The Ties That Bind

by Scyphi

Truly Mourn

The Conveyance continued flying through the quiet night for some time without incident. The resulting peace that settled within the airship actually seemed kind of strange to Gallus after two days of near constant running, fleeing, and hiding, but it wasn’t unwelcome. He mused to himself how nice it was to be reminded what calm was actually like, allowing him to finally relax enough to try and drift to sleep. Unfortunately, the seating aboard the dropship was built more for function than comfort, so he struggled to find a comfortable enough position for anything more than a light doze. Spike likewise seemed to struggle getting comfortable. It actually made Gallus a little jealous of Gruff, the one creature who didn’t seem to have this problem, for he appeared to doze off fairly early on in the flight.

Most of this time period was spent with Flicker and Ditzy still on the upper deck, reporting in via radio, but finally after what Gallus estimated to be around an hour, Flicker returned to the lower deck so to check up on them.

“We’re well over ocean now,” the commander reported, pleased. “The odds of us encountering any trouble out here are pretty slim, so we’re past the hardest part of our journey.”

“Just don’t fly us into any storms,” Gallus requested, distinctly recalling the experience of doing so with Gene Type’s airship and not wanting to repeat it.

Flicker chuckled in good humor. “Wasn’t planning to,” he assured as he proceeded to take a seat across from him, Spike, and Gruff. “All reports indicate clear skies for miles around in all directions though, so there’re not many storms to be flying into anyway.”

Gallus hummed approvingly at that while Spike glanced over at the stairs. “So what’s keeping Ditzy?” the dragon asked, curious.

“It’s taking a while to fill in Princess Twilight on everything since her last report,” Flicker answered with a resigned shrug. “But it sounded like she was wrapping up when I came down here, so I expect she won’t be much longer.” He paused to look Gallus and Spike over for a moment. “I was listening in for a lot of it. It’s…quite a tale, altogether.” He motioned to the two with his hoof. “So I understand you two are, in fact, supposed to be brothers?”

Gallus and Spike glanced at each other, silently asking permission from the other to discuss the still sensitive topic. “Apparently,” Spike finally chose to sum up, uncertain how else to phrase it. “We’re, ah…”

“…we’re still adjusting to the idea,” Gallus finished.

“Sure, sure,” Flicker responded with an understanding nod. “I can understand that, given the unusual circumstances of it all.”

“You got a problem with it?” Gruff suddenly challenged without opening his eyes, proving to the surprise of the others that he was much more awake than he appeared.

“No, not at all!” Flicker quickly reassured, before his expression softened. “Honestly, I’m sort of envious—I was an only foal, myself. There were many times while growing up where I wished I had a sibling of my own.”

“It’s not so much that, it’s the suddenly finding out you always had one after years of thinking you didn’t that’s so…jarring,” Gallus summarized flatly.

“Maybe,” Flicker replied in an optimistic tone, “but you can overcome that so long as you have each other, right?”

The cliché sentiment didn’t get much reaction from his audience though, with Gallus huffing softly, Spike making a non-committal shrug, and Gruff just not reacting altogether. Frowning, Flicker chose to change the subject. “Anyway, assuming we continue to make good time like we are, we should arrive at Canterlot sometime after midnight, before sunrise at the latest.”

Spike managed a small and longing grin at that. “Looking forward to it, commander,” he assured. Both Gallus and Gruff grunted in agreement with that sentiment.

The conversation went into a lull for a moment before Ditzy returned, coming down the flight of stairs. “Well, I’ve got the princess all up to speed now,” she announced with a weary but pleased sigh, flipping her eyepatch up once again.

Spike winced, knowing what that entailed. “…how did she react?” he asked carefully.

Ditzy hesitated as she joined them, taking a seat beside Flicker. “Well, I managed to keep her from flipping out about it while we were talking, so there’s that,” she explained. She nodded her head in Gruff’s direction, who’d cracked open an eye to watch her. “I also relayed your list of suspects on to her and she intends to investigate while waiting for us to arrive. Best case, she’ll have something new to tell us by the time we arrive, but most likely we’ve done just about all we can for tonight.” She winked at Gallus and Spike. “At the very least though, we’ll get you back to safety and into a warm bed before tonight’s over.”

“Looking forward to it,” Gallus admitted, arching his back until it popped. He thumped his elbow against the back of his chair. “These seats aren’t exactly the most comfortable.”

“Apologies, this airship was built more with hauling cargo in mind than sleeping accommodations,” Flicker admitted.

“Speaking of cargo though,” Ditzy interjected and nodded her head towards the stacks of crates they were sharing space with. “I meant to ask earlier, but I see you’re currently hauling. I hope we aren’t interrupting any important runs bringing you out here for us.”

“Nah,” Flicker said with a wave of his hoof. “We were actually running well ahead of schedule when we got rerouted out to you, so if anything, this cargo will just arrive on time instead of a day or so early.”

“Where is this cargo going anyway?”

“We have orders to deliver this cargo to the ponies staffing Fort Maretime, as per a routine resupply run.”

Ditzy’s eyebrows went up at the name. “Ah, that dinky little place!” she said, evidently knowing it. “So clearly nothing too major then, hmm?”

Gallus furrowed his brow. “Where’s this…Fort Maritime or whatever?” he asked, having never heard of the place.

“Fort Maretime,” Ditzy corrected with a grin. “It’s a little outpost that sits on the coast between Fillydelphia and Baltimare. It doesn’t do much except house some general coast guard equipment, provide additional patrol support, and serve as a relay for passing radio transmissions.”

“Well, it’ll probably start becoming more important in the near future,” Flicker reasoned, “because apparently it’s gained enough of a permanent populace that a township has been founded nearby, named after that bay it all sits around. Last I heard, the founding mayor has big plans for the place, claiming it’ll one day be the center of Equestrian affairs for that area.”

Ditzy snorted, amused by the grandiose claim. “Not in this generation, it’s not,” she promised. “There’s barely anything worth going there for right now.”

“They do have a very nice lighthouse though,” Flicker pointed out.

Ditzy nodded, conceding that point. “Yeah, I suppose that’s true,” she relented.

She continued discussing the topic, but by that point Gallus had begun tuning it out, bored. It was too mundane a subject to interest him. Instead, he let his mind wander, eventually mulling over what he’d learned of his late parents. On one side, he still wasn’t sure how to describe what he felt about it. He didn’t feel good at least, which seemed appropriate, but he was also…uncomfortable about it. Gwen and Spark may have been his parents, but…it was so long ago they felt like strangers to him, like he never actually knew them. And yet, at the same time, he felt a strong bond to them like they still meant the world to him, leaving him with this disconnecting sensation that was kind of unsettling. He didn’t really know what to make of it.

What would he even say to them if he could somehow meet them anyway? Thinking that an interesting thought, Gallus envisioned himself standing before Gwen and Spark and asked himself what he’d do in such a scenario. Ultimately he found himself just sort of standing there awkwardly and not knowing what to say. But then perhaps he didn’t need to as, unbidden, his envisioned version of Gwen pulled him into a comforting hug followed by Spark lovingly ruffling his crest then joining in too. Heartened by these actions somehow summing it up, he pondered what would happen then. What would they do together if they were reunited like that?

Gallus liked the idea of showing them the School of Friendship and introducing them to all his friends there. He supposed it was just to show he was doing okay and wasn’t alone, but it felt important to him as a sort of unspoken reassurance. He could also show them some of the varying skills he had picked up over the years since they were separated—at least the more flattering ones. That’d at least prove he could be independent and look after himself, another reassurance he felt was necessary. He also liked the idea of just playing some kind of game with them, which seemed kind of childish in his head, but his heart didn’t really care about that, considering who he’d be playing with. Besides, maybe he and Spark could play a game of boffyball, one-on-one because that just seemed like what fathers and sons do. Assuming Spark knew how to play, of course, but Gallus would be happy to teach him, and it wasn’t like he was that great of a player himself. Heck, it didn’t have to be boffyball, as there were plenty of other sports out there to play, maybe one they all could play, him, Spark, Gwen, and Spike as well.

But in the end, the thing Gallus found he wanted to do the most was to just sit there, chat with them, and all be together. He even envisioned them all sitting on that ugly couch at the house, huddled together and enjoying each other’s company while a warm fire burned in the fireplace nearby. He was surprised at just how much he wanted more moments like that in his life and found himself wishing his vision of it would never end. But of course it had to eventually, with Gwen and Spark suddenly being pulled—nay, ripped—away to vanish into an engulfing darkness, while he was left frightened, cold, hungry, and alone hiding in a barrel too small within a clearing too big, empty, and foreboding, never to see them again…

“Gallus, wake up!”

Gallus snorted awake from his nightmare, surprised as he hadn’t realized he’d drifted asleep. He groggily looked at Ditzy, who’d shaken him awake. “What, what’s wrong?” he asked.

Ditzy smiled. “Nothing, actually,” she assured him. “I just wanted to let you know that we’re almost there and will probably be landing before too much longer.”

Startled, he twisted around to peer out the nearest window. It was very dark out given the late hour, but he could still make out the familiar outlines of Equestria’s hilly terrain, a sight that made his heart soar. Never had he thought he’d be this thrilled to see those hills, but it felt like it’d been forever since he’d last laid eye on them. Of course, soon the hills gave way to the equally familiar tower-filled skyline of Canterlot as the Conveyance started its final approach for landing. That skyline was darker than he was used to seeing it, again due to the late hour, but it was still alight with plenty of warm and friendly lights that only further reassured him that a place of safety was finally imminent.

His attention was pulled away from the window at that point by Flicker encouraging them to gather their things, causing him to miss the actual landing, but as it was gentle enough that Gallus only sensed a subtle bump from the airship setting down onto solid ground, he probably didn’t miss much. Besides, he heard one of Flicker’s crew report they were landing in the royal palace’s private airship yard, something he had seen before anyway (though admittedly only in passing as part of a class field trip). Nevertheless, while waiting for the airship’s back ramp to finish lowering, he found their arrival greeted by a group of ponies waiting for them just outside. It was composed of a small escort of guards encircled around a trio of ponies, the foremost of which was…

“Twilight!” Spike cried in relief as he darted ahead of the others and into the alicorn’s awaiting hooves.

“Spike!” Twilight Sparkle likewise cried back, happily embracing him in a relived hug of her own. “Are you okay? No injuries to report?”

“Just some scrapes and bruises, nothing major,” Spike assured her, not letting up his hug.

“That and some mental trauma,” Gallus joked as he, Gruff, and Ditzy joined the group. “But who’s counting?”

Twilight chuckled and gave Spike another loving squeeze before moving him to be wrapped around her wing instead. “Oh, I’m so glad to see you’re all safe,” she continued as she stood on all fours again. “These past two days have been a veritable nightmare after what happened with Gene Type.” Twilight looked to Ditzy, grateful. “Thank you, Ditzy, for finding them and bringing them back safely.”

“Just doing my job, your highness,” Ditzy replied modestly, making a polite bow in greeting. “Besides, the job’s not done just yet.”

“No, but it feels like we’re actually getting somewhere now,” Twilight admitted. She motioned for them to follow her as the group started towards the nearby royal palace. “I’ve felt like I’ve been helplessly stuck on the sidelines watching it play out up to now.”

“Tell you what,” Gallus again quipped as they walked, “next time you can actually live the nightmare while the rest of us watch from the sidelines.”

Once more, Twilight took the quip in good spirit and smiled. “Fair enough,” she admitted, turning her attention to the griffon and breathing a heavy sigh. “Though honestly, Gallus, I feel I should apologize. Encouraging you both to meet with Gene Type had been my idea, and…”

“…and it was still ultimately my choice to go, not yours,” Gallus cut her short, not blaming her. “And let’s not fool ourselves. Even if we hadn’t gone, Gene Type and whoever else is involved in this would’ve just struck some other way.” He then jabbed his head at the other ponies with her, the guards having almost completely and protectively encircled them. “So what’s up with the entourage?”

“Given circumstances, the princess felt an escort of guards for your added protection was wise,” matter-of-factly replied a greying old stallion from Twilight’s side and who had the most intense mustache Gallus had ever seen.

“And you are?” Gallus asked, raising a brow at him, a reaction that drew a giggle from Spike watching the exchange.

“Gallus, these are my aides, Kibitz and Raven,” Twilight introduced, motioning to the stallion and the petite but professional mare next to him, both bespectacled. “I don’t believe you’ve all met before, have you?”

“I can’t say that I have, princess, but I’ve heard stories,” the white unicorn, Raven, replied as she offered her hoof to Gallus.

“Good ones, I hope,” Gallus said, shaking her hoof to be formal.

“They generally are when it comes to the princess’s former pupils,” Raven remarked with a warm grin, overall giving off a friendlier presence than the more firm Kibitz had and who, unlike Raven, didn’t offer his hoof for shaking. But then Raven’s brow furrowed in concern as she peered at Gallus through her glasses. “Did…something happen to your face?”

Gallus realized she was referring to the inks coloring it and let out a weary sigh. “I’d disguised myself at one point, okay?” he said, past done explaining this so frequently. Almost at the same time, Raven’s mention of the School of Friendship put another thought in his head. “Oh droppings, the school! Everybody there has gotta be confused as all heck on what’s going on with me right now.” He looked to Twilight. “Is there any way to…?”

Twilight motioned for him to be calm before he finished. “Don’t worry, I’ve already informed Starlight that, for your own protection, you’ll be staying at the palace for now and she promised to pass it on to all of your friends. She probably already has by now.”

Gallus breathed a sigh of relief now that concern was settled. “Thank you, princess,” he said.

“You’re quite welcome,” Twilight said with a nod. “Hopefully you can be reunited with them in person soon. Although I should add that I didn’t inform them of anything concerning…well…the whys of all of this. I…figured you’d probably prefer doing that yourself, when the time comes.”

Gallus’s head spun at the mere idea of filling in his friends on everything he’d learned about his lineage. “Yeah, particularly as I’m still trying to figure it all out myself,” he admitted, rubbing his brow with a weary paw.

“Personally, I’m less interested in what’s been done and more in what’s going to happen next,” Gruff chose that moment to rudely butt in, clearly wanting the conversation to stick with the current situation.

Twilight must’ve agreed, because she released Spike from her one-wing hug and turned fully serious again. “Unfortunately, I don’t have too much to report right now,” she began by admitting as they entered the palace, its corridors dimly lit for the night. “But there have been some minor developments since we all last spoke. First of all, I’ve heard from Lord Gestal who has demanded an explanation after what transpired at the Griffonstone embassy, since, to the griffons, it appeared Equestrians had attacked a griffon airship out of context.”

“Sorry, not sorry,” Gruff replied without any remorse. “I assume you’ve told him nothing?”

“On the contrary, to try and determine exactly where Gestal may or may not stand in this whole matter, I cautiously replied and explained in brief what I by then had learned of that situation.” Catching Gruff about to object, Twilight swiftly added, “Without informing him of your current whereabouts or even naming who were specifically involved in the incident. In fact, I endeavored to present my side of the story as if I still knew relatively little of the matter.”

“A potential risk doing that, your highness,” Ditzy observed.

“That’s what we told her,” Raven agreed.

“But one that may pay off,” Twilight said, “as Gestal has, thus far, acted only with surprise and outrage that any griffons would openly attack allies like this and declared he will begin an investigation of his own. All in all, while it hasn’t earned him my total trust yet, I currently suspect Gestal, at least, may not actually be involved after all, and if so, he may yet prove to be a valuable ally…but I’m awaiting further correspondence before I make any further moves on the matter.” She nodded her head at Gruff and Ditzy. “And I will welcome any input either of you wish to give on that front, but we can talk about that more later. In the meantime—Gruff, I’ve been in touch with Dragon Lord Ember about that dragon suspect, Rhyolite, you listed to Ditzy. She believes she knows the dragon you’re talking about, but she wants to do some more investigating of her own so to confirm before giving me any details.”

Gruff huffed at that. “And you believe her?” he challenged, doubting Ember’s word.

Twilight smiled wryly. “Considering I also had to get Ember to Pinkie Promise not to preemptively kill any suspects out of, and I quote, ‘vengeance for Spike’ due to how enraged she was by this news, I think it’s a pretty safe bet that I can.”

Gallus smirked himself. From what he’d heard of her, that did sound like the dragon lord all right.

“Beyond that, though,” Twilight continued once Gruff didn’t object further, “the situation here is still much as you would’ve last heard, unfortunately. Gene Type’s apartment is a lost cause due to the fire, which has now definitely been ruled an act of arson, likely to destroy any evidence it might have contained. We have no leads on who did it. And unfortunately we’ve found nothing further of use in Gene Type’s office or any of his other places of work, and what we have found, only tells us details we already know—that he was plotting something concerning the two of you.”

“A something we know full well now,” Spike muttered, frowning at the memory of Gene Type’s attempted attack.

“The important point is that you two are out of danger for now,” Twilight stressed, looking at Spike and Gallus. “And to help ensure it stays that way, the palace is now under lockdown until further notice—no unauthorized creatures will be allowed in or out without my explicit okay.” She nodded to the guards escorting them through the hallways. “Likewise you two will be under constant guard until such time we’ve definitively ended this matter once and for all.”

“On that point, I would like to recommend myself and my fellow Night Guards for that task, your highness,” Ditzy immediately volunteered.

“Does it need to be the Night Guard, though?” Kibitz swiftly challenged. “The Royal Guard would work just as well and they are trained for this sort of duty too.” He ignored Raven elbowing him for the pointed remark.

“True,” Twilight patiently replied, though her tone sounded like this wasn’t the first time she’d had this sort of conversation with the stallion advisor. “However, the Night Guard was involved in this matter from the start, so technically they still have jurisdiction.”

“Besides, wasn’t Gene Type working for the Royal Guard?” Gruff pointedly added, glancing in Kibitz’s direction.

Kibitz frowned, not pleased by the insinuation. “That doesn’t mean Gene Type, as a civilian contractor, was an actual Royal Guard though,” he retorted.

“Gruff does have a point though, Kibitz,” Raven added placating. “Thus far, there have been no signs any of the Night Guard are part of this conspiracy.”

“If anything, we’ve only helped to keep these two alive,” Ditzy added while motioning to Gallus and Spike, understandably sounding a bit bitter about the insinuations.

“We can discuss it in more detail later,” Twilight interrupted, ending the budding argument. “But for now, I agree with Ditzy that the Night Guard are the more ideal candidates. There is a degree of stealth and espionage involved here and that is what the Night Guard specializes in.” Kibitz frowned but relented without further protest so Twilight turned to Ditzy and Gruff. “Speaking of, Ditzy, Gruff, as two of the creatures most in the know on what’s happening, I would like to speak to you both about everything that has happened so to try and plan out our next steps.”

“And where do you want me and Gallus, Twilight?” Spike asked, eager to help.

Though Twilight smiled at the offer, she stopped to face him and Gallus, shaking her head. “The only place you two are going is someplace to rest,” she said. She lifted both of their chins with her hooves. “You’ve been through a lot and you both look dead on your feet, so the rest of us will handle things while you recoup. Understood?”

Spike clearly didn’t want to give up that easily, but a big yawn chose that moment to force its way out of his mouth. Gallus smirked and pulled the little dragon closer. “We get it, princess,” he assured her. “We’ll call it a night.”

“Good,” Twilight said, and with a nod they all resumed walking again. “But is there anything you two still need real quick before doing that?”

“Well, Spike might still have that spell Gene Type put on him so to block his mail sending ability thing,” Gallus pointed out, though inwardly surprised he remembered that detail—it’d been awhile since he’d actually stopped to think about it.

“Oh yes, Ditzy did mention that earlier,” Twilight said. She lit her horn and conducted a quick scan of the little dragon. Then, with a satisfied hum, she cast a simple counterspell on him. “There, that should do it. Looks like Gene Type just used a simple blocking spell that’s easy enough to reverse.”

“And just when we no longer need to send a message anymore,” Spike quipped with a teasing smile.

Twilight returned it before moving on. “Now, anything else we can do or get you before you turn in? Something to eat, perhaps? I can get the kitchen staff to prepare something for you.”

“Honestly, all I’d really want right now is a bath and a bed,” Gallus answered truthfully, Spike silently nodding in agreement. Besides, he wasn’t especially hungry at the moment—he could still feel Ditzy’s rations weighing down his gut. In fact, was it just him, or did it feel like that heavy mass had somehow gotten even heavier in there?

“Very well,” Twilight said and nodded an unspoken order to the closest of the guards. The group thusly changed course by turning to head down a different hallway. “We’ll take you straight to my private quarters then. That’s where I’ve arranged for you to stay for the time being.”

Gallus’s eyebrows went up. “Your private quarters?” he asked, surprised. “Seriously?”

“It actually makes sense,” Ditzy reasoned. “By design, the princess’s quarters are one of the most secure places in the palace. Any potential attackers would have a hard time getting past its defenses.”

“So you’re going to be bunking with us, Twilight?” Spike asked innocently.

“No, no, I don’t want to intrude on your privacy,” Twilight assured with the shake of her head. “For now I’ll sleep in one of the guest suites instead.”

Gallus raised a brow at that. “What’s the point of putting all that security in your room if you aren’t going to use it?” he asked.

“The guest suites aren’t without their own defenses too, you know,” Twilight replied with a smirk. “Besides, I’m not the one our current set of attackers is targeting.”

Gallus supposed he couldn’t argue that point. Not there was really any time to as just a minute later they arrived at a set of double doors already flanked by a pair of guards. Gallus assumed this was the princess’s quarters, and sure enough, the doors were opened to reveal a luxurious bedchamber with an attached bathroom on one side and even a fancy fireplace. At Twilight’s prompting, both Spike and Gallus headed inside and proceeded to look around the room. Spike did so fairly casually—he’d probably been inside here plenty of times before—but it was Gallus’s first time and he couldn’t help but stop and take in the details.

“I hope this will be enough for your needs for the evening,” Twilight said, looking somewhat anxious for reasons Gallus couldn’t understand. “Feel free to use whatever you need to in here, though the decision to house you here was made rather last minute so it wasn’t exactly prepared for you in advance…”

Gallus made an amused snort, unable to pull his eyes off of the splendor of the room. “Princess, trust me when I say this is way more than we need,” he assured. “I can’t say I’d ever thought I’d be spending the night in a room this…fancy.”

“Fancy is right!” Gruff declared, also glancing into the room from the doorway and scoffed aloud. “Typical ponies, building everything with an excessively high amount of vainglorious décor—how many bits were wasted making this place?”

Twilight scowled, but inhaling sharply, she chose not to acknowledge the criticism. “We’ll leave you to it, then,” she told Spike and Gallus, motioning the others back out. “Gruff, Ditzy, we have business to discuss elsewhere.” She started to close the doors behind her but then stopped to say one final thing. “Oh, and Gallus and Spike? One more thing.” Once she had their attention she took a deep breath. “Look, you two have been through a lot the past couple of days, and…I’m sure it’s been difficult for you to take it all in.”

Indirect though it was, Gallus realized this was the first time since they’d arrived that she’d acknowledged their newly discovered lineage. “I’m sure it’s a lot for you to take in too,” he remarked knowingly.

“Yeah,” Spike added, appearing to realize the same thing and gave Twilight a concerned look. “How…are you taking that, Twi?”

Twilight bit her lip. “I’ve already made plans for us to…investigate…that matter more in the morning, when we’re all of clearer minds,” she explained. “But for now, what I’m trying to say is…if either of you need to talk…you just have to ask.”

Gallus couldn’t even begin to decide what he’d talk with her on the subject, let alone how. “I’ll…keep that in mind, princess,” he promised, though inwardly he was conscious of how unconvincing he sounded.

“We appreciate the offer, Twilight,” Spike added a bit more sincerely as he pulled off his backpack and set it on the floor. “And if either of us want to take you up on that, we know how to find you.” He shifted uneasily on his feet, glancing awkwardly in Gallus’s direction as if hoping he’d pitch in, but Gallus certainly didn’t know what to add at this point. “But, uh…I think we both need more time to…process this on our own, y’know?”

Twilight nodded slowly, though she didn’t seem totally convinced herself. “I think I do,” she said. “But still…the offer stands.” She waited a moment in case either of them said anything else then gave a final nod, aware she had Gruff and Ditzy waiting for her outside. “Anyway…good night and sleep well. Hopefully things will continue to turn around tomorrow.”

“Yeah, hopefully,” Gallus said as Twilight finally left, closing the door behind her. “Good night, princess.”

An awkward silence fell in the room after that as Spike and Gallus looked at each other, silently pondering what to do now. Spike decided to preoccupy himself by going around and turning on all the lights. Gallus meanwhile took another lookover of the room before studying the only bed. He wondered if this meant he and Spike would have to experience the awkwardness of sharing it, but then realized the bed was Princess Celestia-sized, big enough that both he and Spike could easily sleep on either side, have plenty of space to stretch out as much as they liked, and still have as much as a foot or two of empty space between them. Really, sharing it wouldn’t be an issue at all. So Gallus turned his attention to the attached bathroom and decided to make good on his earlier request for a bath.

Like the rest of the room, the attached bathroom was also fairly luxurious. Even the toilet seemed lavish in appearance, though as far as Gallus could tell it still worked like any other toilet so he didn’t really see the need. Maybe Gruff had a point about the overt extravagance the palace was seemingly built with. In any case, Gallus’s first priority was a mirror so to assess the damage of his appearance. It wasn’t as bad as he feared, but it was clear his coat was overall dirty enough to need cleaning, and of course, he still had the inks rubbed into large portions of it, giving him an odd sort of two-tone look that begrudgingly got him to understand why everybody couldn’t help but point it out whenever they saw him. A quick sniff under one wing also proved he was putting off a mildly funky odor.

So obviously some cleaning was in order, and for that, Gallus had two options: a princess-sized walk-in shower, or a large spa-like bathtub. Of the two, the shower would be faster, but he liked the idea of relaxing in a hot bath. So he started filling the tub with water and, since Twilight said to use anything he needed, helped himself to the varying bottles of soap, quickly producing a bubbly foam over the water’s surface. Settling himself into it with a relieved sigh, he let himself just sit there for a moment, letting the heated water loosen the various knots and sore spots in his muscles.

But not wanting to delay getting to bed too long given how incredibly late it was, Gallus then grabbed a brush and started scrubbing. Lathering himself up with soap alone did wonders for making him feel much cleaner, and it took only a mild amount of scrubbing to get the inks out of his coat, slowly coloring the water as he did so but he didn’t particularly care right now, he just wanted the stuff off of him. He had only been at it for a couple of minutes when he heard a polite knock at the bathroom door.

“Gallus?” he heard Spike call through it.

“Yeah?” Gallus called back. “What’s up?”

“It’s just…” Spike audibly hesitated. “…are you decent at the moment?”

Gallus surveyed the tub he sat chest deep within bubbly water in. “Well, I’m still in the tub, but I suppose there’s nothing here you wouldn’t have already seen. Why?”

The door, which Gallus apparently hadn’t remembered to lock, nudged open a crack and allowed Spike to poke his head through. He again hesitated upon seeing Gallus sitting there in the tub, though Gallus didn’t know why—it wasn’t like he had anything to hide, and thanks to the bubbles, most of his body was hidden from view anyway.

“Um,” Spike mumbled, “can…can I come in?”

Gallus made an indifferent shrug. “Sure, I guess.”

“…you don’t mind?”

“Nah, I know I can trust you, so come on in.” Gallus patted a spot next to the tub.

Spike walked over and accepted it, seating himself on the bathroom floor. Gallus noticed he had taken off his advisor medallion, which was no big deal, but after getting so used to him consistently wearing it for the past two days, the dragon seemed oddly bare without it.

But after watching Spike fidget uncomfortably to himself for a second, Gallus suspected something else was off about him. “Something wrong?” he asked.

“I just…” Spike was already not looking at Gallus, but he averted his gaze further anyway as if ashamed. “…I just didn’t want to be alone, you know?”

“Ah,” Gallus replied with a knowing nod, relaxing. “Yeah, I get it. After everything we’ve been through the past couple of days, I can understand that.”

As Spike didn’t speak further for a moment and thinking that was all then, Gallus went back to scrubbing. Spike meanwhile remained seated beside the bathtub, looking lost in thought. “You don’t seem like you would,” the dragon remarked suddenly.

Gallus stopped scrubbing and sighed. He wasn’t sure he really wanted to answer truthfully, but after a moment’s hesitation he decided that, after everything else they’d shared during this misadventure, he owed Spike the truth. “Alone is something I’m unfortunately all too familiar with, Spike.”

Spike curled up on himself a little at that. “…you know you won’t have to be now, once this is all over.”

That was a mountain Gallus wasn’t sure he was ready to scale just yet. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he shirked.

A long moment of silence fell after that. Gallus resumed scrubbing once more, but he did so hesitantly. He sensed something else was bothering Spike that was still unsaid, however he opted to not press the dragon and instead let him speak it whenever he was ready to.

Finally, out of the blue, Spike just blurted it out. “I saw you visiting her grave,” he said, his tone knowing, “back at the house.” He fidgeted with his claws uncomfortably. “Which is okay, I just…I just wondered why you didn’t say anything about it.”

Gallus lowered the brush and stared into the bathwater. “…I was hoping you wouldn’t notice.” Now he was the one avoiding eye contact, not that Spike was seeking it. “I…I didn’t think you’d be up for going through that.” He ran his tongue over the edge of his beak uncomfortably, realizing how it sounded now that he was saying it out loud. “I’m sorry.”

Spike, however, shook his head. “No, you were right,” he admitted. He breathed a heavy and sad sigh. “I…I wanted to go out and…do the same, but…I just couldn’t bring myself to.”

Gallus also breathed a sigh. “Spike, it’s okay if you were too…uncomfortable…about it,” he attempted to placate. “It’s…not like it’s going anywhere either, so…you could always go back…when you are ready.”

“I know,” Spike said, but he only curled up on himself further. “But that’s not the problem.”

“…then what is?”

Spike continued to hesitate, but the matter was clearly bothering him quite a bit. “Ever since Gruff told us about them…about Gwen and Spark…I’ve been trying to figure out how I feel about it, and…” he squirmed to himself. “…I feel like I should be sad for them. I want to be sad for them. I mean, I still am, it’s just…I feel like I should be a lot more sad than I am. But…Gallus, I didn’t know them. I never did.” If it was possible, he sank even further upon himself. “And they never knew me. So…how could I be?”

All at once, Gallus understood and he leaned over the edge of the tub so to look at the dragon better. “Spike, that doesn’t make you any less of a creature,” he assured.

“That’s easy for you to say,” Spike snorted, suddenly upset. “They were loving and caring parents, but I can’t relate to them, I can’t feel for them. How…how can I miss something…how can I truly mourn for something…that I never knew? And I just…I just…” He leaned back, letting his head thump sadly on the side of the tub. “…I feel like I owe them something that I can’t give…that I don’t have…because I never had it to begin with.”

Gallus, meanwhile, had started staring into the bathwater he sat in, faintly colored violet from the inks he had been scrubbing off, watching the bubbles pop and swirl around him. “At least you have an excuse.”

Spike perked up at that, turning around to bewilderedly look Gallus in the eye at last. “What’s that supposed to mean?” His tone was more confused than accusatory.

Gallus almost wished that it was though—that seemed like it’d be more fitting. “Spike, I don’t remember anything about them.”

“…but you were, what, four at the time? Five? After so much time and everything that’s happened, no one can blame you for forgetting—”

“It’s not that I don’t remember because I forgot them, Spike.” Gallus squeezed his eyes shut. “I don’t remember them because I made myself forget.”

Spike stood up, grabbing hold of the tub’s edge while continuing to look confused at him. “I don’t understand.”

Gallus did. He understood all too well, ever since he and Gruff had figured out what Gwen had done on that night so long ago. He had been trying to keep the thought at wing’s length ever since, keeping himself from focusing on it, trying to act like it wasn’t there at all or that it didn’t bother him. But no matter how much he worked to beat it away, the thought was still there, nagging the back of his mind and continually pushing back. And now, after spending most of the night trying to ignore it, it was finally breaking through his defenses and could be ignored no more.

He inhaled, heard the air enter his lungs with a shuddering sound, a telltale that he was about to lose his composure, but it was like rolling a big boulder over a hill—once you were past the peak, the boulder would start rolling the rest of the way down on its own whether you wanted it to or not. “I buried the memories of it all, Spike, once it was all over,” he explained, trying to keep his voice even and controlled but not really succeeding. “I realized I must have when I was…out there. I’d been…confused, and hurt, and…and I just couldn’t deal with it. So I buried it all. I moved on, refusing to think about it so I wouldn’t have to deal with it…until it faded away to the point I couldn’t remember it anymore.”

Spike still didn’t seem to understand. “But there wasn’t anything you could change about it anyway.”

“That’s not the point. Spike, she…” Gallus shook his head, feeling himself start to tear up. “Spike, she sacrificed herself to save me. Gruff and I figured out how she did it while we were out there, how she hid me away then went back to let herself get caught, make sure they never found me. She died for my sake, Spike, and how do I repay her? I banish all memory of her, of what she did from my mind, just because it hurt too much to think about and I wasn’t brave enough to face it!” He was openly weeping by now. “What kind of coward am I if I can’t even bring myself to…to honor what she did so selflessly and…and…”

He broke down completely at that point, gasping for breath in-between his noisy sobs as the grief he’d been bottling up all throughout suddenly came bubbling out unbidden at last. He was so caught up in his emotions that he’d almost forgotten Spike was being witness to it until he felt the little dragon reach out and wrap his arms around his neck in a comforting hug. Without even thinking about it, Gallus wrapped his own arms around Spike and pulled him as close as the side of the tub sitting between them would allow. They stayed like that for some minutes, just holding each other in this moment of grief, and it was definitely shared—the warm wetness Gallus felt on his neck made it clear Spike was weeping too.

It was only as Gallus’s sobs faded into heavy breathing an untold amount of time later that speaking could finally resume. “Just…how would she react…” Gallus breathed slowly, spelling it out, “…if she knew how her sacrifice was being repaid?”

Spike was quiet for a long moment before finally managing to get out an answer. “Gallus,” he whispered into his ear with a voice of utmost confidence, making it clear that he had no doubts at all on what he was about to say, “I’m positive that even if she knew all of this back then…she still would’ve done it all exactly the same anyway.” He gave Gallus’s neck a squeeze, choking back a sob of his own. “One doesn’t do everything that she had—that they both did—if it hadn’t been out of the deepest of love a parent could have.”

It didn’t make Gallus feel all that much better…but the thought still warmed his heart. He returned the squeeze back to Spike. “I just…wish I could tell them that, to…explain myself to them.”

“So do I, Gallus,” Spike replied back. “I’m not sure there’s anything either of us can do so to properly honor their memory though…not in the way they really deserve.” He sniffled. “But maybe…maybe we don’t need to. We may have lost them, and that’s…that’s devastating, but…but I think that’s not what they wanted. What they wanted…was us. Knowing that we both survived even when they didn’t…they can at least rest easy knowing they had that much. Anything else we can give them after that…” Through his sadness, Gallus could feel Spike’s cheeks pulling upward in a sudden grin. “…is just the icing on the cake.”

Gallus let out a few more shuddering breaths, blinking away the tears that had flooded his eyes. “I don’t think they’d blame you for anything, Spike,” he felt obligated to reassure.

“I think you’re right…or at least now I do.” Spike gave his neck one last squeeze. “I don’t think they’d blame you for anything either. Particularly not now…not after showing how much it clearly means to you anyway.”

It was a good point, so Gallus chose not to argue it. As such, silence largely fell again except for the sounds of them trying to regain their composure, seeing they’d cried out the worst of their grief for now. Gallus slowly became aware, since he’d been in the middle of bathing when this happened, of how him hugging Spike with wet arms had gotten the dragon damp. “Sorry,” he apologized after a moment, snuffling his nose. “I didn’t mean to unload all this on you like that.”

“It’s okay,” Spike said with a grin, giving him a pat. “You…helped sort a few things out for me too.” He then slowly pulled out of the hug so to look himself over, seeing the dampness had left streaks in the faint layers of dirt on his own body. He chuckled. “I guess I could use a bath myself, huh?”

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” Gallus replied teasingly as he wiped at his nose.

“Gee, thanks,” Spike said, giving him an exasperated smirk, before clapping his paws together decisively. “But I guess since I’m in here, I might as well wash up too.”

As such, since Gallus was already in the tub, Spike made use of the shower to clean up in. By the time they both finished and dried off, Gallus was left feeling fresher, cleaner, but also plumb worn out.

“I don’t know about you,” Gallus wearily said as they exited the bathroom, “but I’m ready to crawl into bed and just zonk. How about you?”

Spike stifled a yawn. “Yeah, me too,” he agreed as they approached the bed. They examined it for a moment, pondering again how they were going to share it. “You take the right side, I’ll take the left?”

“Deal,” Gallus said, and with that they both crawled under the covers. As he’d anticipated earlier, the massive bed left them both with plenty of space, so much so one could barely tell they were sharing at all. “Well…goodnight, then,” he said, reaching to switch off the light.

“Yeah, night,” Spike replied. He then went quiet for a moment, but Gallus could tell he hadn’t gone to sleep yet. “Gallus…even if you don’t really remember them either…do you still miss them?”

Gallus breathed a heavy sigh. “Yeah,” he admitted. He pulled the covers a little tighter around himself. “…do you?”

“…yeah.” Spike’s voice was very quiet, like he was afraid of being overheard.

“The worst part is that we can’t really do much about it. They’re gone either way, so…”

“…yeah.” Spike fell silent for another moment. “But…it still means we’re family now, so…at least we have each other…right?”

The sappy sentiment tugged at Gallus’s heart more than he expected it to. “I’ve never really had a brother before though,” he admitted softly. “I…don’t really know how to…you know…be a good one.”

“That’s okay,” Spike assured with a tired yawn, the last thing he’d say before drifting to sleep, “You’ve already done a pretty good job so far.”

Somehow, that ended up being the best thing Gallus had heard all day and found himself falling to sleep shortly thereafter with a pleased grin upon his beak.

Author's Note:

Mmkay, that's probably enough of the intense feels for now, so the next couple chapters will be dialing that back down a bit.

And don't worry, the suspense and action isn't gone for good just yet either.

Comments

[Frazikar]

Hmmmmm, wonder when it hits Gallus that his brother's sister is royalty (or Sparkle that she has another little brother --- and when to tell the rest of the family)

[SpikeSmolder fan]

A very needed cathartic chapter as Spike/Gallus were finally able to let their bottled-up emotions flow out regarding the hectic revelations of the last couple of days!

Also sweet nod to Amphibia during that conversation between Spike/Gallus in the bathroom, well played Scyphi!

[Scyphi]

11852001
You're going to have to be more specific then, because I have definitely seen Amphibia (heck, I've been sporadically rewatching it even), but I wasn't consciously referencing anything from it that I know of in this chapter, and I'm not sure which scene exactly you think I was referencing anyway.

[SpikeSmolder fan]

11852154
It was in the episode *Hopping Mall* of S2, in the final 5 minutes of the episode when Sprigg says the same thing as Spike here about missing someone you barely even knew when talking about his/Polly's parents.

It turned that slice of life episode into an tear-jerking one!

[Scyphi]

11852162
Ah yes, that scene! I can see how there's a resemblance between the two, but I genuinely wasn't thinking of that scene at all when writing this chapter--it's just a happy accident that it happened to be comparable like that.

If anything, the only thing really referenced was that "we don't normally wear clothes" scene from FiM's first season, and even that was kind of indirect.

[nfreak]

Loving the emerging brotherly love between Spike and Gallus, it's very lovely to see. All of the emotional scenes have been great so far and the handling of Gwen and Spark's death was perfect if tragic

Surprised they got to safety so soon, and while I know it's not even close to over, I honestly have no idea what's going to happen next to drive the plot. Well, I do have one thought I do find it interesting that the griffons attacked the embassy despite them having no reason to think Gallus/Spike were there, at least not in that brazen of a manner if they weren't sure. So that leaves two options, either Gestal did spot them or considering anyone in call with Twilight knew their location, I could see Kibitz being behind that. He could also be a red herring but he is coming across as suspicious due to his comments about the royal guard. I guess Twilight could also be behind it but I honestly doubt that (though the idea of an April fools chapter having her go full Grief out of no where is making me laugh)

Also one thing this has got me thinking about, I keep thinking to your Gallus/Smolder story series and while I assume it's not the same universe, the implications of this story lead to some interesting ideas for that story. Also just the idea ofa alt universe one shot story where the family didn't get torn apart seems like it might be a fun idea after reading Gallus' day dream about it.. They idea of families formed of multiple species having kids hasn't really been done much in pony fiction from what i've seen, so it just opens up a lot of other possible ideas, on top of just loving Gallus and Spike as characters as is. Not saying any of this should happen more just thinking how refreshing the concept of the story are that they make me think of other possibilities.

[Scyphi]

11853756
So this fic was pretty much always going to be in its own separate universe from all of my past fics to date. That said, when first getting the idea for this fic, it had been my intent to include some Gallus/Smolder shipping too. However this fell through upon realizing that putting Gallus in a relationship with Smolder at the time of the story also meant he'd have an adopted sort of family already and I didn't want that, as I wanted him going into the story thinking he had no family, adopted or otherwise, and spend the story going "how does this family thing even work?" Plus, as the story came together and as you have no doubt already noticed, there wasn't really very many opportunities to include Smolder or the rest of Gallus's friends for most of the story anyway, so it seemed like it'd be worth it if it was going to get so little "screen time."

As for the rest...well, you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?