GallJack Pt 5 WIP

The holidays were quickly approaching for Twilight’s School of Friendship. For some of the students, it was a time to celebrate being together with loved ones, for others, it was two straight weeks of no classes and no homework.

As the students ran around the study hall, decorating the room from wall to wall, Gallus stood near the doorway, watching the festivities in solitude.

“Shouldn’t you be helping the others decorate?”

Gallus turned around to see Starlight standing behind him. “Eh, they seem to have it covered, they’ll be fine.”

Starlight squinted her eyes. “Hey Gallus, you doing alright?”

“...Uh, yeah? Why would I not be?”

“Well, it looks to me like you’re the only one here not enjoying the festivities.”

Gallus scoffed. “Oh, I’m just waiting for it all to be over. The sooner we get to the break, the better.”

“Well, you must be excited to go back to Griffonstone to celebrate.”

“...Yeah…” Gallus hesitated before nodding. He went back to watching all the others having fun with the festivities.

“Only a few days left until the break,” Starlight walked up beside Gallus, patting him on the back. “I bet all your friends are happy to celebrate their holidays, too.”

“Yeah, must be real fun…” Gallus muttered under his breath.

“Well, save for someone doing something really bad, everyone’s going to go home for the holidays.”

“...Wait, what?”

Gallus turned with several questions regarding what she just said, but Starlight was already walking away with a smirk on her face.

As Starlight walked down the halls, she happened to pass by just who she was looking for next. “Hey Applejack, you got a moment?”

“Sure thing, whatcha need?”

Starlight’s words echoed in Gallus’s mind. As he tried to work out what she could possibly mean, his imagination started going through different scenarios. His eyes started to wander around the room, until they finally honed in on the tree. There was a part of him that warned him of the consequences, but a louder part of him that said anything would be better than going back home.

One slimy explosion and lengthy cultural exchange later, and Gallus was cleaning up the room with the rest of his friends.

Just as they were starting to enjoy cleaning up, Headmare Twilight interrupted. “Gallus, could you come with me?”

Gallus nervously looked at the headmare, before dropping his cleaning rag and following her out of the room.

“While I’m glad all of your friends decided to stay behind to support you, you’re still the one who tried to ruin all their holiday plans. You’re still going to have to face punishment for what you’ve done.” Twilight lectured, escorting Gallus through the halls.

“I know, I know…” Gallus rolled his eyes.

“I think we can start with a quick lesson right now, don’t you think?”

“Not like I have much of a choice, do I?”

Much to Gallus’s surprise, Twilight wasn’t leading him to one of the classrooms, but to the dorms. “This lesson will take place in your room.”

Gallus raised an eyebrow. “Wait, you’re going to be giving me a friendship lesson in my room?”

“Well no, I won’t be teaching you this time, but the lesson will be delivered-”

“Works for me.” Without hesitation, Gallus opened the door and went inside.

“For your honesty lesson, you’re going to spend the rest of the night in your room…”

“Yeah yeah…” Gallus said, trying to get the door shut as fast as possible, not listening to the rest. “At least I’m not in Griffonstone…” Once the door was shut, he let out a sigh of relief. Not having to go home and not needing to clean up the mess he made? This was set up to be the best holiday ever.

The feeling of relief quickly dropped to a feeling of distress. He knew Sandbar was still cleaning up, yet it didn’t feel like he was alone in the room. He was about to turn on the lights, but the sound of the door locking behind him made him freeze up.

...Did she say ‘honesty lesson’?

As he turned around, he caught a glimpse of something orange leaning beside the door before he was shoved to the wall with a terrifying amount of force.

“Smooth move, pardner!” Applejack grinned, putting her hooves on his shoulders.

“GOOD FUCKING GROVER.” Gallus could feel his heartbeat pounding in his head, his wings were outspread in a panic. Recognizing his intruder did nothing to calm him down. “You scared the teats offa me! How long have you been waiting there?”

“Long enough! Ah’m impressed, but Ah caught on eventually!”

“Caught on to WHAT?!”

“Like you don’t know?” Applejack chuckled, leaning in. “The wolf whistlin’, the dance, and you askin’ Gilda for ‘mare advice’...”

Gallus could feel the heat of Applejack’s breath on his cheeks. With each thing she listed off, she got closer to his face.

“And now Hearth’s Warmin’, the most special night…”

“I-I can explain!” Gallus stammered, not entirely sure what he needed to explain away.

Applejack’s voice dropped to a more sultry tone. “Oh, I know, and I accept!”

“...Accept what?” Gallus started to sweat, Applejack was dangerously close to his face. Even in the dim light, he could see that she was starting to blush.

“Bein’ your special somepony!”

Before Gallus could say anything, Applejack closed the gap between them and started kissing, pressing her lips against his beak.

Gallus nearly went into shock trying to process everything. Did she just say special somepony? She really cared about him like that? Gallus closed his eyes and relaxed his body, now leaning in, moving closer to Applejack.

It was a challenge kissing someone with a beak instead of lips, but Applejack managed. Just like Gallus, her heart was pounding with excitement. She leaned further in, pushing Gallus up against the wall as she kept her lips pressed against his beak.

The two stayed pressed against the wall, kissing for what felt like an hour. Even after the kiss ended, they stayed in a tight embrace, silently staring at the other’s eyes. They were able to feel the other’s chest rise up and down with each shaky breath they took.

Gallus was the first to awkwardly break the silence. “I...woah.”

“First time ya ever kissed someone?” Applejack teased.

“T-That’s none of your business…” Gallus grumbled, quickly looking away.

“Maybe we can make the second kiss better, then?”

Gallus slowly turned his head back. “...I’d like that…”

“Good…” Applejack put her hooves on his shoulders. “Just relax, an’ do whatever feels right.”

Gallus took a deep breath to steady his nerves. He tilted his head at a slight angle, slowly opening his beak up as he leaned forward.

Applejack met him halfway, locking lip to beak with Gallus. She kept her hooves on Gallus’s shoulders, letting him take the lead.

Gallus closed his eyes as he wrapped his arms around her. He could feel the gentle moans in his mouth as he started rubbing her back. His tail started moving on its own, rising up and gently teasing the apples on her flank, making Applejack shiver.

Once they broke off the kiss, Applejack looked down at Gallus with a warm smile. “Heh, Ah’d say that was better than the first, wouldn’t you?”

Gallus slowly nodded, looking just as starstruck as he did after the first kiss. “...Is this really happening? You really wanna be my...special somepony?”

“Course Ah do, Gallus. You’re a real sweet and smart guy, even if ya don’t wanna show it all the time,” Applejack chuckled.

Gallus let out a relieved sigh. “Well, I think you’re amazing. You’re tough and dependable, and you really care about others…a-and I think you look kinda cute…”

The blush on Applejack’s cheeks burned brighter, making the freckles on her cheeks more prominent. “Aw, sugarcube…” She wrapped her hooves around him, holding him tight.

“So, is this my honesty lesson?” Gallus quietly said, his head resting on Applejack’s shoulder.

“Well, do ya honestly wanna be with me?”

“Yeah...being with you makes me feel like the luckiest griffon alive.”

“Well then, looks like ya learned yer lesson.”

The two chuckled as they continued to embrace each other, slowly rocking back and forth in the moonlit bedroom.

“...Of course, there’s still the fact that you had to go and nearly run Hearth’s Warmin’ for your friends,” Applejack said, backing away from him.

Gallus gulped, assuming that there was some sort of catch, and that he’d have to pay dearly for it.

“So you got two choices. You can go back to your friends and help them clean up the mess you made while getting more lectures from Twilight. Or...“ Applejack tossed her hat aside, hopping onto Gallus’s bed. “...We try and go the rest of the night together.”

There was no question about which option seemed more appealing, but Gallus still had some reservations. “Really? The whole night?”

“Mmhm. From now until Celestia starts raising the sun. Course, once you make your choice, there’s no going back. Got it?”

Applejack was shooting Gallus a smug, almost defiant look as she dangled her hooves off the side of the bed. It was slowly approaching midnight, there were a lot of hours between now and sunrise…

“Eh, what the hell,” Gallus shrugged, walking towards his bed. “I’m not gonna turn down the opportunity to spend more time with you.”

“Good answer, sugar.”

Applejack moved aside to make room for Gallus. “So, how do ya wanna start?”

“How’s a massage sound? You know, to get warmed up.”

Applejack chuckled, cocking her head to the side. “Heh, sure you’re not stalin’ for time?”

“Is that a no on the massage, then?” Gallus fired back.

There was a moment of silence before Applejack conceded, turning around to let Gallus get started.

Repeating the things Gilda taught him in his mind, Gallus put his talons on Applejack’s shoulders, starting out with a few light squeezes.

Applejack let out a soft sigh, letting her body relax as Gallus set the mood for the rest of the night.

Gallus gradually went deeper with his squeezes, feeling all that firm muscle underneath that orange fur.

Soft little moans left Applejack’s lips, the massage starting to arouse her.

Gallus moved on from the shoulders, now firmly pressing his knuckles into her back.

“W-woah there...that’s new…”

Gallus smirked to himself as he kneaded his knuckles up and down her back. “Yeah? You like?”

Applejack gave Gallus a grunt of approval. “Yeah...real nice. Did Gilda teach you that, too?”

“Heh, that’s a secret.”

The massage continued, Gallus’s hands moved up and down, giving Applejack’s back firm squeezes and light punches, going from her shoulders down to just above her tail.

Applejack moaned with satisfaction. Gallus had definitely improved compared to when Gilda was coaching him. She wondered if he went back to Gilda to ask for more mare advice during the weekends.

Gallus’s hands went down her back one more time. Instead of the rhythmic punches, his fingers lightly traced down past her back and onto her thighs.

The feeling of talons gently trailing down her back made Applejack shiver. Her body started to arc backwards, tensing up from the teasing.

Using only a single talon, Gallus traced around the cutie marks on her flank, even including a couple of quick, teasing swipes for the stem and leaf.

Applejack let out a shuddery moan with the gentle touches to her thighs. Her hoof slowly made its way to rub her marehood.

Gallus was quick to notice that one of Applejack’s hooves was moving up and down in front of her. With a cocky grin, he reached his arm around, putting his hand over Applejack’s hoof to assist in masturbating. “Heh, maybe YOU need help lasting the rest of the night…”

“Nnnf...Oh fuck, jus’ take me now!” Applejack turned around and grabbed Gallus by the shoulders. She leaned back, falling down onto the pillows.

Gallus fell down on top of Applejack, his head resting next to hers. With a little bit of adjustment, Gallus put himself inside.

Gallus’s thrusts started out slow, his hips rocking as he slid his cock in and out.

Applejack wrapped her hind hooves around Gallus’s waist, not to prevent escape like before, but to help guide him along. The massage had gotten her heated up, each exhale was already a heavy pant.

Putting his hands back on Applejack’s shoulders, Gallus lifted himself up, now able to look at Applejack’s face proper.

Applejack looked back at Gallus, her panting almost like chuckling with how big the smile on her face was.

Just one glance of Applejack’s face was enough to get Gallus smiling, too. It was like a sensation of lightness in his chest that filled him with happiness. His focus had gradually shifted towards just staring at her. The thrusting started to become more of an afterthought.

Applejack’s legs squeezed Gallus a little tighter, trying to goad him into pushing himself deeper inside her.

The feeling of an oncoming orgasm broke Gallus’s focus. His body started tensing up, wanting to keep going for just a little longer, to try and make each session last as long as possible.

Just as Gallus was trying to stall, Applejack had already hit her point of no return. In her state of orgasmic bliss, her legs squeezed together, pushing Gallus back in for another thrust.

Gallus tried to hold out as long as he could, but only lasted a second longer before he came inside her. He put his hands down near both sides of Applejack’s head to prevent him from collapsing down on her chest.

“Heh...Ah think that was the best one we’ve had yet...“

“Maybe we can make this next one even better?” Gallus smirked.

A determined gleam shone in Applejack’s eye. “Yer on.”

They rolled over, with Applejack now topping. She raised her flank up higher, positioning herself above Gallus’s crotch, waiting for him to get hard again.

Gallus’s eyes followed Applejack’s butt, watching her sway from side to side. “Ohhh fuck…” The idea of doing this all night began to excite him. He was ready to go as soon as his body would let him.

Once Gallus was ready, he thrusted his hips upwards. The poking signaled Applejack to slowly lower herself down, shuddering as she took his length in. Using her hind hooves, she lifted herself back up, then let gravity do most of the work as she went back down.

Each slam onto his groin forced a grunt out of Gallus. The fact that Applejack was topping him meant that he didn’t have to put in much work, so he could save some of his energy to help last the rest of the night.

Applejack put her front hooves on Gallus’s chest, using it as support as she bounced, getting into a more comfortable, faster rhythm.

Gallus’s breathing accelerated as Applejack’s hooves pressed against his chest. As his exhales got sharper, he wondered if she could feel his racing heartbeat.

Applejack noticed Gallus’s lack of activity as she rode him. “Are ya gettin’ tired?” she teased, putting just a little more pressure onto his chest.

Gallus scoffed, grabbing onto her hips in response. “Are you getting slower?” he said, giving her cutie mark a squeeze.

“Gyaaha!” Applejack yelped in surprise, but couldn’t help smirking at Gallus’s counter. “Heh, you asked for it.” She leaned forward, looking Gallus in the eyes as she pushed herself to speed up.

Gallus could barely keep his hands on Applejack, the accelerated pace combined with Applejack’s piercing gaze made him sweat.

Though she had stamina to spare, Applejack slowed herself down. “Ah...hah...H-Hey, Ah’m about to…”

“Y-Yeah...me too…T-together?”

Gallus’s grip on Applejack’s hips got tighter to brace for the climax. The sounds of both of their moans began to overlap, only growing louder with each thrust.

“Aaah...aaaah…!”

“AAAAAAAAAAH!”

The room went silent as all heads turned towards Ocellus.

“Ocellus, are...are you okay?” Sandbar asked.

	“W-What!? Me? Never better!” Ocellus frantically nodded, her hooves trembling underneath her.

An unconvinced Smolder crossed her arms. “Really? Your hooves keep shaking, and now you’ve just started screaming for no reason. So what gives?”

Ocellus blurted out the first excuse that came to her mind. “That’s because...uh...it’s...cold! Yeah, there might be a draft in this room!”

“...All the windows shut.” Yona pointed out.

“Still got it in ya to keep going?” Applejack asked, her breathing slightly uneven.

“The night’s still young, isn’t it?”

All through the night, long after the students finished cleaning up and fell asleep by the tree, Gallus and Applejack continued their sexual marathon. Each time, doing something different for variety’s sake, whether it was changing position or doing a little bit of foreplay to discover different turn-ons.

As the hours passed, Gallus’s fatigue started to show as the night started to end. Despite his best efforts to keep going, his stamina was still no match for Applejack, who was still as feisty as she was at the start. The adrenaline was starting to wear off, and it was only through Applejack’s encouragement that he was able to keep going.

After one more orgasm, they looked out the window, seeing Celestia’s sun finally rising over the snowy horizon.

“Well, would ya look at that? You really did make it all night, sugarcube!” Applejack said, snuggling up to his chest.

“Well, it’s all thanks to my teacher...and my special somepony.” Gallus brought Applejack’s head closer to his for a celebratory kiss, relieved that he actually made it.

Gallus broke the kiss, gasping for breath. “...For real though, we’re not gonna go another twenty rounds, are we? I’m heckin’ spent…”

“Hehehe, naw. After all your hard work, I’d say you’ve earned your Hearth’s Warmin’ break!” Applejack chuckled.

“Oh thank goodness. Don’t wake me until it’s past noon…” Gallus leaned his head back, closing his eyes, wanting to fall asleep as fast as possible. As he drifted off, he could feel the warmth from Applejack resting her head on his chest.

As the morning came, the other students started to wake up. Sandbar woke up first because he was excited to celebrate Hearth’s Warming. Silverstream woke up second because she was excited to see Sandbar excited to celebrate Hearth’s Warming.

“So, what are we gonna do first?”

“Well, ordinarily we’d be giving each other presents, but maybe we could try doing one of your traditions!”

“Ooh yeah! Good idea!” Silverstream looked around. “We need to get Gallus, he should be here to celebrate with us!”

“Right, I don’t think we’ve seen him since Headmare Twilight got him. I’ll go check if he’s in our room.” Sandbar ran off to get Gallus.

Sandbar approached his room, expecting his roommate to be sleeping inside. It’d be such a shame to leave him out of the holiday festivities, especially after hearing how lonely he’s been.

Sandbar opened the door quietly, peeking his head in to wake Gallus up.

What he saw caused him to silently and immediately retract his head, close the door, and run back in a panic.

When Sandbar returned, Silverstream was in the process of waking up the others. “Couldn’t find Gallus?” she asked, trying to nudge Yona awake.

“Get Headmare Twilight.”

The other students gathered around Sandbar and Gallus’s dorm room, still groggy from the early and sudden awakening.

“Ugh, Sandbar? What did you even see that you needed us to come here?” Smolder groaned, rubbing her eyes.

“I don’t know! I think I saw like, a glimpse and shut the door before my brain finished processing it!”

“A glimpse of WHAT?”

Silverstream quickly came back with their headmare in tow.

“Alright, I’m here. Sandbar, there’s something in your room that you need us all to see?” Twilight asked.

“Y-Yeah...”

Sandbar opened the door again, and everyone looked inside.

All of them were treated to the visual of Applejack happily asleep on top of a sleeping Gallus. Gallus held Applejack in a tight embrace, with one hand behind her head, the other caressing the cutie mark on her flank. Cum was still dripping out from Applejack’s pussy and down Gallus’s semi-erect cock.

Everyone looked in a collective stunned silence, trying to figure out what kind of chain of events could possibly lead to what they were currently looking at.

Silverstream was the first to speak up, with a massive grin on her face. “Woah! Is that Gallus? With Professor Applejack? IN BED!?”

“Wait...are they...? Did they just-?” Sandbar stuttered, now getting a better look.

Yona nodded, pointing at the sleeping couple. “Oh yeah. They smash.”

Ocellus let out a huge sigh of relief. “Oh thank goodness! I don’t know how much longer I could keep that to myself!”

“Dude, niiice.” Smolder grinned and nodded approvingly.

After the initial shock wore off, Twilight shook her head. “Alright, I’m gonna need some answers real soon.”

Despite all the commotion going on by the door, Gallus and Applejack barely shifted in their sleep.

“...Wait.” Sandbar turned his head towards Ocellus. “What do you mean ‘keep that to yourself’?”

Ocellus started laughing nervously, “Uh...you see...that’s uh…”

“Y’know, when he whistled at her ass before, I didn’t think that it’d actually lead to him getting it.” Smolder said, peeking her head in closer.

“So is this pony or griffon holiday tradition we not learn about?” Yona asked.

“Wow, it smells like they had a LOT of sex.” Silverstream looked over to Twilight. “Should we like, wake them up? Cause I have so many questions.”

“So do I…” Twilight let out a long, heavy sigh as she closed the door. “...It’s still really early in the morning. I don’t think we should wake them up. Why don’t you guys get some more sleep, and enjoy the holidays? We can talk about...this...at a later time.”

As the other students nodded and murmured in agreement, Sandbar raised his hoof in objection. “Wait, what about me? I can’t sleep in there knowing that’s on the bottom bunk!”

“No problem! Sandbar can stay in Yona’s bed!” Yona exclaimed, pulling Sandbar close to her.

Ocellus violently shuddered, her hooves starting to tremble again.

Smolder put her hand on her shoulder in reassurance. “It’s ok, we all know about those two.”

“Yeah, but you won’t be sleeping in the bunk above them!”

Hours later, after some proper rest, the students woke up and gathered back by the Hearth’s Warming tree.

“So...you think Gallus is still sleeping?” Smolder asked, looking at Sandbar.

“I’m not going back there to check.”

“Fine, fine. So uh...what holiday tradition do you wanna do?”

Back in the bedroom, Gallus and Applejack finally started to stir, slowly opening their eyes.

Applejack lifted her head off from Gallus’s chest. “Heh, Happy Hearth’s Warming…”

Gallus grunted as he sat up straight. “Y-Yeah...what time is it?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.

“Seems to be well into the day,” Applejack said, looking out the window.

“Perfect…” Gallus flopped back down on his bed, ready to go back to sleep.

Applejack picked up her hat and stood up from the bed. “Well, better get back to my family for the holidays’.”

“Oh...right…” Gallus felt his heart sink in his chest.

“Heh, gonna miss me already? I’m only going back to the farm,“ Applejack chuckled. “Besides, Ah bet your friends are waiting for you to celebrate the holidays with them. They stayed behind for you, after all.”

“Yeah, alright...”

“See ya later, sugarcube.” Applejack gave him a quick peck on the cheek before heading out the door.

After Applejack left, Gallus took the time to clean himself up, then left to find his friends. The search wasn’t difficult, with no one else in the school, it was easy to pick up the sound of their laughter.

“Hey guys, what’s up?”

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Gallus, the memory from last night coming back into their minds.

“...Why’s everyone looking at me like that?”

“Oh...hey Gallus!” Sandbar said, “G-glad to see you’re awake!”

“Yeah, sorry for sleeping in, what were you guys doing?”

“Oh, since we didn’t want to do just one holiday tradition, we decided we were gonna do a mix of all of them!”

“Alright, sounds cool.” Gallus looked between his friends, noticing the uncomfortable looks. “What’s up with you guys? Are you alright?”

Everyone else stood in awkward silence, trying to think of the best way to approach the topic.

“So...Gallus...” Sandbar said, trying to ease into the thing on everyone else’s mind.

“YOU’RE HAVING SEX WITH PROFESSOR APPLEJACK!?” Silverstream screamed out, her voice echoing through the empty halls.

“...Yeah, that.”

Gallus felt part of his soul get damaged by Silverstream’s outburst. “H-Huh?”

“Yeeaaah that’s probably not the smoothest way to say it, but...we saw you two in bed together.” Smolder said.

Gallus swore that his heart stopped beating.

“Come on! Give us the details! We all wanna know how it happened!” Silverstream’s grin got wider as she approached him.

“Alright, just...gimmie a minute…” Gallus said, taking deep breaths to keep himself from screaming.

The group of friends gathered closer, eager to hear his explanation.

Gallus’s cheeks started to burn red from embarrassment. “So...Applejack is my...special somepony.”

A collective gasp came from Gallus’s friends, except for Ocellus, who silently covered her mouth with her hooves.

Gallus was quickly bombarded with questions from his curious classmates.

“Wait, REALLY?”

“You and teacher in love?”

“Why one of our professors?”

“So was that your first time or what?”

“Woah woah woah! One at a time!”

“Well first, nice job snagging a teacher. Second, I wanna know how this all started,” Smolder said. “Like, at what point did you realize you were in love with her?”

Gallus sighed. “Okay so...You remember back when we all got detention together?”

“Really? That long ago!?”

“No no no no no! That’s just when we first had sex!” Gallus thought for a moment. “Uh...I think it was around the time of the Amity Ball thing. Ocellus like, pushed me towards Applejack, I asked her to dance, and while we were dancing, I just...felt it I guess?”

“Speaking of…” Sandbar turned his head towards Ocellus. “Seriously, what did you mean ‘I don’t know how much longer I could keep that to myself’?!”

“Wait, you KNEW?!” Gallus shouted, leading the rest to direct their attention towards Ocellus.

Once all eyes were Ocellus, she started laughing nervously. “Aheheheh...uh...y-yeah?”

“Oh right, changelings sense love and stuff!” Silverstream nodded. “That makes sense.”

“I-I’m really sorry. I just felt that there was love between you two, and I just wanted you guys to be happy! So I...kinda gave you a nudge in that direction...”

“Well, it worked out so...thanks, I guess.”

“Friend happy, teacher happy, everyone happy!” Yona cheered.

Sandbar crossed his hooves and pouted. “So what made you decide to just do it in our room?”

“Listen, things kinda just happen in the moment, okay? She JUST asked to be my special somepony that night!”

“So whenever I came back and you had the windows open and the sheets off your bed…”

“...Yeah.”

Sandbar turned to the side. “Ohhh, that was so many times…” he muttered into his hooves.

“As much as I’d love to know more, how about we go back to having fun on Hearth’s Warming?” Smolder suggested.

“Really?” Gallus was surprised by Smolder’s mercy.

“Well, unless you wanna tell us everything about your relationship with her right now…”

“Nope, I’m good.”

“Besides, you can tell us all that later!”

“Oooh! Let’s see if there’s stuff happening around Ponyville!”

As the other students ran outside, Gallus grabbed onto Sandbar, wanting to talk with him face-to-face.

“Listen, Sandbar...I’m sorry about the whole...room thing…”

“Don’t worry about it, dude, I totally get it.” Sandbar nodded in understanding.

Gallus was taken aback. “Wait, really? I thought you’d be like, upset or something.”

“Nah, just know that me and Yona won’t fit on the top bunk.”

“...Wait, what?”

Later in the day, Twilight went over to Sweet Apple Acres. She knocked on the front door, trying to rehearse what she wanted to say in her head as she waited. Fortunately, the pony she wanted to talk to was the one to answer.

“Howdy, Twi! Holiday treating ya alright?”

“Oh! Y-Yeah, it’s been great so far. Listen, Applejack, can we talk for a bit? There’s something I want to discuss...”

Twilight had soon gathered her friends in her castle. All but Applejack looking at each other in quiet confusion.

“What’s up, Twilight? Some sort of holiday crisis going on that we need to take care of?” Rainbow Dash asked, propping her hind hooves up on the table as she took another swig of cider, her head slightly swaying from side to side.

“No, you don’t need to worry, there’s no sort of disaster going on.”

Fluttershy let out a heavy sigh of relief. “But then, why did you call us all here?”

Applejack cleared her throat. “It’s cause Ah wanted to tell y’all something.”

The room fell quiet as the girls looked at Applejack with intrigue.

“Didn’t think it’d really happen, ‘specially not so quickly, but uh...Ah found myself someone special.”

Rarity’s eyes instantly lit up. “Oh that’s wonderful! Who’s this lucky someone, hm?”

“It’s Gallus.”

Applejack’s short and simple response caught everyone off-guard, save for Twilight and Starlight.

“Like...the griffon Galus?” Rarity asked. “The blue griffon that attends the school? That Gallus?”

“Mmhm. That Gallus.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Fluttershy waved her hoof to get Applejack’s attention. “But it’s just so...unexpected. What made you fall for him?”

Applejack started to blush. “Heh, he’s pretty stubborn, but a real sweet guy when ya get to know him.”

“Ooh! So when did you two lovebirds make it official?” Pinkie said, fluttering her eyelashes.

“Last night, actually. Figured it was as good a time as any.”

“Declaring your love on Hearth’s Warming Eve? That’s so romantic!” Rarity cooed, almost tearing up. “I’m so happy for you, Applejack!”

Rainbow finished another pull of cider, slamming her mug onto the table. “Soooo...When are you two gonna do it?”

“Oh, we already did it plenty of times.”

Rainbow nearly choked on her cider as a collective “WHAT?!” rang throughout the room. Fluttershy and Rarity’s cheeks instantly flushed red from shock, an intrigued Starlight and Pinkie leaned in closer, Twilight let out a heavy exhale as Rainbow started cracking up.

“Hohoholy fuck, I was just kidding! You’re serious?”

Applejack sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah, Twilight kinda caught me in the act last night. It’s how she found out, Ah guess.”

All the attention now turned towards Twilight as her friends loudly voiced their confusion.

Dash slammed her hooves on the table. “Wait, the night you and I were finding out who tried to ruin Hearth’s Warming? THAT’S when they were fucking?”

“And you just walked in on them?” Rarity said in an accusatory tone.

“Wait, it wasn’t like that! I only saw them sleeping in bed together after Sandbar told me there was someone else in his room!”

“Heh, must’ve been out cold if Ah was still sleeping. Guess going all night’ll do that to ya.”

“All night? Wow, Applejack, I knew you had some stamina in you, but...wow...” Starlight said, nodding in approval.

Pinkie tapped her hoof to her chin. “I don’t think I’ve done it all night in like, forever! Some ponies get to have all the fun...”

“I still can’t believe-” Rainbow’s head snapped towards Pinkie in a brief moment of sobriety. “Wait, who did you have sex with all night long?”

“You, silly! Remember that slumber party?”

“Um, Twilight, is this...allowed?” Fluttershy interjected. “Like, the whole teacher and student thing? N-Not that I’m planning on doing it myself, but…”

“I thought about it. And I don’t see anything wrong with it.” Twilight looked over to Applejack. “They genuinely care for each other, and I think we should all be happy for them.”

“Well, in that case, congratulations, Applejack!” Fluttershy said. “I hope that you two have a wonderful future together!”

A flash of inspiration struck Rarity. “Oh, there are so many good dating spots that I have to tell you about! Or should I tell Gallus about them instead?”

“Hey, I’m glad you two found each other. Just don’t expect me to double as a relationship counselor,” Starlight joked.

“To Applejack and Gallus!” Pinkie Pie cheered, jumping out of her seat.

As the other girls cheered, Applejack started to tear up. “Aw, thanks girls, that means a lot to me.”

“Hey AJ,” Rainbow grinned, leaning into the table. “Since you’ve seen it for yourself, how big is he? Cause Gilda told me that griffons-”

“Okay, we’re not getting into this conversation!”

The next day, the students gathered at the Ponyville train station, most of them eager to head back home.

“I’m really gonna miss you guys...” Gallus sighed, looking off towards the horizon to try and spot the oncoming train.

“Hey, it’s only two weeks,” Sandbar said, trying to reassure him. “And no homework or tests to study for, right?”

“Yeah, but I just wish we could’ve spent those two weeks here together.”

“But you got to spend all of Hearth’s Warming with us, right?” Ocellus said. “That’s gotta count for something!”

“Well, if you really wanna be here, you might have a shot staying with Applejack over the break…” Smolder teased, prodding her elbow into Gallus’s side.

Silverstream gasped in excitement. “Or maybe you can start up a new holiday in Griffonstone where everyone’s super nice and gives out gifts just like Hearth’s Warming!”

“...Yeah, I’m just gonna go back home.”

Yona pulled Gallus in for a back-breaking hug, before getting the others in, too. “We see each other again real soon! Yona promise!”

Before all the oxygen was squeezed out of Gallus, the distant blaring whistle indicated that the train was approaching, and Yona thankfully released him.

While his friends checked their belongings and waited to board, Gallus swore he heard his name being called from behind him. He turned around to see Applejack sprinting towards the station.

“Phew, looks like I caught up in time. You didn’t think you could just go home without saying goodbye to me, did ya?”

Gallus felt a light tingling in his chest. “Yeah, well, I kinda wish we didn’t need to say goodbye at all.”

“Heh, but Ah’ll still be here when you get back.” Applejack put a hoof on his shoulder. “You’ll be fine, Ah know you will.”

Silverstream turned around and excitedly pointed at the couple. “Aww, look guys!”

Gallus grabbed onto Applejack’s hooves, staring deep into her eyes. “I’m...gonna miss you.”

Applejack slowly nodded. “Gonna miss you too, sugarcube.”

Smolder looked over to the now-quivering Ocellus. “...You need a moment?”

“Nope, I-I’m good.”

“Course, just to make sure you’re not too lonely...” Applejack gave Gallus a backpack. “Little something for ya.”

Gallus grunted as he held up the surprising amount of weight in the bag. Before he could see what was inside, the train whistle started blowing.

“Better get going. See ya in two weeks, Gallus.” Applejack said with a wink.

Gallus nodded, wordlessly wrapping his arms around her, feeling the comfort of her hooves hugging him back.

Their tender hug had to be kept brief. Gallus grabbed all of his stuff and rushed onto the train with his friends. Once they all found seats, Gallus looked out the window to see Applejack waving goodbye as the train started moving.

Once the station had disappeared into the horizon, Gallus grabbed the bag Applejack had given him, and put it on his lap. When he opened it up, he was hit with the warm scent of baked apple goods. Fritters, mini pies, cupcakes, and more were stuffed inside.

“Wow, those smell delicious, can I have one, please? Please?” Silverstream asked, attracted by the scent.

“Hey, they were made for Gallus.” Sandbar reminded her. “I think he deserves to have all of them.”

Gallus grinned upon seeing all the treats baked for him. Having Applejack as his girlfriend still felt unreal, but it also made him excited for the future. And having all these treats was going to make the break a lot more tolerable. He grabbed an apple pie and took a bite as he imagined being in Applejack’s embrace.

It was warm, sweet, and filled him with happiness.