with Ocean. “It’s so good to see you, honey.”

“It’s good to see you too, Dad.” Silver then glanced at her brother and said, “It’s also good to see you, Terry.”

“Naturally. I am quite the handsome hippogriff, if I do say so myself,” Terramar boasted, grinning pridefully.

“Handsome and, oh so modest.”

“That’s certainly what my sweetie tells me.”

“I should hope so. How’s she doing? Any news on when she’ll finally make me an auntie?” she asked eagerly.

“Just a few more weeks,” he answered, fidgeting anxiously for a second. “She also wanted to apologize for not making it out here, but…well?”

“It’s okay, I understand. You ready for fatherhood?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Good. Ya hear that, Glory?” Silver asked, plucking the fledgling from her mother’s clutches. “You’re gonna be a niece soon.”

“Yaaay!” Glorious Pearl cheered, throwing up her talons in celebration.

“Yaaay!” her mother, grandparents, and uncle all echoed merrily.

While his wife continued conversing with her side of the family, Gallus turned his attention to the tan griffon standing a few paces away. “Hey, Gav,” he greeted. “How have you been?”

“Fine,” Gavin said, giving Gallus a quick hug. “Just a bit busy. How about you?”

“I’m good,” he said, returning the hug. Afterward, he leaned back and morosely recognized, “The girls are a no-show, huh?”

“Gilda and Greta had a meeting with King Thorax, and Gabby’s covering my shift at the library,” Gavin elaborated.

“You guys will never leave that library unattended, will you?”

“Nope.”

“Heh-heh-heh. No worries, I get it.” Gallus blinked. “Wait, if Gabs is running the library, where’s Griselda?”

“Dealing with the E.E.A. councilors.”

“They showed up early!?”

“Mhmm.”

“Oh, those sneaky, little…” Gallus grumbled, whipping his tail in irritation. “Sorry, Gav.”

“Eh, it’s okay. We expected they would pull that trick, so we were ready for ‘em. I mean, Mom did sorta panic at first, but…” Gavin trailed off, shrugging.

“I don’t blame her. But hey! If I know Grissy, she’ll ace that interview in a heartbeat.”

“You bet she will.”

“Yeah. I won’t lie though,” Gallus continued. “It’s gonna take some time to get used to calling her that… ‘Councilor Griselda,’” he muttered, grinning.

“How do you think Mom feels?”

“Oh, I don’t know? Happy? Excited, nervous; a little scared?” he speculated. “I certainly hope she’s proud. She’s really come a long way from her reluctant librarian days.”

“Oh trust me! She’s proud,” he confirmed with a smile. “And I am too.”

“Make sure to give your mom my congratulations, okay?” Gallus requested, offering up a talon.

After bumping it, Gavin swore, “I will. Thank you, Gallus.”

“And thank you for coming.”

“As if I’d ever turn down an excuse to visit my ‘hero.’”

“You could visit me a lot more if you worked at the Library of Magic.”

“Griffonstone is my home, Gallus; you know that,” Gavin laughed.

“Yes, I do,” Gallus replied, pulling Gavin in for another hug that he happily reciprocated.

“Hey, you two!” Silverstream suddenly shouted, acquiring the griffons’ attention. She then beckoned with her wing, demanding, “Family hug.”

Both griffons smiled serenely and trotted over to join the hippogriff hug pile.

Sky Beak immediately folded a wing around Gallus and pulled him closer, doting, “Oh, Gallus dear, it has been far, far too long since I last got to hug you.”

“Likewise,” Gallus said, laying a wing across Sky’s back as well and smiling jubilantly. “It’s good to see you, Dad.”

Ocean Flow coughed politely.

“It’s good to see you too, Mom,” he chortled, shooting her a wink.

“It’s good to see you too, Son!” Sky and Ocean both mirthfully sang.

Upon being called that, Gallus smiled even wider and said, “Thank you both for coming down here. It means a lot.”

“It really does,” Silverstream concurred, sneaking a quick kiss to both of her parents. “I am sorry we had to ask you to come out of the water though, Mom.”

“Don’t worry about it, honey,” she implored. “I can handle having feathers for a few hours.”

“Are you sure? ‘Cause Saddle Lake isn’t that far away…”

“I’m fine,” Ocean assured them all, tittering. “B-But I will gladly take you up on that offer after this adorable, little granddaughter of mine goes to school,” she said, giving Glory another smooch.

Glory returned the smooch and said, “I’m glad I got to see you again, Grandma and Grandpa.”

“And we’re glad we got to see you,” Sky Beak rejoiced, ruffling her mane.

“Anygriff glad to see me?” Terramar openly wondered.

“We’re always glad to see you,” Silverstream swore, giving her brother a playful nudge.

Glory met her father’s gaze and received an eager nod. She then tugged at her mother’s talon and whispered, “Um, Mommy? Who’s he?” she asked, pointing at Terramar.

While everygriff else howled in laughter, Terramar merely inhaled sharply and let out a long, defeated sigh. “Really, Sis? Really?” he deadpanned.

After successfully biting back her own laughter, Silverstream frowned at her husband, but he was too preoccupied with recovering from his guffaws to notice. With that being the case, she turned her frown back at Glory and reprimanded, “Glorious Pearl, that wasn’t nice. You know who he is.”

“No, I don’t,” she protested, doing a surprisingly good job at keeping a straight face.

“Yes, you do,” Silver stated, channeling her “Mom” voice. “And if you keep pretending you don’t, you’re gonna get a repeat of what happened this morning,” she warned coolly.

Glory’s eyes widened in terror, and she instantly apologized, “I’m sorry, Uncle Terramar. I know it’s you; Daddy just said it would be funny if I pretended I didn’t.”

“Glory, you weren’t supposed to tell on me!” Gallus yelped as his parents-in-law keeled over in a renewed round of laughter.

“But Mommy was gonna tickle me if I didn’t.”

“And what makes you think I’m not gonna tickle you for telling on me?”

Glory let out a frightened squeak and hurriedly hid behind her mother’s forelegs. “Mommy, help! Daddy’s gonna tickle me!”

“Is that so?” Silverstream picked up their daughter and offered her up to Gallus. “Come and get her, sweetie.”

“No, not again!” she squawked, grimacing fearfully at her mother. “I don’t wanna be tickled!”

“Aww, but didn’t you know, honey…?” Silver then relinquished their daughter to her husband who finished, “Traitors always get tickles.”

Before Glory could protest, she fell victim to another series of giggles elicited via her father’s talons. “Pl-Please! Not again, Daddy! Hee-hee-hee, s-stop! Hahahaha!”

“Never,” Gallus denied, smirking wickedly. “In fact? Hey, Dad? Mom? You want in on this?”

“Gladly!” Sky and Ocean both squeed, rushing over and adding their own talons to the onslaught of tickles.

While they did that, Silverstream returned her attention to her brother and apologized, “Sorry about that.”

“Oh, no, it’s fine. It only feels like my heart is breaking into a hundred million pieces,” Terramar responded in the most melodramatic voice possible. “Nothing too awful.”

“Don’t worry, Bro. We’ll make you some apology cakes,” she promised, patting his shoulder consolingly.

“Thank you. My wife and I would certainly appreciate that.”

Silver snickered for a moment before calling out to the others, “Okay, you guys. Let Glory go; you’re tiring her out.”

“But we want to keep tickling her,” they all pouted simultaneously.

Terramar face-clawed while his sister countered, “And I want our daughter to stay awake during her first day of school, but I doubt that’ll happen if you guys keep playing with her.”

“Okay, okay,” Gallus sighed, rescuing their daughter from his two partners-in-tickling.

“Awww,” Sky Beak and Ocean Flow pouted, beaks quivering.

“After all these years, you guys are still weird,” Terramar groaned, rolling his eyes.

“No offense, Mr. Terramar,” Gavin interjected neutrally. “But you might be the weird one because I thought that whole thing was quite charming.”

“Suck-up,” Terramar mumbled to himself, receiving a light slap, courtesy of his sister’s wing.

Meanwhile, Gallus gave Glory a chance to recover and quietly asked, “You okay, honey?”

After wiping her eyes dry, she begged, “Please— Please don’t tickle me again!”

“It’s okay, Glory; we won’t,” Gallus promised, kissing her forehead and returning her to his back. “At least, not for today anyway.”

“Thank you,” Glory wheezed, burying herself into his feathers as she worked to regain her breath.

Gallus then looked back at his wife and smiled lovingly.

Silverstream smiled back, but after hearing an indignant scoff, she turned and noticed the one creature that hadn’t said a single word the entire time, choosing to instead stand in the background. “Oh, hey, Auntie Novo,” she said cordially, drawing attention to the hippogriff. “Didn’t see you there.”

“Oh? You didn’t see me here, did you?” Queen Novo groused, frowning deeply at Silverstream. “Well, I suppose that’s fine. It’s not like I’ve been standing here, expecting to be greeted and hugged like the rest of my family, only to be completely and utterly ignored.”

“I didn’t see you greeting or hugging one of us,” Gallus shot back, trotting to his wife’s side.

“And that’s apparently because you didn’t even see me at all.”

“Well, you are pretty easy to miss.”

“Excuse me!? Silverstream, are you going to stand there and let him talk to me like that?” Novo wondered, returning her fiery gaze to her niece.

“Yeah,” she said nonchalantly.

Novo huffed and pointedly looked away from the couple, sneering, “Well, fine! Be that way. Go ahead and ignore me; I don’t mind. It’s not like I’m the Queen or anything,” she drawled.

“The only thing you’re a queen of is drama,” Ocean Flow snarked.

“Shut up, Sissy,” Novo barked, ignoring her sister’s smirk. “I’m chastising your daughter and her—ergh!—husband,” she ended, voice dripping with feigned disgust.

“Hey, Silver, check it out,” Gallus blurted out, smiling brightly. “She called me ‘husband’; that’s a step up from last time. I think we’re finally making progress.”

While Silverstream tittered at the joke, her auntie rounded on him again and growled, “You hush up; I’m still mad at you for ignoring me.”

“I wish we could ignore you.”

“Okay. Dial it back, Gallus,” Silverstream said, drawing out a smile from Novo. That smile morphed into a scowl once she added, “We wouldn’t want to upset the ‘Queen of Drama,’ would we?”

“What would she do? Banish us from Mount Aris?”

“Don’t tempt me,” Novo muttered.

“Yeah. Don’t tempt her, sweetie.”

“Oh please! If she did that, she wouldn’t get to see Glory anymore,” he acknowledged. “And then who would be there to teach our daughter in the ways of nobility?”

“Who said anything about banishing Princess Glory? I’d just banish you,” Novo specified.

“That so? Hey, Silver? Would you take our daughter to visit Mount Aris without me?”

“Hmm? I don’t know, Gallus. Mount Aris is pretty—” Silverstream hushed when her husband’s beak met hers. She then closed her eyes and kissed him back, humming ecstatically.

Gallus soon pulled away and whispered, “I’m sorry, my beautiful angel. What was that?”

“I wouldn’t even step hoof on the train, my love,” she breathed, smiling at him dreamily.

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

“Would you like to seal that with a kiss, milady?”

“Yes, please.”

They kissed again for a full minute, and once it was over, Gallus turned and aimed a smug grin at Queen Novo.

She glared back, grumbling, “I still don’t approve of you.”

“Good thing I don’t need your approval then. Auntie Novo,” he ended wryly.

“It is ‘Queen Novo’ to you, commoner boy.”

“Eh, I’ll stick with ‘Auntie Novo,’” he vowed, relishing his auntie-in-law’s irritation. “But if you’d like to, you could always call me ‘Nephew.’”

“Absolutely not!” she roared, appalled by the mere suggestion.

“‘Gallus’ then?”

“No!”

“Would it really be so bad?”

“It would be the single most horrible thing I’d ever have to do,” she growled, harrumphing.

“Worse than hugging me?”

“Yes.”

“So, what you’re saying is…? You’d rather hug me than call me by my name?” he asked innocently.

Novo opened her beak to respond, but rather than say anything, she slowly closed it a moment later. “Darn it. Darn it, I walked right into that one,” she realized, ashamed of herself.

“Yes, you did. Now, come on, Auntie Novo. You said you wanted a hug,” Gallus acknowledged, smirking triumphantly. “And I am told I’m very fluffy and huggable.”

“That’s because you are,” Sky Beak affirmed.

“And my sister would certainly agree,” Ocean Flow added confidently.

Every fiber of Queen Novo’s being wanted to contest her sister’s accusation, but she knew full-well she couldn’t. Plus, she didn’t really like lying to her family.

“Ughhh, fine! If you wish to hug me, then by all means…” she permitted, adamantly refusing to make the first move.

Gallus, of course, wasn’t about to let her get off that easily. “That’s funny. I thought you were the one who wanted to hug me?”

“Yeah, Auntie Novo,” Silverstream weighed in slyly. “Shouldn’t you be the one to hug him? After all, you were the one throwing a hissy fit over not being hugged.”

“…Why are you all so mean to me?” Novo mewled, trying and failing to hide a smile as she pulled her laughing niece and nephew-in-law into a hug.

“We’re not mean to you,” Silver protested.

“Yes, you are.”

“Well, we’re sorry then,” Gallus apologized. “You know we love you, Auntie Novo.”

“And I love you both too,” Novo averred, giving them both one last squeeze before releasing them and setting her sights upon their daughter. “And I love you too, my little princess,” she cooed, playfully booping the fledgling’s beak.

Glory giggled and booped Novo’s beak back. “I love you too, Grandauntie Novo.”

“Hee-hee. Sooo? Today’s your first day of school,” she acknowledged cheerfully. “Are you excited?”

“Yep,” she chirped, her tail wagging enthusiastically. “I can’t wait to learn how to count without using my talons.”

Gallus and Silver both snorted while Novo blinked in confusion. Gavin, meanwhile, trotted up to the fledgling and mentioned, “And just think, that’s only one of the things you’ll learn in school.”

“Hey, that was what Mommy told me too.”

“Did Mrs. Silverstream also tell you that another thing you’ll learn is how to read big words?”

“Big words?” she repeated, gaping. “What kind of big words?”

“The kind that once you learn, you’ll be able to read some of the ‘Big kids’ books from the library,” he disclosed.

“Really!?”

“Really.”

Stars twinkled in Glory’s eyes as she smiled as widely as her tiny beak would allow.

Everygriff chuckled at the fledgling’s expression, and Gallus soon said, “Yeah. So if you want to read those books, you had better pay attention in class and learn those words.”

“I will,” Glory vowed adamantly. “I want to read the ‘Big kids’ books.”

“And you will,” Terramar promised. “You’re a smarty-pants, so you’ll learn how to read big words in no time.”

Glory hopped off her father once again and gave Terramar a hug. “Thanks, Uncle Terramar.”

“Why are you thanking me?” he asked, hugging her back. “You’re the one who needs to go to school and learn stuff.”

“But you encouraged me. And Daddy and Mommy always say I should thank anycreature who encourages me,” Glory explained.

“In that case, you’re welcome for the encouragement,” Terramar said, giving her a soft noogie.

“So, Glory?” Sky Beak spoke up, acquiring the fledgling’s attention. “I’m glad you’re so excited to go to school and learn…” he trailed off, looking to Ocean Flow.

“But do you know what else you’ll get to do at school?” she asked, smirking conspiratorially.

“Ummm, eat lunch?”

Sky Beak stifled a laugh and clarified, “No, silly. You’ll get to make friends.”

“You must be thrilled to make some friends too, right?” Ocean Flow supposed.

Glory looked away for a second, saying, “Y-Yeah. That sounds fun too.”

“Eh, reading books is better,” Gavin claimed. Glory was about to agree wholeheartedly, but before she could, he added, “So I guess it’s a good thing Princess Twilight and her friends published the Friendship Journal.”

“Bet you got your parents to read you that book last night, eh, Glory?” Terramar suspected.

“She fell asleep before we could,” Silverstream revealed.

“Aww. Well, don’t worry, honey,” Sky Beak assuaged, giving the fledgling a comforting head-pat. “You don’t need to read a book to make friends.”

“Besides, absolutely evercreature will want to be friends with somegriff as fluffy, huggable, and super sweet as you,” Ocean complimented, bestowing another smooch unto Glory’s cheek.

“They better. No family of mine will be left friendless because a bunch of fools couldn’t teach their children how to recognize and respect royalty,” Novo remarked, raising her head pompously.

“Oh, hush up, Auntie Novo,” Terramar groaned, narrowing his eyes disapprovingly. “You’re only bringing that up because you’re mad nopony bowed to you on the way here.”

“I am the Queen!” she boasted. “Others are supposed to bow down and cater to me.”

“It appears I was mistaken before, Sissy. You’re the queen of both drama and entitlement,” Ocean corrected snidely.

“Don’t you pretend you’re better than me, Ocean Flow,” Novo growled venomously. “I still remember the kind of tantrums you used to throw.”

“And I still remember the kind of tantrums you used to throw. And still throw to this day.”

“Oh, you little…!”

The sisters continued quarreling, much to the amusement of their surrounding family, but one particular fledgling tuned it out and cast an anxious glance over the nearby crowd of ponies. Her legs then began to tremble at the sight of her many, many soon-to-be fellow students.

Noticing Glory’s distress, Gallus leaned down and whispered, “Hey? You okay, honey?”

“Um… I d-don’t… I’m…” she distractedly muttered, her eyes darting back to her father before sweeping over the rest of her present family. Glory then swallowed nervously and swore, “I-I’m fine.”

Gallus blinked in shock. “Glory, what’s wrong?” he asked, his heart thrashing wildly within his chest.

She didn’t get a chance to answer, for at that precise moment, a familiar voice called out, “Hey, everygriff, sorry we’re late!”

Immediately seizing the chance to escape her father’s attention, Glorious Pearl raced toward the speaker, squealing, “Auntie Smolder, Auntie Ocellus, Auntie Yona; Uncle Sandbar!”

“Yep, those are our names,” Smolder laughed, kneeling down and catching the oncoming fledgling in her claws. “Thanks for remembering ‘em,” she said, hugging her niece tightly.

“Hee-hee-hee. I would never forget your name, Auntie Smolder,” Glory promised, nuzzling the dragon gleefully.

“You sure did forget mine,” Terramar admonished.

“I said I was sorry,” she mumbled, flinching.

“Did you really forget your uncle’s name?” Sandbar asked, snickering as he and his wife caught up to the others. “That wasn’t very nice of you.”

“No, I remembered Uncle Terramar’s name. Daddy just said it would be a funny joke if I pretended not to,” she explained once more.

“Ha! Nice to know my favorite prankster buddy hasn’t completely lost his touch,” Smolder jeered, grinning at the griffon in question.

After quickly hiding his renewed worry, Gallus laughed, “Show’s what you know, Smolder. I haven’t lost a thing in all these years. Only gained,” he ended, nuzzling Silver who returned the gesture joyously.

Smolder rolled her eyes and jokingly griped, “A whole lot of sappiness is what you gained.”

“Oh, zip it, Smolder,” Ocellus rebuked lightly, trotting past her and closer to the family. “Sorry again for being so late. We had to wait for Yona to finish at the Boutique,” she elaborated. “It’s nice to see all of you again.”

“Nice to see you too, Professor,” Gavin said, holding out a talon. After she shook it, he added, “My mom absolutely adores your new book.”

“As does my wife,” Terramar confided, shaking her hoof as well.

“Oh. Heh-heh, thank you,” she said, hiding a faint blush. “I’m glad to know they both enjoy it.”

Terramar snorted and clarified, “Oh, she doesn’t just ‘enjoy’ it; she loves it. She’s even been meaning to stop by and ask you to autograph her copy of it.”

A frown was all Ocellus spared the cackling Smolder before she returned her attention to Terramar. “Well, um, thank you again. I’d be more than happy to give her my autograph if that’s what she wants.”

“Thanks. She’d like that.”

Still blushing, Ocellus nodded to the other hippogriffs present and greeted, “Captain Sky Beak. Lady Ocean Flow. You both look well.”

“As do you, Ocellus dear,” Sky said, nodding back. “Although, you truly must stop always referring to us by our ranks. You’re family too, you know.”

“I’d still prefer being respectful,” she argued, suppressing a chuckle at the defeated sigh her response elicited. “On that note, hello, Queen Novo,” Ocellus said, politely bowing her head to her as well. “Haven’t seen you in a while. How’s ruling?”

“As marvelous as ever,” Novo answered, as thrilled to have been noticed and talked to as she was to have been referred to by her rank. “How’s teaching?”

“As marvelous as ever,” she echoed.

Their friends and family continued mingling with each other, and after giving Gallus one more nuzzle, Silverstream made to join in as well. Before she could, however, Gallus urgently whispered, “Something’s wrong with Glory,” into her ear.

Keeping up a tranquil smile, she whispered back, “I knew something was off… What is it?”

“Not sure. Any hunches?”

“Friendship School?”

“Maybe.”

“Did she say anything to you?”

“‘I’m fine,’” he quoted.

Silver’s wings gave a slight, fearful twitch. “Gallus…?”

“I know, Silver. I know.”

“You, me, or both?”

“Give me a minute,” Gallus requested, kissing her reassuringly and trotting to their daughter.

Said daughter was currently hugging Yona with all her might while she and her husband conversed with Ocean Flow and Sky Beak.

“—We’re doing well,” Sandbar said, nodding calmly. “Thanks for asking.”

“Yona still have many dresses to finish, but Yona almost done.”

“And I trust they’ll look positively gorgeous?” Sky Beak presumed, winking.

“Ha-ha-ha!” Yona laughed heartily, patting Glory’s back gently before passing her to Sandbar. “Mr. Sky Beak know Yona always make dresses look absolute best!”

“We’d expect nothing less from you, Yona dear,” Ocean Flow complimented. “Now, Sandbar dear, what about your sister? I trust she’s doing well herself?”

“She is,” he confirmed, giving his niece one final squeeze before letting her go. “She’s a little busy with school, but she’s keeping up pretty well.”

“That’s good. Say, what was she studying again?”

“Zoology.”

“Ooh! Is she planning to follow in her big brother’s hoofsteps?” Sky Beak wondered.

“I don’t know, maybe?” Sandbar said, shrugging. He then tapped his chin in thought, noting, “That would be pretty cool though.”

“Of course it would be cool,” Glory chimed in merrily. “You work at the aquarium, Uncle Sandbar; that’s the coolest job ever,” she praised.

“Aww, and here I thought being a librarian was the coolest job ever,” Gavin bewailed, smirking slyly.

“You thought wrong then,” Sandbar said, smirking as well. “We aquarists get to spend our days hanging out with all kinds of awesome fish. Do you librarians?”

“We do when we’re browsing the Oceanography section.”

“But do you also get to wear snazzy dive suits like we do?”

“…No,” Gavin conceded, flicking his tail in vexation.

Sandbar raised his head in victory. “Didn’t think so.”

“It’s okay, Uncle Gavin,” Glory said, rushing over and hugging him. “The aquarium may be the coolest job ever, but working at the library is the best job ever,” she comforted. “There’s a difference.”

“Awww,” he cooed, rumpling her mane playfully. “Thanks, Glory. You really are super sweet.”

“Well, duh! Obviously I’m super sweet,” she bragged. “Daddy and Mommy said so.”

“And Glory’s parents correct,” Yona concurred, planting a kiss on the fledgling’s cheek. “Glorious Pearl is super sweet.”

“Thank you, Auntie Yona.”

Sky and Ocean shared a smile, and the latter resumed, “Speaking of parents, how’s the adoption going?”

“Heh. One more meeting and Yona and I will officially be a mommy and daddy ourselves,” Sandbar answered, nuzzling his wife lovingly.

“Congratulations!” Sky Beak cheered, giving them both a hug. “We’re so happy for you two.”

“Yona and Sandbar happy too!” Yona rejoiced, hugging the hippogriff back before ultimately breaking away to give her husband an adoring smile. “Yona can’t wait to be mom.”

“You’re going to absolutely love it,” Ocean Flow assured. “Being a parent is one of the most wonderful things a creature could ever experience.”

“Can confirm,” Gallus piped up after having finally approached the group. Once he reached Glory, he bent down and gave her a loving nuzzle. “You two are going to love having a kid,” he promised, taking the fledgling’s talon into his own and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Glory squeezed his talon back as hard as she could, not quite meeting her father’s eye.

“Oh, we know,” Sandbar said, holding Yona’s hoof. “We know.”

“Just make sure you keep a scrapbook for everything,” Sky Beak advised. “Trust me, you won’t want a single day to go undocumented.”

“Friends already tell us that,” Yona revealed, shooting Gallus a thankful grin.

“Yep, we have everything ready,” Sandbar said confidently. He then beamed tearfully at Yona, celebrating, “And we’re going to be parents.”

“Yona and Sandbar going to be parents,” she echoed, kissing him rapturously. “And Yona and Sandbar will be best parents ever!”

“Try second best,” Gallus corrected.

“Ahem! Third best,” Novo suddenly stated, gaining everycreature’s attention. “I’m a mother too, don’t forget. And I most certainly raised my daughter the best of us all.”

“Doesn’t your kid set off an underwater volcano every other Thursday?” Smolder questioned, crossing her claws and leveling an unamused glare at the Queen.

Novo blinked and turned to Silverstream, deadpanning, “Why are you telling your friends about royal affairs?”

“Better question: Why are you pretending you’re a better mother than I am?” Silver shot back icily.

Her retort both shut her auntie up and sparked a series of snickers from everycreature present.

Eventually, Sky Beak stopped laughing and turned his attention to Ocellus and Smolder, beginning, “And what about you two? Do either of you have any plans to finally settle down?”

“Eh, maybe in the future,” Ocellus surmised. “But I’d rather focus on my career for now.”

“Totally understandable, if a bit disappointing,” Ocean Flow sighed. “And how about you, Smolder dear? Have you given any thought to motherhood?”

“Pfft, and go through what Shimmy Shake went through? Nooo thank you!” Smolder bellowed, shaking her head emphatically.

“Uh? You do know it doesn’t work the same way for dragons as it does for ponies, right?” Gavin inquired, raising an eyebrow.

“Don’t care. Bachelorette for life,” she resolutely decreed.

“How is Shimmy doing, by the way?” Silver asked, curious. “We haven’t heard from her in a while.”

“She’s doing good,” Smolder divulged, glad the marriage and motherhood subjects were being sidelined. “Last I heard, she and Lighthoof made it to Trottingham, so for now, they’re just enjoying their honeymoon.”

“I still can’t believe Shimmy and End Zone broke up,” Sandbar commented.

“Not every high school romance is bound to work out, Sandy,” Ocellus countered neutrally.

“Fair point. But hey! At least ours did,” he said, giving Yona a kiss.

“And ours too,” Gallus concurred, stepping back over to his own wife and kissing her as well.

After kissing him back, Silverstream looked at the taciturn fledgling standing beside her father, still holding his talon. “You okay, Glory?”

Although somewhat startled at suddenly being spoken to again, Glory nodded and swore, “Uh-huh. I-I’m okay, Mommy.”

Gallus and Silver shared a troubled glance, but before either of them could continue talking to their daughter, Smolder chuckled, “I’d say you’re even better than okay, kiddo. Today’s your first day of school; that’s pretty exciting, don’t ya think?”

“Yeah,” Glory agreed with noticeably less enthusiasm than when she had previously answered that question. “I just wish I could go to the Friendship School instead.”

Ocellus trotted over and gave Glory a hug, assuaging, “It’s okay, Glory. You’ll attend the Friendship School one day.”

“And when you do, Auntie Smolder here is gonna dote on you something fierce,” she announced.

“You’ll never be able to dote on her as much as we do,” Sky Beak proclaimed, bumping talons with Ocean Flow.

“Is that a challenge?” Smolder asked, smiling toothily at the duo. “I hope not. It’s not wise to challenge a dragon since we always win.”

“Ha! If you think you can out-dote a hippogriff, let alone these hippogriffs,” Ocean Flow began, proudly gesturing to both herself and Sky Beak. “You’re sadly mistaken.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Unfortunately, you’re gonna have to put your challenge on hold for quite a while,” Silverstream interrupted, taking Glory into her talons and hugging her protectively. “For now, Mrs. Cheerilee will be the one teaching our daughter.”

“Oh come on, Silver! Glory herself just said she wanted to go to the Friendship School,” Smolder groaned, her wings slumping in disappointment. “Can’t you let her go there instead?”

“No.”

“Well, why not? Scared I’ll out-dote your parents?”

“Trust me, you will never out-dote those two,” Gallus averred, much to the dragon’s annoyance and his parents-in-law’s glee.

“And Daddy and Mommy said I can’t go because I need to learn more things,” Glory clarified, pouting.

“But you already know lots of things,” Smolder deadpanned.

“That’s what I said!”

“And you still need to learn more things,” Silverstream asserted, unwavering. “Once you do, then we’ll talk about taking you to the Friendship School.”

Glory hung her head in defeat, whining, “Awww.”

“Heh-heh. Cheer up, kiddo,” Sandbar said, smiling. “It may not be the Friendship School, but it’s still school. And you’ll still have plenty of fun,” he placated.

“And considering how crazy smart you already are, I bet you’ll learn all those other ‘things’ in a flash,” Smolder declared, winking encouragingly.

“Glory also have parents to help her whenever she need it,” Yona pointed out. “As well as Yona and rest of family,” she added, indicating her and her fellow friends.

“Yona’s right,” Ocellus accorded. “We may not be your teachers yet, Glory, but we are your family. So if you ever need any more help, you can always come to us too,” she offered, patting her back comfortingly.

Upon hearing all of their words, Glory’s smile brightened. “Thanks, everycreature. I’ll make sure to study and learn as best as I can!” she swore.

Smolder nodded at Gallus, saying, “I’d expect nothing less from the daughter of this egghead.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Gallus chuckled, too relieved by Glory’s smile returning to care about his friend’s snark. “Besides, honey,” he continued. “It’s like both we and your Auntie Ocellus said: You’ll get to go learn at the Friendship School one day.”

“And when you finally do show up, we’ll spoil you rotten,” Smolder forewarned, shooting Sky Beak and Ocean Flow a competitive grin that they mirrored perfectly.

Ocellus nodded, assenting, “Naturally.”

Glory giggled again, and while she did that, Sandbar casually remarked, “Plus? When that day comes, some of your classmates will probably go to the Friendship School with you.”

“Hey, Hubby right!” Yona cheered, her smile widening. “When Glory graduate and go to Friendship School, Glory’s friends might go to Friendship School with her.”

Glory’s smile vanished, and in its place was an anxious frown. “M-My friends?”

While her parents may have instantly picked up on her distress, the others unfortunately didn’t.

“Yeah, your friends,” Sandbar continued, pointing to the surrounding crowd of said colts and fillies. “Look at all the foals you’ll be going to school with, Glory.”

“Eeyup. That’s a lot of foals all right,” Smolder agreed. She then grinned at Glory and proclaimed, “And I bet almost all of them will wanna be friends with somegriff as super sweet as you.”

“Um… Um, y-you, uh…” Glory gulped and whimpered, “You— You really think so?”

“Yeah,” Ocellus tentatively answered, noticing Glory’s mood shift as well but attributing it to simple nervousness. “You’re a really nice fledgling, Glory; I’m sure most of your classmates will love to be friends with you,” she said, hoping it would allay her niece’s worry.

It didn’t; in fact, it only seemed to make it worse. “But, Auntie Ocellus, I-I don’t— I mean, I…” Glory trailed off, squirming in her mother’s talons as her glistening eyes darted back and forth between them all.

Everycreature noticed the fledgling’s growing fussiness, but before any of them could voice either their concern or their confusion, Gallus requested, “Silverstream, may I?”

“Here,” Silver said, gently resting Glorious Pearl on her husband’s back.

“Thanks,” he said, concealing a wince when their daughter’s talons reflexively dug into his flesh. “I’m gonna go give Glory a ‘Dad talk.’”

“Thank you. You gonna be okay?”

“Yep. You?”

Silverstream spared their daughter a worried glance, but she soon looked back at Gallus and smiled slightly. “I will,” she answered, knowing he’d calm Glory down. “You go have fun.”

“We will,” Gallus swore, shielding Glory from view behind his wings. “And don’t you worry, we’ll be back before the bell rings.”

“You’d better,” she laughed, watching the two griffons trot a short distance away. Silverstream then looked back at her family and found them staring at her quizzically.

“Silverstream honey…?” Sky Beak murmured, staring after his son-in-law and granddaughter as well before returning his sights to his daughter.

“Was something wrong with Glory?” Ocean Flow asked for all of them.


***


Once they had reached a spot far away from any prying eyes—familial or otherwise—Gallus stopped and carefully lowered Glorious Pearl onto the ground.

“There we go,” he whispered, sitting down in front of her and spreading his wings slightly to block the sight of the crowd behind him. “All nice and quiet. Just you and me.”

Soon, Glory wiped her eyes and looked up fearfully, expecting to still see an armada of eyes staring down at her. When the only pair of eyes she saw was her father’s, she lunged forward and hugged him tightly, letting out a sob.

“Shhh… There, there, honey, it’s okay,” Gallus soothed, rubbing her back. “Everything will be okay, Glory; Daddy’s here. Daddy’s here…”

“I… I-I-I’m…” she soon stuttered, somewhat muffled by his feathers. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize, honey,” he mollified. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Glory sniffled and pulled back, rubbing her eyes dry again. “I-I didn’t?”

“Nope. Not a thing.” Gallus gave her some more time to recover her composure, but once he noticed the erratic, nervous twitch of her wings, he ultimately cut to the chase. “Alright, Glory, come on. Tell me what’s the matter,” he calmly commanded.

She froze up and tried protesting, “N-Nothing’s wrong, Daddy! I’m— I’m fine, see?” she ended, forcing a wide, shaky smile.

“Glorious Pearl,” he began in his “Dad” voice. “What’s the first rule?”

“To always listen to you and Mommy.”

“And the second rule?”

“…To always tell you and Mommy when I’m upset,” she answered, looking away.

“Correct.” Gallus nuzzled her, saying, “And I know you’re upset, Glory. Don’t act like you’re not; tell me what’s wrong.”

“Well, I… I mean, I-I-I… I…” Glory stammered, starting to feel overwhelmed again.

Realizing this, Gallus leaned back and gave her some breathing room. “It’s okay, honey. There’s no rush. You can take all the time you need,” he assured. “I’m listening.”

Glory gladly took him up on that offer, remaining silent as she stared at the ground and mulled over her own words. After some time, she peered around her father’s wings and grimaced anxiously at the sight of the many creatures that awaited her back at the schoolhouse.

Gallus hastily extended his wings further, re-obstructing the sight and causing Glory to return her gaze to him. “D-Dad?” she quietly began.

“Yes, honey?”

“How… How do I make friends?”

Of all the things Gallus expected his and Silver’s daughter to say, that was not one of them. “Huh? What are you talking about, Glory?” he asked, tilting his head in confusion. “You already know how to make friends.”

“No, I don’t,” she protested, her beak quivering.

“O-Okay,” he said, befuddled but glad to be getting to the bottom of this little mystery. “Well, it’s easy. All you have to do is be nice to others.”

“But what about Generosity and Kindness? And— And Bravery and Strength? I don’t know anything about that stuff,” she puled. “I don’t— I-I-I don’t know anything about Friendship at all!”

“Wait a minute…” Gallus slowly muttered, coming to a realization. “Glory, is that why you want to go to the Friendship School so much?”

After sniffling, she nodded and hummed, “Mhmm.”

“Oh, honey,” he sighed, gently wiping away her tears. “It’s okay. You don’t need to worry about all that stuff just yet.”

Bewildered by his response, she argued, “But the Elements of Harmony are super important to making friends. A-Aren’t they?”

“They are,” Gallus confirmed, proud she understood that fact. “But it’s still okay. You don’t need to know everything about the Elements to make friends.”

“I… I don’t?” she asked, flummoxed.

“Nope. You will learn about that stuff when you get older, but for right now?” He gave her another warm nuzzle and ended, “You don’t need to worry about any of that.”

“Then how do I make friends?”

“I already told you, silly,” Gallus chuckled softly, booping her beak. “All it takes to be friends with someone is being nice to them and them being nice back,” he explained.

After ruminating on his declaration for some time, Glorious Pearl questioned, “But w-what if… What if the other foals don’t like me?”

Gallus gasped in horror and asked, “How could anyone not like you, Glory? Look at you, you’re all cute and cuddly,” he praised, playfully poking her belly and drawing out a surprised, giggly yelp. “And you’ve got an amazing smile too, don’t you? Don’t you?” he repeated teasingly.

“Y-Yeah,” she confirmed meekly, the corners of her beak twitching.

“Then go on, honey; show me that smile.”

Glory smiled as brightly as she could.

“There it is!” Gallus rejoiced, throwing his talons up in celebration. “Yep, that is one incredible smile you’ve got there. And you know what else you’ve got, Glory?”

“What?”

“That awesome tail bow of yours. And, my goodness, it looks so nice and pretty on you,” he complimented, tittering when Glory looked at the indicated accessory.

Glory flourished her tail, beaming at the beautiful scarlet bow adorning the appendage. Her eyes were then drawn to the tuft of cerulean fur at the end of her tail, and her smile rapidly crumbled away.

“But…? Wh-What if they still don’t like me?” she mumbled despondently. “What if— What if I act as nice as I can, b-but they still won’t want to be my friends?”

“Oh come on, Glory. You’re adorable,” he praised again, keeping his smile up for her sake. “Why wouldn’t your classmates want to be friends with you?”

“It’s just… They’re all ponies. And I-I’m not,” Glory recognized, staring at her talons.

“So?” Gallus laughed, lifting her chin up so she would meet his gaze. “I’m a griffon too, and Mommy’s a hippogriff. And we’re not just friends; we’re married.”

“And then there’s your Uncle Sandbar,” he rambled on before she could try to argue. “He’s a pony, but he’s best friends with all of us. And there’s your Aunties Smolder, Ocellus, and Yona too. They’re not griffons or hippogriffs, but they love you just as much as Mommy and I do.”

“Yeah, but— But you’re not my friends,” Glory protested to her father’s utter shock. “You’re my family. Th-The only friend I have is Horton. But you and Mommy want me to make more. A-And so does everycreature else, but…” She started tearing up again. “But I don’t know how to make more friends!” she shrieked, voice cracking. “I— I don’t!”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Gallus cried out, holding her talons reassuringly. “Glory, I am your friend.”

“N-No, you’re not. You’re my daddy,” she sobbed.

“And I’m your friend too,” he staunchly assured. “It’s like with your aunts and uncles, Glory. We’re friends, but we’re family too. And if friends can be family, then family can be friends.”

Glory was completely mind-blown by this simple revelation, and she soon gasped in realization. “Wait! Does that mean everycreature else is my friend too?”

“Yep. And as for Mommy and I? We’re your best friends,” he confided, tittering.

“You are!?”

“Mhmm.”

“YAY!” Glory roared, flinging her talons around him as her tail wagged furiously. The moment she felt him hug her back, she squealed, “Thank you for being my best friend, Daddy!”

“Awww, I’m happy to be your best friend, Glory,” he replied, giving her cheek a smooch.

After smooching him back, Glory snuggled into his fluffy, huggable plumage.

The father and daughter were content to sit there and hug each other for another minute, but Gallus eventually pulled away and checked, “Are you okay, Glory?”

“Ummm, I think so?” she said, her smile drooping slightly again. She then rubbed her shoulder, apologizing, “I’m sorry for being so upset.”

“You don’t need to apologize for that either,” he assuaged, patting her back. “But I would like to know something, Glory. If you were so scared of making friends, why didn’t you tell me or Mommy?” he inquired.

“‘Cause I’m not supposed to be afraid.”

“What?” he droned, a spark of fury surging though him. “Who told you that?”

“Um, no one,” she answered truthfully.

“Then why would you ever think you’re not allowed to be afraid?”

“W-Well? The Power Ponies aren’t afraid of anything…”

Gallus snorted and rolled his eyes. “Glory, the Power Ponies are a cartoon; they’re not real. You are real,” he said, placing a talon over her heart. “And everything you feel is real. And that means you can feel whatever you want, even fear.”

“Really?”

“Really,” he affirmed, nodding. “If you’re allowed to be brave, you’re allowed to be scared. And if you’re allowed to be happy, you’re allowed to be sad,” he declared wisely.

“But I don’t like feeling those things,” Glory mewled.

“And that’s okay too. Mommy doesn’t like feeling those things either,” Gallus revealed. “And neither do I. But we both know it’s okay to feel them. What matters is we don’t let our fear overshadow our love. Or our joy,” he concluded, smiling serenely.

Although his words perplexed her somewhat, Glory fully understood their meaning. “Does…” she hesitantly began, swishing her tail. “Does that means it’s okay I’m afraid of making friends?”

“Yes. Yes, it is.”

“You still want me to make friends though… Don’t you?” she suspected, not meeting his eye.

“I do,” Gallus said in a soft, assuasive tone. “I do want you to make friends, Glory. I think it’s really important that you have friends, especially at your age.” He clicked his beak and added, “But, honey? If you’re not ready to make friends yet, you don’t have to.”

“But you just said you wanted me to make friends.”

“And you just said you were scared of making friends, right?”

Glory nodded uncertainly.

“Well, in that case, you don’t have to make any friends at all.”

“B-But… But I thought… You, Mommy, and everyone else all want me to make friends,” she acknowledged, even more confounded than she had been previously.

Gallus carefully contemplated his response for a moment until he finally began, “Glory? We all want you to make friends, and we would absolutely love it if you did. But? If you don’t want to make friends yet then you don’t have to,” he repeated.

“…Why not? You and Mommy want me to make friends, so shouldn’t I try to?” she figured, remembering the first rule.

“Actually, yes. I do want you to try to make friends.”

“Okay, I’m really confused,” Glory admitted, scratching her mane as she tried to make sense of this whole conversation. “Am I supposed to make friends or not?”

“Heh. Glory, you can go into that school and make as many friends as you want,” Gallus said, lowering himself until he was at her eye level. “You can be friends with every last one of your classmates. Or just one or two. Or even none at all.”

“What matters, Glory,” he continued serenely. “Is that you do whatever you feel comfortable with. If you’re ready to make friends then go ahead and make friends. But if you’re not ready to make friends then you don’t have to make a single one.”

“I don’t?”

“No. You don’t. Now, don’t get me wrong, kiddo,” Gallus went on, ruffling her mane. “Like I said, I do want you to try to make some friends. But if you don’t…? That’s okay. Mommy and I will still be your best friends,” he promised, beaming at her. “And we’ll always love you.”

“I love you too, Daddy.” Glory then looked away apprehensively, twiddling her talons as she said, “And I do want to make more friends. I know I should; it’s just… I-I’m scared they won’t like me.”

“Oh, honey, they won’t just ‘like’ you. They’ll love you,” he swore. “You’re nice, smart, adorable, and super sweet!” Gallus then planted a loving kiss on her forehead and comforted, “Nothing is wrong with you, Glory. You’re wonderful.”

Glory’s eyes watered again, but this time, she smiled serenely as well. “Thank you, Daddy,” she whispered, nuzzling him.

Relieved, Gallus grinned and returned the nuzzle, whispering, “You’re welcome, Glory.”

Although Glory appeared to have been allayed at last, Gallus couldn’t help but ponder what more he could say to help solace his and Silver’s daughter further. Eventually, he perked up and began, “Hey? Hey, Glory?”

“Yeah?”

“I want you to do something for me, okay? Whenever you’re scared, or sad, or upset—”

“Tell you and Mommy?” she guessed.

“Well, yes. I do want you to do that,” he confirmed with a chuckle. “But I want you to do something else too. Are you ready for it?”

She nodded.

“Okay. I want you to take a deep breath, like this,” Gallus began, inhaling sharply and holding a talon to his chest. “Hold it for a moment. … And then let it out slowly,” he continued, exhaling deeply while pushing the talon away. “And after you do that? I want you to say to yourself, ‘Mommy and Daddy love me,’” he stated quietly. “Go on, honey. Try it.”

Glory did as instructed, taking a huge gulp of air and puffing out her cheeks comically. A few seconds later, she gradually blew it all out, feeling significantly calmer. “Daddy and Mommy love me,” she then whispered, yelping when she was suddenly pulled into her father’s grasp.

“Yes, we do!” Gallus declared, hugging her tightly. “We love you so much, Glory.”

Glory blinked and happily hugged him back. “I love you too, Daddy,” she sang jubilantly.

Gallus simply held her both lovingly and protectively, but the longer the hug went on for, the closer he came to crying. “Glory? C-Can you promise me something else too?” he requested, his voice shaky.

“Yeah, Daddy?”

“Promise me that no matter what happens… No matter how scared or worried you ever are… You’ll remember that I will always love you,” he pleaded, unable to hold his tears back any longer. “And I will always be proud of you. And I will always, always be here for you! Okay? I’m always going to be here for you,” Gallus promised again, sniffling. “And the same goes for Mommy. We’re always going to love you, Glory. And we’re always going to be here for you,” he reiterated adamantly, holding her even closer. “Can— Can you promise me you’ll remember that? Please?”

“I’ll always remember that, Daddy,” she promised, comfortingly patting his back the way both her parents often did for her. “Are you okay?”

A short bark of laughter escaped his beak upon being asked that. “Yeah, Glory. I’m okay,” he said, wiping his eyes dry. “I’m just a little scared myself.”

“What!? But you’re Daddy!” she exclaimed, gaping in complete disbelief. “You’re not afraid of anything, so… W-Why are you scared?”

“I’m scared because you’re about to go to school,” Gallus elaborated as he leaned back to look his and Silver’s daughter in the eye. “And I’m worried you won’t have fun.”

“But I will have fun,” she said, cocking her head to the side in bemusement. “I’ll be learning all kinds of things, after all. And learning is fun!” she asserted.

Gallus chortled. “Yes, it is. But I want you to have fun making friends too. And I’m afraid you won’t,” he explained, his smile drooping faintly.

Though silent at first, Glory grinned bravely and vowed, “Well, I’m gonna try to make friends! And since it’s also fun to try new things, that means I should have fun. … Right?” she ended, looking to her father for confirmation.

“Heh-heh. That’s a pretty neat way of looking at things,” he said, hugging her again. “Now, Glory?”

“Yeah, Daddy?”

“Are you okay?” he double-checked.

Glorious Pearl thought over everything she and her father had talked about as well as her present feelings, and after doing so, she smiled and nodded. “Yep! I’m okay. Are you okay too?” she inquired worriedly.

“Yeah. I’m okay, honey,” Gallus said, nuzzling her one last time. “Thank you for asking. That’s really sweet of you.”

“Hee-hee-hee. You did say I was super sweet,” she reminded him, puffing her chest proudly.

“That’s because you are,” he said, kissing her and cherishing her following giggle. “Now, if you’re sure you’re okay, are you ready to go back to the others? You do still have to go to school, after all.”

“Um, c-can I hug you again before we go?” Glory requested shyly.

Gallus instantly brought her back into his warm, fatherly embrace. “You can hug me as much as you want, Glory. That is? So long as I can hug you as much as I want?” he added, smirking.

“Hee-hee, of course you can, Daddy,” she said, snuggling into his feathers once more. “Your hugs are the best.”

“No, your hugs are the best.”

“Nuh-uh, your hugs are!”

“Your hugs.”

“Your hugs!”

“No, yours.”

“No, yours!”

They both stared unflinchingly at each other for a moment before collapsing into a fit of laughter and going right back to hugging each other.

Sadly, the hug inevitably came to an end a few minutes later, and once it had, Gallus took Glorious Pearl’s talon and walked her back toward their family.

Glory breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the crowd had noticeably dwindled during their absence, but upon catching sight of one group in particular, she perked up and eagerly rushed forward.

They were all deep in conversation about what Glory’s issues might have been, but Sky Beak quickly noticed the fledgling sprinting toward them and announced, “Ooh, look! They’re back.”

Silverstream immediately swiveled around to meet her oncoming husband and daughter, beginning, “Oh, hey, you two. How are—” She fell silent when Glory suddenly leaped up and grabbed her in a tight hug, but Silver swiftly recovered and hugged her back.

“Thank you for being my best friend, Mommy,” Glory wasted no time saying.

Silver blinked and smiled. “Aww, thank you, honey. I love being your best friend,” she cheered, giving Glory a motherly kiss and holding her even closer. “Are you okay?”

“Yep. I’m okay, Mommy,” their daughter confirmed, looking up and beaming at her parents.

“That’s good to hear,” Silver said, relieved.

“Yeah, we’re okay. Glory was just a little nervous about making friends,” Gallus explained, folding a comforting wing around his wife.

“You were?” Sandbar asked, as surprised as everycreature else was.

“Uh-huh,” Glory admitted, nodding and turning her attention to the rest of her family.

“Oh no,” Yona exclaimed, holding a hoof to her heart. “Yona sorry niece so worried about making friends.”

Ocellus, meanwhile, connected the dots regarding this revelation and Glory’s reaction to their previous encouragements. “We’re also sorry if we made it worse,” she apologized, shuffling timidly.

“It’s okay,” Glory chirped. “Daddy said that if I wasn’t ready to make friends, I didn’t have to. So I’m not going to make any friends at all!” she proclaimed, grinning widely.

“You are going to try to make friends though, right?” Gallus asked, not remotely amused. “You told me you would.”

“Well, duh. I’m obviously gonna try to make friends,” she giggled. In a heartbeat, Glorious Pearl dropped the smile in exchange for a grim frown and said, “But I make no promises,” in the most dead-serious voice she could possibly muster.

…

“Okay,” Smolder blurted out, ending the awkward silence. She then walked over to the fledgling and gave her a light noogie, saying, “I’m just glad to see you’re doing better, kiddo.”

“Hee-hee-hee, thank you, Auntie Smolder. I just hope I can make friends…”

“Oh, don’t you worry too much, Glory dear,” Sky Beak interjected, trotting over as well. “You’ll make as many friends as you want,” he said, smooching her. “I’m absolutely certain of it.”

“And even if you don’t make any friends today, there’s always tomorrow,” Gavin acknowledged, smiling reassuringly.

“And regardless of how many friends you do or don’t make…?” Ocean Flow began. “You will always have us,” she swore, winking.

“Hey, that’s what Daddy said,” Glory remarked, chuckling cheerfully.

“I should hope so,” Novo said, aiming a cold smirk at her nephew-in-law. “No matter what happens, Glory dear, we will always love you. And you will always be our little princess,” she promised, booping her grandniece’s beak and receiving a beak-boop in return.

“Just try to remember our names, would ya?” Terramar appealed pointedly. Upon seeing Glory frown at him, he deadpanned, “Nope. I’m never letting that go.”

“Oh, yes, you will,” Silverstream and Gallus both said, frowning sternly.

“…Okay, fine. I’ll let it go,” he conceded, inciting a chorus of chuckling among the others. Terramar then whispered to Glory behind a talon, “So long as you don’t forget my name again, that is.”

“Don’t worry, Uncle Terramar. Your name is way too cool to forget,” she complimented.

“O-Oh. Well, uh…? Thank you,” he said, blushing faintly. “Your name is really cool too, Glory.”

“Hee-hee, thanks, Uncle Terramar.”

Silverstream gave Gallus a thankful smile upon seeing that their daughter’s usual cheeriness had truly made a full comeback.

Gallus smiled back and kissed her lovingly.

After returning the kiss, Silver gazed at their daughter and rubbed her back soothingly, double-checking, “Now, Glory? Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I already said I was,” Glory said, laughing.

“I’m glad,” Silver murmured, kissing her.

“As am I,” Gallus said, kissing Glory as well. “Now, come on, everycreature! Group hug!”

“GROUP HUG!” the family all loudly echoed, hurriedly swarming the mother, father, and daughter and bringing the trio into a large, laughing, loving embrace.

Moments later, the sound of the school bell rang out across the town of Ponyville.

“Awww,” a good half of the family whined as they all released each other from the hug.

“Whelp. That was nice while it lasted,” Silverstream grumbled.

“Eh, we’ll have another group hug later,” Gallus promised.

“I’ll hold you to that.”

“Heh-heh-heh. Okay, Glory,” he began, addressing the fledgling. “Do you have everything you need?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And are you super excited to finally go to school?” Silver asked, grinning knowingly.

“Yep.”

“Does that mean you’re ready to go?” Gallus inquired, offering Glory his talon.

“Yeah,” she confirmed, grabbing hold of his talon and squeezing it tightly. “I’m ready.”

“Alright then,” he said, meeting his wife’s eye.

“Let’s go,” Silver beckoned, placing a gentle talon on Glory’s back and wrapping a wing around her husband’s. “Time for school.”

“YAAAY!” Glory shouted, skipping along as her parents led her forward.

“Yaaay!” her family echoed, chortling at the fledgling’s enthusiasm as they all followed after the trio.

In what felt like no time at all, the massive family reached the front doors to the school, finding its teacher eagerly beckoning the last of the foals inside.

The mare looked up as they approached and waved. “Hello, everycreature. How are you all doing today?”

“We’re great, Mrs. Cheerilee,” Silverstream happily answered on all of their behalf. “You?”

“As spry as ever,” she professed, flourishing her mane confidently. “And good thing too. I have a feeling this little ball of fluff is gonna be quite the lively student herself,” Cheerilee commented, smiling kindly at Glory.

Glory was too busy giggling at the joke to notice everycreature—most notably, her parents—fervently nodding in confirmation.

“Whelp, in any case, we’re here,” Gallus decreed. “Do you mind if we talk to Glory one more time before she goes in?”

“No problem. Take all the time you need,” Cheerilee insisted, trotting back toward the doors. “We’ll be waiting.”

“Thank you.”

Once she had disappeared back into the schoolhouse, Gallus and Silverstream both faced their daughter, and the latter began, “Okay, Glory, remember to listen to your teacher and to pay attention in class.”

Glory was halfway through nodding when her attention was drawn to her father.

“And make sure to be nice to all of your fellow students,” Gallus ordered calmly. “You don’t have to make friends if you’re not ready to, but we both want you to at least try to make them.”

Before their daughter could reaffirm she would, Silver said, “So don’t be shy or nervous about talking to your classmates. If you’re nice to them, they’ll be nice back.”

“Speaking of which,” Gallus followed up, watching as Glory hurriedly shifted her focus back onto him. “Remember to be very careful with your talons. You wouldn’t want to scratch anyone by mistake.”

Glory’s head frantically swiveled back to face her mother when she mentioned, “The same goes for your beak. No. Nipping. Anypony,” Silver firmly commanded. “I mean it, Glory.”

“I know not to do that!” Glory yelped, blushing in embarrassment.

“Yes, well…? We’d just rather not have a repeat of what happened this morning,” Gallus clarified. “Or with Princess Twilight.”

“I said I was sorry,” she groaned, hanging her head.

Silverstream lifted her head back up and soothed, “And she forgave you. Don’t worry, Glory, we trust you won’t get in any trouble.”

“But don’t go tempting fate,” Gallus implored. “Which means you still can’t hug Horton in class.”

“Lunch and recess are okay though,” Silver reminded Glory before she could be too saddened. “But your father is right, honey. Don’t disrupt the class, okay?”

“How could I even do that anyway?” Glory asked, genuinely curious.

“By talking while the teacher is talking,” Gallus suggested.

“Or by falling asleep in the middle of the lesson,” Silverstream added, shooting her husband a sly smirk that he resolutely refused to acknowledge.

“That’s horrible!” Glory exclaimed, appalled. “Why would anyone fall asleep in school when you get to learn there!?”

“Eh, don’t worry about that one, Glory,” Gallus said, waving a talon dismissively and continuing to ignore the mirthful gazes of his family. “I get the feeling you’ll be far too excited to even consider taking a nap during class.”

“Hee-hee-hee. Thank you, Daddy.”

“You’re welcome, honey. Was there anything else?” Gallus asked Silverstream.

“Hmm? Oh! And, Glory? Make sure to take lots of notes,” Silver advised, receiving an approving nod from Gallus, Gavin, and Ocellus. “Also, ask Mrs. Cheerilee about something if you don’t understand it. She’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.”

“But don’t ask so many that she can’t continue the class,” Gallus warned. Noticing Glory looked confused by the conflicting information, he clarified, “You can ask her as many questions as you need to or want to, but if she asks you to stop, you stop. Okay?”

“Ohhh! Okay,” she said, nodding.

“Thankfully, you won’t need to ask Mrs. Cheerilee too many questions,” Silver claimed. “Well? So long as you pay close attention to everything she says and follow along with the lesson, that is.”

“Which you had better do,” Gallus adjured.

“And I will.”

“We know. We just wanted to tell you that one more time,” Silverstream elaborated. “Which reminds me… Do not lose your Pearl-piece, Glory,” she instructed again.

Novo intended to express her outrage over Glory needing to be told that, but before she could so much as open her beak, both Smolder and Ocean Flow preemptively slapped their claws over it.

“Do not use your Pearl-piece either,” Gallus casually continued while his and Silver’s auntie tried to fight the others off. “Or try to fly. You don’t know how to do either yet, and we don’t want you getting yourself hurt.”

“Don’t worry, Daddy, don’t worry, Mommy. I won’t,” Glory promised, fluttering her wings slightly. “Is there anything else I have to remember?”

“Yes,” Gallus and Silverstream both responded. They then bent down and kissed one of Glory’s cheeks respectively before simultaneously saying, “Have fun.”

Glorious Pearl giggled ecstatically and kissed her father back first. After giving her mother a kiss as well, Glory beamed at them both, vowing, “I will!”

“We know you will,” Gallus said, lovingly nuzzling Glory one last time. “Are you ready?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Well then? Go on, honey,” Silverstream said, kissing her forehead one more time before stepping aside and gesturing to the school. “It’s time for your first day of school.”

Glory hugged both her parents one final time and took a few steps forward.

Gallus and Silverstream then trotted to each other’s side and held talons, extending their wings around the other as they watched their daughter trot toward the door.

Meanwhile, Sky Beak choked back a happy sob and said, “Bye-bye, Glory!”

“Have fun at school!” Ocean Flow shouted after wiping away her own set of tears.

“And read all the books you can!” Gavin encouraged, waving goodbye.

Glory stopped mid-step and turned around, waving and shouting back, “I will!”

“You’d better,” Novo said, trying to appear stern but failing miserably. “I want to brag all about how smart my grandniece is to the hippogriffs and seaponies back home.”

“You don’t already do that?” Smolder asked, earning only an eye-roll from the Queen of Mount Aris. She then returned her gaze to her best friends’ daughter, declaring, “You’re going to have a great time at school, Glory. I promise.”

“You’re going to learn all kinds of wonderful things,” Ocellus proclaimed, eagerly anticipating when the fledgling would regale her with an account of said wonderful things. “Make sure to study hard and follow along in the class.”

“As well as remember the names of your teachers and classmates,” Terramar added, stifling a snicker at the exasperated-yet-apologetic look his niece shot him. “Last time I make that joke, I promise.”

“Ignore Uncle Terramar,” Yona said, sparing the hippogriff an annoyed frown. She then looked back at Glory and waved enthusiastically, loudly promising, “Auntie Yona gonna give niece biggest hug ever when she come home!”

“So will I,” Sandbar concurred, putting a hoof around Yona’s back and snuggling up to her. “Now, hurry on up, kiddo,” he urged, nodding toward the school. “They’re waiting for ya.”

Glory smiled and raised a talon to open the front door; however, before she entered the school proper, she paused and closed her eyes. Glory then took a deep breath in, holding her talon to her heart before extending it outward, sighing quietly. “Daddy and Mommy love me,” she whispered to herself before looking back at the others again. “Bye-bye, Daddy. Bye-bye, Mommy. Bye-bye, everycreature,” Glory said, smiling as she cheerfully waved goodbye one final time. “I love you!”

“We love you too, Glory,” Silverstream said, barely holding back a wave of proud, joyous tears.

“We’ll see you this afternoon,” Gallus promised, swallowing a lump in his throat. “Have fun.”

“Hee-hee-hee,” Glory giggled. “Daddy, you already told me to have fun.”

“Well, I’m saying it again. Have fun, Glory,” he repeated, smiling serenely.

“We love you,” both of her parents concluded.

“I love you too!” she sang, blowing them both a kiss.

Glorious Pearl then turned around and happily pranced into the schoolhouse to begin her first day of school.

Once she had entered, the doors closed with a gentle click, and the bell rang out one last time, signaling the beginning of another new school year.

Many of the pony families took that as their cue to trot away and continue with their day, but many others remained exactly where they stood, unable to tear their teary gazes away from the schoolhouse just yet.

And although Glory’s family was among the latter, Queen Novo ultimately broke the tranquil silence a few minutes later.

“Whelp! This has been a fun, little adventure,” she remarked, awaking her wings with a small flap. “But if you’d all excuse me, I have to go reclaim my kingdom from my daughter.”

“Hopefully before she sets off another volcano, right?” Smolder guessed.

“No-no, Smolder. This is Starry we’re talking about,” Gallus acknowledged, sharing a smirk with his wife. “She’ll have already set off at least three volcanoes by now.”

Novo groaned in exasperation while everycreature else howled in laughter.

Eventually, Terramar quieted down and said, “Yeah, I need to head back home too. My wife’s pregnant, after all,” he ended with a wide smile.

“Yona surprised she even let Terramar leave house,” Yona laughed. “If Yona were her, Yona not let Hubby out of Yona’s sight,” she commented, holding Sandbar’s hoof and receiving an affectionate kiss from him in return.

“Well, I’m glad she did let you leave,” Silverstream said, hugging her brother. “Thank you again for coming out here, guys,” she said to her fellow hippogriffs.

“It’s fine, honey,” Ocean Flow assuaged, giving Silver her own hug. “We’re just happy we got to see Glory off to school.”

“And see all of you again,” Sky Beak added, smiling proudly at his daughter and son-in-law.

“Thanks, Dad,” Gallus said, hugging Sky. “We’re glad we got to see you too.”

Sky Beak merely hugged Gallus as tightly as he could, but after a minute, he reluctantly released him. “Are you two going to be okay?” he inquired, placing a gentle talon on the griffon’s shoulder.

“We will,” Silverstream answered for them both, returning to her husband’s side and taking his talon into hers. “Thank you for asking, Daddy.”

“Of course, honey, of course,” he replied, sneaking them both a nuzzle.

“In any case,” Novo resumed, sharing a look with Terramar. “We really do need to head back to Mount Aris.”

“Well, you two can head home, but Sky and I plan to stay in Ponyville for a while,” Ocean Flow revealed.

“Wait, you do?” Silver asked her parents, surprised.

“We do,” her mother confirmed, beaming brightly at the duo. “Today’s our granddaughter’s first day of school, and we are not going to miss out on hearing how it went first-talon.”

“And don’t worry, we already booked a hotel,” Sky Beak preemptively explained, knowing Gallus was about to offer them their spare bedroom. “We’re only planning to stay for the week.”

“It’s a lovely, little place,” Ocean complimented, nodding in approval. “Friendly ponies, fantastic room service; comfy beds… All-in-all, it’s quite charming.” Her wings twitched anxiously as she added in a mildly strained voice, “No pool though. That— That’s a shame.”

“We can still take you to Saddle Lake, Mom,” Gallus offered again, concerned. “It really isn’t that far.”

“If you’re sure it’s not too much trouble…? Then, yes,” she accepted, nodding ardently. “Please. I-I’d really love that.”

“Come on then,” Smolder spoke up, beckoning with her claw. “We’ll show you where it is.”

“Huh?” Ocean mumbled, thrown off by Smolder’s sudden interjection. “Are you sure, Smolder dear?”

“We have to head back to the Friendship School anyway,” Ocellus explained for Smolder. “And Saddle Lake’s on the way, so it won’t be a problem.”

“Alright then. Thank you,” Ocean Flow chirped, exceedingly grateful. She then gave Terramar a hug and kiss, saying, “Tell your sweetie I said hello.”

“I will,” he assured, hugging and kissing her back. “You just hurry up and get back to the water, okay, Mom?”

“I will.”

“I’ll come along and make sure she does,” Sky Beak vowed. “I might even take a swim in Saddle Lake myself,” he added, casually fiddling with his Pearl-piece.

“At least I’ll have one swimming buddy then,” Ocean laughed, smiling thankfully at him and receiving a kind smile in return.

“You’d have a lot more swimming buddies if you came home with us,” Novo pointedly muttered.

“True. But then I’d have to spend another train ride with your entitled flank,” Ocean fired back wryly. “And I don’t think that’d be good for my sanity.”

“Oh, so now you care about sanity!” Novo drawled, frowning coldly at her sister. “But not when you were driving me insane with your constant whining and wailing when we were younger?”

“Pardon? I seem to remember you being the primary wailer of the family.”

“Well, you’re clearly remembering things wrong, Sissy. But are you doing it on purpose, however, is the question.”

“Maybe I am. Maybe I’m not,” Ocean deflected. “Either way, I know you’ll definitely be wailing your head off once you see whatever Skystar did in your absence.”

“Ah. That’s the real reason you’re not coming back with us, is it?” Novo pondered, glowering suspiciously at her snickering sister. “You don’t want to help clean up the mess?”

“It’s certainly a nice plus.”

“You’re such a lazy brat.”

“And you’re a pompous windbag.”

A moment of silence later, the sisters both burst out laughing and proceeded to hug each other goodbye. Sky Beak did much the same with his son.

“You have a good trip, Terramar,” he said, ruffling his son’s mane.

“Considering I have to take the train home with Auntie Novo…?” Terramar acknowledged, aiming a sly grin at the hippogriff in question. “Who knows?”

“Remarks like that are doing you no favors, Terry,” Novo forewarned, not bothering to glare back. After giving Ocean one last firm squeeze, she released her, imploring, “Stay safe, Sissy. See you soon.”

“See you soon,” Ocean echoed.

“And we’ll see you soon too,” Smolder said, trotting over and giving both Gallus and Silverstream a hug. “Sorry about both being late and having to cut-and-run,” she apologized, frowning regretfully.

“It’s okay, Smolder; we understand,” Gallus placated, hugging her back. “Thanks for coming out here.”

“And thank you for inviting us out here,” Ocellus responded, joining the hug pile for a moment. “It was nice to see Glory again.”

“Yeah, and she’s gotten so big too,” Smolder acknowledged in mock-bewilderment, shrugging exaggeratedly. “What’s up with that? I could have sworn she was way tinier just yesterday.”

“Same,” Gallus and Silverstream both said simultaneously.

“It’s a little thing called growing up,” Ocellus answered, smirking at the dragon. “Ever heard of it?”

“Nope,” Smolder bluntly denied, savoring the changeling’s eye-roll. “Jokes aside, you two gonna be okay?”

“Yep,” Gallus affirmed, nuzzling his wife. “We’ll be okay, Smolder.”

“Good to hear.”

“Just do me a favor and keep Starlight busy for me, okay?” Silverstream pleaded. “I might be a little late,” she admitted, meeting her husband’s eye.

“We will,” Ocellus promised, nodding. “But, uh, don’t be too late, okay?”

“Starlight won’t get on Silver’s case for being late, Ocellus,” Smolder deadpanned. “She knows where we all are today.”

“That’s not what I meant. I just think we’re gonna need her help dealing with…her,” she clarified.

Smolder winced and grimaced, realizing, “Crud! I forgot she came back today too.”

“Luster’s not that bad, girls,” Gallus appealed.

“While that might be true, I’d prefer having Silver around when we’re in the same building as that mare,” Ocellus openly confessed.

“Same,” Smolder piped up. “Out of all of us, Silver’s the only one who can get through to Luster when she’s having an ‘episode,’” she half-complimented, half-lamented.

“Not all the time,” Silver sighed, shaking her head in exasperation.

“You still get through to her more often than we do,” Ocellus grumbled. “Which is rather unfair when you consider that she should be listening to all of us equally.”

“Yeah, what’s your secret, Silver?” Smolder questioned, crossing her claws indignantly as smoke began billowing from her nostrils. “How come you’re the only one that can get Luster Dawn to stop spamming her magic all the dang time?”

“I don’t know. But it may have something to do with the fact I’m her favorite,” Silverstream supposed, failing to hide a smug smile as her friends both face-clawed and face-hoofed respectively.

“You never said you were her favorite,” Gallus noted, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m everycreature’s favorite,” she bragged.

“Especially mine,” he purred, kissing her.

Smolder and Ocellus couldn’t help but smile at the sight of their friends’ affection, but the latter soon said, “Thanks again for inviting us to come down and see Glory off.”

“Did you think we wouldn’t?” Gallus wondered, scoffing at the idea. “You’re all our family, remember?”

“Heh. You’re our family too, Gallus,” Smolder averred, lightly jabbing his shoulder. “Even if you did turn into a gargantuan sap over the years.”

“Don’t you be harsh on my sweetie for being sappy,” Silverstream fired back in her husband’s defense. “Especially since we both know you’ll be far, far worse the day you get a sweetie of your own.”

“And considering how much you dote on Glory,” Gallus followed up, sneaking his wife a thankful nuzzle. “I shudder to think of how much you’ll dote on your own child. Or rather…? Children,” he stressed, waggling his eyebrows.

Smolder had no response to that, so rather than attempting to provide one—and subsequently garnering even more teasing from her friends—she instead turned to Sky and Ocean and called out, “H-Hey, you two coming or what?”

“One moment,” Sky Beak requested, finishing his hug with Novo while Ocean Flow finished her hug with Terramar.

“Wow, Smolder! Not even gonna try to deny their accusations, huh?” Ocellus deadpanned as their friends guffawed victoriously.

“…Shut up,” Smolder growled, looking away in an attempt to hide her blush.

Once Gallus and Silver’s laughter subsided, Sky Beak and Ocean Flow broke away from their original hug partners and trotted over and trapped them in their grasp as well.

“You both have a good day,” Ocean promised, sneaking Silver a kiss.

“We’ll see you two later,” Sky wished, patting Gallus proudly on the back. “We love you.”

“We love you too,” Gallus and Silverstream both responded, hugging their parents back before letting them go to follow after Smolder and Ocellus. “See all of you this afternoon,” the latter said, waving goodbye.

“See ya later, Silver,” Smolder said on all of their behalf as they waved back merrily.

Terramar then trotted over and gave his sister and brother-in-law a hug of his own, saying, “I’ll see you guys later too. Love you.”

“Love you,” Silver echoed. “You make sure to let me know when I’m finally an auntie, alright?”

“I will, I will,” he swore, rolling his eyes. “After all, I’m gonna need your advice, right?”

“Obviously. You’re absolutely hopeless without me,” she taunted.

“Same goes for you too, Sis.”

“Mhmm.”

“It was nice seeing you again, Terry,” Gallus said, holding a talon out.

“Nice seeing you too, ‘milord,’” Terramar said, shaking the offered talon.

Gallus snorted. “In any case, you’d better get going,” he advised. “You’ve got a baby on the way, don’t forget.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t forget. You know? Unlike your daughter who—”

“Keep joking about that, and you ain’t getting any apology cakes,” Silver interrupted, frowning sternly at him. “From either of us,” she stressed, gesturing to herself and Gallus.

“Yeah, Terry, you wouldn’t want to lose out on our apology cakes, would you?” Gallus joined in on the threat. “Especially considering how much your wife loves ‘em.”

Terramar grimaced fearfully, muttering, “Okay, okay. I’ll let it go; just sends us those cakes. Please?”

“We will,” Silver promised, sneaking in one more hug to her brother before giving him a light nudge forward. “Now, go back home and make me an auntie.”

Terramar just shook his head and laughed. “You’re both weird.”

“And yet, you love us anyway,” Gallus accused.

“And yet, I love you anyway,” Terramar confirmed, grinning.

“The same can be said for me,” Novo confessed, smiling at them both. “Even if one of you is—” She shivered. “—A commoner,” she concluded with as much contempt as she could which wasn’t really all that much.

“I love you too, Auntie Novo,” Gallus replied, waving amicably.

She smirked and waved back before trotting off with Terramar back to the Friendship Express station.

Continuing the trend of leavers, Gavin approached Gallus and Silverstream, announcing, “I need to head back home too. Mom’s probably still dealing with the E.E.A. and is likely in need of some serious emotional support,” he said, sparing them both a quick hug.

“Give Griselda our best,” Silver cordially requested.

“And give the other girls some flack for not remembering to clear their schedules,” Gallus joked, hugging Gavin for an extra second longer.

“Heh-heh, I will,” Gavin agreed. “You just promise to bring Glory down to the Griffonstone Library once she learns how to read the ‘Big kid’ books. Uncle Gavin’s got some recommendations she’ll absolutely adore.”

“We’ll see you then.”

“Likewise,” Gavin said, turning around and trotting after the hippogriffs.

In the wake of his departure, the only remaining couple stepped up to Gallus and Silverstream.

“Sooo,” Sandbar began. “Glory’s in school now.”

“Yes, she is, Sandy,” Silverstream said neutrally. “Yes, she is.”

“Will niece be okay?” Yona wondered, her smiling drooping slightly in worry. “Even though Glory nervous about making friends?”

Gallus nodded reassuringly. “Yeah, Yona. Glory will be okay.”

Yona breathed a sigh of relief while her husband acknowledged, “You calmed her down pretty quickly, dude. What’s your secret?”

“There is no secret. Our daughter was upset, and I helped her not be,” he elaborated, shrugging.

“Yeah, but…how though?”

“Heh. You’ll figure it out, Sandy. It just takes a bit of time and practice.”

“And luckily, Yona and Sandbar will soon have plenty of both,” she rejoiced, nuzzling Sandbar lovingly and receiving an equally affectionate nuzzle in return.

“Speaking of which, when is the final meeting?” Silverstream asked politely.

Sandbar ended the nuzzle with a kiss to his wife’s cheek and answered, “Next Wednesday.”

“We’ll be there,” Gallus promised.

“Friends better be,” Yona warned, grinning slyly. “Yona want foal to meet all of their new family!”

“They are going to be in for such a surprise when they see how huge our family is,” Silverstream remarked.

Sandbar snickered. “To that, I say: All the more creatures to love and be loved by.”

“All the more creatures to love and be loved by,” Gallus repeated, snuggling his wife adoringly.

“Hee-hee-hee,” Yona and Silverstream tittered. The latter then gave her husband a kiss, saying, “That is whole lot of love in that foal’s future.”

“Friends can count on that; Yona and Hubby will be best parents ever!” Yona roared, punctuating her declaration with a passionate stamp of her hoof. She then smiled blissfully at Sandbar, whispering, “Yona really, really can’t wait to be mom…”

“And I can’t wait to be a dad,” Sandbar tearfully murmured, kissing his wife.

“Mom wasn’t kidding earlier; you two really will love being parents,” Gallus said, thrilled to see his friends so happy. “I know we do.”

“Just make sure to do what both we and Daddy suggested and keep a scrapbook,” Silver implored. “Every moment will be precious.”

“We already bought three of ‘em,” Sandbar revealed candidly.

“Buy more,” she countered without skipping a beat. “When I said every moment will be precious, I meant every moment will be precious.”

After sharing a glance with her husband, Yona conceded, “Then Yona will stop by store later and pick more up.”

“Wise.”

All four of them chuckled merrily.

Eventually, however, Sandbar finished laughing and sighed contently. He then hooked a hoof around his wife and resumed, “Whelp. I know everycreature else left pretty quickly, but…?”

“You’ve got to go too?” Gallus guessed, slightly disappointed.

“Yeah,” he confirmed, nodding regretfully. “I have a pretty long shift at the aquarium today.”

“And Yona really need to finish other dresses,” she wistfully acknowledged.

“We should be able to get back here in time to see Glory home though,” Sandbar swore. “I can take my lunch break around the time school gets out.”

“And Yona should be done with today’s commissions by then too.”

“We’ll see you then,” Silverstream said, striding forward and pulling them both into a hug.

“Thank you again for coming,” Gallus added once he joined the hug.

“Like there was a chance we wouldn’t,” Sandbar scoffed.

“Yona and Hubby happy to be here for friends and niece!” Yona bellowed as she hugged all three of them with every ounce of bone-crushing strength she possessed.

Much to the relief of her friends’ and husband’s internal organs, Yona relented a minute later. She then patted Silver’s back encouragingly before pulling away and checking, “Will friends really be okay while Glory in school?”

Gallus and Silverstream met each other’s eye, and the latter swiftly assured, “Yeah. We’ll be fine, Yona; we’re just gonna stay here for a little bit longer.”

“Alrighty then. Make sure to keep an eye on the time though,” Sandbar urged wisely, pointing to the Ponyville Clocktower. “You two don’t want to be late to work.”

“Don’t worry, Sandy. We won’t be late,” Gallus vowed. “The mighty Princess of Equestria needs her gallant Captain, after all,” he proclaimed, raising his head, puffing his chest, and brimming with pure, unadulterated pride.

“And Headmare Starlight and Vice Headstallion Sunburst need me to help teach creatures the values of friendship, love, and optimism,” Silverstream declared, fluttering her wings cheerfully and teeming with a bright, joyous energy.

“Heh-heh, sounds good,” Sandbar said, grinning tranquilly. “Well then…? Have a good day, guys.”

“Yona and Hubby will see friends later,” Yona promised, beaming widely as she energetically waved goodbye.

“We’ll see you two later too,” Gallus replied, returning the wave as the couple began trotting away.

“We love you,” Silverstream sang, also waving farewell.

“We love you too,” Sandbar and Yona replied simultaneously, tittering a moment later at having done so. Soon thereafter, they disappeared into the town of Ponyville proper.

A serene silence seemed to fall across the world now that Gallus and Silverstream were alone; however, they were far too preoccupied with smiling lovingly at each other to notice or mind the sudden quietness.

They then kissed and turned back to the school, hugging each other intimately with their wings and holding talons as they beheld the crimson building their daughter resided within.

What seemed like an eternity passed, but they neither made to break the silence, nor even considered letting go of their significant other. And even as the last of the other families finally found the strength to turn away from the school and trot away, Gallus and Silverstream could only continue staring at the schoolhouse, knowing that inside was their wonderful, beautiful, and precious daughter.

Their Glorious Pearl.

But like all things, the silence soon came to an end once Gallus caught sight of the tears streaming down his wife’s cheeks.

“Silverstream?”

“Yes, Gallus?”

“You’re crying,” he quietly pointed out.

Utterly unconcerned by that fact, Silver simply nodded and said, “I know. So are you.”

“I know.” After taking a short, shuddering breath, Gallus half-rejoiced, half-lamented, “Our baby girl is growing up, Silver.”

“Yes, she is. And she’s growing up fast; she’s growing up way too fast!” she exclaimed morosely. “Wasn’t it just yesterday that we caught her climbing the refrigerator?”

“‘Glorious Pearl! And the Quest for the Cookie Jar!’” he declared dramatically, much to Silver’s amusement. “The best part was her face when we caught her.”

Silver laughed even harder as she wiped her eyes. “Yeah, that was priceless. She still wasn’t able to speak back then, but if she were, you know she would have said uh-oh.”

“Oh absolutely,” he concurred, nodding and chuckling along with her. Afterward, he praised, “It was really nice of you to let her have that cookie in the end.”

“I had to, Gallus!” she proclaimed adamantly. “Glory put a lot of work into climbing as high as she did; she deserved a treat.”

“Well, let’s be glad we got to her before she tried climbing any higher,” Gallus stressed, unable to even fathom what could have happened had they not been there.

“Yeah. Yeah…” Silver mumbled, equally unable to contemplate such a scenario.

…

“I miss those days,” Gallus confessed.

“I do too,” Silverstream admitted, giving her husband a quick nuzzle. “I don’t miss the messes,” she clarified candidly. “But I miss everything else.”

“Playing with her in her crib…” he recounted, smiling serenely.

“Wheeling her around in her stroller…” she continued.

“Teaching her how to read…”

“Drawing and painting with her…”

“Holding her talon and helping her take her first steps…”

“Taking her to Saddle Lake and showing her how to swim…”

“Grover’s Treasure, she was so confused at first,” Gallus remembered, laughing at the memory of how bewildered their daughter had been to suddenly be a seapony.

“She caught on pretty quickly though,” Silverstream commended. “And once she did—ugh!—how long did it take us to get her out of the water again?”

“About an hour. … And then she cried for the next four,” he deadpanned.

They both laughed.

“You know what I really miss?” Silver eventually resumed.

“What?”

“Feeding Glory and then rocking her to sleep.”

“You always looked so happy when you did,” Gallus reminisced, smiling lovingly at his wife.

“That’s because I was happy,” she explained, smiling as well. “As happy as you were whenever you had to read her bedtime stories to get her to sleep.”

“Which only ever worked about half of the time,” he said, savoring her subsequent snicker. “The other times I would need to sing her to sleep.”

“Oh sea kelp, I miss hearing you sing her lullabies,” Silverstream lamented.

“I miss singing her lullabies too,” Gallus admitted, bringing her into a happy hug. “You— You think Glory’s going to be okay?” he asked, voice cracking.

“Yes. Glory will be okay, sweetie,” she soothed, nuzzling him reassuringly.

Gallus sniffled and held her closer, returning the nuzzle.

Some time later, Silver softly asked, “Are you going to be okay?”

“Mhmm,” he hummed, leaning back and giving her a firm nod. “I’ll be fine. You?”

“I’m gonna have butterflies in my stomach all day, but other than that…?” she joked, adoring the small laugh she drew from her husband. “I’ll be fine too.”

Gallus nodded again, but after a moment, he shuffled awkwardly and bemoaned, “The years are just flying by, Silverstream… Sometimes, I’m not sure I can keep up.”

Silver kissed him and said, “All the more reason to cherish the time we still have.”

“Heh. Don’t worry then,” he implored, cupping her cheeks tenderly. “I cherish every last second of every day of my life. Because I get to live my life with you,” Gallus rejoiced, kissing her.

After kissing him back, she wrapped her talons and wings around him and brought him back into her rapturous embrace. Silver then tucked her head under his chin and nuzzled him some more, breathing a serene sigh upon feeling his talons rub along her back comfortingly. “You’re never going to stop out-sweeting me, are you?”

“Nope. Never,” he promised.

“Lucky me.”

“Lucky you.”

Gallus and Silverstream both giggled, and after taking a deep breath in and letting it out slowly, the latter snuggled deeper into her husband’s soft, sky blue plumage with a happy hum. “Gallus?”

“Yes, Silverstream?” Gallus whispered, his tail slowly wagging.

“Thank you.”

“For the hug?” he guessed. “Aww, you’re welcome, Silver,” Gallus said, folding his wings around his wife and hugging her even closer.

“Hee-hee, that’s not what I meant, silly,” she tittered, giving his back a gentle massage that he greatly appreciated. “I mean? Yes, thank you for the hug. But… Thank you for being with me,” she said, kissing his beak properly. “Thank you for saying yes.”

Gallus grinned and gave her two kisses back. “If I recall correctly, you were the one who said yes,” he countered, feeling a fresh surge of euphoria fill his heart upon recalling the memory. “Quite adamantly, I might add.”

“Well, duh. We’re married, aren’t we?” she whispered, acutely aware of the beautiful ring she proudly wore.

“Yes, we are,” he confirmed jubilantly, kissing her again and lovingly stroking his own ringed talon through her mane. “Because you said yes.”

“So did you.”

“Obviously.”

“Yeah, but you said yes long before I did,” Silver professed, caressing his cheek. Upon seeing him raise an eyebrow in confusion, she asked, “Remember Friends and Family Day, Gallus?”

“Of course I do!” he adamantly affirmed. “How could I ever forget our first date?”

“It didn’t have to be our first date,” she acknowledged, puzzling him even more. “But it was. Because I asked you if it was…”

“And I said yes,” Gallus said, grinning in realization.

“And you said yes!” Silverstream celebrated, kissing her husband deeply as her wings gave an ecstatic flutter. “And I’m so happy you did, Gallus; I love you so much,” she exulted. “And I— I can’t even imagine a life without you,” she said, placing a talon upon his chest and smiling tearfully at him. “So, thank you, Gallus. Thank you for saying yes.”

Smiling serenely, Gallus gently wiped his wife’s tears away before cupping her cheeks in his talons. She then held her talons over his, prompting him to begin, “Silverstream…?”

“Yes, Gallus?”

“You are the love of my life. You always have been, and you always will be,” he declared resolutely. “There was no other possible answer I could have given you that day,” Gallus said, kissing her.

After reciprocating the kiss, Silverstream buried her head into his feathers again. “I’m glad,” she murmured in a cracked voice.

“I am too. And if anything, I should be thanking you for choosing me.” Gallus sniffled. “I’m so lucky you chose me,” he whispered, unable to hold back his own tears of joy.

Silverstream spared his plumage one more nuzzle before retreating from its depths once more to grace him with a dreamy smile. “Oh, Gallus…” she sighed. “There was no one else I could have chosen. You’re the love of my life too, after all. Always have been. Always will be.”

Still crying, Gallus snorted and snarked, “Still stealing my lines, eh?”

“Yep. They’re very good lines,” she complimented, completely unabashed. “I’d like to use some of ‘em too.”

“Yeah, well…? If you ever hope to out-sweet me one of these days, you’re gonna need to work on your originality,” he teased.

“Pfft! I don’t care about being original,” Silverstream refuted, waving her talon dismissively. She then tapped her beak against his, finishing, “I only care about you.”

“Likewise,” Gallus said, his eyes fluttering closed as they kissed once again.

Several minutes later, they broke apart mutually yet continued holding each other in a shared, loving embrace.

…

…

…

“You know, as wonderful as this is…” Gallus began, a small note of sadness creeping into his neutral tone.

“Don’t you say it, don’t you say it,” Silverstream protested.

“We do have to go,” he said anyway, wincing regretfully.

“Augh, dang it!” she cursed. “You just had to say it, didn’t you?”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay, sweetie. I just…” She sighed and nuzzled him again, muttering, “I don’t want to let go.”

“I don’t want to let go either,” he admitted, wanting nothing more than to hold her forever in his loving embrace.

“Then don’t let go.”

“But we have to.”

“No, we don’t,” she claimed, trapping him within the confines of her wings. “We don’t have to go anywhere; we just have to stay right here and hold each other.”

“Maybe in a perfect world…”

“We’re married; as far as I care, the world is perfect,” she asserted.

Gallus burst out laughing. “Yeah! Yeah, you’re right. The world is perfect,” he agreed, snuggling blissfully into her feathers with a happy purr.

Silverstream rewarded the gesture via a stroke to his headcrest and chortled when it resulted in her husband’s tail becoming a wagging blue blur. She stroked his headcrest again for good measure before proceeding to snuggle him as well, humming softly.

…

…

…

Eventually, Gallus let out a soft sigh and caressed his wife lovingly. “I really do want to stay like this, Silver,” he said somberly.

“I do too,” Silverstream agreed. “And yet… We do still have to go, don’t we?” she recognized, not remotely ready to do so.

“…Yeah.”

Silver was quiet for a moment, but she soon let out a defeated groan and pulled away, dropping her wings and letting him go. Once she felt his talons leave her back, she squeaked out, “Gallus?”

“Yes, Silver?”

“One more kiss?” she requested. “Pretty please?”

Gallus smiled and returned his talons to her cheeks, loving her ensuing elated smile. “For you, my love? Always.”

They wasted no time whatsoever in kissing each other one more time.

All too soon, however, the kiss came to an end, and Gallus and Silverstream hung their heads, desperately wishing it hadn’t needed to.

“You were right, Silverstream,” Gallus whispered despairingly. “Being an adult is hard.”

Silver immediately realized the opportunity she had been granted and smirked impishly. “Yes, it is. But like you said…?” she trailed off, turning around and brushing her tail under his beak. “Being an adult does have some perks.”

Apathetic to the fiery crimson blossoming across his cheeks, Gallus smiled sultrily at his wife and concurred, “Yeah, it does. And pray tell, weren’t we going to enjoy one of them when we got home tonight?” he questioned as his wings twitched excitedly.

“Ohhh yes. Yes, we were,” she confirmed, smiling alluringly at him from over her shoulder. “And we’re gonna enjoy it for a good… Long… While…” Silver ended, emphasizing each word with a teasing swish of her tail.

It took a second, but once Gallus managed to return his gaze to her eyes, he began, “Oh, trust me, milady. I wouldn’t have it any other way. In fact…?” Gallus strode forward, stroking a talon along her back as he did so, until he stood back in front of her. “I’ll be counting the seconds until we’re alone again,” Gallus swore, sneaking her neck a small kiss.

“As will I,” she assured, blushing fervidly as she valiantly fought back the urge to pounce him then and there. Once she had won that battle, Silver kissed his cheek and grumbled, “But sadly… That’s for tonight.”

“It’s gonna be a good night, that’s for sure,” he crooned, winking confidently.

“You know it,” Silverstream giggled.

Gallus giggled with her, but he quieted down a moment later. “All jokes and teasing aside though…?” he began in a quiet voice. “There is another perk to being an adult.”

“Oh? And what’s that?” she asked, expecting another particularly risqué comment.

What Gallus instead said, however, was, “Being a parent.”

Silverstream let out a small bark of laughter. “Yeah! Yeah, being a parent is amazing.”

“Yes, it is. … We’re parents, Silver,” he rejoiced.

“We’re parents,” she concurred, smiling serenely. “And you’re a daddy.”

“Yes, I am. And you’re a mommy.”

“Yes, I am. And our baby girl is growing up, Gallus,” Silverstream squealed, a fresh wave of tears flowing from her eyes.

“And she’s growing up far, far too fast,” Gallus bemoaned, crying as well. “We still have so much to teach her!”

“Like how to cook her own breakfast?” she joked.

Gallus chortled and added, “And use her Pearl-piece.”

“And how to sing and dance too!”

“And how to fly!”

“Oh, she’s going to love flying!” Silver exclaimed, already anticipating the day they could all fly together as a family.

“You know what else she’s gonna love?”

“What?”

“Her sweetie,” Gallus said casually.

“She is going to find a sweetie, isn’t she?” she gasped.

“Yes, she is. And we’re going to have to teach her how to keep ‘em.”

“Good thing we still have Cadence’s letters.”

“Good thing we know them all by heart.”

“That too. Hee-hee! Ooooh, Gallus!” she squeed, dancing excitedly. “I can’t wait to dote on her sweetie!”

“And I can’t wait to intimidate them.”

“You had better not!” she reproved.

“If I do, it will be jokingly,” Gallus clarified, meeting her stern glare with an adoring smile.

Although Silver tried to keep her glare going, it quickly faded away as she conceded, “Well…? Only if it’s jokingly. And Glory had better be onboard with it too, otherwise…?”

“Otherwise, I won’t do it,” he reassured. “I still need to walk her down the aisle, after all.”

“And I’ll need to help her pick out a dress,” Silver realized, nearly exploding in joy at the mere thought of doing so.

…

“I’m not ready, Silverstream,” Gallus stated, shaking his head fervently. “I’m not ready for our baby girl to grow up.”

“I’m not ready either,” Silver confessed, wiping her eyes dry. “Luckily for us, she’s not grown up just yet. And we still have a lot of time before she is.”

“We’ll make the most of it,” he vowed.

“Yes, we will,” she promised.

They kissed.

Afterward, Silverstream pulled away with a sigh. “I guess we’ve gotta go now, huh?”

“We’ll be back here in a few hours, my love,” Gallus soothed, nuzzling her.

After nuzzling him back, she said, “I know. Have a good day at work, sweetie.”

“I will. You have a good day at work too, milady.”

“I will. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

They kissed each other goodbye.

“See you later, Silverstream,” Gallus said, beginning to hesitantly step away.

“See you later, Gallus,” Silverstream replied, waving as she trotted off toward the Friendship School.

Gallus watched her for a moment before turning around to trot away himself; however, he only made it one step before swiftly swiveling back around. “Hey, Silverstream?” he called out after his wife.

Silverstream paused and looked back, leveling a wide, knowing smile at her husband. “Yeeesss, Gallus?”

Blushing, Gallus pleaded, “One more kiss? Pretty please?”

“For you, my love? Always!” Silver cheered ecstatically.

“Ha! You really couldn’t resist stealing just one more of my lines, huh?”

“Nope! Now, come on, sweetie,” she urged, beckoning with her talon. “Come give me another kiss.”

“As you wish, milady,” he said, darting forward to meet her beak with his own.

Silverstream instantly reciprocated the affection and soon felt her husband’s talons return to her cheeks. Once they had, she repaid his touch by stroking her own talons along his back and pulling him even further into her loving embrace.

In response, Gallus folded his wings around his wife and held her as closely as he possibly could, embracing her with an even greater fervor.

Pure love radiated from the couple, and with every kiss of their beaks, every touch of their talons, and every beat of their hearts, that love only grew until it practically burst forth and washed over each of them, reinvigorating their passion and urging them to prolong the beautiful moment.

Unfortunately, like all good things, the moment ultimately came to an end, but they certainly made its finale worth it by having of one final, extra long kiss.

Gallus and Silverstream then mutually broke away with a happy sigh.

“That was a really good kiss,” Silver whispered, resting her head on her husband’s shoulder.

“All of our kisses are good,” Gallus contended, rubbing her back soothingly. “In fact? They’re not just good; they’re wonderful. Like you,” he praised, kissing his wife.

“And you,” she replied, kissing him back. “We’re so lucky to have each other.”

“Yes, we are.” Gallus then blinked away another round of joyous tears and said, “Thank you for being with me, Silverstream.”

“Always,” she promised. “Thank you for being with me.”

“Always,” he echoed.

“Heh. Who’s stealing whose lines now?” Silverstream asked, smirking slyly.

“Me,” Gallus confessed, sharing a laugh with her.

For another heavenly minute, they merely held each other close and nuzzled lovingly, but soon, Gallus spoke up again.

“Hey, Silver?”

“Yeah, Gallus?”

“I love you,” Gallus said, smiling serenely.

“I love you too,” Silverstream said, giggling happily.

They then shared yet another kiss.


END