That afternoon, Gabriel was at the clubhouse with his three new friends.

“So, this ‘Rainbow Dash’ pony…you say she once did a Sonic Rainboom?”

“She sure did! Actually, I lied. She didn’t do it once. She did it multiple times!”

“I heard it was just a myth.”

“Nope. I’ve seen her do it. We can ask her to show you sometime in the future.”

“So, you can’t fly yourself?”

Scootaloo sighed and lowered her head. “No,” she said. “I’m not sure why.”

At that moment, Apple Bloom interrupted. “But she doesn’t need to fly! She’s awesome enough on her scooter!”

Scootaloo lifted her head back up. “That’s right!” she said, as her frown turned back into a smile.

“Well, you’ll have to show me sometime.”

“Okay, you’ve heard enough about us,” said Sweetie Belle. “We’d like to know more about your life in Griffonstone. What was it like?”

Gabriel didn’t say anything. He just stared down at the ground.

“Gabe?”

“It’s alright, Gabe,” said Apple Bloom. “You don’t have to tell us if it bothers you that much.”

“No, no,” replied Gabriel. “I should tell you. Anyways…

“I remember very little about being a very young fledgling. All I remember was that I was never allowed outside. My parents were super protective. It wasn’t until I was five that I was finally allowed to go out. But whenever I did, my parents kept a close eye on me, never letting me leave their sight. They also wouldn’t let me play with the other griffons for reasons I didn’t understand.”

He continued. “When I was finally old enough to go places on my own, I noticed that every single griffon I encountered, young and old, were very nasty to me. If I so much as brushed against one of the other griffons, he or she would yell at me and threaten to hurt me.” He shuddered upon saying this.

“So I had to be extremely careful just going out to get some food. I always carried bits, but because the other griffons demanded bits for doing so much as letting me walk past them, I rarely had enough to get the food I wanted.”

“That’s awful!” said Sweetie Belle.

“You said it,” replied Gabriel. “But I didn’t realize how awful it truly was until we came to Equestria and saw how kind you ponies were compared to the other griffons.”

“Well,” said Apple Bloom. “Ah’m glad you came. Ah really hope we did a good job of makin’ you feel accepted.”

“By the way, I’m just wondering, is singing allowed here?”

“Of course it is!” said Sweetie Belle. “Why? Was singing not allowed in Griffonstone?”

Gabriel shook his head. “Nope. There were even signs stating so. Every time I tried, some other griffon would throw a stone at me. That’s where this scar came from.” He parted his head feathers to the side, revealing a scar on the top of his head. The fillies all gasped upon seeing this.

“It really stunk, because I absolutely love to sing. Unfortunately, I could only sing in the safety of my own home, and thus the only ones who could judge me were my own parents. And as you probably know, family members are biased and will enjoy anything you create, no matter how bad it is. So I have no idea if I’m a good singer or not.”

“Well, maybe you could show us,” said Scootaloo. “Go ahead. Me, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom can judge you.”

“Okay,” said Gabriel. “Just…give me a bit to warm up.”

After taking a deep breath and doing some breathing exercises, Gabriel began to sing the lullaby his mother had sang to him since he had first hatched.

There’s always another rainbow
Search until you find it
Don’t look at the cloud
Look behind it
There’s a rainbow there somewhere

There’s always a ray of sunshine
Though it all seems tragic
You may turn around
And like magic
There’s an answer to your prayer

Now you feel forlorn
But hope can be reborn
Try to lose that frown
Look up, not down

And you’ll find another rainbow
I can guarantee it
Even though you feel you’ve reached the rainbow’s end
There’s always another rainbow
Always another rainbow
Round the bend

After Gabriel was finished, all three fillies clapped their hooves. They also had tears in their eyes.

“Oh my gosh!” said Apple Bloom. “That was beautiful!”

“That makes me feel better about my flight disability!” said Scootaloo.

Sweetie Belle was smiling the biggest of all. “Good job, Gabe!” she said. “That’s a great singing voice you have. In fact, I have an idea.”

Gabriel blushed. “Really?” he asked. “What kind of idea?”

“Well, I signed up for a one-pony concert in the park for tomorrow evening, because the others say I’m a good singer. But I wasn’t able to come up with a song to sing for that event. However, thanks to you, I now know what to sing!”

“Well, thanks,” replied Gabe. “Glad to hear I inspired you.”

“Oh! But that’s not all! How would you like to help turn this from a one-pony concert, to a one-pony-one-griffon concert?”

“You mean…sing with you?”

Sweetie Belle nodded.

“Well, I don’t know. Do they allow griffons?”

“They’re allowing a dragon to announce, so I don’t see why a griffon can’t sing onstage,” said Scootaloo.

“Come on, Gabe!” said Apple Bloom. “It’ll make Sweetie Belle happy, and it’ll make yourself happy as well.”

Gabriel thought about it for a minute. “Okay,” he said. “I guess so.”

“Great!” said Sweetie Belle. “We’ll go get you signed up sometime today.”

“Girls!” Applejack, Apple Bloom’s older sister, opened the clubhouse door. “Want some lunch? Ah made some apple fritters, if ya’ll are interested.”

“YAY!” all three fillies shouted.

Gabriel just sat there, looking sad.

“What’s the matter, Gabe?” Applejack asked him. “Ain’t ya’ hungry?”

“You said he couldn’t come inside, remember?” Apple Bloom reminded her sister.

“Oh, yeah,” the orange pony replied, putting a hoof on her chin. “Well, ah can see ya’ll are getting’ along with ‘im just fine, so if he wants to come inside, we’ll let him.”

As the four ponies and the griffon trotted over to the house, Sweetie Belle spoke up.

“So, it turns out Gabriel has a really great singing voice, and I’m thinking about allowing him to sing along with me at the park tomorrow.”

Applejack stopped in her tracks. “Gabriel, a griffon, singin’ with you?”

“Yeah,” said Sweetie Belle. “That’s not a problem, is it?

Applejack grinned. “Problem? What problem? Ah tell ya’, that sounds greater than the ripest apples on the biggest tree! Ah can see it now: Gabriel, the first ever famous griffon singer! This could go down in history books! Ponies will be talkin’ about him after all of us have passed! Ah bet…”

“Now, don’t get too far ahead, Applejack,” said Scootaloo. “He’s not a famous singer yet.”

“Yeah, sis,” said Apple Bloom. “You never know, what if he loses interest in singin’ and just wants to live a normal griffon life?”

“I hope I don’t lose interest,” said Gabriel as they arrived at the door. “I really love singing.”

Author's Note

So, the rule states that while copyrighted song lyrics aren't allowed in stories, MLP songs are. But they didn't say anything about songs from PREVIOUS gens.