Work Text:
It was a beautiful day in equestria, it seems almost everyone was in a particularly good mood in the town of ponyville. Well, everyone besides the students at Twilight's School of Friendship. For this was the week before the dreaded final exams, and many of the creatures there were not taking the stress of the biggest tests of the year well.
"I can't believe our friendship finals are only a week away! I feel like I have barely had any time to study for them yet!" Shouted an overly anxious Ocellus.
"I know, and all this stress has really been getting to me, I mean how are we supposed to remember everything we learned in each class" added an equally worried Sandbar.
"Come on guys, it'll be ok, at least you didn't sleep through half your classes." Said Gallus, trying to calm down his worried friends.
"I think you all will do great on the test if you believe in yourself!" Added a cheerful Silverstream.
"Yona agrees. Yona's friends are smart and will do great!"
"Thanks everyone, but I still really think I need to study a lot more to do close to good on this exam." Sandbar stated.
Gallus noticed his friends worry with the test and decided to offer his help.
"Well I know I can't help much, but we could always study together if you want. Though I'm sure you'll be teaching me more than I teaching you."
Sandbar looked up at his friend with a newfound smile on his face.
"Yes I would love that, that is if you wouldn't mind."
"Of course it's no big deal. Wanna meet up in our down in a couple hours?"
"That would be great!"
Gallus and Sandbar, along with the rest of their friends, soon went on their own ways to their next class.
------------------
After his classes were over the teal feathered griffin quickly got ready for his best friends arrival at their dorm room. Even though he got to see Sandbar everyday at school and was roommates with him, he still couldn't help the slight nerves that he felt while waiting for his arrival. He couldn't quite explain why, but lately these feelings of nervousness around the earth pony have been growing. He was sure it was nothing though and decided to bottle down his emotions before they could ever reach the surface, like most griffins do.
It wasn't long before he heard a knock at the door.
"Can I come in?"
"Go on ahead dude, you know this is your room too." Gallus added as Sandbar opened the door.
"I know, I know, jus tryin to be polite."
"Yes, you ponies and your "politeness" gallus added with air quotes.
As Sandbar moved to his side of the bed he pulled out all of his study guides and notes which were hastily put all together into one, big, unorganized pile.
"I'm sure if ocellus could see your organization skills she'd have a heart attack," Gallus said jokingly.
"Hey at least I actually TOOK my notes."
"Touché."
Their little "study date" went on for a few hours and Gallus could tell that by the end of it that Sandbar was looking more stressed than ever. It really did hurt the griffin to see his friend he cared so much for being under so much pressure. After some thought Gallus came up with a great idea to get his friend out of his funk.
"Hey I've got an idea. Since its basically scientifically proven that taking breaks during studying helps calm down the brain and do better on the test, how about we go somewhere to relax for a little."
"I.. I don't know. I feel like I'm still struggling with some of this stuff."
"Oh come on, it'll be fun. I know exactly where we should go to. It's this little place that I like to go whenever I'm stressed out. Plus there's like nobody that knows about it so it could be like our own secret place to hang out."
"You would.. really wanna share something that special… with me?"
Gallus looked up and saw sandbar looking up at him with a small sincere smile and with a gleam in his eyes. He couldn't help but feel his face go red as he looked at his annoyingly adorable friend.
"Yeah sure as long as you don't make a big deal out of it." Gallus said while shifting his gaze away from the earth pony.
"It's a deal!"
---------------------
It only took a couple minutes to get out of the school and into the fresh open air of the day.
"Wow, I already feel better getting to be outside instead of being in that stuffy room all day," said Sandbar as he basked in the sunlight coming through the clouds above.
"Yeah me too, and your be feeling even better once we get to my super cool secret hideout." Gallus bragged.
"Oh yeah, where is this secret place anyway?"
"Well if told you it wouldn't be much of a secret now would it. Now close your eyes."
Sandbar reluctantly obeyed Gallus request as he closed his eyes. He soon felt something, or someone, pick him off from the ground.
"G..Gallus.. what are you doing?"
"Don't worry about it just hold one tight ok."
Sandbar did as he was told but before he could question him any further he felt himself being lifted into the air by his feathered friend. It wasn't long before they were high in the sky, looking down at the ant-sized ponies below.
"Can I open my eyes now?" Sanbar asked.
"Okay, but you have to close them again once we get to the secret place."
"I promise I will."
Sandbar then opened his eyes and saw he was riding on Gallus' back above the clouds. He has never been this high up before and was blown away by the breathtaking views of the towns and grassy plains below.
"Wow.. this is amazing!!" said a starstruck Sandbar."I've never been up this high above the ground before."
"Eh, you get used to it after a while. But I'm glad your enjoying the view."
The two of them flew for a while while making small talk but they soon were nearing their destination.
"Ok so we are coming close so you have to close your eyes again, ok?" Gallus instructed.
"Alright a promise is a promise."
Gallus safety landed the both of the down onto the ground below and quickly began bringing them to his special hideaway. He soon found his way and came upon what he was looking for. He carefully got Sandbar down from on his back.
"Alright, open your eyes in 3...2…"
As Gallus counted down to one Sandbar quickly opened his eyes and was astounded by what he was seeing.
The place was inside of a cave with many different shards of crystals lining the ceilings and floors. Their was also a small steam that grew from a hole in one of the rock formations below. But the part that made it stand out the most was a big hole in the side of the cave that was letting in the light of the day, making all of the crystals sparkle and shine all across the cave.
Sandbars face lit up along with the rest of the cave. "This is just… just incredible!! I never expected it to be this beautiful!!" He said in awe.
Though gallus was initially focused on the beauty of the cave his thoughts quickly shifted onto the way his friend looked while he was illuminated by the crystals surrounding them. His eyes were positivity sparking and his fur was showing the many different hues from the rocks above. Gallus has never seen someone look as beautiful to him as Sandbar did in this moment.
Caught up in admiring the "view" Gallus did not register when a voice was calling out to him.
"Gaaalllus… earth to gallus… you okay buddy?"
"Wha.. oh yeah I'm fine suuuper normal yep" he replied awkwardly.
"Ok, well I was just asking you how did you find this place?"
"Well I found it not to long before I started going to school and meeting you guys. Since back in griffinstone most other griffs could care less where I went off to I liked to fly around and see what kind of interesting places I could find. One day i got kinda lost and was flying for a while when I saw a cave up ahead. I decided to stay the night there and started going back whenever I felt stressed and needed to relax. I know it's kinda lame but I feel like in this place I finally be myself u know?"
Realizing he was rampling for a while he quickly finished his story and waited for Sandbars reply.
"So no one questioned where you were when you got back?"
Well that was not the answer he was expecting. Though he shouldn't be surprised that a pony would be shocked at this treatment.
"Well yeah, I've basically been on my own my whole life before I met all of you. Like I said back at the whole Hearth's Warming Eve fiasco I never really had a family to look after me, let alone any true friends."
He looked over at his friend and saw that he had tears forming in his eyes. Way to go Gallus just ruin the whole atmosphere with your depressing childhood.
"Hey hey don't cry it's ok, I mean I turned out alright plus I ended up making some amazing friends that I really care about."
Gallus soon felt pony hooves embracing him and he quickly reciprocated the hug. Why did this pony have such an effect on him?
"I'm so sorry you had to go through that Gallus, I can't imagine what that must have been like for you."
Sandbar shifted himself so that he was looking straight at him, still locked in an embrace.
"No matter what, I'll always be there for you Gallus."
It meant a lot to hear those words come from anyone to Gallus, but especially when it's being said by his best friend and newfound crush. He quickly felt himself blushing under the ponies stare.
"Thanks dude, it means a lot. Anyway off the topic of my childhood trauma are you feeling better about the tests now?"
"You know I haven't even been thinking about them since we got here. Guess it really did work."
"See. I told it would!"
They spent some time admiring the unique crystals of the cave and making some small talk, though Gallus couldn't help but feel there was some awkward tension between them. He wasn't quite sure why.
Sandbar suddenly perked up his head. "Hey I have an idea! How about we play a game?"
"Alright, what game do you have in mind?"
"Oh it's just a little game called… tag your it!"
Sandbar quickly poked the griffon and started running to the other side of the cave.
"Oh you're in for it now." Gallus said as he started to take flight.
"Hey, no fair you can't use your wings."
"Alright fine, fine. I'm still gonna beat you either way."
"Not if you can't catch me!"
The race was on. Sandbar started running as fast as his hooves could take him but the blue griffon was soon able to reach him.
"I got you now- agh!"
He was about to tag him when Sandbar quickly got his way out of his grasp and started running the other way.
"Oh you're not getting away that easily."
They both continued their chase in the cave until Gallus found his perfect opportunity to win. He pounced onto Sandbar and left him laying underneath him.
He booped his muzzle while saying, "boop. You're it!"
He quickly realized the pose that he and his friend were in as he saw Sandbar staring up at him with a hard to read expression on his face. It could have been just the colors bouncing off the pony's fur but he could have sworn he saw a blush forming on his face.
Just as he was about to get out of the awkward situation he felt two lips meet his beak.
He couldn't comprehend what was happening, was his best friend actually kissing him? It felt like it was like a dream, one that he had been frequently having for a while now. But before he could reciprocate the kiss it was over before he knew it.
Sandbar looked back up at him with the sudden realization of what he had just done.
"Oh shit dude I'm so sorry I didn't mean t-"
But before the stallion could finish his sentence Gallus decided to return the sentiment with a heartfelt peck on the cheek which ending with a kiss on the lips.
They both have had zero experience with kissing. Which it made it even harder to figure out how a ponies mouth and beak would fit together, but they somehow made it work. Soon the kiss was broken as they looked back up at each other.
"So.. did we just?"
"Yeah it think so.."
Sandbar soon started to giggle which them erupted into full laughter. Gallus couldn't help but join in as they both sat on their backs laughing like idiots.
After a while their giggling settled down. Sandbar looked over at Gallus with a new serious expression.
"So, how did you know?"
"Know what?" Gallus questioned back.
"That you like guys."
"Oh, well I should be asking you the same question. Wasn't it you that was acting like you were in love with Yona a couple months ago?"
"Oh yeah….that. Well I thought maybe if I found my feelings were for someone else I would be able to get over you easier. Though obviously that didn't work out. I still love Yona, but purely as a friend."
Sandbar paused but then repeated his question again.
"You still haven't answered me though. If it's too personal to answer I understand."
"No,no.. it's fine. I'm honestly still trying to figure all this stuff out. Have no idea if I'm gay, straight, or anything else really. I'm just.. me you know."
"Oh yeah I get that. Though after Yona kissed me on our first date I quickly realized that my sexuality was a hundo percent gay."
"Yeah I thought I heard that you awkwardly asked to go to the bathroom and jumped out the window to avoid her." Gallus added with a chuckle.
"HEY I THOUGHT THAT WAS PRIVATE INFORMATION."
"Hey blame Smoulder not me, she was the one that told everyone."
"Oh she's in for it tomorrow," Sandbar said with a nonthreatening glare.
Gallus picked up the pony and booped his nose playfully.
"Has anyone ever told you you're super cute when you're angry?"
Sandbar blushed and looked away from the griffin.
"Oh hush it."
Gallus smiled and set the pony down once more.
"Ok so since you know my super embarrassing story now you gotta tell me one of yours."
"Jokes on you I've never had a crush on anyone before…. well besides the obvious."
Sandbar giggled and proceeded to interrogate him further.
"Come on you have had to have had at least ONE crush on someone besides me."
"Well.. there was this one griffin, but I would barely call it a crush honestly."
Sandbar perked up and had a smirk on his face.
"Go onnn."
"Ok since you MUST know I guess I have to tell you. So in griffinstone there wasn't many kids my age that were considered "popular". Though I was surely not one of them. The ones that were though were looked up to by any griff my age and were seen as above everyone else. One day as I was doing my daily fly around the city I saw the leader of the group of popular griffs flying straight to me. I was so starstruck that I could barely move when I saw him. He soon reached me and actually asked me if I wanted to go flying with him. I was so thrilled that he actually wanted to hang out with me I didn't see the blatant warning signs and, of course, said yes. The flight was actually pleasant and he was surprisingly nice to me, though I guess all good things must come to an end."
"Everything was going fine until he suggested to go to this "cool hangout" he and his friends liked to go to. I, of course, followed his lead to this place. When we got there, though I was not greeted by anyone."
"Where.. where are we." A younger Gallus questioned.
"Why we are in our awesome hideout cave of course." Answered Glade.
Glade knelt down to Gallus to asked him
"Do you want to play a game, my friend?"
"Oh yes of course, what kind of game?"
"All you need to do is to close your eyes and when you count to ten to open them."
"Oh ok!! Anything for you Glade!!" Gallus chirped happily.
As Gallus happily awaited his surprise he heard the flapping of wings above him. Thinking that the sounds was just from his "friends" he continued on.
"7...8...9...10!"
Gallus quickly opened his eyes but was met with a much different surprise then he was expecting.
Above him were a swarm of bats that are a local species of griffinstone and are known for being highly territorial. The young griffin quickly lept up and ran as the bats chased him out of cave, hearing the echoes of the other griffins laughter throughout it.
"So let's just say I learned a thing or two about trusting others that day." Gallus said while finishing his story.
He saw the true anger that Sandbar had toward his childhood bullies in his expression.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE someone would do that to you!! If I could go up there and see those assholes for myself i swear to Celestia-"
"Hey calm down my knight in shining armor. I'm totally ok, at least now I am."
"I truly understand why you acted so cold when you first met me and the others. How were you even able to learn to trust us?"
"I don't quite know really, I guess I could just tell that there was something special about you all. Cheesy I know, but it's true."
"Well as long as I'm here I'm gonna make sure that whoever wants to to hurt you has gotta come through me first." Sandbar added bravely.
"Oh my hero~" Gallus swooned as he pecked Sandbar on the cheek. "What ever would I do without such a handsome stallion to protect me~"
Sandbar quickly released Gallus from his hold and looked away to not let the griffin see how flustered he made him.
"You're doing that on purpose and you know it!!"
"Oh come on. It's not like you don't like it anyway~" Gallus cooed
Quickly finding a way to change the subject Sandbar said,"shouldn't we be getting home soon anyway, I feel like we have been here for a while now."
"Oh shoot you're right. Guess we gotta go back to the amazing world of schoolwork and depression."
"Hey it's not all bad. It least I get to see my favorite griffin everyday." Sandbar added playfully.
"Yeah yeah.. now are you coming or what?"
"Oh course be right there!"
And though the two did not end up getting much studying done that night. They can both safely say it was the best study date they have ever had.
The End.