“So, what did Applejack say?”

“She said he could come over.”

“Awesome!” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle cheered.

Apple Bloom lifted a hoof to silence them. “But Applejack said he can’t come in the actual house. Only in the clubhouse. But she’s not discriminatin’ towards him or anythin’. She just doesn’t know him very well, and she wants to get to know him before he becomes a welcome guest.”

The three fillies were on their way to Gabriel’s house. The griffon had given them a map showing them where to go to find his place.

After a few minutes of trotting, they arrived at an enormous tree that made Twilight’s old library look like a shed. The actual house was sitting in a nest on one branch high above.

“How are we supposed to knock?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Yeah,” said Scootaloo. “None of us can fly, and that tree looks too steep to climb.”

“You three fillies from school?” came a loud, deep voice from above them. The fillies looked up, and saw a large black griffon sitting in the nest at the front door.

“Yes,” called Apple Bloom upwards. “We’re Gabriel’s friends. He gave us the address, and my sister said we could come over. I’m guessing you’re his dad?”

The griffon at the top chuckled. “Yes, indeed. I am father. Name is Grigori. Gabriel tell me all about you.” The fillies noticed he had what sounded like a thick Russian accent.

“Come fillies,” Grigori continued. “Grab rope. Hold on tight.”

A long thick rope dropped down from the nest. All three fillies grabbed on tightly with their teeth.

“Okay,” called up Scootaloo through a mouthful of rope. “We got the rope.”

The crusaders felt Grigori pulling the rope up with both talons. Eventually, they found themselves sitting in front of the elder griffon, and they finally got a good look at him. He was enormous, about the size of Big Macintosh. His body was dark black, and his head was a charcoal brown. He had streaks of yellow-white all over his head and body.

“Come in, fillies,” said Grigori. “We were expecting you, so I make delicious scones.”

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo sat down on a huge wide couch in the living room. There was a huge fireplace, and shelves filled with many golden artifacts.

As Grigori brought the scones to the fillies, Apple Bloom asked the first question.

“Where’s Gabriel?”

“Gabriel napping,” replied Grigori. “You stay down here with me until he wakes.”

Sweetie Belle was the next to ask a question.

“Where’s your wife?”

“Gwendolyn? She has job. She works on weather team in Baltimare.”

“I’m just wondering,” said Scootaloo. “I really hope you aren’t offended by this next question, but why do all griffon names begin with ‘g’?”

“That is good question, pegasus,” said Grigori. He sat down on a large armchair opposite of the couch. “Story goes that long time ago, Starswirl the Bearded annoyed by griffons’ greed. So he put curse on griffons. Curse so that all griffons born die on first birthday.”

“But Starswirl has good heart beneath,” continued Grigori. “He add escape clause to curse. If griffon child is given name that starts with ‘g’, griffon lives long and healthy life. But if griffon child is given name that starts with letter other than g, griffon dies on first birthday.”

“You don’t actually believe in this curse, do you?” Apple Bloom asked.

Grigori sighed. “I don’t believe in curse. I find it silly bunk.”

“Okay, good.”

“At least until Isabelle is born.”

All three fillies stared. “Who’s Isabelle?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Grigori pointed to a painting hung on the far wall. The painting showed a small, newly born griffon fledgling lying on its back with a blanket over its belly. The fledging had one eye open and the other closed, making it look like it was winking. The gold text on the frame below read “Isabelle”.

“Isabelle was first child we had before Gabriel. She is beautiful cub, with coat as white as fallen snow, eyes as golden as shining sun, and facial markings blue as clear sky. I deliberately give her name not starting with g to break tradition, and show that no such curse exists.”
“What happened to Isabelle?”

Tears began to form in Grigori’s eyes as he continued his story. “On first birthday, we take Isabelle outside to play. She run around curious and exploring, and we smile watching her. She sees butterfly and follows it, but we are not concerned. At least not until she runs to edge of Abysmal Abyss.”

Grigori began to make choking and sobbing sounds as tears ran down his face. “We run to catch her, but it’s too late. Ledge gives way, Isabelle not old enough to fly, and…”

Finally he stopped telling the story and broke down sobbing, both talons over his eyes. Apple Bloom got off the couch, trotted over to the chair, and patted him on the wing.

“It’s alright,” she said. “Ah know how it feels to lose a family member. Ah lost my parents when ah was just a baby, though Applejack hasn’t told me what happened to them.”

Grigori’s sobs turned into silent sniffles. “Yes…but you were just baby…your loss not your fault…but if I had given Isabelle different name…she’d still be with us…”

Grigori put his talons back over his eyes and continued to sob. Apple Bloom climbed up onto his lap and wrapped both forelegs around his neck in a hug. She gestured to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, which caused them to trot over and hug him as well.

Grigori, upon removing his talons from his eyes and noticing the crusaders hugging him, embraced the three fillies within his wings.

“Thank you fillies,” he said. “I feel slightly better now. Helps that this one reminds me of Isabelle.” He patted Sweetie Belle on the head, which caused her to blush and beam.

After the fillies got back on the couch, Grigori continued to tell his story.

“So, one year later, new fledgling is born. We name him Gabriel to avoid new tragedy. Years later, we move out of Griffonstone to spend new life in Ponyville.”

“Hey, Dad!” called a voice from upstairs. “Are the crusaders here?”

“Yes!” called Grigori back. “Fillies are here! I finish telling them story of Isabelle!”

Gabriel strutted down the stairs and into the living room. “Hey, guys,” he said. “I see you’ve met my dad. Told you he was kinda tough.”

“He’s awesome!” shouted Scootaloo.

“His story of Isabelle kind of made me sad,” said Sweetie Belle.

Gabriel nodded. “I wasn’t around to see her, but I bet she would’ve made a great sister.”

“Well, come on!” said Apple Bloom, trotting to the door and opening it. “Let’s go back home and…WHOA!” She almost slipped as she stepped through the doorway. She had forgotten that they were high above the ground in a tree. She backed away from the doorway as quickly as she could.

Grigori chuckled. “I’ll get your good friend rope,” he said. “To climb out of house.”

Author's Note

So, here's the second chapter. I think I'm the only person who actually tried to come up with an explanation for why all griffon names start with G.