Coping, or How to Move On When Given Up On

by Meteor_Mirage

Chapter 3

After procuring himself some coffee from the only Non-Sugarcube-Corner coffee shop in town, Gallus slowly sipped his drink, with the usual one cream and five sugars, as he meandered through the town. He briefly considered stopping by Sugarcube Corner just in case Pinkie could talk to him for a short amount of time, but after seeing the line stretching from the door to Town Hall, he thought better of it.

Instead he found himself wandering to Ponyville’s beloved town park about five minutes earlier than he was meaning to. Almost as if it was a force of habit, he gently hummed to himself while slowly walking to a normally uninhabited corner of the surprisingly large park.

He passed Lyra Heartstrings on his way over to where he was going and, in a move of MLM/WLW solidarity, nodded knowingly in her direction. They shared a moment as she nodded back, and with that Gallus was on his way yet again.

After walking to the farthest corner of the park, well past where anyone was trotting about, Gallus rounded the corner at a wall that most would assume signalled the end of the park as it was. This griffon, however, knew much better than that. He swore softly to himself as the growling foliage on the path he took meant much more thorns and vines that threatened to scratch him up or trip him.

But he was well aware that the threatened danger, or the real scratches his hindlegs were suffering from, was well worth it.

To match the dense foliage he had just forced himself through, the area he now found himself in was just as equally untouched. It was so far out of the way that Gallus had absolute faith that he had no fear of being spotted, much less interrupted, in doing whatever it was he or Sandbar wanted to get up to.

But Gallus wasn’t too concerned about that, as it was only important to him in that it was important to Sandbar. What he was more focused on was the sizable wooden structure on the very edge of this well-ignored space. Finally he had arrived to their special place, and only a few minutes earlier than planned.

The gazebo was fairly dilapidated, especially when compared to the other amenities that existed closer to the entrance to the park. As Gallus walked towards it, a smirk growing on his face, he figured that the brunt of creatures that had come out this far in the past year were only there with malicious intent in mind.

His hunch was proven as he stepped up the stairs, seeing a few more carvings and graffiti markings as he did the last time he visited, though some others had been hastily scratched out just the same. And yet still, it had a form of charm to it that he couldn’t just ignore.

Even as he had to ignore the numerous swears that were painted onto the seat he took.

Gallus smiled gently to himself as he enjoyed the natural ambiance of the park, sipping on his now lukewarm coffee as he knew that, in a few minutes, his stallion would arrive to sweep him off his paws.

So he waited.

And waited.

And waited even still.

He had no accurate way to measure time where he was, but he was sure that, despite being earlier than usual, Sandbar was very much late at this point. He felt a pang of worry in his heart as at least five different Bad scenarios popped into his head, while also being joined by the notion that he got the time wrong and had made a fool of himself.

But there was really nothing more he could do but wait. Were he to leave and search for Sandbar, he’d probably show up and either figure that Gallus had something better to do or go out to search for Gallus himself and cause the cycle to continue.

And so he clutched his near-empty coffee to his chest, sapping whatever warmth he could take from it while waiting for as long as he could manage.

Just when Gallus was ready to stand up and form a search party, which is to say mere minutes afterwards, he was quickly distracted by the soft sound of hooves crumnching on grass.

And then the very loud sound of a pony tripping on some vines, letting out a yelp, and slamming onto the ground with the grace of an elephant. “Ow! Ow, ow… ow.” Said the pony in a voice that Gallus was immediately and intimately familiar with.

Looking away from his coffee and down the path he’d come down, Gallus spotted Sandbar face down and flank up on the ground, still reeling from his sudden fall.

Gallus was up within a second, flying into action as he tossed his coffee to the side in order to save his friend from his embarrassing fate. Sandbar had only begun to untie the thicker vines that had wrapped around his hooves, but his struggle was cut short as Gallus bared his talons and sliced them up without any trouble.

“Guess it pays to be a griffon sometimes.” Gallus said with a smirk as he helped Sandbar back to a standing position. He closely inspected the pony for any scrapes, scratches, or bruises but found nothing. “You alright?” He asked, in order to gauge emotional or mental damage Sandbar may have also suffered.

Sandbar let out a short, awkward chuckle as he hurriedly tried to brush himself off. “Yeah, yeah. I’m alright.” He said softly as he shook the remaining dirt off. He then took a small step or two back, creating a bit of distance between himself and his loved one as he shrunk a bit. “S-sorry for, um, being so late.” He said with a very forced and awkward grin, scratching the back of his neck. “I guess I got lost? This place isn’t exactly easy to find.”

Gallus shot a strange stare at Sandbar, immediately breaking the distance between them to lay a claw across his forehead. “Are you sure you’re feeling alright?” He asked with a concerned smile on his face. He then gestured to the gazebo behind him. “We can take a minute before we head on our date.”

While Gallus couldn’t help but smile at the word ‘date’, Sandbar flinched at the same word. “No, well, I mean…” He stammered as he looked to the gazebo and, with a hastily hidden look of horror at the structure that looked like it was 100% splinters, looked back at Gallus with a forcibly unforced grin. “Let’s just go and head on that d-date!” He paused for a moment to clear his throat. “Well, um, I do have to go grab something from the school first though.”

Gallus stared for just a moment, but then gave a shrug. “Sure, let’s just make it quick. I’m kinda starving.” He said as he rubbed his stomach.

He didn’t give him a chance to respond, but instead brushed past Sandbar and subtly wrapped a wing around him for just a split second.

Sandbar’s face lit up with a blush, but he hurried along to lead the way dutifully.

There was an air of silence between the two of them as they traveled through the park at a medium pace, maintaining a few feet apart as they did so. Whenever Gallus tried to close the gap between the two of them just a little, Sandbar always managed to slip away before he could manage to plant a smooch.

While Gallus knew this was usual in more populated areas of Ponyville, there was just about no one this far from the entrance at the moment. Usually he could at least sneak a hug or two before Sandbar got too self-conscious.

And so he waited until they were closer to the entrance to the park before stopping, tilting his head with a bit of a frown. “Sandbar.” He said softly.

Sandbar slid to a stop, but it took him more than a few seconds to turn around with that same forced grin on his face. “What’s up, bud?” He asked, too eagerly.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Gallus asked as he looked his friend over carefully. “Usually you’re not so, uh, distant. Did I… do something wrong?”

There was a beat of silence between the two of them as each inspected the other.

Sandbar looked over Gallus for any signs of dishonesty, while Gallus soon after moved his attention to the few ponies that surrounded them, though were paying no attention to the conversation they were having.

Nervously, very nervously, Sandbar took a step closer to Gallus. He puckered his lips as he slowly inched closer to his favorite griffon in order to give him a nice smooch.

But he was stopped as a claw pressed against his lips. Looking up, Sandbar saw Gallus smirking at him.

“Ocellus, if you get any closer like that, I won’t hesitate to kill your character in the next D&D session.” He said softly, not wanting to bring too much attention to their conversation.

‘Sandbar’ took a very large step back as ‘his’ face lit up with a blush. ‘He’ tried to say anything to deflect, but came up short with nothing to say for once.

And then his body was suddenly enveloped by a green circle of fire, shocking even Gallus who was expecting it, and revealed instead a light blue bug pony who stood at least a foot shorter than before.

Both creatures stood still and silent for a few moments, neither sure how to bridge what had just happened.

Ocellus scratched a hoof against the ground, still maintaining a blush on her face as she cleared her throat. “Well, um, this is awkward.” She pointed out, the obvious having been laid out for both at last.

Gallus wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be amused at this situation in front of him or annoyed at almost being tricked like this. So he settled for something in the middle, his eyes staring down Ocellus as she shuffled about, but still maintaining the barest hint of a smile. “So, where’s Sandbar then? Too busy to show up for our plans?”

There was a beat, and Gallus realized that what he said had come out much more harsh than he was expecting.

But he didn’t have much time to walk it back, as Ocellus shrunk slightly from his statement. “Well, uh, yes. But no. I mean, kind of?” She stammered for a few moments before she was yet again brought to silence. Not for lack of trying to voice her statement. “It’s, um, complicated.”

Gallus breathed a heavy sigh, shrugging his shoulders as he tried to give off his usual attitude of not giving a damn about anything that happened.

It didn’t work, as he couldn’t do anything to hide the look in his eyes. Years of being forgotten, ignored, left behind, and shunned finally became unbottled with nothing Gallus could do to stop it.

“Whatever.” He said with a shake of his head. “Whatever! So what if my best friend can’t be bothered to show up for something he planned?” While he wasn’t paying attention, his hushed shouting had already begun to draw eyes to them. Though, due to Ponyville values, they tried their hardest to ignore it.

Ocellus tried in vain to interrupt Gallus, but was immediately cut off as he lowered his head with a low growl. He clearly wasn’t finished, and he wasn’t going to entertain being talked over this time.

“What, were you just going to replace him all night?” He asked, raising his voice yet again and drawing more eyes to the two of them. “Or were you going to just cancel on me like he’s not big enough to do himself?”

Ocellus yet again tried to respond, this time at least being able to eep out a small response of: “Gallus, let me-” before being yet again stopped, this time with Gallus stomping his claws.

“I just wanted a nice night with my b-... friend.” Gallus suddenly slumped, all of that fire and fury draining from him as soon as it had flooded. And as that feeling drained from him, all he could feel was a numb embarrassment at his misplaced anger at his friend.

He was now very well aware of the ponies around who were now openly staring and, in his opinion at least, judging him harshly. All he could do was dip his head low and pretend both he and they didn’t exist.

He wasn’t successful.

Ocellus stood stock-still for quite a few moments, completely shocked at the sudden turn of events. She knew what to expect when she approached Gallus as Sandbar, a large spike of love energy, but she hadn’t expected how suddenly that well of emotion, one that could feed an entire hive and then some, could turn to what was essentially an emotional black hole.

She’d never seen anything like it before, and especially not from someone like Gallus.

“Gallus.” She said softly, pressing a hoof against his shoulder as her best attempt to comfort. “I really can’t tell you exactly what he’s planning, but I wasn’t supposed to replace him for very long. He just got held up in doing something, and sent me to distract you a little.”

Gallus sunk lower, feeling more and more idiotic with each word from Ocellus. Especially now that it was revealed he’d raged at his Changedling friend for literally no reason this time. He grumbled under his breath for a few moments, then let out a sigh. “I’m sorry.” He muttered, quiet not due to not meaning it, but because it was as loud as he could force himself to sound.

“It’s, um, alright?” Ocellus said entirely too questioningly for anyone’s taste. She looked the vulnerable griffon over for a moment before tapping a hoof against the ground. “Well, Sandbar still wanted me to lead you back to, uh, your room. You know, before we swap and you two can have your fun. Do you think you’re ready to…?”

Despite all in the park having returned to their conversations once they realized it was just Teenagers Being Teenagers, Gallus could still feel eyes all over him. He continued to shrink from the imagined attention, but still managed to give the slightest of a nod. “Y-yeah, can we just get out of here?”

Nodding knowingly at the flash of anxiety that sparked in her friend’s chest, Ocellus offered up a kind and warm smile to Gallus. “Okay! Let’s, um, go see Sandbar. I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you”

Despite himself, Gallus smiled.

Comments

[Bicyclette]

He passed Lyra Heartstrings on his way over to where he was going and, in a move of MLM/WLW solidarity, nodded knowingly in her direction.

nice

Even as he had to ignore the numerous swears that were painted onto the seat he took.

aww i am sad that the gazebo in the Ponyville town park is in such a state :(

He had no accurate way to measure time where he was, but he was sure that, despite being earlier than usual, Sandbar was very much late at this point.

and oof, it is worrying when Sandbar does it!

“Guess it pays to be a griffon sometimes.” Gallus said with a smirk as he helped Sandbar back to a standing position.

hehe nice

“Let’s just go and head on that d-date!” He paused for a moment to clear his throat. “Well, um, I do have to go grab something from the school first though.”

now just what is going on here?

“Ocellus, if you get any closer like that, I won’t hesitate to kill your character in the next D&D session.” He said softly, not wanting to bring too much attention to their conversation.

ah that would explain Sandbar being so weird! i always forget what can happen with a Changeling around

Though, due to Ponyville values, they tried their hardest to ignore it.

that would indeed explain all sorts of weird things that have happened in Ponyville without causing a commotion among the townsponies

Ocellus stood stock-still for quite a few moments, completely shocked at the sudden turn of events. She knew what to expect when she approached Gallus as Sandbar, a large spike of love energy, but she hadn’t expected how suddenly that well of emotion, one that could feed an entire hive and then some, could turn to what was essentially an emotional black hole.

hehe it sure does something to how emotions are depicted in a narrative with a species that has the ability to literally read them like a Geiger counter

“Gallus.” She said softly, pressing a hoof against his shoulder as her best attempt to comfort. “I really can’t tell you exactly what he’s planning, but I wasn’t supposed to replace him for very long. He just got held up in doing something, and sent me to distract you a little.”

now just what is going on here?