Rarity lay awake atop her bed, gazing at the streets of Canterlot at night. At this time, Griff ‘n Groom was closed, and she could see Donnie, Primrose, and Thomas all depart. The three waved to each other, as Donnie and Primrose went one way, and Thomas the other. She could’ve sworn that maybe they were a family business. After all, while one could argue that all griffons look similar, those that have been to Griffonstone could safely see that they were a diversely different bunch than ponies were.

Rarity’s stomach growled as she looked at the clock. It was already nine in the evening, and she was so relaxed from that massage she forgot she was hungry! She left her room to go grab a bite at the local restaurant before it closed. While there, she, once again, ran into someone headfirst on accident. This time, it was none other than Thomas from the parlor.

“Rarity?”

“Thomas! What a pleasant surprise, I see,” Rarity said. “You’re at this hotel too?”

“I don’t really have a place to stay,” he remarked, “I’m a drifter, admittedly. Griff ‘n Groom is how I make my money, but I don’t really charge. People just tip me.”

“That reminds me,” Rarity said, “Why don’t you charge for your services? I’m actually quite surprised since my friends tell me-“

Thomas knew exactly what she was going to say. “They told you griffons are greedy, aren’t they,” he said with a dry face.

Rarity hung her head a bit, she thought she seriously offended Thomas with her words. “I’m sorry, look, let’s talk it over with dinner, okay?”

Thomas’ face returned to a smile. “Rarity, don’t worry. You didn’t say anything bad to me. I just…it’s a long story. Maybe I’ll tell you some other time.”

The two arrived at an eatery known as Canterlot Gardens, which specialized in farm-raised food that they import from more country areas. In fact, Applejack had once told her that their apple pie desserts are made with the spoils of Sweet Apple Acres’ orchards. The two sat down with their dinners; Rarity with a delicious garden salad, and Thomas with a chicken sandwich wrap adorned with sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese; a peculiar choice for griffons considering they’re partially birds themselves.

“So you’re mostly curious as to why I don’t charge, right?”

Rarity nodded.

“Well, I feel like if I’d worked as a clothing designer like you or a baker like my friend, I would probably charge bits for the sake of paying for ingredients or materials. But the thing about my massaging talent is that it’s something I found out at young age that I was good at and enjoyed doing. It gives people joy, and I don’t want to buy people’s happiness. Also Donnie and Primrose pay rent for the place but that’s them, not me.”

“I see,” Rarity said, taking a small bite of her salad and wiping her face. “That’s awfully generous of you.”

“Well you of all people would know, Miss Element of Generosity,” Thomas said with a chuckle.

“You know about that?” Rarity was a bit shocked.

“Of course,” Thomas said, “as a drifter I’ve seen and heard a lot of stories across Equestria. I love to travel around the world with my wings, and many a pony, griffon, even a sea serpent has told me stories of the world, including you and your friends!”

“Oh my, you’ve met him, too? How is he doing?”

“Stephen? Oh, he’s just wonderful! A real card, if I might add. I heard he recently attended a wedding in Ponyville, too. I have to check out that place sometime; maybe it’ll be the next stop on my travels.”

Rarity tilted her head. “But doesn’t this mean you don’t have a home?”

Thomas smiled and closed his eyes. “The whole world is my home. I’ve had a place of birth, but ever since I was a mere fledgling I’ve been travelling the world. It’s been my dream to see all of Equestria, and maybe even beyond! Even if I were to settle down on a home location, I don’t think it’d soothe my travelling spirit!”

Rarity nodded in approval of his positivity. “It’s a great way to look at life in our world. And who knows? Maybe when you have children, you can tell them all of your interesting stories!”

Thomas laughed. “What a great idea, indeed! Anyway, I think we’re just about done here. We’ll split the check, yes?”

Before he could get an answer, Rarity dropped her bag of fifty bits onto the table. “I’ll cover. The change is your tip, Thomas.”

With an almost tearful smile, Thomas remarked. “Call me T.C.; It stands for ‘Thomas Charles’, and it’s what my best friends call me.”

When the food was paid for, T.C. took the bag of the remaining bits and took it back to his hotel room. She must’ve felt bad for a drifter like him, or maybe it was something else. Either way, he put the bits on the side of his bed, and went to sleep.

Once the town had quieted down for the night, two figures clad in all-black outfits, crept around the hotel’s outside whispering schemes to each other.

“That Thomas is bad for our business. We should’ve never taken him in! Primrose, why do you have to be so generous?”

“He may have had no home, Donnie, but his whole ‘I do it for free’ policy is sickening! The tips he makes don’t even go towards the rent!”

“He’s a freeloader is what he is! We gotta find a way to get him out of our parlor, let alone this town!”

“Out of town, you say?” A third voice chimed in behind the two sneaking griffons, as they were approached by a hooded yet hooved figure.

“Who are you?! Show yourself!” Donnie began to lose his composure.

“I mean no harm, my dearest friends, as I assume that we’ll be friends. I have with me, an artifact that if worn by him, he’ll no longer be intact,” spoke the voice, in rather poor rhyme.

“What’s your offer?” Donnie queried the figure.

“A simple transaction of wealth to do, and a collar I’ll pass off to you two.”

Donnie and Primrose looked at each other, and nodded collectively. They gave the hooded figure their earnings that day, and took a shiny magenta collar adorned with gold trim. “What will this do,” asked Primrose.

“Allow me to follow you inside,” the hooded figure replied.

Donnie and Primrose flew up to the window that lead into T.C.’s room. He left it open to let cold air in, and the three found he slept on his side, hugging a pillow close.

The hooded figure walked forward with the collar in hoof, and a smile crossed his striped snout. He slipped it on T.C.’s neck, being ever so careful as to not wake him up. He then pushed his head aside, and the two griffons held their tongues in shock as they began to see a slight tear in the neck.

Just what was happening?

Author's Note

Not much to say here, except yes, the restaurant they eat at is named after the Canterlot Gardens convention. I picked that partially because of the convention name and partially because I wanted to do some kind of pony parody on Olive Garden. Also, originally Donnie and Primrose weren’t going to be antagonists against T.C.’s business practices! I think I had intended it to be two people by the name of Robbie Banx and Penny Pincher. Oh, and actually the original concept for the story didn’t even call for Donnie and Primrose at all! Originally T.C. just had the collar, and actually used its separation powers on his patients. I think I was going to say he got it from Zecora, but I decided that would be too nonsensical. Lagahai also came about when I decided to fuck around with the Zecora model in Garry’s Mod. I can’t even remember where I got his name, but I think it was some combination of foreign words meaning “merriment”.