The Nightmare Knights Become A Band

by SwordTune

Special Chapter: He Just Wants Brunch

The sun cast its light through the window and blinded Gallus before he even opened his eyes. What felt like a dream became reality once again as he turned to find Silverstream softly whistling in her sleep. With their beaks, griffons and hippogriffs didn’t snore, at least not in a way that other species did. The result was a quiet whistle or whir. Looking at her now, if he didn’t know her, he never would have guessed she was an explosive ball of positive energy. He started to wonder what other things he didn’t know about his friends, but those quickly halted as they reminded him of the bunk below.

He bolted up. His head struck the ceiling, producing a thud that rang his ears and shook down through his neck. He ignored the pain, leaning over the edge of the to check around the room. It was morning, and Yona should have been in her bed already. But the room was exactly as they left it last night.

He rubbed his eyes, trying to remember the date. Yesterday there was a short reading quiz for Rarity’s class, which were always on Fridays. He couldn’t be sure if Yona was an early riser, but she definitely liked breakfast. It was possible she was already awake. Whatever the case was, she wasn’t in the room, so Gallus flopped back into bed and stared aimlessly toward the ceiling.

Every weekend felt like it would never come, and when it finally did, it left an overwhelming sense of nothingness. They were free to do whatever they wanted, but as students, they didn’t know how to do anything else but school work. Such was the cruelty of public education. Gallus sucked in the morning air, which was chilling despite the clear skies, and slowly let his senses catch up with him.

Like looking at the silhouette of a tree at night and knowing what it was, but not seeing the colours of its flowers until the dawn, Gallus had understood his position but only just realized the full implications as he watched Silverstream instinctively turn her face away from the window.

“Holy crap,” he whispered to himself. He didn’t know why he was surprised. After how late he had stayed over, it was bound to happen. “Does this count as the next stage of our relationship?” They didn’t do anything besides sleep, but this was the closest they had ever gotten.

The sun shone straight through the window, the sun just coming up past the horizon. It was early, too early to have a good reason to wake up if it wasn’t for breakfast. The idea was Professor Pinkie Pie’s. To get every creature to wake up on time, the dining hall had a special brunch menu on the weekends that lasted until noon. There was even a chocolate fountain. That alone was enough to bring students out in the halls. Gallus pressed his head against the wall, listening for movement. If someone saw him leaving Silverstream’s dorm in the morning, he knew exactly what kind of rumours the other students would spread.

Would that be so bad? They didn’t announce it or anything, and only their friends figured out they were dating. But it wasn’t necessary. Ponies had a whole day dedicated to being with a “special some pony,” and it was for kids as much as it was for adults. Still, even with dating being a normal thing, Gallus got the feeling that being found out after spending a night together was not ideal. It might even look like they just hooked up for the fun of it.

He sighed. That was something to think about later. The morning was not going to last forever, and brunch would come soon.

“Silverstream,” Gallus said, nudging her on the shoulder and whispering in her ear. “Looks like we fell asleep. The sun’s up.”

“I know.” She scrunched her face and pulled her pillow over her head. “But sleep is good.”

“Breakfast is going to start soon,” he said. “I should probably head out now, before the whole wakes up.”

Silverstream stuck her head out and smiled slyly at him. “Embarrassed?”

“N-no,” he stammered, “but I’m pretty sure only our friends have realized we’re a couple now. It’s probably easier if I got back to my room without being seen. I don’t want the rest of the school on our backs if they get the wrong idea.”

“Alright,” she said sleepily, stretching her legs out and around him, giving Gallus a firm, warm hug before letting him go.

As he left her dorm, he checked both ends of the hallway. He could hear showers running from the bathrooms, a few early risers had already begun to get ready for the day, but they were too focused on their own routines to notice him creeping through the hallway back into his room.

He thanked his luck that Sandbar was a heavy sleeper. He was probably up late doing homework with the rest of their friends, so there was no way Sandbar would wake up to something as quiet as slowly closing a door. It was unlikely. Absolutely inconceivable. Although, that word might not have meant what Gallus assumed it meant.

“There you are,” Sandbar said.

“Oh, fu—!” Gallus jumped and fell back on the door. “Why are you awake?”

The colt sat happily on his bunk, the lower bed, and simply smiled at the question. Gallus shot a narrowed look of suspicion, but he didn’t stick around for long to add more fuel to the fire. After a moment of silence, and a sly grin from Sandbar, Gallus tentatively fell into his morning routine. He reached for the top shelf of his closet and produced a toothbrush, clenched tightly in his talons.

“Checked the showers,” he said. “Seems pretty busy today. Everyone was crowding around the sinks too. I thought I’d just wait out the morning rush.”

Sandbar laughed and pointed out the window to a red horizon giving way to clear blue and white cotton-ball clouds. “Dude, it’s like six-thirty in the morning, there’s no way the bathrooms are crowded now.” He slung his hoof around Gallus’s neck and pulled him close. “Come on, you can be straight with me.”

“Then again, if I squeeze in now I’ll probably get to the dining hall when everything’s fresh,” Gallus said, pushing his hoof off and going back to his closet.

Sandbar nodded slowly. “So you’re playing that game, huh? You know ignoring me is just gonna make me more curious.”

“I hear since some kirin students are transferring in the spring, Professor Pinkie was trying out new international recipes. Like rice balls. You ever tried rice balls? We don’t have those in Griffonstone, I’m thinking of just stuffing my face full of them.”

“Fine, but Yona knows too. We saw you two when we came back from the library. You should really close the door if you want privacy.”

“Mhm,” Gallus muttered. He hung his towel and washcloth around his neck. “I feel like skipping the waffles and muffins. I get enough of those just taste testing for Mrs Cake.”

“You’re as stubborn as Professor Applejack.” Sandbar threw his hooves up in defeat and slouched back onto his bed. “See you at breakfast, I guess.”

Comments

[Yoshifan30]

Aww come on gallus don't be too embarrassed precise Sandbar and yona are going out as well so you're not the only one buddy 😊