Gallus' Party of One

by Matthais Unidostres

Chapter Three

Sandbar stared hard at his side of the game board. He licked his lips in concentration, and he said slowly, "Sky 5. . ."

"Miss," Gallus said very unenthusiastically, "Sky 8?"

Sandbar laughed and said, "Woah! You found my last cloud! You won again, Gallus!"

"Boring," Gallus remarked as he tapped his talons on the table, his eyes wandering around Sandbar's room.

Sandbar noticed Gallus' displeasure, and he thought, "Okay. He's bored. Now maybe I can get out of here and get to Ocellus and Yona."

Sandbar rubbed his chin in thought, trying to look as thoughtful as possible, and he said, "You know. . . I'll bet Silverstream and Smolder have gotten far enough along on their project for at least a break. . . maybe?"

Gallus just shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe?"

Sandbar stood up and said eagerly, "I'm sure they are! Why don't we go check up on them. It's better than just sitting in my room while you beat me at Battlecloud over and over again, right?"

"Heh. Can't argue with that," Gallus said with a small smile.

"Let's go!" Sandbar said as he quickly exited the room.

Gallus raised an eyebrow at Sandbar's eagerness, but nevertheless got up and followed him out of the room.

---

Sandbar was leading the way as the walked down one of hallways of the School of Friendship. However, the pony came to a sudden stopped and "hmmmed" loudly as he looked left and right.

"What's the holdup?" Gallus asked impatiently, desperate to see more of his friends.

Sandbar shrugged and said, "I forgot what room Silverstream and Smolder are in."

"Seriously?" Gallus groaned.

Sandbar smiled sheepishly and said, "Well, don't you worry, Gallus. We'll find the room. We can make it like a game! You check the east side and I'll check the west side. First one to find them wins!"

Gallus huffed and said, "Sandbar, look! I-."

"Are you scared that you'll lose?" Sandbar said with a grin.

Gallus opened his beak to say something, but then he stopped short of speaking and smiled. "Oh really? Is that what you think? Fat chance, Sandbar! Whenever you're ready!"

Sandbar turned and got ready to run. "Oh, I'm ready, Gallus. Riiiiiight NOW!"

Sandbar took off running in one direction, and Gallus flew off in the opposite direction. However, just when the griffon turned the corner, he stopped and peeked his head around the corner he had just rounded. He spotted Sandbar's short, green tail rounding the corner on the other end of the hall.

Gallus hovered quietly down the hall, saying softly to himself, "Nice try, Sandbar. You're not ditching me so easily."

---

Yona and Ocellus walked through Ponyville, each carrying a load of supplies they had purchased. Yona had paper bags hanging from both of her horns by their handles, while Ocellus simply levitated her bags with her magic.

Ocellus was wearing a big smile as she listed a few of the objects they had gathered, "Party poppers, silly string, the piñata!"

"Oh yay!" Yona cheered.

The sound of hoofbeats caught the attention of the girls, and they turned to see Sandbar running towards them. He skidded to a halt in front of them and panted a bit. "Okay. . ." he said as he motioned with his right forehoof as he tried to catch his breath, "Whew. . . just. . . just let me. . ."

"What's the rush?" Ocellus asked, then her eyes widened and she asked, "Is Gallus following you?"

Sandbar shook his head and said, "No. He should still be at the school. Look, I needed to catch up to you girls before you spent too much!" He then took out a sheet of paper and waved it around as he said, "I made a list of all the food we need for the party and figured out how much money we need for it, exactly!"

Yona chuckled a bit, which caused the bags hanging from her horns to shake comically. "Sandbar acting like Headmare Twilight!"

Ocellus took Sandbar's list with her magic, and the changeling said smartly, "There is nothing wrong with careful planning and itemizing what is needed." Ocellus checked Sandbar's figures and smiled, "This looks right, and the money we have left should be just enough for it all."

Ocellus magically handed both the list and the half full pouch of bits to Sandbar, who breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Whew! Thank goodness!" Then he blushed nervously and stammered out, "Uh, I m-mean, well, I, of course I trusted you Ocellus! I mean, to leave some money from the food. Sure, but, games might cost more than food, or less than, that is, I uh." Sandbar felt too nervous to look into Ocellus' shiny blue eyes, even though the changeling was smiling cutely at him, or perhaps it was because of the smile she was giving him. Either way, Sandbar continued to stumble over his own words, "I'm saying, we kinda had to split up in a hurry this morning. We couldn't plan it out, the shopping I mean, yeah. Plus I already ordered the cake yesterday, so I had to pay that-."

The very awkward moment of Sandbar's stammering and Ocellus' attempts to keep herself from laughing was broken when Yona suddenly called out, "Meow-meow!"

Both the pony and changeling turned with wide eyes to see the backside of Gallus a few yards away.

"Gah! He can't see me here!" Sandbar cried out fearfully, and he quickly turned and ran.

Yona and Ocellus also left the area in a different direction and at a slower pace. As they walked, Yona posed a question, "Why is signal for seeing Gallus 'meow-meow'?"

Ocellus answered the question simply, "Because griffons are half eagle and half lion, and a lion is a cat."

Yona shook her head, making the bags on her horns shudder again, and she said, "How is lion a kitty cat? Lion is big and strong. Cat is small and cute."

"They're still both cats, Yona. They're just different kinds of cats."

"Yona don't understand."

"It's all a very simple matter of domestication and genetics. You see it all started way back when. . ."

---

Sandbar ran through Ponyville, eager to put as much distance between him and Gallus as he could.

"Hayseed! I'm such an idiot! I should've known Gallus wouldn't have fallen for that trick! But it's fine. Once I've lost him, I'll sneak around and pick up the cake, but the food- oh! And the drinks! Then I'll sneak right back to- AHH!"

Sandbar skidded to a halt just as Gallus landed a few feet in front of him. Luckily, the griffon had his back to him. Sandbar looked around nervously, and saw that he was right by Sugarcube Corner. Sandbar looked at Gallus' back and gulped, right before he ran right into the bakery.

Mrs. Cake was behind the counter, and she looked over at Sandbar with a smile. "Oh, Sandbar! You must be here for-."

Sandbar ran right up to the counter and said urgently, "Mrs. Cake, you gotta help me! Gallus is coming! I can't let him find me here!"

Mrs. Cake nodded her head and said, "Ohh, I understand, dear. You can step right into the kitchen for a minute, if you'd like."

Sadbar nodded, and he ran into the kitchen with a quick yell of "Thanks!"

In the very next second, right after Sandbar was out of sight, Gallus walked into the bakery. His blue eyes sweeped around the room in search of the Earth Pony he was looking for. Gallus then walked right over to the counter and said, "Hey, Mrs. Cake. You seen Sandbar?"

Mrs. Cake looked inquisitively at Gallus and asked, "Oh? You're looking for Sandbar?"

Gallus nodded slowly and said, "Well. . . yeah! That's why I asked."

"Hmm. . ." Mrs. Cake said slowly as she looked around the room, "Well, I don't see him right now."

Gallus frowned impatiently and said, "Well, fine. I guess I'll just look around some more."

As Gallus turned and left, Sandbar peaked his head out of the kitchen and let out a sigh of relief.

---

Smolder and Silverstream were walking through Ponyville, both carrying a small load. Silverstream had a pair of filled saddlebags, while Smolder held a tote bag over her left shoulder.

"Oh! My! Gosh!" Silverstream said dramatically, "I cannot believe we forgot the Luster Dust!"

Smolder counted out on her claws as she added, "And the balloons, and extra paint brushes, and the blue paint. . ." Smolder then paused and came to a stop, putting her hands on her hips as she remarked sassily, "I mean. . . seriously? We're throwing a party for a blue griffon, and we forget to get blue paint. . ." She then shrugged her shoulders sarcastically and said, "Huh. Seems legit."

The pair were only a few feet away from Sugarcube Corner, and at that moment, Gallus walked out the door.

The dragon and hippogriff froze in place as Gallus walked out, looking out in front of him and to his right. He was completely unaware of the girls' presence to his left.

Smolder's brain went into overdrive at this, and she thought, "Okay, maybe if we carefully walk backwards towards one of the other buildings-."

"Meow-meow!" Silverstream whispered rather loudly.

Smolder's eyes spotted Gallus' left ear twitch.

"Dangit, go!" Smolder hissed right before zooming as fast as she could to a nearby farm stand, diving into a large bucket of apples to hide.

When Gallus, turned, he just missed seeing Smolder, but he did spot Silverstream flying off towards one of the nearby houses.

"Hey! HEY!" he shouted as he took off after her, just as she rounded the corner.

Gallus flew down the alley, looking left and right for any sign of the pink hippogriff. Suddenly, the familiar shade of pink appeared in the corner of his eye, and made a sharp turn to the right to chase after it.

"Hey! Silverstream! Where are you going!?" Gallus called out as he weaved in and out between houses, seemingly on an endless chase through the same alleyway. Every once in a while he'd catch a flash of pink turning a corner ahead of him, leading him to making a sharp turn and zooming back into the alley.

Eventually, Gallus had enough a came to a sudden stop, growling with frustration as he hovered in mid-air.

"Yipe!" a voice squeaked out from behind him, and he felt something gently touch his back.

"Gotcha!" Gallus said as he turned around fast, only to be greeting with the sight of nothing. "Huh?" Gallus said, struck by confusion for a moment, then he shook it off and flew off in the direction he was facing.

Slightly above, and flying hovering upside-down yet, Silverstream watched as Gallus left, and finally let out the breath she was holding when he had gotten far enough away. Silverstream had gotten a little too excited by the chase, and ended up flying all the way around one of the houses and nearly crashing right into Gallus, who had unexpectedly come to a sudden stop. To avoid being seen, Silverstream had flipped her body up and over him so that she was hovering upside-down a few feet above him, and had kept completely silent, mentally pleading for Gallus not to look up.

"Well, that was a close one! But it's fine! We'll just have to speed things up a bit. Smolder won't mind. She's probably already heading back to the school. I better head back too- Wait! Since when could I fly upside-down? AHH!"

Bonk!

Silverstream groaned as she rolled onto her side. "Oooh, what a headache!" she moaned as she rubbed her forehead. But then she smiled and said, "But Gallus is worth it."

---

"Yona still don't agree that big strong lion with big hairy mane is kitty cat," Yona argued.

The two of them still were carrying their loads, and were now on their way back to the School of Friendship. However, between having to take the long way due to going the opposite way Sandbar had, and the debate the yak and Changeling were having, they weren't exactly making good time.

Ocellus sighed and said, "Yona, I'm trying to explain it to you. The members of the biological family of Felidae, known commonly as felines, include domestic cats like Rarity's cat, Abyssinians, lynxes, and lions. They're all part of one big diverse family."

Yona wrinkled her nose and said, "That very weird family. They look nothing alike! They-."

Suddenly, Gallus flew right up to them, his eyes widening when he saw them. "What are you girls doing with all that stuff?"

Yona turned to Ocellus and said nervously, "Uh. . . meow-meow?"

Gallus frowned hard at this and said, "'Meow-meow' again? What's with all the meowing?"

Ocellus smiled nervously and said, "Oh, that. Well, um-."

"Is it code for, 'look out, here comes Gallus'?" the griffon asked seriously.

"Ye- I mean, no! Why would we- I mean- um. . ." Ocellus said nervously

"What's in the bags?" Gallus asked, although it sounded more like a demand.

"What bags?" Yona asked lamely, while Ocellus merely smiled as she quickly levitated her bags behind her back.

Gallus tapped his talons impatiently and replied, "The bags floating behind Ocellus' back. . oh, and, I don't know, maybe the bags hanging on your horns!"

Ocellus and Yona gave each other nervous glances.

Gallus narrowed his eyes at the pair and said, "You're not gonna tell me, are you? Don't answer that! It's fine! I'll just see for myself."

Just as Gallus took a step forward, Yona suddenly cried out and pointed, "Look out! Derpy and Gabby!"

Gallus sneered and said, "Ha! I'm not falling for that-."

CRASH!

When Gallus finally recovered, he was staring straight at Derpy's bubbly Cutie Mark.

"Um, Derpy?" said the voice of Gabby the mail griffon, "You're kinda sitting on Gallus' face."

Derpy Hooves the mail mare quickly got up quickly and hovered in front of Gallus. She had her forehooves behind her back and had a nervous smile and blush on her face. "Oops. My bad," she said awkwardly, although she did sound genuinely sorry.

"Our bad," Gabby admitted with a similarly embarrassed looking face as she came over to lend a talon. Derpy joined in as well.

With Gabby on the right and Derpy on the left, Gallus grabbed hold of talon and hoof and was pulled back up to his feet.

"We're really sorry, Gallus," Gabby said, "Me and Derpy were talking, and she mentioned how she competed in the Best Young Flier Competition a while back, and I wanted to see the moves she used. Then she kinda swooped down too low, and I flew in to stop the crash. . . and well, I kinda got caught up in it myself."

As Gabby smiled sheepishly, Gallus just sighed and shook his head. "Forget it, it was just an accident." He then looked around to find, unsurprisingly, Ocellus and Yona were nowhere to be seen.

"Muffin?" Derpy asked with a gentle smile as she held out a blueberry muffin to him.

Gallus took one look at the muffin and frowned. "I'm not hungry," he replied.

Comments

[leifj2009]

The chase in on. Cue the chase music.

[FanficReader920]

N’aww. Poor Gallus. Now I just want to hug him.

[Applefai]

Sandbar was leading the way as the walked down one of hallways of the School of Friendship. However, the pony came to a sudden stopped and "hmmmed" loudly as he looked left and right.

Just need to change the, "the walked" to "they walked".

But besides that it's really really good

[The Great Derpsby]

Yona shook her head, making the bags on her horns shudder again, and she said, "How is lion a kitty cat? Lion is big and strong. Cat is small and cute."

Yeah, well, have you looked at Gallus?
derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/1/13/1934594.png

[Godslittleprincess]

All the humor in this chapter was on point. That ending was especially fantastic.

[Yoshifan30]

Gallus sneered and said, "Ha! I'm not falling for that-."

CRASH!

When Gallus finally recovered, he was staring straight at Derpy's bubbly Cutie Mark.

Classic not falling for it but suddenly it was real got to love the fake out lol

[Yoshifan30]

So far Sandbar is distracting gallus as much as he can but you know gallus is getting more suspicious so instead they going to see if they could check out on Silver stream and smolder so they did a little race but unfortunately he didn't fall for it so he followed sandbar Ocellus and yona I still trying to pick up the items for the games and parties Sandbar was trying to get the cake but unfortunately gallus is right behind him and he has to hide but then silverstream and smolder we're on our way but they got separated because gallus spotted silverstream and she has to make a run for it then he suddenly found Ocellus and yona but where's a little dumb luck Gabby and Derpy came out nowhere and kind of crashed Landing on gallus don't worry gallus just hang in there buddy but this chapter was pretty funny