Chapters Gabby Comes to the Friendship School
It's a quiet and foggy day in Griffonstone when Gallus and Gilda walk through the town together laughing. Gallus is off on a little visit back home, with permission from Twilight Sparkle and Starlight. The two are soon greeted by Gabby. "Hey Gallus," says Gabby with a smile, "how are you doing?"
"I'm doing good," says Gallus, "I'm currently attending Twilight's Friendship School."
"Cool," says Gabby, eyes widening, "Can I go too?"
"Uh, I'll see with Twilight," says Gallus, "how could she say no to you?"
"True," giggles Gabby. She then embraces Gallus in a hug. "Thanks so much, Gallus! You're the best!" she then flies off.
"So," says Gilda, "good luck with that." She then flies off. Gallus then flies back to the Friendship School and talks with Twilight.
"Miss Twilight," he says nervously, "I have a friend that's interested in attending your school. Her name is Gabby. Can she attend?"
"Certainly," responds Twilight.
"Thanks," responds Gallus. He then flies out and flies back to Griffonstone and tells Gabby the good news. "Gabby, you're in. Twilight will be glad to have you." She squeals and embraces him in a hug once again. The two then fly back to the school together.
Once at the school, Gallus takes Gabby into Starlight's office where she gets her room assignment and then he walks her to her room. She ends up in a room with Yona, Silverstream, Ocellus, and a young unicorn mare named Sapphire. "Hi!" says Gabby excitedly. "Nice to meet all of you." Yona and Silverstream shake her claw excitedly, while Ocellus hides behind Sapphire Heart. A few minutes later, Sapphire shakes Gabby's claw and upon seeing this, Ocellus does the same. The girls then hang out together until dinner time.
At dinner, the roomies sit at a table with Gallus and Smoulder. "Hi," says Smoulder to Gabby, "the name is Smoulder. What's yours?"
"The name's Gabby!" says Gabby excitedly. "Nice to meet you, Smoulder."
A few minutes later, Sandbar approaches the table and sits down. "Hey," says Sandbar to Gabby, "you must be the new student Gallus was telling me about earlier. Nice to meet you."
"You too," squeals Gabby, "the name is Gabby and I'm so glad to be here." She then does a loop de loop in the air and lands back down on her seat and begins to eat her meal.
After dinner, all the friends and Gabby go out to the lake together where they hang out until nightfall. When nightfall comes, Gabby, Yona, Silverstream, Ocellus, and Sapphire return to their room and the other students do the same. Once in their room, the students introduce themselves to each other.
"So," says Silverstream, "I'm Silverstream, the niece of Queen Novo and cousin of Skystar. I'm a seapony and a hippogriff. I can change between the two with this crystal around my neck."
"Whoa," says Gabby, "that's so cool!"
"Thanks," says Silverstream.
"Me Yona," says Yona, "and me from YakYakistan."
"So cool!" says Gabby.
"I'm Ocellus," says Ocellus shyly, "and I'm a changeling. I'm also very shy and I love to read."
"That's neat!" says Gabby.
"I'm Sapphire," says Sapphire, "and I love to read, write, paint, draw, you know, get my creativity out there."
"That's cool!" says Gabby. "My turn. My name is Gabby and I've known Gallus forever practically as well as Gilda. I'm very excitable and energetic and am great at humor and several other things as well. I also love to sing even though it's not allowed in my home. I often sing in secret where no griffon can hear me."
"Whoa!" says Silverstream. "That's so cool!"
"Awe, thanks," says Gabby. "I have a feeling we're all going to get along great."
A few hours later, the new friends all fall fast asleep, all the while thinking about the time they're going to spend and the memories they're going to make together at the school. Gabby also can't help but feel she's going to get along here great, especially with Silverstream.
Gabby Comes to the Friendship School
Early the next morning, Gabby and Silverstream are up before the sun. The two then open the window and head out on a fly, closing the window quietly behind them. As the two fly, they goof off, share jokes, and laughs. "So," says Gabby curiously, "what's it like being a seapony and a royal at that?"
"It's interesting," says Silverstream. "It does get boring sometimes though. When I'm a hippogriff, when I'm flying, I feel free, I feel there's more adventure to be had. That's one of the main reasons I jumped on the chance to go to Twilight's Friendship School."
"Cool, tell me more!" says Gabby excitedly. Silverstream nods and continues.
"As a Seaquestria royal, most of my job was to interact with seaponies that need help of some sort or another, and that got boring really fast. Often times, on my down time, I would go on swims or flies with my cousin Skystar. I kind of miss her and hopes she comes by the school for a visit soon."
A few hours later, the two arrive back at the school and head off to their first class of the day: RD's Loyalty Class. Once in there, Gabby is called up to the front of the class. "Students!" says Rainbow Dash. "Meet our new student, Gabby. She's come all the way from Griffonstone to be with us."
"Hi," says Gabby shyly. She then goes back to her seat next to Silverstream. Rainbow then begins the lesson.
"Loyalty," says Rainbow Dash, "is always being there for your friends no matter what. It's leaning on them when you need help. To display this, we're going to be doing trust falls today. Partner up!"
"Wanna partner?" says Gabby turning to Silverstream.
"You read my mind," says Silverstream. The two then partner up and do their trust falls, each taking turns catching each other. As they and the others do this, Rainbow walks around and observes their progress.
"Good, good," says Rainbow. "Trust is a major part of loyalty. Good job!" She then flies back up to the front and a few minutes later, dismisses the class and they then head off to their next class, Applejack's Honesty Class. There, they learn about how the truth is a good thing as well as learning not to take honesty to far. After that, they have a lunch break before doing Rarity's Generosity Class, Pinkie's Laughter Class, and Fluttershy's Kindness class.
After their classes wrap up for the day, everyone goes out to the lake and chill. At the lake, Silverstream transforms back into her seapony form and goes for a swim. "Ah!" she sighs. "This feels so good. It's so nice to be back in water again." Seeing Silverstream's example, Ocellus turns into a fish and swims in the lake right along with her. Meanwhile, the rest of the friends talk on the shore nearby as they watch their friends enjoy themselves in the lake. A few minutes later, Ocellus and Silverstream return to their other forms and the friends all then head out to the school gardens where they are met by Fluttershy.
"Hi guys," says Fluttershy sweetly. "How have you been enjoying your afternoon?"
"It's been great!" exclaims Gabby. "I love it here at the Friendship School."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that," responds Fluttershy. She then waves goodbye as the friends run and fly off together. "So glad they all enjoy it here," sighs Fluttershy as she puts the butterfly from her hoof back on the bush in the garden and flies back towards her own classroom.
As for Gabby, as she continues to fly next to Silverstream, the girls can't help but agree they are now definitely the best of friends and that fact is not going to change anytime soon.
Gabby Comes to the Friendship School
A few minutes later, Silverstream and Gabby arrive in class and take their seats next to Yona and Smoulder. They're currently in a special class on Forgiveness with Starlight Glimmer. "So students," says Starlight, "I am here to talk to you today about Forgiveness and how important it is. After all, if I wasn't forgiven by Twilight and her friends, I wouldn't be here or be the pony I am today. Forgiveness is essential to friendship and relationships overall. If I wasn't shown forgiveness, I'd still be running ponies under a mind control spell, stuck in the same place I had always been before now. If you hold a grudge or onto something petty and don't let go of it, you'll end up a wreck and believe me, that's the last thing you want."
"Get to the point already," grumbles Gallus from his seat in the back of the room.
"Gallus, outside now, go to Principal Twilight's office," demands Starlight as she shows him to the door. He then leaves the room in a huff. Class then continues on as normal. "Anyway, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," continues Starlight, "forgiveness is essential. It's important. It's for your own growth and happiness. When we hold onto the pains and hurts from our past, our past resentment, our past anger, it harms us more than the person who offended us. Forgiving ourselves and them helps us to live a better, happier present. It helps us let go of a need for revenge. Do you understand that?"
"Yes, Miss Starlight," responds the class in unison.
"Good, good," responds Starlight. "I'm glad. After all, forgiveness sets you free. Remember that, class dismissed!" The students then file out of the room one by one.
Once outside the classroom, Silverstream and Gabby take to the skies and go for a fly before lunch time. As they fly, the two friends can't help but laugh and crack jokes among other things. "So wait, let me get this straight," says Gabby, "you used to be a seapony but now you're a hippogriff. That's actually kind cool."
"Thanks," responds Silverstream with a smile. "What are other griffons like?"
"It all depends on the griffon really," responds Gabby, "most are grumpy, overprotective, over zealous, over moody. The only ones that aren't that extreme generally don't care either way. The teen griffons tend to have anger issues like Gilda does. She's older than me by like six years. She's always treated me pretty nicely, other griffons, though, she can kind of be stand offish. All around, just never tick them off when they're in a bad mood. That never ends well."
"Okay, noted," responds Silverstream. "Another question, how'd you and Gallus meet?"
"Oh, we met as kids. He was about four years older than me and we still got along like a dream. He was like an older brother to me. It was nice as I had no siblings of my own. He'd always stand up for me and protect me against local bullies. He'd always tell me Grandpa Gruff's stories when we'd hang out. We'd always go on adventures together. He taught me how to fly and how to do bird calls. We always had a blast together. I wish we were that close now, but alas, we're not."
"Why not?" asks Silverstream curiously.
"Well, people grow apart sometimes," responds Gabby. "It's part of life."
"Well, it shouldn't be," responds Silverstream. "Tell him you want to be close with him again like you were when you two were children."
"Okay," sighs Gabby, "I think I'll take you up on that."
"Oh good," sighs Silverstream.
A few minutes later, the two arrive back to the school and head down to the lunch room, where they grab lunch and sit down with the rest of their friends. Once at their table, Gabby lets out a deep breath and admits how she feels to Gallus. "Gallus," says Gabby, "I wish we were close like we were as kids. I can see we've grown apart and I don't like it."
"Well, I, I honestly didn't notice, I'm sorry," responds Gallus. "Why don't we do something together like we did as kids? What did you enjoy doing together when we were kids?"
"Bird calls at dusk, owl calls, all of that. Those were always fun," responds Gabby.
"Okay," responds Gallus. "Why don't we do owl calls together tonight on the forest edge of Ponyville? That's the best place to do it."
"Okay," responds Gabby, "sounds good."
"Great!" responds Gallus. "I can't wait!"
"Me neither!" responds Gabby.
A few hours later, once it's dark outside, Gabby and Gallus fly out to the forest edge of Ponyville and begin their owl calls and to their great joy and delight, they hear a response as a cotton candy owl flies out of the wood and lands on a tree branch not that far away from them. They then do the call again and another cotton candy owl flies out followed by two or three baby ones and they land next to the male one that is perched on the tree.
"Look!" says Gabby pointing. "It's a family of cotton candy owls!"
"Yeah! It's cool, isn't it?" responds Gallus.
"Sure is!" responds Gabby as she embraces him in a hug. "I had a blast with you tonight!"
"Me too!" responds Gallus cracking a smile, now let's get back before Twilight gets fussy. The two nod and fly back to the friendship school and into their bedrooms and right under the covers, so no one notices they were gone at all as they're all asleep already as it is.
