Before You Go
There was a knock at the door, three to be precise in a moderate rhythm, the sound spread through the living room of the brick and oak house.
“I’ll get it!” called out one of its residents, a young adult sea-green earth pony stallion. He wasn’t sure if he was the first or only one to hear it, but he was curious enough to find out who it could have been at the other end of the door.
A peek behind the closed curtains of the nearby window revealed it was too dark and heavy with rain to make out, and it wasn’t like they were accustomed to having guests that late on a Friday. His parents and younger sister were already upstairs, and his significant other, Yona Yak, was preoccupied in the bathroom.
Answering that door was the only way to get his answer, and so he used his jaw to turn the handle and pull the door open. On the other side was the presence of a griffon, whose cerulean feathers and furs were damp dripping with rainwater. Even while the griffon was drenched, the pony could recognise who it was immediately, his eyes gleamed with joy at the encounter of an old friend.
“Gallus!” the stallion called out with glee, quickly pulling the griffon in to wrap a hoof around his friend’s eagle-like head.
“Sandbar!” the griffon returned with an air of relief, “Mind if I come in?” Sandbar was eager to oblige, it wouldn’t feel right to keep a friend of his out in the wet and cold outdoors and entered the griffon indoors before making a quick dash towards the kitchen. “So is Yona around, last I checked she was moving in with you?” the griffon followed up as he waited patiently.
“Yeah, she moved in a few weeks ago” answered Sandbar as he returned with a towel to help Gallus dry off his feathers and fur. “She’s having a shower, so she won’t be a while. How’ve you been, dude? It’s been a while…”
Gallus gladly accepted the towel offering. “I’ve been busy, preparing for the move to Canterlot,” he described nonchalantly, his voice muffled by the towel smothering his face. “Was hoping to spend some time in Ponyville, since it’s nearby y’know, spend some time with my friends before I head out.”
Sandbar was quick to remember what Gallus was on about, he was soon to start at the E.U.P. Royal Guard Academy, the prestigious institution of the E.U.P. Guard where ponies train to become officers. Knowing a chance for their group to be back together before Gallus would be off, Sandbar was eager to take the opportunity.
“Yeah, I’m totally up for that” he grinned with glee, “We can go to Silverstream’s house tomorrow, Smolder and Ocellus have already moved in, we can get the whole gang together again, they’ll love it.” They were fortunate that both of their friends not only knew each other from school, but most stayed in Ponyville. As they both sat down on the living room sofas to warm themselves up by the hot air of the fireplace, Sandbar recalled the last time the pair got to see each other. “Crazy to think the last time we did that was when we graduated from the School of Friendship, I know it’s three months ago, but it feels like it’s been ages.”
On the other hoof, Gallus didn’t see the time go so quickly. “Seriously? I still feel like three months ago that we all camped out at the Castle of the Two Sisters and got into trouble with Puckwudgies during our first week.”
The pony slyly raised an eyebrow, “Oh yeah? How long ago does it feel it’s been since we explored the caverns under the school? Or when we stopped Cozy Glow from getting rid of magic? Or built a massive clubhouse from the Tree of Harmony? Or got every creature to save the world from Cozy Glow and her evil friends?” he listed.
But in return, all the griffon did was shrug. “Still feel like months and weeks for me…”
Sandbar laughed in response, “Wow, dude. I know you tend to sleep through class, but it sounds like you missed a lot” he teased.
The griffon saw this as a challenge, “Oh yeah? How long ago does it feel it’s been since you first asked Yona out to the Amity Ball?” he smirked.
The laughter stopped, and was replaced with a flushed blank face, “…yesterday…” he quietly muttered, trying to avoid showing his reddened cheeks but unable to avoid glancing over to catch a smirk off Gallus' bright amber beak. “Fine, you have a point” he admitted, before recovering with a smile. “We have a lot of good memories of that school.”
Gallus calmly nodded, “…yeah, we do.”
“What’s great is that we’re all living together in Ponyville… I mean, except for you going to the academy in Canterlot.” Sandbar continued, before starting to ponder. “Now that I think about it, we haven’t had any letters from you in several weeks, been wondering what you’ve been up to since you went back to Griffonstone.”
“Just the usual…” Gallus flatly answered a short and awfully familiar answer that didn’t provide much help. Sandbar already knew about where he lived, but he also knew Gallus was never a fan of returning to his home. The “Just the usual” was often a sign to his friends that his time away was neither good nor bad, but Gallus’ flat response made Sandbar suspect something.
“Dude, you say that after we come back from every school holiday.”
Gallus turned to look longingly toward the fireplace, “Well, the last three months have been no different…” he added, his voice deepened, which only added to Sandbar’s concerns and suspicions.
“Did something happen in Griffonstone?” asked Sandbar.
But his friend didn’t answer, he just kept looking towards that fireplace. “…Can I ask you something?” he asked in turn.
While unsure of where Gallus was going, Sandbar nodded “Of course, dude” he responded cautiously.
“Do you still think it was a good idea for me to sign up for the academy?”
Sandbar was flummoxed by the question, it was only the year prior that he could remember Gallus being more dedicated than he had ever been towards getting into the academy, and now he was being asked if it was a good idea as if he had a doubt.
“Of course, it was, you told us you always wanted to be a military officer,” Sandbar argued, “you worked hard in sports and even began to study in the library for hours without falling asleep behind a book just to prepare for the entrance exams. You were over the moon when you got the acceptance letter.”
As encouraging as Sandbar tried to make it all sound, Gallus ended up turning further away from his friend to hide his dulled face. “Yeah, that was all great… but I wonder if it’s worth it.”
His friend was certain something was up and resting a hoof on the griffon’s shoulder. “Seriously dude, what happened?” he asked more directly. There was another moment of silence, but Gallus then started to turn back forwards towards the fireplace with his head down and proceeded to open his beak.
“Hey dudes!” an excited voice with heavy drawl called out from behind the two, and an older green pony with greyish blue dreads emerged from behind the sofa in between the two, pulling them together with a pair of hooves. “Don’t mean to drop-in, but us folks were wondering where Gallus was gonna be staying for the time being?” Sandbar’s dad asked as he looked towards his son, before turning to Gallus, “you could crash in the spare room for a couple nights if you’d like.”
Gallus was already shaky from the sudden greeting and now taken aback by the offer. “Oh… I was gonna see if I could get a room at the Ponyville Inn,” he shakily attempted to be humble, “I don’t want to be a bother, you’ve already got Yona staying with you and…”
“Nah, it’s all good Gal.” the dad interrupted, “Spare room’s always ready for friends and family, ‘sides the rain outside is heavy.”
“Sure, thanks…” Gallus answered, both relieved and faintly upbeat as he forced a smile until the chill dad was no longer in view. The grin sank back down as he looked back towards a worried Sandbar. “I think I’m gonna sleep early tonight, I’m still tired from flying all the way over here” he expressed apologetically.
“Goodnight…”
He hopped off the bed, leaving Sandbar sitting alone on the sofa, taking in the warm air from the fireplace. Internally he was annoyed that his dad interfered, regardless of how intentional it was, while externally felt a bit defeated that he couldn’t get through.
“Sure… goodnight…”
On the following late morning, Sandbar, Yona, and Gallus all made their way to Silverstream’s new house. Her parents bought a large three-story house with bricks painted purple, flowers on the windows, and a straw-thatched roof. The house was placed conveniently in view of the School of Friendship, the Castle of Friendship, and the mountainside where Canterlot Palace could be seen in the distance.
After Sandbar knocked on the door, he couldn't help but notice Gallus sporting a grouchy look and felt compelled to cheer his friend up. “Well dude, it won't be long until the others are here, you should be excited!” he encouraged.
“I’m fine,” he countered, keeping his jaded expression, “just got a monkey on my back.”
Sandbar and Yona looked at each other in concern, Sandbar being reminded of the conversation the night before. “Wanna talk about it?” asked Sandbar, as he moved warily towards the griffon, hoping he might open this time.
Instead, Gallus glared as he turned towards the green pony. “Yeah, why is your sister on my back?”. Sandbar blinked before looking beyond his friend's eagle-shaped head and noticed one more creature that was in their get together, a bright green pony with beady sea-blue eyes with pink and blue waves in her mane. His five-year-old sister was happily sitting between Gallus’ wings.
“Oh, Coral wanted to join us.”
“Yona and friends no leave sister pony out.” Yona contributed.
“That doesn’t answer my question…” Gallus continued his glare.
“Back rides are fun!” Coral gleefully answered, “I’ve missed Gallus back rides!” The pair snickered as Gallus groaned, expecting she won’t get off any time soon. He carefully lowered his hind to the ground, allowing the lower half of his body to take away the weight on his spine, even if it caused Coral to hook herself around Gallus' neck to stay on. This would have been the only clingy creature Gallus would have to deal with until the door started to open to reveal a surprise.
"GALLY!" a high pitched squee emerged as a large ball of pink feathers and talons flew out and pounced onto Gallus, the force causing him to move backwards. Silverstream, a bright pink hippogriff with silver hair was in front of him, with talons around Gallus' chest and her hooves locked around his legs leaving him unable to move.
"I haven't seen you in ages! I've been waiting to give you this welcome back hug since graduation!" The ecstatic hippogriff then spotted the filly over his shoulder. "You brought Coral with you too?! That means the whole gang's back together with BONUS fun!"
The filly and hippogriff giggled amongst each other, unaware of the griffon remained trapped. His rescue from the smothering affection came in the form of an orange dragon and a cyan blue changeling companion, Smolder and Ocellus. "Sup Gallus, need any help?" asked Smolder with a smug grin on her face, Ocellus held a hoof to her mouth to hide her giggle.
The changeling and dragon managed to pry away Silverstream's grasp on Gallus so that everyone started to make their way to the park. Although Gallus was glad to be able to move again, he still had Coral happily resting on his back, much to his chagrin. “Hey Gallus, guess what?” The little filly proceeded to poke the griffon’s cheeks for his attention.
The griffon reluctantly conceded, “What?” as rotated his head towards her.
“I’m gonna be starting school on Monday” the filly pridefully boasted.
Gallus raised an eyebrow, “I thought you’re already in school by now?” It had been a few years since Gallus has first met her as a toddler, but now she was slightly bigger and able to speak in proper sentences, and so he could only assume she was already learning.
But Coral shook her head, “Nuh-uh, I was in pre-school. This is a big pony school, with Miss Cheerilee” she continued to boast. “I can’t wait to be around other big ponies and know things the big ponies know. Are you gonna see me on my first day in school?” she asked with glee.
“No,” the griffon shot back, disappointing the filly. When Gallus turned his head back around, he could see five frowns and glared looking back, compelling him to correct himself out of discomfort. “I mean, I would, but I can’t!” Tomorrow I need to head off early to Canterlot so I can move into the academy at a good time.”
Fortunately for him, Coral was no longer saddened, but that was only because she was puzzled over a single word. “Ah-Kah-Dah-Mee?” she slowly spelt it out, before turning her head to her big brother. “Sandy, what’s an Ah-Kah-Dah-Mee?”
The helpful big brother provided the answer, “It’s a kind of school for grown-ups.”
Coral became more puzzled than ever, “Grown-ups go to school?” she asked herself, raising her own eyebrow before turning back to Sandbar. “I thought you don’t need to go to school anymore.”
Sandbar explained further. “Well, even though we’re adults now, that doesn’t mean we stop learning, just not all of us learn in the same way now.” He began to use one of his forehooves to gesture around the group, starting with himself. “I mean, I’m gonna be training to be a lifeguard, so I’m gonna have to learn things. Yona is living with us because has an apprenticeship at Rarity’s Carousel Boutique, which’s both a school and a job.”
“Yona want to be best at making clothes for other yaks!” boasted Yona, her head held highest amongst the group. The lowest held head being Gallus as he began to smirk.
“And spend more time with Sandbar…”
Hiding his blush, he forcefully continued. “ALSO there's Silverstream and Ocellus, both are staying at the School of Friendship to work as teaching assistants for Professor Pinkie Pie and Headmare Starlight, so they’re learning to teach!”
“I’m also staying at the School of Friendship too, don’t forget,” Smolder butted in, “I’m working for Professor Dash to help her with coaching for sports and cheerleading.”
“And to work closely with Ocellus…”
“Watch it, Gallus!” she snapped at this, blushing and aiming to glare a hole into his feline behind before her changeling companion stepped in to calm her down.
“Smolds, there’s no shame in wanting to work with your special someling” she said as she nuzzled the pouting orange dragon.
Silverstream blissfully beamed at her own work. “I’m just happy I can teach students about fun and laughter, it’s gonna be so great!” she remarked, giddy in every bounce of her step.
“And then there’s Gallus, who’s going to the Royal Guard Academy, so he can learn to be-“
“Gallus go be griffon knight for pony Royal Guard!” Yona blurted out, cutting Sandbar from his conclusion.
“Military officer in E.U.P. Guard…” Gallus quietly corrected Yona.
Coral’s eyes glistened and her face started to glow with awe, her mind picturing a blue griffon in shining gold armour.
Everyone had a great time at the park, with a large plaid blanket laid out on the grass and a basket filled with food. Silverstream supplied most of the entertainment by hosting games like charades and tag, while Ocellus provided tea for everyone to drink. Lots of laughs, lots of trips down memory lane from their antics at school.
Silverstream was riling everyone up to start a new game when Gallus noticed a particular small pony was missing. He caught sight of her on a hill, and decidedly flew up to her, and noticed her stare longingly at a bright pink schoolhouse with a bell tower and a bright red flag.
“What’s up Coral?” Gallus asked curiously, “You know the others want to play some more games soon…”
“Gally, do you think I should be going to school?” Coral asked in return with her soft voice.
“Sure, don’t see why not” he answered briskly with a shrug. “You seemed excited to be one of the ‘big ponies’ and meet the other ponies at the school.”
Coral slowly nodded, “I do wanna, but what if they don’t like me, what if they don’t wanna be my friend?” she continued to ask, rubbing her hoof nervously.
“Pfft, of course, ponies would want to be your friend” he chuckled it off, having been accustomed to ponies in Ponyville for so long made it seem almost impossible to avoid finding a friendly face. “You're positive and easy-going, you like getting involved and having fun, even with other creatures. You’re kinda like a little fillyfied version of your older brother.”
The compliments didn’t seem to satisfy Coral, as her head lowered. “Sandy didn’t have friends at school though.”
A confused griffon looked back at Sandbar, seeing him cuddled into Yona’s shaggy fur, laughing along to some joke Smolder was uttering along with everyone else. “You sure you’re talking about the Sandbar over there?” he asked Coral out of curiosity.
“Sandy was only happy around mama, papa, and me because no other pony wanted to be around him” she explained dourly. “That’s why he went to the School of Friendship, so he could make friends…” Gallus returned his gaze to Sandbar once more, he rarely talked about his time before the school of friendship, and when he did it was around his family. Even then, Gallus struggled to believe that the green pony he was looking at, someone open-minded, thoughtful, and willing to look out for another creature could be someone that ponies wouldn’t want to be friends with.
His moment of thought was then distracted by the feeling of one of his talons being wrapped around, “Could I just stay at home, wait until I could go to School of Friendship too?” Coral asked, hugging his arm tightly.
He started to get wary, “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” Gallus answered bluntly, “I never went to a proper school before the school of friendship, and a part of me wishes I did. Also, if Sandbar didn’t go to that school, he may not have ended up at the School of Friendship, let alone ending up being one of my best friends.” Coral started to make sense of what Gallus was saying, but it wasn’t making her feel confident. After a long sigh, Gallus pulled Coral off his arm and placed her sitting down in front of him.
He looked down on her seriously and attempted to teach her something. “I don’t know what the other ponies will think of you when you go to that school, but you won’t know unless you give it a try. You may not even need the School of Friendship like your brother. “
He then looked back at the rest of the group at the picnic, feeling the distance apart as he stared longingly towards them. “I honestly don’t know if the Royal Guard Academy will be worth it, but even if it means being away from my friends for a bit longer, I’m still gonna give it a try, because I know I’ll miss out on this if I don’t.”
As Coral slowly nodded and turned to look back at the school with uncertainty. That was when Gallus’ headshot upwards, his eyes grew wide, his head started to shine as if a lightbulb had emerged above him. He then crouched down behind Coral, with a new idea.
“Hey, how about a game?” he whispered. Coral turned around to see Gallus’ face close to hers with a confident smile.
“Game?”
“Yeah, a secret one” he whispered once more. Coral turned around fully and leaned in with intrigue. “We’re both going to schools with lots of new ponies, if you can make more new friends than I can by the time I come back to visit in the winter, I will join in on any one game or activity you want me to.”
“Any?” Coral asked, her voice elevating and her eyes starting to glisten.
The griffon returned a defiant nod. “Yep, no holds barred.” The little pony started to light up again, getting to play a game with Gallus, with the prize of another game, sounded like the best game ever.
At least, until a thought occurred. “But how is this fair? You went to the School of Friendship, not me” she folded her hooves and moped.
Gallus then lowered his lids level, “Let’s be real, no creature needs to go to a special school to make friends.,” he stated bluntly, “You made five friends when you were two years old just by being a cute baby sister, even getting in on Smolder’s soft side… “
He holds out his closed talons for a talon shake. “So, we got a deal?”
The moping filly thought about it for the moment, until she figured that a game between friends would be fun. She smiled and held out her own hoof to shake.
“Deal.”
Now both were happy, they both made their way back down the hill and returned to their friends.
It was Sunday morning, and the sun was slowly getting closer and closer to the top. The gang all watched as a train made its approach to the station, the next stop was Canterlot. “Well, this is it,” said Gallus towards his friends, the closest he was going to get to say goodbye. “Thanks for yesterday.”
Sandbar was the first to go up to him. “Of course, we look out for each other, right?”
“Yona want Gallus to be strong out there.” Yona followed.
Then it was Ocellus. “You’ll do great, I’m sure.”
Gallus then got a light punch in the arm. “Yeah, see you around, pigeon.”
After one last look at all his friends, Gallus made his way through the doors of the train coach. Silverstream, who had remained silent for the entire time, was getting prods from both sides. On one side, Ocellus was looking at her with a supportive smile, tilting her head in encouragement. If Silverstream was hesitant, she could turn her head to the other side and Smolder doing the same thing, except with arms folded, eyebrows raised and deadpanned.
“Oh, Gally! Gally wait! Before you go!” she called out frantically as she flew towards Gallus. The griffon recognised the call and prepared to brace himself for another tackle and hug on the ground, but when he turned around, he was taken aback to seeing her stand close to him with a downcast look. Before he could open his beak to ask if she was okay, she wrapped her claws around his head and pulled him in. She held onto him just tightly enough so that Gallus could move his arms, although his confusion at how comforting and calming the embrace was left his arms dangling motionless. That was when she whispered.
“Promise you’ll write to us, okay? We’ll miss you… I’ll miss you…”
It felt like a bad time for it to dawn on Gallus that his friends miss him going away, just as he missed them. “Yeah… uh… I will” he promised, trailing before he managed to move his arms around her back to make the hug complete. The conductor’s whistle signalled the train was ready to depart, and for the two birds to let go.
As the train made its move towards Canterlot, all his friends waved at him from the station platform. Silverstream smiled contently, which was caught by both Ocellus and Smolder and their narrowed eyes, who were expecting a more energised hippogriff to answer.
“You didn’t tell him, did you?” Ocellus asked candidly, but instead of answering verbally, Silverstream tried to avert her gaze from the pair. All Smolder could do was groan as she planted her claws across her face, all that effort for nothing.
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The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. And here's Gallus' first step...
Aww coral she's so innocent 😊
That's actually a pretty interesting theory about how sandbar before he came to the school of friendship but that's kind of sad to think about Sandbar couldn't make a friend before meeting gallus and the others 😔
Awww she really miss her chance to say how she feels about Gallus
Ok way to start the story so Sandbar going to see who was at the door and it turns out it was gallus both of them are pretty excited to see each other before he goes to Canterlot but it looks like gallus is having some doubts about going there even though he really work so hard to become the royal guard and it looks like something happen when he was at griffonstone ( and if you're trying to reference your other previous story I know what happened but I'm not going to spoil it ) so later gallus yona sandbar and there plus one Coral to visit silverstream and her new home and they saw smolder and Ocellus and they finally made it to the park and having fun together but it looks like Coral is having some doubts about going to her first day of school and gallus knows how it feels so they made a promise to each other that if they make more friends than the other they will play a game which that's pretty nice of gallus and it helps her to build confidence and probably his as well so today has come so gallus says his goodbyes to his friends but silverstream was about to say something but it looks like she chickened out maybe someday she will say something to him now I wonder how he's going to go through his training to be the royal guard I guess we'll find out next time
I think you mean groan not grown.
10706599
Dammit, knew I missed one. Thanks.
So Gallus has trouble in Griffinstone
Sandbar might have had problems growing up...perhaps because of how his parents talked (Kids can be outright cruel sometimes) and as much as I would like to pretend otherwise Pones can be very...insular.
And Silver has feelings for Gallus (honestly no surprises there given the fandom's penchant for shipping)