Okay, I haven't worked on an MLP story in so long, and I'm in the mood for some ships, angst, and comfort. I totally ship Gallus and Silverstream after "What Lies Beneath", and I'm sure so many people do as well. And I was really interested in Gallus' claustrophobia, and I thought about how much worse it could get. Especially if someone forced him into it…
~Post School Raze~
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It was after school that it happened. Gallus, the only griffon in Twilight's School of Friendship was just heading to the student's quarters to retire for the day. His classes had exhausted him and while he knew he should study for the upcoming test, he was too beat to do it right away. He put his books and papers down at his desk and threw himself on his bed, the force of the impact making the blanket react and fall over him casually, and Gallus sighed in bliss at the immediate warmth.
In Gallus' Dream…
The griffon found himself back in Griffonstone, the streets filled with various other griffons. They were all talking to each other, certainly not using the most friendly words, but still, talking. Gallus shrugged at how weird this was, considering he didn't even remember leaving the Ponyville, or the school for that matter. He strolled into the town, minding his own business, but each griffon he passed took notice of him and started whispering things to each other behind their claws.
Gallus raised an eyebrow, while squinting the other. He looked back and forth between the two sides of town, wondering what every griffon's deal was. Nobody ever paid the orphaned griffon much mind, just like they never paid each other much mind, so, why all the gossip?
Gallus was broken out of his thoughts when he bumped into someone. After shaking his head a smidge, he saw it was none other than Grampa Gruff.
"Oi, watch where yer walking, dummy!" the elderly griffon snapped.
But his expression changed to… shock, it seemed when he saw Gallus.
"Jeez, sorry, Grampa Gruff," Gallus muttered. "It was an accident."
The other griffon didn't say anything. He simply stood pensively, confusing Gallus even more, and to make matters worse, the other griffons started gathering around the two in a big circle. Gallus looked around more, wanting to ask why everyone was crowding them. He was nervous on the inside, but kept his bravery on the outside.
"You… You got a lotta nerve stepping back here, boy." Grampa Gruff said, annoyed.
"Uh, I do?" Gallus asked.
"Well, of course. After all, you ain't no griffon anymore, are ye?" Grampa Gruff continued, the annoyance never faded from his voice.
The other griffons moved closer, making the border around the two smaller. Gallus was beginning to feel more uncomfortable with the circle becoming smaller.
No! the blue griffon thought Don't let the claustrophobia win!
"What are you even saying? I AM a griffon, why would you think otherwise?" he retorted.
"Well," a female griffon from the crowd stated. "You spend an awful lot of time with other creatures."
"Yeah," Another one added. "Not to mention your little… weakness."
Every other griffon began chattering in agreement, closing in on Gallus, and Grampa Gruff was closing in, too. Gallus soon felt his fear rise to the surface, every griffon was getting too close for him to feel comfortable with, and all the noises they were making made him feel even more scared. It felt like he was in a small room and the voices were echoing over and over hurting his ears.
"H-Hey, back up! Stop! Get away!" Gallus shouted.
No griffon seemed to hear him, or even if they did, they didn't care. The circle got smaller and smaller, and then Gallus' ears started to ring, everything was spinning and vibrating, he couldn't stay awake much longer!
So, he let out one last, big screech, and found himself… on the floor of his dormitory.
He couldn't see, though, everything was dark, and fuzzy, and too warm.
Wait a second Gallus thought.
If his suspicions were true, then he should be able to grab the blanket off of himself and put it on the floor. Slowly, he reached his claw up to his head, and grabbed the fuzzy, purple fabric, and moved it away from his head. He could finally see again!
"Oh, thank Celestia…" the young griffon sighed.
*knock, knock, knock*
Gallus' head feathers perked up in response to the sudden three knocks on his door. Who could be knocking on his door at this hour? Wait, what time was it again?
"Uh, c-come in?" he called, still shaken up.
The door opened a little ways, and a pink hippogriff with a light blue mane poked her head in. Her curious blue-violet eyes widening when she saw Gallus on the floor, his blankets strewn about. She completely entered the room after seeing the scene before her.
"Gallus?" she asked in her girly voice.
"Suh… Silverstream? What are you doing up?" the blue griffon asked.
He stood up and maintained his stern posture, not wanting his friend to worry about him. No reason to ruffle her feathers over a dumb dream he just had.
"Up? What do you mean, the sun only went down 20 minutes ago, silly!" Silverstream laughed.
Gallus blushed and avoided eye contact.
"Oh," was all he said.
Silverstream made a curious face and fluttered her wings so she was hovering above the ground a little. She got Gallus' attention, but if you asked him, her face was a little too close to his for comfort. Still, he was mesmerised by those violet gems of hers called eyes.
"Gallus, are you okay? You seem a bit frazzled." Silverstream pointed out.
Gallus breathed out sharply and wormed around Silverstream. He faced his door and sat down, hanging his head low. Silverstream made a face like a curious, but worried puppy, wondering what was making her friend so sad and… scared. She trotted over and sat next to him, offering a warm smile for comfort.
Gallus's pupils constricted for a moment but then returned to their normal size, he tried fighting off the blush that threatened to fill his cheeks, but failed. Silverstream didn't seem to mind, though, in fact, she put her wing around Gallus' back.
"Come oooon, you can tell meeee~" the pink griff pleaded.
Gallus sighed and gave up.
"Fine, fine, just, don't look at me like that."
Silverstream made a quizzical face.
"Like, what?" she asked, genuinely having no clue what Gallus meant.
Gallus opened his beak to explain, but found no words. How could he explain to such a bubbly, and slightly naive creature that she was being too cute for him to handle? She'd probably feel uncomfortable or even not know what to think.
"Nevermind. Um, I… I just had a stupid dream, that's all." the griffon admitted.
Silverstream blinked twice.
"Stupid how? Stupid like "Oh my, gosh, I can't believe something that ridiculous was on my mind" or stupid like it actually bothers you and you're afraid to actually talk about it?" she continued.
Gallus took in a big breath sighed it out slowly.
"Does that mean option number 2?" Silverstream asked.
Gallus shut his eyes and stood up, his back now feeling cold without the warmth of Silverstream's wing on it.
"Yeah, it is. And no offense, Silv, but uh, I really don't wanna talk about it. Nothing against you, but I just wanna sleep more. I'm way too tired to think about this." the blue creature explained.
While he was talking, he was picking up his blankets and remaking his bed. He actually hated having a messy bed and wanted to have maximum comfort for when he slept. Silverstream tilted her head to one side.
"Are you sure?" she asked, hoping Gallus would change his mind.
After fluffing his pillow one last time, Gallus turned and nodded at her.
"As sure as I am that I'm a griffon." he added to the nod.
Silverstream scratched her head in wonder.
"Wow, that's, uh, heh, pretty sure."
Gallus merely shrugged with closed eyes.
"Uh, well, maybe at study club tomorrow? We can talk about it? All six of us?" Silverstream suggested, her eyes glimmering with plea.
Gallus wanted to resist, but again, failed. He fell victim to the shimmering eyes of Silverstream, and agreed to talk about his stupid dream tomorrow. If he was… well rested anyway.
"Alrighty, then, goodnight, Gallus! I love you!" Silverstream sang.
Gallus felt his face get hot all of a sudden at that last remark. Did Silverstream just say what he thought she just said?
"You WHAT?!" he exclaimed.
Silverstream blushed and lowered her ears.
"I mean uh, as a friend! Yeah, I love you as my friend, haha!" the hippogriff in pink said.
Gallus raised an eyebrow at Silverstream, skeptical of her words. He wasn't sure what she was trying to get at here, but decided to let it go in favour of more sleep.
"Riiiiight, okay, then." he tested her.
Silverstream gave a goofy smile and stepped out of Gallus' dorm, leaving the latter confused and tired.
Done! I wanted to do another MLP short story since I've missed writing fanfiction for the show. This one is about revisiting Gallus' claustrophobia since I personally found that one to be the most interesting of the Young Six's fears (Yona's fear of spiders was second, IMO).
And yes, there will be some Gallus x Silverstream
R&R!