+*+ GALLUS +*+

I know I don't usually change POV's in the same chapter because it's annoying but I swear there's only going to be one POV switch that will make sense.

I know I don't usually put triggers, but there are stuff that had actually been triggering me, and is triggering me to write, but oh well... so...

Trigger: Homophobic slur
I will add another trigger warning right before the moment so you can skip it if you like

(Also, don't you hate it when people say 'triggered' when they're just irritated? Like, excuse me, real people get triggered, and that is sometimes serious, so please don't use it in a sentence so casually with a sligtly different context)

Why was that bastard still here? That was the one question Gallus kept asking himself that morning. It was quite a nice morning for the most part, he thought as he sat in the circle where his friends would sit. It would be a nice morning, anyway, if Sandbar weren't there.

    That arrogant Pony thought that he could just mosy in Zecora's Hut as if it were the most natural thing in the world and take advantage of their hospitality, sleeping in a hammock that wasn't for him, eating extra helpings when they're supposed to be for other creatures.

Gallus was quite okay with that. If it were only the two of them here, he wouldn't really care if that bother just took everything. What did bother him was the fact that the Pony made friends with Aura Light just to spite him then when his beloved Aura got into trouble and turned into a raging rhino, he supposed it would be fine to go back begging to his old friends.

   He shook his head. This whole thing was silly. Sandbar was stupid. They were his old friends for a reason. Okay, so maybe the Silverstream and Ocellus were too kind to think so, but he knew that the rest of his friends must be feeling the same way deep down.

    He sighed as he surveyed the rest of the room. Sandbar was in one corner and seemed to be working on something, but he was huddled in one place and looked every so often behind his back, as if he had something he was hiding, and he probably did.

Ocellus was seated beside him looking weak and tired, the life drained out of her eyes, and a small forming bag under it. He couldn't help but give her a side hug. While he was unaffected by everything, he also didn't give much of an effort to do something about this. Meanwhile, the Changeling, who was very much affected, was still trying to help all of them.

    He frowned as he looked at Silverstream still in her hammock. That Hippogriff wouldn't get up for anything anymore and they almost always had to give her food and feed it to her if Sandbar hadn't eaten all of them. She didn't deserve this. None of them did.

    Then there was Yona who sat across him, writing and writing letters. Rarity had came a few days ago and the atmosphere had liven up considerably, and almost immediately did everything go back to the usual once she left. The Yak now wished to spend more time with their professor more than anything at the moment, and while it could be annoying, he couldn't blame her.

Smolder sat beside him being the ever-temperamental Dragon, always so moody and complaining about everything. He rolled his eyes slightly as she muttered a few complaints but he couldn't really stop her if he tried. This would all be over eventually. At least, he hoped so.

"Ocellus, help," Gallus said, looking at the Changeling beside him with pleading eyes. He didn't really know what he needed help with. He just needed it. Maybe a little help to make the atmosphere happier would be better, or maybe if Sandbar would finally be sent out of the hut.

   "What do you want, Gallus?" Ocellus snapped, then winced as she did that. Gallus frowned. He knew how much that Changeling wanted to respect everycreature, but he honestly wished she would let it drop sometimes. He did deserve to get snapped at anyway.

   "I don't know. Just help," Gallus admitted, looking down at the ground. He knew it sounded stupid. He knew most things he said sounded stupid, but he still said them anyways. He shouldn't even be asking the Changeling for things. She was already trying her best to help them all.

"I'm going to go see what everycreature else is doing," Ocellus murmured under her breath as she stood up, flashing a small smile to Gallus. He smiled back. He knew he was probably being like a spoiled son as the Changeling walked over to Sandbar. He knew he shouldn't be using his friend to spy on that obnoxious Pony, but the Changeling seemed willing to do it, even though that made it him seem selfish.

Gallus waited in silence, ever so often looking at the two conversing creatures wondering what the heck Sandbar was planning because this whole thing could go on so many terrible ways, and he wasn't really too keen on having it that way. Smolder was sending him a questioning look, clearly knowing he had something in mind, but he shook his head at her as Ocellus made her way back to them.

"Alright, Gallus, I know you hate him but-" Ocellus began before she was cut off by Gallus, sending him a sharp glare, and the Griffin sticking his tongue out in reply.

"There's a 'but'?" Gallus asked, scoffing. He could not believe it. He hated him. That was that. Sandbar was not redeemable. That Pony did not only mess with him, but the rest of his friends as well, and if somecreature messed with the Griffin's friends, he could not just let it slide.

   "But," Ocellus continued despite the Griffin's protests, placing extra stress on the 'but', "Sandbar had actually been trying to help us"

   "Oh, and how is that?" Smolder asked, piping up for the first time as she crosses her arms, her eyebrows slightly upturned at the Changeling, interest clearly piqued, but she had to try to put a condescending face. Gallus couldn't blame her. He wouldn't believe that Pony would ever try helping them after he transferred his allegiance to Aura Light.

"He's working on a potion that could cure Aura Light," Ocellus said as calmly as she could, stone-faced as she looked at Gallus, challenging him to say something. He scoffed. Why would that Changeling believe he'd ever learn to trust Sandbar again after all that? Though a potion would be nice...

+*+ Trigger Warning +*+

"The faggot's just working for his boyfriend," Gallus said as he scoffed, earning glares from the three of his friends, because he honestly couldn't care. Sandbar was a faggot anyway. That had been proven, and Aura Light just had a case of internalised homophobia.

    "Gallus, shut up!" Silverstream shouted across the room in such a loud voice that she was able to make echoes and all their ears hurt. They all turned towards her, including Sandbar, and expected the Hippogriff to be fuming, but instead convulsing rapidly and just glaring daggers at the Griffin. "Don't you dare use that word again!"

    "If you want to use a word, use 'gay'! He's not even gay! He's bisexual! There's a reason these exist, you know? And do not just immediately assume that someone has internalised homophobia until you know that creature!" Silverstream finally finished yelling, releasing a huge irritated sigh and shook her head with disappointment as she returned to her hammock to sleep.

+*+ END OF TRIGGER +*+

    "Well, did Griffin learn something?" Yona piped up, tilting her head. Gallus shook his head as he scoffed, but decided to not say anything. Silverstream could be quite fiery at times, especially when it came to things she was passionate about, and to be honest, the Griffin sometimes wished she wasn't like that.

   "Well..." Ocellus interupted, clearing her throat as she threw another firm look to the Griffin, hoping to ensure that he understood. Gallus hung his head low. Okay, so maybe he was in the wrong, but Sandbar had acted completely okay with that word! Why was Silverstream any different?

"As I was saying... Sandbar is working on a potion to help cure Aura Light. We should help him," Ocellus said with a smile, giving another firm look to the Griffin who just looked away. He felt the urge to roll his eyes. They were all so blind and oblivious. Maybe he could try informing them again.

   "He's just trying to gain our trust back to probably do something bad to us later," Gallus said, scoffing slightly. He received more glares and he would be lying if he said he didn't feel the tiniest bit of guilt slip into him, but he valued his pride way to much for a little guilt to get him down.

   "Sandbar is our friend. Pony will not do that," Yona suddenly piped up, standing up and looking firmly at the Griffin, who couldn't help but look down more as the Yak stared at him with disappointment on her face. Okay, so maybe he was stupid for thinking that, but it was possible!

   "I'm done with the potion." Sandbar suddenly said from the corner of the room, making all heads turn to him. He gave a sheepish smile as he held up a bottle full of dark blue liquid. Ocellus gave him an encouraging nod, clearly on-board with the Pony's idea, while Yona offered a smile, ready to support.

Smolder was raising her eyebrows as she bit her lip, quite skeptical at the whole ordeal, while Silverstream was still in her hammock, but she was looking at them all this time with a curious look, not really disapproving of the idea. Gallus, meanwhile, was glaring daggers into the Pony, all his energy focused on his hatred.

   "Well, what do friends do with potion now?" Yona asked, raising her eyebrows as she looked at every one of her friends, ignoring the obvious tension in the room. Gallus rolled his eyes. That wasn't even a question. They weren't going to do anything. He opened his beak to speak, but he was quickly cut off by Ocellus.

   "We should get going now," Ocellus said, earning a nod from Smolder, while the rest didn't seem so sure about it. Most of then had worry on their faces, except for Gallus. He was split. He knew they should do nothing and leave it all to the professors and let them give Aura Light the treatment he deserved, but then again, he could ensure that himself. He nodded.

+*+ TRIGGER WARNING +*+

"But what if the potion doesn't work?" Sandbar asked, dread filling his face as he imagined the number of ways the potion could go wrong, and that made Gallus scoff. That faggot really did care too much about his boyfriend. He definitely did not care about the five of them. He was faking it. These were his true colours.

+*+ END OF TRIGGER WARNING +*+

    "Sandbar, if you really cared about Aura Light and all of us, you would be willing to take the risk," Ocellus said with a reassuring smile, making the Pony grumble an agreement. Gallus shot the Pony another glare. He was definitely only doing this for Aura Light.

    "But what if friends get into trouble?" Yona asked, her eyes growing wide at the possible ways things could go wrong and they could get hurt, and while the Griffin had to admit that it did bother him, he was willing to take the risk. As long as Aura Light got the treatment he deserved.

"Then we'll get through it together," Ocellus said with a firm nod to confirm it. The others nodded along as well. Even Gallus managed to slightly dip his head, but he was definitely not going to help Sandbar if he needed help. It wasn't like he was going to do the same for him anyway.

"Can't we let the professors handle this?" Silverstream asked who was now standing next to her other friends. Her eyebrows seemed to be slightly upturned and her whole body seemed tense, but she still had a smile on her face and seemed to be willing to help if worse comes to worst.

   "We'll be fine, Silverstream. It's better to address this now before anything could get any worse," Ocellus said, offering a nervous smile to the Hippogriff. Gallus found it weird how the creatures that usually suround someone anxious are either not able to relate, or are a little anxious themselves.

    "Well, what are friends waiting for? Let's go!" Yona yelled in a tone too cheerful for their situation. Gallus rolled his eyes as they all stepped outside, nothing but the desire to murder Aura Light inside him, or maybe something milder than that. It would depend on his mood.

"Gallus, you hold the potion," Ocellus said suddenly with wide eyes, grabbing the potion from Sandbar and handing it to the Griffin. His eyes widened as his face scrunched up in confusion, wondering why he out of all of them was going to get the potion.

   "Oh, Gallus, please, stop pouting. Sandbar can tame Aura Light. Silverstream can turn into a Seapony. Smolder can breathe fire. Yona can ram into anything," Ocellus said nonchalantly as she rolled her eyes at the still-pouting Griffin as she listed the strengths and capabilities of each of their friends without a care in the world. As if the Griffin wasn't going to be riled up even in the slightest.

   "Fine," Gallus begrudgingly agreed as he took the potion from the Changeling, mentally telling himself that he was going to make Aura Light get it because he would be so much easier to handle in his Unicorn form than the red rhino. He gave another glare to Sandbar as they started walking.

Gallus had expected the walk to be a long one before they would ever bump into Aura Light. After all, the rampaging rhino obviously didn't know where they were, and they were currently in a quite secluded yet obvious place in Equestria, so he probably wouldn't look into the Everfree Forest in a while.

It started small at first. Just a few trembles on the ground. Then they started getting stronger. He didn't really bother about earthquakes, but trying to keep his balance had been annoying and so he started flying while the rest of his friends preferred the ground.

Then there was a scent. He didn't really know what the scent was, so he paid no attention to it. Then there were grunts. He sent a quick glare at Sandbar, fully convinced that the Pony was responsible for them, before realising his mouth was closed.

   They were all near the canyon which lead to the Tree of Harmony when they all realised what was happening and a giant red rampaging rhino emerged from the trees, much bigger than they had all remembered. With each step it took, Gallus could practically see the ground shake. Now he knew the cause of those earthquakes...

    He cringed as the worst of the smell got to him. He had never been a big fan of the smell of rhinos or crystals, no matter how good the crystal may seem, so a crystal rhino was definitely very foul. As if things couldn't irritate him further, the rhino was making such bothersome grunts.

He was flying to get away when the rampaging rhino smacked him directly with it's horns and he couldn't help but let out a little curse as he was slammed into the ground by the force of gravity. His body ached all over and he knew he didn't have the strength to even bother sitting up.

   He couldn't even bring himself to open his eyes. He stood there, motionless, the only thing he could feel was absolute pain, and he felt like crying out, but he couldn't even get enough air in his lungs to do so, and he felt like his vocal chords were too weak to even function.

He couldn't feel anything. He could vaguely feel the ground. He could vaguely feel the air, but most he felt was pain. He couldn't hear anything neither, nor could he smell the stench of the crystal rhino anymore. He was quite scared, if he were being honest. He didn't want to stay senseless forever.

    Then he remembered about something important. Yeah. Someone told him about something important. It was Ocellus if he had remembered correctly. She had told him to take care of something. It was important. She had told him to take care of the potion.

His eyes opened slightly and he could feel the pain banging in his head with just that simple action but he decided to go through with it anyway and he couldn't help but feel completely hopeless as he saw the potion bottle in front of him as it slowly rolled away past the small rocks and flora towards the edge of the cliff where it would meet it's death.

He couldn't find the strength to move his facial muscles, but if he could, he would frown, knowing that the rampaging rhino would still remain and that they were all probably doomed unless Ocellus saved them all again, which probably wouldn't happen. He didn't even know what was still happening.

   Then a blur of green covered his vision and he didn't even bother trying to keep up with anything at all anymote and just decided to close his eyes and see where the darkness would take him, and he honestly wished he would pass out, nevermind how bad it would feel.

+*+ SANDBAR +*+

Sandbar found himself breathing heavily as he stared at the edge of the canyon, the potion bottle held tight in his hooves. He could not believe what had just happened within the past 24 hours, and while he was quite excited in seeing Aura Light again, he didn't want to see him as a red rhino.

   To add to that, for the whole week or two he had been with them, Gallus had hated him. He could understand why. It was he, after all, who joined Aura's little crew just to spite him over a small argument. He couldn't even remember what the argument was. Couldn't they jusy let it slide? He shook his head. Apparently they couldn't.

    Then there he was now, standing at the edge of the cliff, the potion bottle clenched tight in his hooves. He turned around and the first thing he saw was Gallus, his Griffin body spraweled out on the low-growing grass. He couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness as he looked at his friend's motionless body.

He soon got disctracted as he heard the sounds of battle happening a few more meters away from him. The rest of the girls were fighting fiercely, and he smiled, knowing that they would. Those four were the scariest creatures at school, and he was even counting the professors.

Silverstream seemed to be enjoying flying then turning into a Seapony, only to become a Hippogriff and fly again, while Yona was having fun ramming right into the rhino at any chance she got, with Smolder flying overhead and breathing fire, hoping that it would weaken the crystal rhino somehow. Then there was Ocellus who used her Changeling magic to turn into literally any creature.

    He knew that he was scared of those four, but he had never felt so scared of the girls until he had seen them fighting so fiercely. Usually, the Magic of Friendship would save them before things got too tough, but Gallus was on the ground, the potion with a helpless Pony, and the rest of them still fighting.

He had to admit while everything did seem hopeless, it was quite entertaining to see a rampaging rhino be defeated by his very own friends. Okay, so maybe he did consider Aura Light a friend, but this rhino wasn't Aura Light. He was sure of that. There was even proof.

Okay, so maybe he was not the best friend for the past month or so. His eyes widened as he realised it had been a month. A month that Aura Light spent being a red rhino. A month that his friends spend in Zecora's hut. A month that he had been alone. It was quite overwhelming to think about.

While through that month, he was not there for his friends. He definitely felt the guilt weighing down on him every single day, pulling him back towards the hut, then even more guilt pulling him away from it. He was glad he managed to overcome it for a while to head to them.

    He looked at the potion in his hand again. He wondered whether or not doing the deed would help put an end to all the guilt that he had been consuming. He took a deep breath. He was going to do this. He took the first step towards the center of the action, which wasn't much.

Then he took the second step, then the third, then the fourth, and he kept stepping and stepping until he found himself remotely approaching the main area. He took a deep breath. All he needed to do was pour the potion onto him, and it would all be alright immediately, so that should be his main priority.

He took another deep breath as he looked around. With all the chaoes happening, he wasn't sure how exactly he would even remotely approach the rhino. He took a deep breath again. He would do what he would always do, he supposed. He would take it one step at a time.

    It was quite hard, to say the least, considering the shaking ground, and he had to dodge a fair share of attackes from his own friends who accidentally miss the rhino, but he managed to manuever himself, jumping from spot to spot now at this point, taking advantage of trees and rocks.

   He was now standing on top of a relatively tall tree, clinging hard onto it and the potion, hoping he wouldn't fall from all the shaking. The rampaging rhino was just in front of him. He could do this. Maybe. Either way, if he didn't make the jump, one of his friends might fly in to help.

He closed his eyes and jumped, his hooves being sprawled out into the air as he deperately and blindly tried to feel if something was in front of him and if he was going to land successfully. He eventually felt his body slam against something cold and a little sharp edge and he knew that he either made it or completely missed.

   He flailed a bit even though he landed already, probably being the most stupid creature in the world, as he fought for something to hold onto and hoisted himself up, wrapping his hooves around a cold cone and sitting up before opening his eyes. He did make it. He was sitting on top of the rampaging rhino.

   He took a few deep breaths as he tried to register what was happening. The shaking was much worse but he at least managed to hold on tight to what seemed to be the rhino's horn. He still felt the bottle closely wrapped in his hooves, so that was good. Unfortunately, now that he was on the rhino, it was getting hard to dodge his friend's attacks as he was on the thing they were actually attacking.

And the smell. One must always think about the smell of rhinos and crystals. Or maybe that was just Sandbar. Either way, it got so much worse, but it seemed like all other senses were starting to get numb, which he had no idea why, but he wasn't complaining. He could still hear the faint sounds of attack from his friends and he could still clearly see a few meters in front of him, while the rest were slightly blurred.

    He supposed he should just go ahead and do the one thing he was supposed to do anyway. He fumbled with the potion for a while, momentarily forgetting how to uncap it, and there it was. The dark blue liquid swishing in the bottle. He took a deep breath and poured it on the rhino he was sitting on.

    The book didn't contain much information on how the potion would actually affect Aura Light but it turned out to be immediate as he found himself suspended in air for a second and he began falling. He looked around, seemingly a little to calm for the situation. All the shaking seemed to stop and his weak smelling couldn't detect the stench anymore. He could hear faint shouts of his friends and see a blur of pink heading his way before everything fell to black.

+*+

The first thing Sandbar saw when his eyes finally regained conciousness was a blue crystal ceiling that didn't smell at all. If he had the strength to, he would raise his eyebrows. A blue crystal ceiling that didn't smell? There was only one place he knew that had that.

   He couldn't be here, could he? He spent a few more minutes staring at the ceiling and feeling a really soft  mattress below him, and he sunk into it. He had never felt something so soft since they last had to leave, and the fuzzy blanket he was wrapped in was the absolute fuzziest.

   He was wrapped in the softness and the comfort for a few more minutes before his hearing slowly returned, and it was still quite silent. All he could hear were muffled voices coming from what he could assume was another room, and those voices seemed to belong to Headmare Starlight Glimmer and his parents.

Starlight Glimmer... It had been so long since he last thought of his headmare. He thought that she would be there to help them, so she either was too busy, too lazy or had her complete trust in them, and he felt anger bubble up inside of him. He did not want that. Did she know about everything they had to undergo? She didn't, because she was probably too busy wasting her time in the comforts of the School of Friendship.

If he could, he would shake his head. There would be time to get angry over that later. All that was left in his mind was a small headache as he thought about his family, and at the very thought of them, tears started to form in his eyes, but he didn't allow himself to release them.

   His parents. His little sister. They were all here. They were safe. Just a few meters away. He had never seen them in such a long time and he was really wanting to see them again. If he didn't feel so weak, he would probably already be up and running to the next room.

He heard a few hoofsteps heading towards the room he was in, and he wasn't really able to discern what the room looked like. He was still staring at the ceiling before Starlight popped her head in front of him with a gentle smile. If he could, he would groan, but all he could do at the moment was feel an urge to slap this mare, which he probably wouldn't be able to accomplish either way.

     "How are you feeling, Sandbar?" SG asked in a gentle and calm voice, and he had to admit the voice was quite soothing to hear after all they've been through. He really missed it. He could just lie down there forever and listen to his headmare talk, but he knew he had to respond eventually.

"Alright," Sandbar croaked, and his eyes widened at what his voice sounded like. He had nearly forgetten how it sounded, and even so, what came out was way more scratchy than what he should be accustomed to, not to mention much lower. He coughed a few times then tried speaking again. "Alright"

"Good," the light purple Pony said with a nod, and he nodded back, surprising himself by smiling. He tried to control his blinking by blinking repeatedly and then tried doing multiple faces. So he could move his facial muscles again. It still hurt a bit, but it was bearable.

Sandbar then tried moving his hooves, and was quite surprised with how it didn't hurt. It was sad and apparent that sitting up right after falling from a tall height was something most Ponies would not approve of, but he didn't know that and proceeded to sit up, crying out loud in pain, but he still didn't give up and finished the process.

   The headmare was there beside him levitating a glass of water and a daisy sandwich and he wasted no time and grabbing the water and drank it, the cool liquid slushing down his throat, making the pain he felt there soothe for a while, before landing in his stomach and magically cooling his entire body off from there. He missed water so much. It wasn't that he didn't have water, but this water was extremely good.

"Can I have another glass of water?" Sandbar asked almost immediately after the one he was holding was emptied, and his eyes widened satisfactorily as he heard his voice become less scratchy. It almost sounded like his usual voice, just a little lower in pitch. He hoped to fix that.

    He was practically panting like a puppy to the headmare but he honestly really wanted some more water. He loved water so much. His headmare gave a small nod as she walked out of the room again, leaving the sandwich beside him. He looked longingly at the sandwich, dying to finally taste something good and flavourful, but he knew he was going to drink water before eating that sandwich.

He spent the time to observe his suroundings. He was on a red bed with white fluffly blankets and a really bright window beside him which he wasted no time in looking outside. It seemed that he was in the inner rooms of the School of Friendship, facing the large square garden in the middle.

    He let out a longe sigh, then a sigh followed that one. He really missed sighing. He missed everything. He missed the garden so much as well. He smiled, and realised he had also missed smiling, and his smile only grew wider from that. He smiled as he watched a few creatures play in the garden, while a few of them were just taking a stroll, and some were studying.

On the back of his mind, he was quite worried with all the catching up he had to do, but he was quick to push it away and proceeded to look around the room, his back to the window where he could finally feel the sun again. If he could, he would break open the window and jump down.

He saw the usual things in an average room at the School of Friendship. Sturdy wooden floor boards, blue crystal ceiling, white walls, a few bookshelves around the room and a cabinet, and yet it still felt all new and foreign tk him. He suddenly had the urge to open everything, but he knew he would be too weak for that.

    He released another sigh, and boy did he love sighing, when his light purple headmare entered the room again with a pitcher of water and set it down next to him, making him realise there was a small bedside table cabinet thing right beside him. He sent her a quick grateful look before pouring himself a glass of water and drinking it, the water slushing inside him.

He figured he was hydrated enough and was ready for his sandwich and frowned slightly as he realised this wouldn't be the first thing he would like to taste after all that time. Headmare Starlight Glimmer noticed. "Sandbar, I'm so sorry for just giving you a sandwich, but most of Ponyville is in disarray and I really need to sort stuff out before I can head on over to you kids"

"Excuse me? You're telling me that Ponyville is in disarray? Why? Because Aura Light destroyed the hell out of it? I'm sorry if you didn't notice but Aura Light also destroyed the hell out of my friends and I so if you still want to stand there and trying to fix Ponyville and let the ones who actually prevented further damage sit down and suffer, then fine," Sandbar said calmly, all in one breath, though he was probably getting too passive aggressive for a normal Pony like him, but then again he was far from normal.

    "Okay," Starlight said, walking out of the room without a care in the world, and that made Sandbar quite pissed. She should care. She was their headmare, but then again, maybe he was being quite biased. He groaned, then realised how terrible groaning actually was and swore to himself to never groan ever again.

Sandbar looked around the empty room again. It was quite empty. There was not much that could really be said about it. He looked curiously over the edge of his bed, wondering whether he was ready to walk. His body did not really hurt that much anymore, so maybe he could probably work with this.

He slowly swung his hooves over the edge of the bed and touched the floor. The warm wooden floor. He was not really a fan of the wooden floor, even complained about it more than once, but it was quite warm, he had to admit, and frankly, he loved warm stuff.

He then dropped himself onto the floor, immediately pushing himself back up with his hooves. He was standing. It was not that bad, he had to admit. Sure, his hooves were wobbling quite a bit with the weight he had to support on four measely pegs, but it was completely fine for him.

He started the journey across the room, his eyes fixated on the door tucked away in the corner. It was not a big distance, really, just a few metres, but he missed walking. He was definitely going to go out and go for a nice long walk when he would finally be released. He hoped he would be released soon.

Sandbar eventually made it to the door and touched the cold doorknob. He missed the feel of doorknobs. Who knew. He originally found them as the most annoying things in the world, but apparently not. He slowly turned it and let the wooden door crack open for just a tiny bit.

He heard a few gasps and wondered from who they were from but he did not let that wondering last for long as he threw the door all the way open and while it had been quite lit in the room he stayed in, it was extremely bright in this room. He covered his eyes with his hoof as he looked up to the fancy light bulb, cursing at it.

   "Sandbar!" Shell Silicate snapped for the language, glaring at her son for what could last around two nanoseconds before they both broke and laughed, then laughed again after that. Sandbar really missed laughing with his mother. He also missed his mother's beautiful laugh as a whole.

     Sandbar immediately ran to hig his mother and they just stood there, hugging each other and laughing. When he said that Riverraft was his mother's favorite, maybe he was right, but there was also a good chance of him being wrong. He really missed her.

    Before they were able to pull away, Golden Ray, his father, ran up to them and sandwiched them all together, along with Riverraft, and they were all laughing and hugging like a family that had been reunited after so much time away from each other, and maybe it was that way.

"Sandbar!" Headmare Starlight Glimmer's voice exclaimed, making the family break away slowly. Riverraft was the first to pull away, always exhibiting respect for anyone who was older and not her family because she apparently knew that one must always make a good impression to others, and Sandbar wished it was not that way for the Filly.

Golden Ray was the next to pull away, giving his son a goofy and apologetic smile, that being one of the few things he had inherited from him, and he could not help but also frown at his dad. That Stallion never stuck up for his family, and it was getting quite annoying.

    His mother was the last to pull away, holding Sandbar for a few more minutes, smiling at him with reassurance that they would have time for this later, and he gave a single nod before turning towards Starlight Glimmer, awaiting what she was about to say.

    "I see that you seem strong enough to walk," Starlight said with a small laugh as she walked a semi-circle around him, inspecting him, "Are you sure you are strong enough already for that? Your health is not taking a toll? It does not hurt that much?"

"Yeah, I am sure," Sandbar said, nodding, and he really missed nodding as well. While he could stand and walk, there was still a faint ache all over his body, but he tried to ignore that, because it was probably something really small. Besides, he wanted to do more than just lie in a bed all day.

"Would you like to see your friends now?" SG asked with a wide smile, that smile only growing wider as she laughed gently at Sandbar's eyes growing wide with the prospect of being able to see the five creatures again.

"Yes," Sandbar replied in and empty voice, then frowned, quite disappointed in himself for not showing much enthusiasm, but he was still feeling quite tired. Even so, he was still more than thrilled at the thought of seeing his friends and inwardly spitting rainbows.

The headmare lead him outside and he was surprised to see that his friends were already there. So there was a room before a room, he thought, interesting. But it also seemed like a doctor's place. Maybe he was in the hospital wing of their school, he figured.

    He did not let himself wander about it for too long though as he immediately ran to his friends, not caring about how weak he possibly was, and found himself wrapped in Ocellus and Silverstream's warm hugs, followed by some of Smolder's rough scales. It was quite obvious the Dragon was not a fan of hugs.

    He thought he was prepared for it, but he found his breath hitching as he felt Yona squish them all together in her own warm fuzzy hug. He forgot how much the Yak can hug sometimes and he was being quite squished with his other friends, but he could not ask for anything else.

"How were you guys?" Sandbar asked the moment they pulled a way, a huge smile settling on his face, the most his facial muscles had ever done for him that day. He was hoping that they were all doing fine. They were all only seperated for... Now that he thought about it, he didn't really know.

"We've all been knocked out, apparently. Starlight said something about the Treehouse of Harmony making that happen so we can finally get some rest, which I didn't really need, but you guys seemed to need it. I was the first one awake just after a few hours," Smolder said with a proud smile as she crossed her arms.

    "Yona recovered next day!" the Yak said excitedly, smiling with pride flashing in her eyes as she jumped, causing the ground to shake more than any of them would like, causing small flashbacks to the incident, and the Yak gave an apologetic smile to them.

   "While Smolder and Yona took at most 24 hours to recover, that was sadly not the same for me. I took three days, but it wasn't really too bad. Just had quite a few nightmares in between, but the astral Twilight always popped up in them," Silverstream said, and while her eyes seemed to be bright and radiant with hope, the Hippogriff seemed to have lost some of the enthusiasm to the coma. Whether it would return, none of them knew.

"Oh, that's nothing compared to me, but that definitely does not make you guys any less than I am! I guess it's because I am quite weak compared to you guys, not to mention my Changeling magic isn't as strong as the average Changeling's, but I do wish I didn't have to be out for a week," Ocellus said in a small voice, offering and equally small smile.

   "How long have I been out?" Sandbar asked, slightly dreading the answer to the question, because if Ocellus had already been out for a week, that would most probably mean he was out for an even longer time, and he could not help but wonder what happened during those times.

   "One and a half weeks," Ocellus said calmly, and he was grateful for that delivery. He definitely would not be able to handle it from another creature. He felt his heartbeat picking up its pace. One and a half weeks? How long had he been away from his parents and friends?

"And— Wait, where's Gallus?" Sandbar asked, looking around, half-expecting his Griffin friend to be standing behind some type of random object. While they both clearly did not see eye-to-eye the past few days, the Pony had to admit he was not the least bit worried for his friend.

"Still out," Smolder said with an unamused sigh as she subtley rolled her eyes, though it was clear with all their slight frowns that they were all equally concerned with the blue Griffin's well-being. Sandbar could not help but think it was his fauly. If he only had not been so spiteful over something small...

   "Where is he?" Sandbar asked, finding it quite hard to still speak more than a few words when he was not really riled up. How the others still managed to do their small rant, he did not know.

   "The room next to yours," Silverstream said, and he could really hear the strain in the Hippogriff's voice. He hoped he did not have the same strain, but he doubted it. More importantly, he hoped that Gallus was not taking a huge toll. He was knocked out before the Treehouse of Harmony could do it to him...

Sandbar wasted only a few moments because he was not exactly a perfect friend, but then again nothing like those existed, and he immediately opened the door right next to him and found himself in a small room just like the room before his own, one small bench and a few cabinets.

He bit his lip as he opened the door at the end of that room which finally lead to a place he wanted to go to. The room where a specific blue Griffin was sleeping in. The Griffin seemed completely okay. No brusies, scratches. Nothing at all. Just like the rest of his friends.

    "Headmare said that Treehouse of Harmony helped friends. Headmare said Treehouse of Harmony healed everything before friends pass out," Yona explained with a bright smile as she noticed the Pony's questioning look, and he just nodded absentmindedly to that.

     "How long until he wakes up?" Sandbar asked, turning to face all his friends with his eyebrows raised and concern evident in his eyes. Even though he knew the Griffin still probably hated him, he still found himself caring about him, and wondering how long until things would be normal again.

"I don't really know, Sandbar. It depends. It all depends. Fate, science, whatever the heck you believe in. It's gotta depend on one of those things for sure," Smolder said as she entered the room along with the rest of their friends, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms.

Sandbar could not help but frown slightly as he raised his eyebrows at the Dragon, quite disappointed with how nonchalant she was being about the whole situation, but it did not last long as the floor righg beneath him was glowing pure white, and it was quite creepy for him, considering the floor was originally wooden. No texture or anything at all, and that scared him. Not that he was a major fan of texture, but still.

    Then he realised that the wooden floor below everycreature else in the room was glowing white and he furrowed his eyebrows at them, quite skeptical, as a line of white light travelled from each of them and towards Gallus who immediately shot up awak, panting heavily. Sandbar had to admit that was probably one of the scariest things he had ever witnessed.

The Griffin spent a few good moments breathing heavily and blinking rapidly as he stared in one spot in front of him, as if he were trying to calculate where exactly he was, then he looked up at the ceiling, staring at it for a few more moments, before taking in a deep breath.

Sandbar found himself stopping in his tracks, frozen on the spot, as if his hooves were glued to the floor and sinking. He risked a look to his other friends and they seemed the same way, not wanting to interrupt the quiet and alarm the blue Griffin in any way.

    That was when Gallus' head snapped towards their direction and his eyes widened. Sandbar gave a small smile. The Griffin began to laugh, then cry, then choke out a laugh again before continuing to sob with a smile on his face. The green Pony wasted no time in heading towards the direction of the blue Griffin and immediately knocked him into a hug, both becoming a mix of laughs and sobs.

   They were soon joined by their other friends, and they stayed there for a while, crying and laughing, celebrating and worrying, and at last. Together.

+*+A+*+U+*+T+*+H+*+O+*+R+*+
+*+N+*+O+*+T+*+E+*+

Hey, ya'll.
Let me just start by addressing something I never expected...
Holey macaroni, ya'll. 7, 500 words. Never expected that, but I guess that's what you get with word vomit.
And, also, yeah.
The Edge of Friendship has come to an end.
There it is.
I don't know if I should say some sappy stuff about it being a wild ride, nor do I want to leave you with no words, because both feel quite immature and mature at the same time, and I have no idea how maturity works, so yeah.
I'm dedicating this chapter, fanfiction, the whole book also, I guess, to 2ZeroTwo0 who is always there voting in every single chapter and I love her <3
But I'm also grateful for readers who enjoyed some parts of this fanfiction.
All I wanna say to all of you is...
You are amazing, never give up, I'm sorry for the crap that I had to put you through for reading this book, and I hope you'll be well

Remember to spread the Magic of Friendship!