One cold, snowy winter day in Equestria, five students at Twilight Sparkle’s new School of Friendship are preparing for the holiday season. These students are the most well-known due to how strong their friendship is. They are responsible for bringing their respective nations together. But wait a minute! Why did I say there were five? Aren’t there six members in this particular group of friendship students? Who is missing? Well, my friends, that particular student would be Gallus, Griffinstone’s representative. Instead of celebrating the holidays with his friends, he has locked himself in the dorm he shares with Sandbar, Equestria’s representative. He is in their dorm, crying. But why is he crying? Growing up, Gallus was an orphan living on the cold, harsh streets of Griffinstone. He was always malnourished and had to steal food from nearby vendors in order to survive. When the vendors found out that a good chunk of their food was stolen, they would always find him and beat him.
Worried about his griffin friend, Sandbar went to their shared dorm to see if he is alright.
“Gallus, is everything alright?” he asked.
“No! Go away! I want to die!” Gallus
responded, his voice still sad-sounding from all the crying.
Sandbar, now very worried about his friend, responded “Why on Earth would you say that?!”
Gallus was ready to explain everything to his pony friend. “Sit with me.” he said.
Sandbar promptly sat next to him.
“The reason why I’m sad is because…*sniff*...I remember, back when I lived in Griffinstone, everygriff would celebrate Blue Moon Festival...everygriff except for me.” said Gallus.
Sandbar, now feeling extreme sympathy for his depressed friend, put a hoof on his shoulder. “Gallus, I am very sorry to hear that. But that’s your old life. Look where you are now! Surrounded by many people, students and faculty, who care for you dearly. If you mess up the Hearthswarming decorations again and have to stay after for extra friendship lessons, I’ll be willing to stay with you. I promise.” he said.
“Thanks, Sandy. But I just want to be alone. Goodnight.” Gallus said before going to sleep.
The next morning, Sandbar was horrified when he found out that Gallus was not in his bed. He rushed out into the sitting room, where the rest of his friends were.
“There you are! What’s wrong? And where’s Gallus?” asked Silverstream.
“He’s gone! He wasn’t in his bed when I woke up!” he replied.
“Calm down! He probably went to get breakfast.” said Smolder in an attempt to calm down the worried pony, ensuring everything will be okay. But everything wasn’t okay. The group waited an hour for Gallus to arrive, but he never showed up.
“Okay! Now I’m getting worried! Gallus! GALLUS!!” cried Silverstream.
Twilight Sparkle, their headmare, walked into the room. “I think I know what happened to Gallus. We have caught surveillance footage of him running away. He mentioned something about a mistake.” she said.
“A mistake? What exactly did he say?” asked Ocellus.
“I think he said something along the lines of ‘I wish I were never born’” she replied. “Please find him and bring him back here. I would be devastated if I lost one of my students!”
The group promptly went to search for their missing griffin friend.
“Yona very worried about griffin! What if he gets hurt?” Yona said, worrying that something bad will happen to Gallus.
“Don’t say that! He’s very brave! He helped me overcome my fear of the Storm King!” cried Silverstream.
“Guys! We need to look for Gallus! Where do you think he would be?” Smolder added.
“Maybe he went back to Griffinstone.” said Ocellus.
Sandbar contradicted her. “I don’t think he would go to Griffinstone. He made a vow saying he would never go back.” he said.
“Maybe he went to the real world.” said Silverstream.
“Nah. It’s impossible.” said Smolder.
“Dare Yona say, griffin go to Everfree forest.” said Yona, much to the surprise of her friends.
“Oh no! That’s even worse than the real world!” cried Silverstream.
“He could get hurt out there!” cried Ocellus.
“We gotta find him!” demanded Smolder.
The five students ran to the Everfree Forest in search for Gallus. The Everfree Forest is an eerie-looking place with many things that would hurt or even kill if one is not careful. The forest is dark and inhabits many dangerous creatures, such as timberwolves, dragons, spiders, etc. The group went into the forest, very scared of what they will encounter.
“Yona scared of Everfree Forest!” said Yona, the big, strong yak shaking like a leaf.
“It’s okay, Yona. We’ll be together the whole time.” said Sandbar, the laid back pony.
It didn’t take long for the group to find Gallus, who was covered in twigs, dirt, and scars. “GALLUS!” cried Silverstream happily as she runned up to him for a hug. “Oh, I was so worried! Are you okay?”
“No! I want to go home!” cried Gallus.
“We’re here to take you back home, Gallus.” said Ocellus.
“Yeah, you need a bath.” said Smolder.
“Don’t ever run off like that again! We were worried sick!” said Sandbar sternly.
Gallus began to cry once again. “I’m sorry. It’s just...it just gave me really bad memories of Griffinstone. I remember not being allowed to celebrate Blue Moon Festival with the other griffins. Grampa Gruff would beat me if I tried.” he said.
“Oh, you poor thing! I’m so sorry!” said Silverstream.
“That’s terrible! Now I think I know why you don’t want to go back to Griffinstone.” said Ocellus.
“Gallus, sweetie, we would never exclude you. That’s your old life. Now you have friends who love and care for you. I would never see my life without you. I’m glad that you’re mine.” said Silverstream before kissing him on the cheek. A flash of pink shone on Gallus’ blue cheeks.
“Now let’s go home. We got a holiday to celebrate...together...all six of us.” said Smolder. This made Gallus smile as he was about to celebrate the holidays with a family of some sort.