I guess the most sensible place to start my journal is growing up. Or maybe I am just getting ahead of myself, I should start by telling you who I am. I am Leo Feathers, a griffin if you couldn't tell from the name alone. I never knew my parents, and for the matter, I have I don't think I ever knew any griffin other than myself. I guess I just never took the effort just to find another griffin, and the time to actually meet one. Sure, I have seen the odd griffin walking the street or the story, but I never took the time to actually get to know them. I guess other details about me can wait.
I am going to start from some of my earliest memories. I remember when I was very young, other children my age where all nice to me, at that age, we really didn't know the difference between earth pony, pegasus, unicorn or griffin. Pegasuses couldn't fly, Unicorns couldn't use magic, and for the most part we was all happy so long as we could play and have cookies.
However, things started to change as we grew older. The ponies started to get their cutie marks, pegasuses and me started to fly, and unicorns started to be able to use magic. The few pegasuses and unicorns there were started to split off into their own groups, and earth ponies for the most part keep to earth ponies. It wasn't long before I was a lone. As a griffin, I was most attracted to pegasuses, however most of the them were jerks. They would often call me "feather face" or "feather brain", however it didn't take me long to get over, yet they still called me it anyways.
I remember one instance where they was playing with hoops and seeing who could fly through them. I asked them if I could play with them and they merely laughed me off, and I simply asked if they was sure. I could remember the devious smiles on their face when they finally said yes, and they picked out the smallest hope they had. I asked them if they was sure about using that one, but they brushed me off with comments like "are you a griffin or a chicken?" or "If you want to play, you play by our rules." So I finally accepted. I tried my best to squeeze through the ring, but I got stuck half-way through. I remember their comments of "Look, Feather face is fat." and other insults. However, at that moment I didn't break out into tears or anything of the sorts, I was angry. I wanted to take my talons and slash out, however luckily for everyone involved, the caretaker seen us and helped me out before I could hurt anybody.
However, I don't get me wrong, I did have a friend. He was actually a unicorn, feeling the same woe of not belonging as I did. His name was Spark. I think it is important to note back then, I was just Leo, we didn't have family names because well you know. I was always fascinated by magic, but the other unicorns were equally mean to me as the pegasuses and the earth ponies. And Spark was always fascinated by flight, but the pegasuses were especially cruel to him. We were both sort of book worms, so we just spent most of our time talking, it would be a bit boring and rude to Spark to record to directly just record our talks, however those talks where probably the only thing that keep me sane.
I remember one incident that nearly got me who knows where. Some of the pegasuses where trying to steal eagle eggs, who knows why, I would guess some stupid dare or something, and they got pretty clawed up by a mother eagle. I am pretty sure they was getting ready to throw me out, even though Spark keep them I was innocent. Granted, best friends tend to not make for the best witnesses. It wasn't until the nurse looked at them and patched them up and seen that my claws weren't even fully developed when she knew I didn't cause their wounds. She took my talon and pressed one of my claws as hard against her skin as she could and dragged it across her leg, it didn't even leave a scratch. Eventually, the pegasuses confessed that I didn't do it, which eventually lead to them confessing the whole story.
And for the most part, that was my life in the orphanage. Eventually, at our schooling was complete, everyone who wasn't adopted was just expected to leave and find a life for their own. When we left however, we all had to choose a last name for ourselves, and I picked Feathers. Spark went to a magic academy for unicorns, splitting us up, though we still occasionally meet up. Where as I went for a college of magical studies. I went to seek out my dreams of studying magic and trying to figure out how that a force so strong and elusive to me works and all that good stuff.
At first, the unicorns students, who were a majority, didn't really liked me. And I doubt they do to this day, however by this time my talons had fully grown in and there wasn't that many people who mocked me and even less who even tried to lay a finger on me.
Even teachers really didn't like me all that much at first. However, I made good grades and keep my nose, and yes I do technically have a nose, out of trouble. Though some teachers still hated me, granted some of those teachers just hated everybody. If you are expecting some crazy tale from these years, you will be disappointed. School kind of passed uneventfully and graduated and started private my private magical studies. I mean, this is school with a bunch of nerds wanting to learn about magic, they aren't really much the prankster types or anything.