Shooting Star

by Omegathyst

Family and Food

As Gallus heard Starlight groaning behind him, sweat began forming on his forehead as he stared at the two mares. Was it something he said?

Rarity then sighed and turned to look at Applejack.

“That mean ol’ bird still makes those comments?” Rarity asked.

“Ever since he caught us flirting, he hasn’t let it go,” Applejack shook her head, before turning to look at Gallus. “When we invited him and the other leaders here to discuss bringing new students here, he walked to the cafeteria and saw us gettin’ all cuddly. Went on a tirade about how it’s an assault on biology and morals.”

“Biology?” Gallus tilted his head.

“Parts of the body, like your eyes and your beak,” Applejack elaborated. “Here in Equestria, ponies can reproduce in many different ways because of magic. But in Griffonstone, y’all don’t have magic. So only a dick in a vagina can create a baby over there.”

“Language!” Rarity gasped.

“Ah know, but he gotta learn our differences somehow,” Applejack shrugged. “Now Gruff just shouts about how we poop rainbows and hold hooves all day, and have no real values or care in the world.”

“That sounds like something he’d say,” Gallus frowned.

“And for the record, we were making out, not shagging,” Rarity rolled her eyes.

“So what is-”

“Anyways!” Starlight spoke up over her son. “You two already finished making dinner, you said?”

“Sure did!” Applejack’s face brightened as she trotted past the three of them and towards the barn. “We better hurry up before it gets cold!”

“Sure didn’t concern you earlier,” Rarity remarked, catching up to Applejack.

“Hey, ah didn’t see you complaining,” Applejack chuckled.

Gallus felt a little more at ease watching the two mares walking side by side, teasing and staring at each other with an energy that Gallus could feel from where he was walking behind them alongside his mother. He couldn’t quite put his talon on it, but it felt like everything was right in the world just being in their presence. Gallus smiled as they finally reached the barn, Rarity opening the doors with her magic.

“Ah don’t miss opening those rusty doors, this gal here is useful,” Applejack smirked.

“Oh, so you only asked me out just to be your door-opener?” Rarity gasped.

“Well, there’s a few other benefits,” Applejack gave Rarity a half-lidded stare before rubbing her hoof against Rarity’s cheek briefly. “Love ya, sugarcube.”

“Love you too,” Rarity kissed Applejack’s muzzle right before the farmpony turned to enter the barn, with Starlight and Gallus following her. Rarity came in last and closed the doors, and the four walked into the kitchen to see a large red stallion and a smaller pink unicorn talking. Or more specifically, the unicorn talking while the stallion smiled and listened to her every word. Gallus noticed a nearly identical energy with the two, and would’ve gotten lost in it if Applejack didn’t slap him on the shoulder and snap him out of his trance.

“This here is mah brother Big Macintosh and his marefriend, Sugar Belle!” Applejack introduced Gallus to the two. “They’ve been dating for a good while now, and with Hearts and Hooves Day coming up, I hope to see what mah brother has planned for her.”

“Eeyup!” Big Mac nodded, getting up and trotting over to Gallus, offering his enormous hoof that was bigger than the griffon’s head. Gallus chuckled, greeting the stallion and shaking his hoof for a second before turning to Rarity as she spoke.

“Surely I hope you have something planned for me, darling,” Rarity walked over to Applejack and held a hoof to her forehead as she gasped and pretended to fall over. “Goodness, I would just faint if my marefriend didn’t do anything for me!”

“Oh don’t ya worry, mah princess,” Applejack wrapped her foreleg around Rarity and held her close. “Ah didn’t forget about that day, ah promise.”

“So, what did you guys make?” Gallus looked at the three pies and green bowl on the counter.

“Me and Rarity made apple cheddar pie, and a fruit salad,” Applejack explained. “The cows were awfully generous when ah’d stop by and asked for some of their dairy. Gave me several pints to make all kinds of dishes in the future.”

“Cows?” Gallus asked.

“They’re much bigger creatures than us,” Applejack told him. “And they’re spotted with sharp horns.”

“Woah, they sound pretty intimidating,” Gallus commented.

“Well, ah wouldn’t judge them so quickly, we don’t exactly run off because ya got talons, you know?” Applejack winked.

“Oh! Yeah, that’s a good point,” Gallus chuckled, rubbing one of his forelegs with said talon. “Sorry, that wasn’t very nice of me.”

“S’okay, we’ve all had our moments,” Applejack nodded before gesturing her hoof to the food. “Now, ah won’t let us keep conversing on empty stomachs. Come, don’t be shy with your servings. We got plenty to eat, ya hear?”

Gallus’ eyes widened as he stepped towards the sweet and savory aroma of the pies, his heart racing as Applejack’s words echoed in his head. He lunged for the pie closest to him, not bothering to remove a piece as he simply grabbed the warm pie pan with his talons and started eating the pie like his life depended on it.

“Gallus!” Starlight gasped.

“It’s okay, sugarcube,” Applejack placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Ah may not know much, but ah know what a ravenous appetite griffons and dragons have. I got three more pies sitting in the oven just in case.”

“Wow, that’s really thoughtful,” Starlight smiled. “Thank you, Applejack.”

“Hey, ever since that incident with Zecora, I bother to read a book every now and then,” Applejack explained. “It helps that we have the biggest nerd in Equestria as our friend.”

“Heh, she is pretty dorky,” Starlight giggled. “But yeah, Twilight has been a much bigger help than we could’ve ever hoped for.”

Gallus would’ve scoffed if he wasn’t beak-deep in the apple cheddar pie. And as he continued chomping down the pie, the conversation faded away as a memory in his mind far suppressed, brought its way back to the surface…

---

Gallus, a young blue griffon chick, waited at the table within the walls of his rickety wooden house that wasn’t all that different from a cabin. Even the table and chairs were made by his father, although not without their flaws. Nails stuck out in random places in the chairs, and Gallus found himself always feeling the seat with his talons before sitting in it. No need to get a sharp nail up his ass. His father must’ve gotten several sharp nails up his ass, Gallus thought, for what else would explain that constant grimace on his face?

On his right was his older sister, a much taller griffoness with white feathers and a golden yellow fur coat named Leilani, and on his left was his younger brother, a chick with dark blue feathers and light blue fur named Memphis. Memphis cooed in his make-shift high chair as he tried to touch the table with his talons, while Gallus kept an eye on the nails jutting out of the table.

“You don’t think that he’ll…?” Gallus spoke up.

“He’s too far away from the nails,” Leilani told him, her expression stoic until she saw Gallus’ wide eyes. Her face softening, she patted Gallus’ head as she smiled. “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine.”

“Is he bitching about the chick again? I swear, he’s almost as bad as your guys’ mother.”

Leilani instantly moved her talon off her younger brother’s head, sitting up straight as their father walked into the dining room where they were. Towering over the rest of them, the bulky dark blue griffon fixed his amber eyes on his three kids, a scowl twisted on his black beak. Feeling a tug in his heart as he saw his father, Coakley, come in alone, Gallus turned to his Dad.

“Where’s Mom?” Gallus asked.

“Selling her damn jewelry as usual,” Coakley growled. “I don’t get her, why doesn’t she triple the price of those stupid rocks? It’s not like those morons she loves talking to so much know the difference. Besides…”

Coakley walked away, leaving the three griffons to silently wait before he came back in, throwing two plump fishes onto the table before taking a seat. Leilani gasped, her tongue rolling out of her mouth as she stared at the fishes within reaching distance. As she reached for the fish closest to her, Coakley made a sharp sound, causing her to put her talon back at her side.

“You should appreciate the parent who actually feeds you,” Coakley growled, slamming his clenched talon on the table as he glared at Gallus. “When has your Mom ever brought dinner home, who is the one that built this fucking house?!”

Gallus felt his blood run cold as he tightly gripped his tail in his talons, shaking as he answered him.

“Y-You are, sir,” Gallus stammered.

“Don’t stammer in my house,” Coakley sneered. “You’re not a griffoness or a chick, you’re to speak clearly when talking to another griffon, understood?”

“Yes sir,” Gallus managed to say.

“Good,” Coakley nodded. “Now, as irritating as your mother might be, I still need to save her some fish for when she gets back home. This whole fish is for me, and half of the second fish is for your mother.”

As Coakley explained, he pulled both fishes towards himself. Reaching over and slicing one of the fishes in half with his talons, he then tossed the remaining tail half towards his three children.

“Work it out amongst yourselves,” Coakley ordered, taking the fish and a half in his beak as he got out of his chair, leaving the room. “And Gallus?”

“Yes?”

“You want more than two bites of fish, actually be a griffon and not a squirming chicken,” Coakley scoffed. “Grow up.”

Hearing his pawsteps get quieter until there was silence, Leilani sighed as she got out of her chair. She then took the fish half and brought it to Memphis, the chick taking each piece of fish given to him until he eventually stopped. With a few bites left on the bones, Leilani brought it back to the table and sat back down in her chair, a frown evident on her beak as she stared at the fish.

“He’s full,” Leilani gave a brief smile before it fell. “You have it, Gallus. The last time you ate was-”

“No, you need to eat,” Gallus pushed the few bites of fish towards her. “I’ll…sneak out, and maybe I’ll catch something while he’s asleep-”

“Gallus, what are you going to do if he catches you?” Leilani’s green eyes widened. “You know we’re not allowed to leave the house without his permission!”

“I’ll take the bea-I mean consequences!” Gallus corrected himself as Leilani narrowed her eyes at him. “Seriously, sis, it’s fine. It’ll take two seconds to catch a pigeon or something. Eat.”

“Okay…” Leilani brought the remaining fish close and proceeded to eat it as if any moment it might disappear. “T-Thank you, bro.”

“No problem,” Gallus smiled.

Long after his siblings’ went to bed, Gallus escaped his house and walked a distance away. Staring up at the full moon, and then the barren trees below it, Gallus looked for birds or a lake. With no hunting skills taught to him, even though he was sixteen years old now, Gallus could only go off instinct and night vision. Smelling a familiar sweet scent, Gallus rushed towards it and to a lake away from the huts. Spotting a bright yellow and white griffon that was smaller but looked almost exactly like Leilani, Gallus recognized her by the yellow markings around her blue eyes.

“Mom?” Gallus gasped as he saw a full fish underneath her talons. “You’re off work? What’re you doing here?”

“My baby,” Solara smiled, summoning her son forward with a beckoning of her talon. The brightness in her expression was too rare for Gallus to ignore as he rushed forward and embraced his mother. “Yes, I got off a bit ago. Your father will want to eat all his fish, so I went fishing before bed.”

“He saved you half a fish y’know,” Gallus pointed out, to which his mother laughed.

“Ha! He always says that, but I come home to nothing,” Solara shook her head. “Did you eat?”

Gallus felt his blood boiling at the image of his father taking almost all of the fish to his room, processing his mother’s words as he gripped the grass underneath him with his talons. Before he could succumb to the emotions spiraling within him, he shook his head to his mother’s question.

“I gave the last half to Leilani,” Gallus huffed.

“Well, I certainly don’t need to eat all of this fish,” Solara moved aside to make room for the both of them. “Go ahead, if we really need it, I can go catch another one.”

Gallus lunged for the fish and started tearing into it and gulping down as much as he could, barely hearing his mother’s soft laugh as she flew above the lake, diving for another fish near the surface…

---

Gallus pulled back from the now empty pie tin, his eyes wide as he wiped crumbs off his beak. Ever since he left Sheila, the memories of his family had been pushed down to the darkest spaces of his mind, and now he was remembering the times he spent with them? Why? Sure, his mother and sister might’ve seemed sweet in that memory, but they didn’t stop his father from hitting him.

Most likely, Gallus glared at the counter. Mom probably stayed with him, how many times did she defend him?

“Gallus?” Starlight spoke up. “Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah,” Gallus moved away from the counter, turning around to look at his mother and the two Apple siblings at the table. “I just had a memory come back to me, one about my parents. Speaking of which, are your guys’ parents coming tonight, or is it just us?”

Applejack winced, staring at her untouched pie slice on the table. Big Mac’s ears flattened as he looked away, and Rarity wrapped her forelegs around Applejack and nuzzled right under her ear.

“Was it…something I said?” Gallus approached Applejack. “I’m sorry, I seem to keep upsetting you two.”

“No, that’s not it,” Applejack sighed. “Why don’t y’all start eating? There’s…something ah want to show Gallus, if that’s okay.”

“Sure, I could go for a few minutes before eating another pie,” Gallus chuckled. Rarity removed herself from her lover as Applejack got out of her seat and made her way out the door with Gallus right behind her. Before leaving, Applejack glanced at the four ponies at the table.

“And if Apple Bloom gets home before ah do, just tell her ah took Gallus out to show him the tree,” Applejack explained. “We’ll be back soon.”

The tree?

Gallus remained quiet as he followed Applejack out the door, walking out to the many apple trees nearby. At first, that was all it appeared to be, but then as they continued, Gallus saw pear trees nearby. And after a few more steps, Gallus saw it: an enormous pair of trees intertwined with one another; one apple and one pear tree. The energy that came from the pair of trees alone was enough to capture Gallus’ soul in its warm embrace and never let go. Even though Gallus stopped walking and just stared at the tree, Applejack continued walking towards the tree until she sat right beside it and placed her hoof on the surface, shaking as tears rolled down her face.

“This never gets any easier,” Applejack sighed. “It’s okay, Gallus, you can touch the tree.”

Gallus rushed forward, sitting beside Applejack and placing his talon on the tree as he stared at her teary eyes and trembling frown.

“Mah parents were the greatest love story ever told,” Applejack explained. “Mah Pa was an Apple and mah Ma was a Pear, and despite the feud between our families, they ended up together and had three foals. They even planted the seeds to this tree during their wedding. But shortly after Apple Bloom was born, they went through the Everfree Forest to deliver apples, and never came back.”

Gallus gasped, but didn’t say another word as Applejack continued.

“After ponies went searching, they found p-parts of their bodies, they believed Timberwolves got them,” Applejack shakily inhaled as she continued. “Granny told them going that way was a stupid idea! And now we’ve got no parents. Nothing but this here tree and a couple of photos to remember them by.”

“I’m really sorry,” Gallus placed his other talon on Applejack’s shoulder. “I promise I didn’t know.”

“Ah know you didn’t,” Applejack looked up at Gallus, a tear falling from her chin. “Your Ma didn’t tell me anything, but something hadta have happened for you to be legally adopted from Griffonstone. Did they…?”

“No, they’re not dead,” Gallus shook his head. “At least, I don’t think that they are.”

“You don’t gotta tell me anythin’ at all,” Applejack assured him.

“This,” Gallus removed his talon from Applejack’s shoulder to wave it towards the tree. “Is so beautiful, and my parents’ relationship was nothing like yours. They stayed together because my ‘father’ knocked up my ‘mother,’ so to speak.”

Applejack winced as Gallus used quote symbols with his talons. Gallus glared at the grass below them and growled with a shake of his head.

“I wish I had your parents,” Gallus scoffed.

“Ah wish I had them too,” Applejack wrapped her foreleg around Gallus, and Gallus slowly looked up at her.

“Hey, I’m sorry I made this about me,” Gallus apologized. “Thank you for showing me this tree, again.”

“Don’t worry about it, and no need ta apologize,” Applejack insisted, looking back at him. “Ah wanted to pull you aside to ask ya about it properly, no need to talk about all your history in front of everypony.”

“Thank you,” Gallus smiled as he stared at the sunset’s orange and pink skies. “I think I’m ready for that second pie now.”

“Hey, ah hadn’t even had one slice yet!” Applejack laughed, pulling away from their embrace and galloping towards the barn. “Ya gotta beat me to it!”

“You’re on!” Gallus shouted, getting up and leaping to the air, flying past Applejack and into the barn with ease. Rushing over to the one remaining pie on the counter, Gallus lunged and began wolfing it down.

“Ah, no fair!”

“Applejack, dear, your slice is still at the table.”

“Oh thank you, Rares. Let me just start the oven for the rest of the pies…”

As the two mares conversed, Gallus paused mid-feasting and brought his second pie to the table, sitting next to Big Mac and Sugar Belle and sitting across from his mother who smiled at him.

“So how was your talk?” Starlight asked.

“It went really well,” Gallus nodded, the bright yellow pears and red apples of the tree still clear in his mind. “I liked learning about the Apple family, when are we gonna get pear pies next?”

“When Grand Pear gives us the dang recipe!” Granny Smith shouted as she came into the kitchen. The whole room rumbled with laughter, including Gallus, who felt everypony’s energy combined into a colorful warm glow in his heart.

It was very lovely getting to meet the Apple family.

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading this chapter featuring the Apple family! Applejack is my favorite of the Mane 6, and the Perfect Pear is my second favorite episode of the entire show! It was great writing about the Apples, and finally getting around to introducing Gallus' family in Griffonstone. Please vote and review if you can, and expect to see another chapter next Friday! 😊🍎

Comments

[Melody Song]

Ooh, interesting concept for Gallus' family, I hope we get to see them soon, I have some choice words for the father. The Apples are written really well too!!