Guardians of Friendship

Chapters

Guardians of Friendship
The First Meeting
Breakfast in the Castle
Arriving in Griffonstone
Old Problems
Returning Home

Guardians of Friendship

"So, anycreature know why Sandbar called us here?" Gallus asked, clearly getting impatient.

Smolder raised an eyebrow to him. "Sandbar? It was Yona who asked me here."

"Same. I just thought she wanted to hang for the afternoon," Silverstream added.

"Sandbar came to me in the library and said he had something important to say," Ocellus finished.

The four youths, standing just outside their favorite place, the Treehouse of Harmony, had been here for some time, but with their two absentee friends still nowhere in sight, it became increasingly irritating for Gallus in particular to just be standing here. "Ugh! Whatever it is they wanted us here for, I hope it's good!"

"Trust me, Gallus, it will be."

All four heads turned to the owner of the second voice, Sandbar, who now walked through the crumbling and ancient gateway of the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters. As expected, Yona was walking beside him, and as they approached, Gallus smirked to the sight of them together. "Oh look. The group's 'royal couple' have finally decided to grace us with their presence."

Naturally, Sandbar and Yona blushed to this, much to the amusement of the others, but they managed to get past it, as Yona stepped forward to speak. "Yona and Sandbar have things to say. Important things. Things friends should hear and listen to."

Sandbar nodded. "With everything that's been happening, I got to thinking, and then I went to Yona to talk about it."

Yona nodded back. "Yona understand Sandbar's idea. And Yona think it good plan."

Smolder folded her arms, giving them both a curious look. "Oh yeah? And what's this big idea exactly?"

Sandbar stepped forward by a few steps before answering that. "Princess Twilight is the new ruler of Equestria. Her friends will always be there to help guide and protect Equestria from everything that might come its way. But now that they're doing that, there's something else we need to think about. Something that might get forgotten or left to the side now that they've got so many more responsibilities."

Ocellus seemed concerned. "What, you mean the school?"

Yona shook her head. "No. School in good care with Head-Mare Starlight and friends. That not what friends need to talk about now."

Silverstream, sounding far less bubbly than normal, looked to the two of them. "Then what?"

Sandbar and Yona took a moment to glance at one another, then looked back to the group. "Well...it's the smaller things," Sandbar answered.

A chuckle from Gallus. "What? What kinds of small things?"

Sandbar gestured to their surroundings. "I know they'll rule Equestria well, but before they did all that there was so many other things they did for ponies and other creatures. They'd go out on missions, find friendship problems, and even when they weren't being sent by the map they'd still help others and spread the ideals of friendship."

Yona nodded, her ears drooping slightly. "If Twilight rule Equestria now, will she still help friends who fight in Yakyakistan?"

"Would Professor Rainbow or Professor Fluttershy or any of the others still travel to some distant corner of Equestria because a community there just wasn't as loving as it used to be?" Sandbar added.

Now starting to see the problem they were worried about, Ocellus took a step forward herself. "You think they'd ignore those things?"

Sandbar sighed. "No. I know they'd do all they could if they knew about it. But with the roles they have now, do you really think they'll even have time to go and do the things they used to? At least as much as they used to?"

There was silence all around as each of the children looked to one another, perhaps thinking one of them would have something to say to assure Sandbar that his concerns wouldn't actually be the case. But when it turned out that nocreature had any such response, Gallus sighed. "Well, thanks for that, Sandbar. I wasn't expecting to feel bad today, but here we are."

Yona smiled to him. "Friend Gallus no be sad. There answer to problem!"

Gallus smirked slightly, clearly sceptical. "Oh yeah? What?"

Yona turned to Sandbar, and after the two blushed at each other for a moment, it was the latter who addressed the remaining four. "If Princess Twilight and her friends aren't going to be the ones to do those things...then perhaps it might be worth having others do it instead."

As before, there was silence, and during it Gallus slowly rolled his eyes. "Okay, think I see where this is going."

Sandbar and Yona stepped forward. "Guys...I think we should be the ones to carry on the role Princess Twilight and her friends used to have," Sandbar finally announced.

His other friends looked to him with shock over that declaration, with the exception of Gallus, who had apparently already figured out this was what would be said. "So, what, you want us to go around, helping ponies and other creatures with friendship problems?"

"Ooooooh! That sounds fun! How do we do it?!" Silverstream asked excitedly.

"Are...are we even ready for something like this? We're still students after all," Ocellus added, her voice clearly a nervous one.

"Heh, gotta hand it too ya, Sandy, when you dream, you dream big!" Smolder conceded.

Yona looked to her other four friends. "Sandbar right. There hole in world now where Twilight and friends used to be. If friendship problem happen, it still need help. We can help fill hole!" she stated firmly.

Gallus sighed, quickly flying closer to Sandbar. "Look, Sandy, I get it. Things are changing and we probably have to change with them. But do you really think this is a good idea? Not to put too fine a point on it, but we're not as good as they were when it comes to this sort of thing."

Sandbar smiled to him. "Do you think they started out being really good at it? They had to learn, just like we do. It wasn't something that happened overnight, Gallus, it was something they built up for themselves over years, ever since Princess Twilight first moved here to Ponyville all that time ago."

Yona happily nodded. "And friends already have good start! We help save Equestria twice now!"

Ocellus considered that. "She's not wrong. We were all newcomers to friendship, yet we were still able to help bring different peoples together. They were ready to just abandon one another, yet we told them how wrong it'd be to do that."

"And they listened!" Silverstream merrily declared.

An amused snort from Smolder. "They got ya there, Gallus. We're not exactly novices anymore."

Sighing, Gallus smirked back to his dragon friend, but then turned more serious as he once more regarded Sandbar. "I'm as willing as any Griffon to do the right thing and help out. But let's not kid ourselves here, people. We've got some big horseshoes to fill. Do you really think we can live up to what Princess Twilight and her friends have done?"

"Yes...I think you can."

All eyes turned upwards, and to their shock, they saw that it was none other than Twilight herself, descending down from the sky amid the bright sunlight of the day. The moment she made landfall, all six of her students bowed respectfully to her, prompting a giggle on her part. "I appreciate that, but you needn't bow. You were my students long before I became a ruler, remember?" She watched them get back up, nervously laughing among themselves, before then turning to Sandbar. She approached him, smiling, and placed a hoof on his shoulder. "My friends and I have done many amazing things over the years, but even if we never said it, we always knew there would come a time when somecreature else would have to carry the torch." She looked to all of them warmly. "And I can think of none more worthy to take up that torch than the six of you."

Six blushes were her response, with Gallus chuckling about it soon afterwards. "Heh, no pressure, right?"

Twilight gave a quick laugh of her own, but looked to him and spoke encouragingly afterwards. "I know it can be a daunting thing, but believe me when I say you're all up for it. I remember what it was to be your age after all. I wasn't much older when I arrived here in Ponyville. I met many challenges, and I overcame them with the help of my friends. And if the six of you are truly committed to carrying on what we did for all those wonderful years, then I am truly honored."

Yona grinned even wider than before. "Friends not let Princess Twilight down! Friends do good work in her name!"

The other students all smiled and nodded in agreement, much to Twilight's delight. "I know you will. And whether it be Equestria, Griffonstone or anywhere beyond, I know you all have it in you to do good for the people there, just as me and my friends once did."

Smolder chuckled, glancing behind her to the Treehouse of Harmony. "Well, if nothing else, we've got a decent headquarters for this new little club of ours."

Twilight looked up to it, the last gift the Tree of Harmony had ever given, and smiled, fondly remembering that ancient being and all it had done for them. "The Treehouse will forever be a haven and refuge for those who value friendship and wish to preserve it. A legacy of the great Tree that came before." Then she looked down to her students with just the teensiest bit of slyness. "But I think we can do a little bit better for this new role you've set for yourselves."

The students didn't know what she was talking about, but they watched as she stepped forward, lifting her hoof and offering it to Sandbar. There, in its palm, was a key of some sort. Accepting it, Sandbar looked to his Princess with about the same amount of confusion as the rest of them. "Um....a key?"

Twilight giggled. "Yes, and a very important one at that. Gather around." The students were hesitant, but they all trusted her, and so they did indeed walk close to her. When Twilight was satisfied that they were close enough, her horn lit up brightly, and soon engulfed them in one of her now-famous teleportation spells. It was a new experience for many of them, and when they emerged at their new destination, several of them were a bit hazy from the journey. But after Twilight had given them all a moment to recover, she gestured to the side. "I think this might suit your needs a bit better."

The students turned, and their eyes widened with shock. For they had arrived at the doors of the Palace of Friendship. Twilight's castle, just next to where their school was. It glistened in the sunlight, looking as impressive as it always did, and after the students had gawked at it for a time, Silverstream gasped, smiling with excitement at her teacher. "You...you mean...?"

Twilight nodded. "I do. This place has served me and my friends well over the years, but it will no longer be my home. Not now, when I will be living and ruling from Canterlot." She looked to each of them. "But like your Treehouse, it too was a gift from the Tree of Harmony, and I have no intention of letting it simply lie abandoned on the edge of Ponyville." She paused, then smiled softly to the six of them. "It served as a place from where my friends and I could work for the betterment of Equestria and those beyond. And I can think of no better thing for it than to have it continue to aid that goal, with a new generation." Taking a step forward, she again focused on Sandbar in particular. "I'm proud of you. All of you. For those as young as you to want to help others in the same way my friends and I did? It gives me great joy."

Sandbar, perhaps out of some sort of instinct, gave a salute to her. "Don't worry, Princess, we won't let you down!"

"Especially if we're getting a castle in this deal!" Smolder commented, earning her looks from the others. "Hey, we're all thinking it, right?"

Twilight giggled. "I know you'll do well. I have faith in each and every one of you. And remember..." She again placed her hoof on Sandbar's shoulder. "Should you ever need help...my door is always open." Taking a step back from them, Twilight looked to the smiling faces of her students. Those six souls whom she had taught the ways of friendship, and who would now go on to use that knowledge to aid those who were still in need of it out there in the wider world. It brought her both happiness and pride, and as her eyes filled with happy tears, she spread out her wings, launching herself into the sky before the first fell, until she was too far away for the youngsters to be seen.

Now alone with their new base of operations, the students, at first, were unsure of how to react to all this. But then Sandbar looked to Yona, who smiled warmly to him, and he knew what needed to be done. He faced the rest of the group, stretching out a single hoof. "So...you guys ready?"

Yona didn't even hesitate, as she put her own hoof onto his. Smolder rolled her eyes, but approached all the same. "Kinda cliché, but it's the good kind at least." She too stepped forward putting her claw on the hooves of the other two.

"Eeeeee! This is gonna be so great!" Silverstream said, going forward and putting her claw down on the mix.

"I never thought my life might have this going for it...but I'm happy to help," Ocellus added, placing down her own hoof.

Now it was just Gallus, who looked to all of his friends, and then smirked. "Pfft! Yeah right! Like there was ever a chance I wouldn't join in?" He added his claw, completing the union.

The group, now standing in the shadow of the castle that would serve their noble goal, smiled to one another, silently knowing they'd be there for one another as they undertook this quest. And as a sense of pride in this gathering swelled in Sandbar's chest, he couldn't help but say it to them all. "Alright then...here's to the Friendship Squad!"

Instantly, Gallus scowled at him. "Okay, first order of business, we've got to get ourselves a better group name than that!"

Author's Note

Ever since they first arrived in the show, I've always liked the idea of the Young Six serving as a sort of successor group to the mane six, and now that Twilight has gone on to be the new ruler of Equestria, I think it stands to reason that a new generation will be needed to go out on adventures and help people, just as she and her friends did.

Now, I have no idea if this is actually going to be a multi-chapter story, but if I do go that route, then I wanted to make sure that I at least had a decent start for it :twilightsmile:

The First Meeting

"So...how about...Twilight's Angels?" Sandbar asked.

"No, Sandbar," Gallus replied grumpily.

"Okay, how about...Sparkle's Six?" Sandbar asked again.

"No," Gallus answered, more directly than before.

"...The Equestria Friendship Brigade?"

"No! That's the worst one yet!"

Sandbar folded his hooves. "Well I don't see anycreature else coming up with a name for us!"

Gallus narrowed his eyes to his friend. "Look, Twilight and her friends all went for years without ever needing a name for their group. I think we can survive doing this new job without one too."

Sandbar pouted, looking away while he mumbled under his breath. "I still think Friendship Squad was fine."

Thankfully, for Gallus at least, this little spat was interrupted by the return of the girls, who entered the chamber of the Cutie Map, much to the delight of the boys. "So, how went the look-over?" the young Griffon enquired.

Smolder groaned. "Dude, we didn't even get through half of this place! I have no idea how Princess Twilight ever put up with living somewhere this big all by herself!"

Yona smiled to her draconic companion. "Princess Twilight not alone. Friend Spike with her too!"

Silverstream too grinned to the thought of their old mentor. "Yeah! And Head-Mare Starlight was here too!"

Smolder rolled her eyes. "Oh wow, a whole two other people. Well, that'll just fill this place up no problem."

Ocellus frowned to her colleague. "Sarcasm won't help anycreature, Smolder."

Smolder, showing some measure of agreement, gave a firm nod. "You're right. We have way more important things to discuss!"

Ocellus' face lit up. "Like where we're going to go on our first mission?"

Smolder looked to her with an arched eyebrow. "What? No, I mean who gets which bedroom."

Instantly, Gallus leapt from his chair. "Oh! I call dibs on Princess Twilight's old room!"

Smolder frowned to him. "Hey! No fair! That's the biggest and best bedroom in the whole castle!"

Gallus, in response, folded his arms and looked to her smugly. "Yeah, I know, that's why I called dibs on it."

Silverstream leaned in closer to Smolder. "He's got a point, Smolder."

A puff of smoke angrily snorted out of Smolder's nostrils, but thankfully Yona placed her hoof upon the young dragons' shoulder, calming her. And speaking of the Yak, she now smiled to the rest of the group. "Bedroom talk later. Mission talk now!"

Sandbar smiled to her, but that smile was soon replaced with a more uncertain look. "I'm all for going out there and doing good, Yona, but we kind of have an unexpected curve-ball on that count."

Silverstream scratched her cheek as she looked to him,. "Wait, wasn't it you and Yona who said we should be doing this in the first place? You know, going out, following in Princess Twilight's hoofsteps and all that?"

Sandbar sighed. "Yeah, we were, but we weren't expecting all this to be a part of it!" He gestured to the rest of the castle. "We're not the Princess, and we're not her friends. Maybe...maybe this place won't work for us the way it worked for them?" He paused, thinking on his own worries. "It's like...you see a mountain, and you think to yourself, hey, it might be pretty great to climb up that thing one day. Then you actually get to the mountain, look up, and suddenly you realise just what you've got yourself into."

Smolder nodded. "Oh yeah, know the feeling." When she realised all eyes were on her, she shrugged. "What? Dragons like mountains."

Yona, shaking her head to that, walked over to Sandbar, putting her hoof onto his shoulder to gain his attention. "We take on big role. But role is good one. And we good friends. We can do it."

As was always the case when Yona was involved, Sandbar was soon drawn out of his funk, smiling to her. "Yeah...we can, can't we?"

Gallus smirked to the two of them. "I know we're supposed to be having our first official meeting here, but do you two want some alone time? We can wait."

Naturally, both Sandbar and Yona blushed fiercely to that remark, much to the amusement of the other youths. But when that feeling died down, Silverstream gave a big flap of her wings, launching herself forward and sitting herself down into what used to be Pinkie Pie's old throne. "So then...how does this work? Do we just sit around and wait for this thing to light up and tell us where to go?"

Ocellus too seemed curious, and took her place in Twilight's chair. "Hard to say. None of us were ever here when our Professors had to go on their friendship missions. We don't know the mechanism this artefact works on."

Smolder too had arrived, sitting on Applejack's former spot. "Do we just...knock?" She attempted this theory by doing just that, giving the table a few quick knocks and keeping her eyes locked onto it firmly. "Er, hello? Table thing? You got any missions for us yet?" Utter silence was her answer, and she responded by giving a quick shrug and leaning back into her chosen throne. "Meh, it was worth a shot, I guess."

Yona scratched her chin, moving over to Rarity's throne and looking to the map intensely. "We have connection to Tree of Harmony, yes? Maybe it talk to us in dreams like last time? Maybe Cutie Map not for us?"

Gallus, who rested his head against the back of his chosen seat, that of Rainbow Dash, snorted. "So, what, we live here but the map's just switched off now that Twilight and Co aren't living here? That's lame. I was hoping for a big light show or something."

Sandbar, who now took the last vacant throne, Fluttershy's, looked to all of his friends, before offering his own insight. "Maybe...things are just okay right now? We've just entered this big long period of peace after Cozy and her evil friends were taken down, so maybe there are no friendship problems at the moment?"

Smolder looked to him with incredulity. "An entire country, and all the countries beyond it's borders, with all the thousands, if not millions of people in all that territory...and not one friendship problem in any of it?"

All Sandbar could do was shrug. "Hey, it's not so surprising. Even before those mares went beyond Equestria, it would sometimes be weeks in-between friendship missions."

Gallus chuckled drily. "Huh, I knew Equestria was a friendly place, but that seems like it's really pushing it." The six all had a laugh together, but when it ended Gallus started to look to the map intently. "But...when we do finally get a mission, I think we've got some important things we need to sort out first."

Silverstream looked to him with curiosity. "Oh? Like what?"

Slowly, Gallus smirked to her. "Like who gets to be the leader of this little squad of ours."

Instantly, Smolder pointed an accusing claw towards him. "Oh no you don't! No way are you just gonna swipe the leader role like that!"

Gallus placed his own claw against his cheek, trying to look and sound as innocent as possible. "Why Smolder, whatever do you mean?"

Smolder's eyes narrowed. "Don't play coy with me."

To that, Gallus dropped the facade. "Okay, look, the old group had a leader, right? Princess Twilight. So who's gonna be the leader of our group?"

Slowly, all eyes turned to Twilight's old throne, and then to the one currently sitting in it. Ocellus, for her part, didn't seem to realise why all her friends were looking at her until she suddenly seemed to get where she'd chosen to sit, causing her to rapidly flutter out of it. "Oh no! I didn't mean to...!"

But she was calmed by a raised claw from Smolder. "Relax, Celly, we're not saying you need to be leader if you don't want to be."

Silverstream looked to her friends, then raised her own claw in the air, like a child waiting for their teacher to pick them to answer a question. Naturally, this caused the rest to look at her, wherein she added her voice to the matter. "Um...does there need to be a leader? I mean, we've all done pretty well just doing our own thing without some sort of 'top guy' directing things, right?"

Sandbar smiled to her. "Silver's right. Twilight's friends might have done things that way, but there's no rule saying we need to do it."

Ocellus smiled as she lowered herself back into her chosen throne. "Agreed. We're under no obligation to carry out our roles the way the previous generation might have done. We can do our own thing, forge our own path!"

Gallus arched an eyebrow to her. "Gee, Celly, you sure you don't wanna be leader?"

"Eep!" Ocellus replied, much to the amusement of the others. Then, after a while, she seemed to look worried about something. "I just hope this doesn't cut into our schoolwork all that much."

Yona laughed heartily. "Friend Ocellus no worry. Professor Applejack have big job on farm, yet she still find time for friendship mission!"

Sandbar chuckled. "Yeah, it was one of those things you just had to shrug and get used to. Despite being a Princess, farmer, fashion designer and all the rest of it, those six always had time to go help people with their friendships." He paused, tapped his chin for a second, then gave a shrug of his own. "Well, that and also saving the world from time to time."

Smolder slammed her face into the table. "Ugh! Talk about having some big horseshoes to fill."

Reaching over, Ocellus gave her a friendly pat on the back to get her attention. "It's okay, Smolder. Princess Twilight wouldn't gave given us this role if she felt we wouldn't have been able to do it, right?"

Gallus too smiled. "She's right. And besides, I think it's safe to say that we're already on our way to becoming big world-savers already, given what kinds of stuff Equestria has thrown at us so far."

Smolder smiled with appreciation at them both, but Silverstream started to look concerned. "Er, do you guys think big and dangerous world-saving missions will be common? Because I think I might need to send a letter to my parents asking for permission to do that." She shuddered. "I don't know about the rest of you, but they did not like how I was in danger back during the end of our first school year."

The group all laughed together, with Yona looking to her with a reassuring smile. "Friend Silver no worry. Parents proud of you for doing good for Equestria. They proud you big hero. They be proud of this too."

Silverstream blushed, leaping over and giving her a big hug to show her appreciation. It was a tender moment, but it was interrupted when Sandbar once more looked down to the map, giving it a tap with his hoof. "There's still the issue of just how we're going to know what problems are out there. I mean...this thing will let us know, right?"

"Oh, no need to worry about that, Sandbar. If I know the power of the Tree of Harmony by this point, it's that it always makes it's desires known one way or another."

All eyes turned to the owner of the new and unexpected voice. It was, to their surprise, their Head-Mare herself, Starlight Glimmer, who smiled warmly to each of them as she walked further into the chamber. "Oh! Head-Mare Starlight! We weren't expecting you!" Ocellus remarked.

Gallus chuckled. "Come to wish us luck before we start our big and important job as Equestria's new friendship-helpers?" He stopped as he saw the odd looks everycreature was giving him, thus leading to a deep exhale and some slumped shoulders. "Look, I just couldn't think of a better name for our new job off the top of my head, okay?"

Starlight giggled, then shook her head. "Actually, I just came by to pick up some of my papers. I accidentally left them here this morning."

To that, Smolder looked to her with confusion. "Um...why are your papers here?"

Starlight responded with a smirk. "Because I live here too."

All fell silent, and as the sudden realisation that their new home was also the home of their Head-Mare slowly sank in for all of them, Smolder gradually leaned towards Gallus as she whispered to him. "Okay, I...I just kinda assumed she slept in her office or something these days."

Author's Note

Well, I finally decided that I would continue with this after all 😊

Breakfast in the Castle

Gallus had slept well in his new room in the castle, and though the first inklings of sunlight were starting to creep in through his curtains, this had no effect on the slumbering Griffon. He was utterly at peace, looking more restful and comfortable than anycreature had ever been before. Unfortunately, per the rules of the universe, such a pleasant sleep could not go uninterrupted forever, and so, after turning over onto his other side, the youth was rapidly woken by the sound of his bedroom door slamming open, revealing a happy and excited Silverstream on the other side. "Gooooooooood morning, Gallus!"

Now, while Silverstream herself may have been a devout morning person, in fact it would have seemed the height of wrongness if a Hippogriff like her wasn't, Gallus, sadly, could not also consider himself as such. And so, after letting out a groan that a patchwork monster on a lightning-struck table could be proud of, he looked to his pink friend with utterly bloodshot eyes. One look at her made it clear to him that she wasn't getting the message, and so, after scratching the side of his neck, he finally spoke, his words slow and ponderous. "Silver...you are my friend. I like and respect you a great deal. But in the name of King Grover, may he rest in peace, please don't try to wake me up like that every single morning!"

Silverstream at least had the sense to blush to her friend's words, and her tone was similarly apologetic. "I'm sorry, but...I just can't help it! This is our first night in the Friendship Castle together! Our first morning here! Our first day of patrol here and..."

Gallus halted her with a raised claw. "Yes, yes, I get it. Big day, very important, huge milestone in our young lives and all the rest of it." He paused, just in time to let out the mother of all yawns, before starting to slowly inch himself out of bed. "But would it have hurt to just wait for a better time to come and wake me? I mean, you wouldn't have started with somecreature else first?"

Silverstream looked to the side, blinking a couple of times, before blushing again as she looked to Gallus. "Well...I kinda did...but she was even less happy than you, so I figured, maybe second time's the charm?" After seeing the unamused and deadpan look Gallus was giving her, the Hippogriff Princess sighed. "I'll...just get breakfast ready, okay?"

Gallus watched her go, and it was only moments later when he heard the sound of footsteps in her wake, causing him to turn in the direction of his door once more. There, and looking even more of a wreck than him right now, was Smolder, shambling along with dark bags under her eyes. So groggy was she that, when she finally looked to Gallus, her neck damn-near sounded like it was creaking, much to the Griffon's slight amusement. "So...good night?" A snort of smoke from Smolder's nostrils was his answer, prompting a gulp on his part. "Right, sorry." As Smolder finally passed his door, Gallus unleashed another yawn and slowly started to, at last, get out of bed. The effort was great, and after giving himself a stretch he began to shamble his way out into the hallway. And it was here where he nearly ran into Ocellus, who looked just as peppy and eager as Silverstream, much to Gallus' slight irritation. "Morning, Celly."

The young Changeling beamed happily to her feathered friend. "And to you, Gallus! I was up all night doing research on past friendship missions, and you wouldn't believe how many working theories I've come up with to help us try and locate possible civic disturbances for our new quest!"

Gallus rolled his eyes. "Knowing you, Celly, I would absolutely believe it."

Not picking up on his sarcasm, Ocellus continued to charge down the hallway, and as Gallus followed after her, though nowhere near at the same pace, he passed by Sandbar's room just as the latter was leaving it. The stallion had a yawn of his own, though he at least was willing to smile as Gallus looked to him. "Morning. You get a taste of Silver's early morning vibes too?"

Gallus grumbled. "Gee, what gave it away?"

Sandbar chuckled. "Well, at least we're all having breakfast together. That's pretty neat, right?"

And right at that moment was when a rather obvious thought finally wormed its way into the forefront of Gallus' mind. "Wait...did any of us even get groceries? Or Did Princess Twilight just not empty out her pantry before she left?"

Sandbar laughed as he and Gallus resumed their walk down the hall. "Not sure. I hear Silver and Yona have prepped up quite a meal for us though."

To that, Gallus stopped, color draining from his face. "Wait...Yona pitched in on breakfast too?!"

Sandbar frowned. "Is that a problem, Gallus?"

Gallus, though still uncertain, tried to sound as calm as he possibly could. "Dude, no offence to your girlfriend or anything, but she's not exactly the best when it comes to making food that...what's the word...oh yeah, edible."

Sandbar, naturally, blushed to the words. "Well...I wouldn't say she was my girlfriend exactly..." Then he resumed his frown. "And besides, what gives you reason to think she's a bad cook?"

Gallus slapped his own forehead. "Buddy, the last thing she baked for us chipped one of Smolder's fangs. She was in a bad mood for a week after that."

Sandbar simply shrugged. "Hey, it was just a traditional Yak dish."

Gallus looked to him with no emotion in either his expression or tone of voice. "Traditional or not, it was as hard as a brick."

Sandbar, still unhappy with his friend's remarks about Yona's cooking, nevertheless carried on forward. "Well, look at it this way, if she's being helped by Silver, then at least you can take solace in the fact that our breakfast will probably be loaded with a truly unholy level of sugar."

For the first time this morning, Gallus actually cracked a smile. "Well...that'll be good at least." Walking in silence, the two boys made their way down all the stairs of the castle, and before long they were on the ground floor, entering the chamber of the Cutie Map. As expected, Smolder and Ocellus were already seated there, though Yona and Silverstream were nowhere to be seen. Sandbar and Gallus took their respective places, but after a while, Gallus couldn't help but think on what Ocellus had said to him earlier. "So...you got some grand plan for our new jobs?"

Ocellus smiled widely. "Indeed I do! You wouldn't believe all the information there was stored up over Princess Twilight's time here!"

Smolder, breaking herself out of her still-too-early grogginess, gave a dry laugh. "I can believe it. I'd be willing to bet that mare had notes on how she even brushed her teeth in the morning."

"Oh, don't worry, she worked her way out of that after a while." All eyes turned, and sure enough it was Starlight, who herself looked as though she was still somewhat tired from her sleep last night. The other children started to stand with her entry, but she shook her head. "Don't worry, kids. It's the weekend. I'm not your Head-Mare right now. Go and enjoy your breakfast together. I'll be back later."

Sandbar looked to her with curiosity. "Going somewhere good?"

Starlight sighed. "I need to talk to Sunburst. He has some ideas on the administrative structure of the school and he wanted to go over them with me." She paused, then slumped her shoulders. "On second thought, don't wait up. This might take a while."

The youngsters all watched as their teacher left, and as soon as the doors were closed behind her it was at that moment when Silverstream and Yona entered the scene. The two of them were carrying bowls of what looked like cereal. There were six in total, of course, and Yona had four of them carefully balanced on her back. The others, clearly wanting to help, got out of their thrones and went over to take their bowls, if only to ease the efforts of the other two girls. Silverstream and Yona smiled with appreciation, and before long all six were properly seated. To Gallus' great relief, this was just a simple cereal, with no Yak-looking ingredients to be seen, prompting a sigh on his part. As he took his first bite, however, Yona finally broke the silence between them all. "Happy first morning in castle, friends!"

All of them raised their spoons, as though they were lifting swords like some ancient honorable order of knights. "First morning in the castle!" they called out together.

They laughed, but when it was over, Silverstream, with her mouth still full of her first bite, looked over to Ocellus, her eyes wide. "So, Celly...where are we gonna go today?"

Smolder, with her spoon right on the edge of her mouth, paused, looking to her Changeling friend with interest. "Wait...go? We're on a field trip today?"

Ocellus, looking her right in the eye, gave an enthusiastic nod. "You'd better believe it! I was up all night studying every possible chart and text I could get my hooves on, and after intensive analysis and cross-references, I believe I have come up with the ideal place for us to begin our noble quest of ensuring the continuation of the peace and friendship that Princess Twilight and her friends ushered in!" In response, her friends, save for Silverstream, looked to her with either confusion or just general tiredness. Silverstream, for her part, was looking as giddy as ever, eagerly awaiting what answer Ocellus was about to unleash. And so, without further ado, the young Changeling cleared her throat before finally revealing her plan. "And I have come to the conclusion that the place most likely to suffer from a deficit of friendship would be..."

"Drum-roll!" Silverstream yelled, tapping the edge of the table as though it were a drum.

Ocellus smiled to her, then just made her announcement. "Griffonstone!"

But far from the enthusiasm she was hoping for, Gallus simply groaned with irritation. "Uuuuuuuuuugh! Griffonstone? Seriously?! Do we really have to go there? I grew up in that dump, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that you'll never find a place more full of disinterest and grumpiness and..." He paused, thinking on his own words, before slumping down into his throne. "Okay, yeah, you're right, that is the best place to find friendship problems."

Ocellus smiled widely again, clapping her hooves together before looking to each of her friends. "Then eat up, everycreature! We've got a long journey ahead of us today and we don't want to do it on an empty stomach!"

Smolder looked to her, almost horrified. "Wait, we're going on this trip today?! We're gonna be that early with starting our mission?!"

Ocellus nodded firmly. "Indeed. And we'd better get to it because the train I booked for us leaves in about an hour. So let's not dilly-dally."

Smolder, who naturally didn't want to have to deal with that level of activity today, frantically darted her eyes about before finally looking like she needed a light-bulb atop her head. "Oh! It's just...remember when all our guardians got upset when we came back here to Equestria without telling them? Yeah, they're gonna be pretty upset if we bolt for a place like Griffonstone too." She slammed her fist against her side of the table. "Darn! And I was so looking forward to it too!"

Nocreature but Ocellus was buying her act, but thankfully the latter wasn't concerned in the slightest. "Don't you worry. I received word from Princess Twilight earlier that she's already informed our guardians that we'll be undertaking this quest, so they know we'll be doing a lot of travel. In fact, she even took a step further and sent us official documentation from our guardians giving us full permission to undertake our mission!" She reached over to her saddle-bag, which was resting against the side of her throne, and pulled out a lot of official-looking papers, which she eagerly held up to her friends. "Isn't this great?!"

After a while, Smolder slid so far down into her throne that she was practically on the floor, all while Gallus just gave a long sigh and shrugged. "Well...to Griffonstone then...I guess."

Arriving in Griffonstone

"Okay, I spy, with my little eye, something beginning wiiiiiith...M!" Silverstream happily declared.

Smolder, rubbing her temples, turned her eyes towards her bubbly seat-companion. "Let me guess...mountain?"

Silverstream looked to her, wide-eyed, and gasped excitedly. "Oh my gosh! How'd you guess?!"

Smolder frowned as she looked out of her window. "Because that was your choice during the last SEVENTEEN ROUNDS!!!"

Silverstream paused, then blushed slightly. "Oh, right. Sorry."

After a while, Smolder sighed. "It's fine. I mean, heck, it's not like you could've picked anything else at this point." She stared out of her window, seeing that, as she'd said, there was indeed nothing but mountains to look at out here. On and on and on the train had gone, and even then there was nothing but steep crags as far as the eye could see. After a while, Smolder looked to Gallus with incredulity. "No offence to your home or anything, Gallus. But you Griffons seriously need to broaden your portfolio of landscapes."

Gallus, looking to her from his side of the carriage, arched an eyebrow. "Oh, like you're one to talk! Isn't the Dragon Lands nothing but some blasted fiery wasteland?"

A moment passed, then Smolder shrugged, affording a quick chuckle. "Meh, good point."

In stark contrast to the way her friends were acting, Ocellus was excitedly looking through one of the books she'd brought with her. "I can't wait to see this place! Oh, the stories about Griffonstone are famous even in the Changeling Empire!"

Sandbar looked to her, curious. "Really? I didn't think the Changelings had ever had anything to do with Griffons until recently?"

Ocellus smiled. "We had a few instances of contact back during..." Her smile faltered, and she cleared her throat. "Back, um...during our bad days."

Gallus looked to her smugly. "You mean back when you guys were still baddies?"

Ocellus rolled her eyes. "Yes, Gallus. Back when we were still baddies." Her mood picked up considerably as she again looked to her book. "Back then, the great King Grover reigned, and we were scouting out the place as a possible source of love to steal." She grimaced at the thought of her people's past. "But then we discovered the various pony nations, so Queen Chrysalis decided Griffonstone just wasn't as appetising anymore."

Gallus scratched the side of his head. "I...don't know whether to feel relieved or insulted by that." Then, shortly after, he folded his arms, content to just stare out of the window. "In any case, I'd tempter your expectations, Celly. The glory days of Griffonstone are long behind us. Whatever big dreamy place you've got in your head, forget it right now. I'd rather not see you disappointed."

Yona smiled to her blue friend. "Dawwww, so nice friend Gallus worried for Ocellus."

Gallus chuckled drily. "Take it from somecreature who knows that place best. Griffonstone is not a place to look forward to. Heck, why do you think I spend so much time away from it?"

Sandbar gave a quick shrug. "Well...it's been a while, so...maybe it's gotten better since you last saw it?"

Gallus looked to him, almost amused by the words. "I admire your optimism, bud, but if there's one thing I know about Griffonstone, it's that it doesn't change."

Yona stared at him for a while, then patted his shoulder. "If Griffonstone no change...then why they okay with sending you to Princess Twilight's school?"

Gallus had no answer for that. Or, if he did, he wasn't willing to talk about it. His friends got the message, and so decided to focus on the trip itself. The train had been going on for some time now, it had to be said, and with nothing but mountains to stare at it was obvious that there wasn't going to be much to do until they arrived. Fortunately for them all, it was at that moment when the door of their carriage opened, and all eyes turned to see that it was one of the ticket-collectors, who cleared his throat before addressing all of those who were here. "The train will be arriving in the newly-constructed Griffonstone train station in a minute. Please prepare your belongings for disembarking."

As he left, the kids started to smile at one another, save for Gallus of course, and they all busied themselves with getting their respective bags out of their overhead compartments or from out under their seats. Ocellus, who was practically plastered to her window, began to squeal giddily when the aforementioned train station was finally coming into view. "Oh, isn't it amazing? The first station to be built right next to Griffonstone itself!"

Sandbar nodded, smiling as he did so. "Yeah, I hear Princess Twilight had to do a lot of negotiating to get the Griffons to accept pony construction here."

Smolder, putting her bag over her shoulder, chuckled to that. "Now there's a meeting I'm glad I didn't see." The group all laughed, even Gallus, and the latter finally managed to get himself out of his seat, albeit reluctantly. The six youths all waited for the other passengers of the carriage to get to the doors, hearing the screech of the train as it finally slowed down to a stop. Eventually, said doors opened, and as soon as the other ponies disembarked, the six friends did also.

Though Gallus had not been looking forward to coming home, he couldn't help but look on with widened eyes when he finally saw this place again. The train station did indeed look impressive, but what really stuck out to him were how many Griffons there were here working. Guards at the doors, ticket-vendors, even those responsible for the selling of snacks. And the one thing he noted about all of them was that they actually seemed happy to be here. He saw his friends move ahead, and so he ran briefly to catch up with them, and as they passed through the main doors of the station, the two guards on either side gave them a friendly nod. "Welcome to Griffonstone. Enjoy your visit."

Slightly taken aback, Gallus simply resorted to giving a little wave, before finally moving past the guard and joining his friends outside the station. His eyes widened as he saw that his friends had the right of it with their earlier predictions. In the past, while Griffonstone was far from being a model city, now it was actually looking to be on the up and up. The streets were being cleaned, there were Griffons actually smiling in public, and the homes were having work done on them to try and undo all the years of neglect they'd been suffering. Needless to say, the young Griffon was somewhat flabbergasted by this turn of events. "Okay...this is just weird."

Ocellus, looking at least a little bit smug, reached out and patted Gallus on the shoulder. "Not so bad after all, eh?" Gallus frowned, turning away from her and walking ahead, thus freeing Ocellus to address all of her friends at once. "Okay, this is a big place and we'll need to start covering ground. Things might be going better here than they have been in the past, but there's no reason to think there isn't a friendship problem or two that could use our help."

Smolder, placing one claw upon her hip, chuckled. "Alrighty then. What's the plan, Captain?" she asked, only half-mockingly.

Ocellus whipped out some of her maps and charts, then pointed to a few of them before looking up at her friends again. "Sandbar and Yona will head east, to the oldest parts of the city. Smolder and I can head north of here, and that leaves Gallus paired up with Silver to cover the west."

Silverstream happily clapped her claws together. "Oh! Isn't this great?! Going out on a friendship mission hunt! Who knows what we'll find?!"

Gallus rolled his eyes. "Oh, we'll find trouble alright, just not the kind you're thinking of."

Silverstream, in response to that, gave him a playful nudge in the side. "Oh, don't be like that. It'll be fun!"

For the first time today, Gallus actually managed a smirk. "Fun isn't a word most would think of when dealing with this place, Silver."

Setting her maps back inside her bag, Ocellus gave a firm nod to her companions before moving off to join Smolder, who was already heading off in the designated direction. "We'll meet back here in an hour. Be sure to keep a watchful eye out for anything that looks like it might be some sort of friendship trouble."

Silverstream gave a merry salute. "Aye-aye, Celly!"

Gallus started walking off without her, and after just a moment Silverstream had caught up with him, just in time to hear her blue friend grumbling under his breath. "I hate coming back here. Nothing good ever comes from Griffonstone."

Silverstream knew his history with this place, but even so, she knew exactly what to say right now. "Well...you came from Griffonstone, right?"

In spite of his bad mood, Gallus actually smiled to her. "Thanks, Silver."

As per Silverstream's usual way of doing things, she leapt forward and embraced her friend in a tight hug. Gallus was taken aback of course, but reciprocated, much to the delight of his bubbly friend. When they parted though, they walked in silence for a while, heading in the direction they'd been sent. Minute after minute after minute passed, and whenever they saw Griffons, they were either doing okay, looking outright happy, or just otherwise looked untroubled with anything. In short, everything seemed fine here, much to Silverstream's confusion. "Huh...I guess Ocellus was...wrong?"

Gallus gave a shrug. "Hey, even big brains like hers can make mistakes, Silver." He then frowned. "So, since we've established that there's no problems here, maybe we should just head on back to..."

"Trying to get out again, eh boy?" another voice called out to them.

Gallus halted, his face bearing unmistakable discomfort. It was a look universally understood as one only put on when someone was coming across a person they really didn't want to meet. Silverstream, confused, turned to face the voice first, and she recognised the caller instantly as Grandpa Gruff. The two had never spoken before but she knew that he was technically Gallus' guardian. This knowledge didn't seem to cheer up Gallus at all, so the Hippogriff Princess did the honors. "Oh! Hello, Mr Gruff! Nice to meet you!"

But Gruff was unconcerned with her, letting out a quick snort before walking straight over to Gallus, who at this point was finally turning to look at him himself. "And here I thought you couldn't wait to get away. Guess ya can take the Griffonstone out of the Griffon, but ya can't take the Griffon out of Griffonstone."

Gallus' eyes narrowed. "Oh, trust me, I wouldn't be here if I hadn't felt like I had to be."

Gruff waved his cane at him. "Bah! Typical kid! Always grumbling over nothing!"

Gallus frowned further. "Trust me, I've got plenty to grumble about!"

It was now Gruff's turn to frown. "If ya got something ta say to me, boy, then say it already!"

Gallus very much looked like he wanted to, but in the end he just turned away, grunting with clear irritation. "Ugh! Let's just go, Silver. We're wasting our time here."

Silver hesitated, but after a moment she elected to follow her friend, all while Gruff was rambling behind them. "Fine! Go on already! Griffonstone's doing just fine without ya, if ya hadn't noticed!"

Gallus seethed, but Silverstream decided it might not be best to just do her usual thing of being perky and happy right now. Instead, she walked with him quietly until they were well past the street where they'd encountered Gruff. And as soon as they were out, Gallus took a deep breath to calm himself, then looked to Silver apologetically. "Sorry about that, Silver. Let's just...let's just try and find those friendship problems."

He tried to walk away, but was kept from doing so when Silverstream placed her claw upon his shoulder. And when he looked to her, he saw her staring at him with worry, with a voice to match. "Gallus, I'm sorry, but...I think we've already found it."

Old Problems

"...No," Gallus declared flatly.

His friends, having gathered back together after their hour-long search through the city, looked to him with concern. Currently, they were all sitting around the rim of a rather pleasant-looking water fountain in the centre of town, and though many other Griffons passed them by, none actually paid them much attention. But that was okay with the kids, since they had far bigger issues to worry about. Specifically, the fact that their friend might actually be one half of the friendship problem they came here to deal with. Silverstream especially seemed worried about it. "But, and I mean no offence here, Gallus...you and Gruff kinda have a bad thing going on."

Gallus snorted. "Understatement of the century, Silver." He sighed, turning to look at all of his friends. "Look, since none of you are willing to let this go, let me be as plain as I possibly can. Yes, Gruff is my guardian, and no, I don't like him." He frowned. "And I promise you, he doesn't like me either."

Ocellus pointed to him. "Well there you go then! We've been all over this city and the only thing that even comes close to a friendship problem is you and Gruff."

Gallus looked away from her. "There is no friendship problem because we were never friends to begin with!"

Sandbar suddenly seemed confused. "But...if Gruff really didn't care about you...why did he become your guardian?"

Gallus shrugged. "Best guess? Nocreature else wanted to." He looked to their surroundings, and though they were undoubtedly better-looking than the last time he was here, they still held no joy for him. "My time in Griffonstone was...bad. No family, no real home, and the only person I had in my life was a grouchy old-timer who only ever talked about me like I was an annoyance. First chance I got, I left. And believe me, if I were to go back to Equestria right now and never lay eyes on this place again, that'd suit me just fine."

Yona looked to him sadly. "Nocreature should hate their home."

"Well..I do," Gallus replied, his voice almost sounding unhappy about his decision on that matter.

Smolder folded her arms, arching an eyebrow to her blue companion. "Look, I'm not gonna say that this is something you should do. Heck, if anycreature told me I needed to talk to somecreature I didn't like, I'd probably tell em to get lost." A moment passed, and she sighed. "But it's pretty obvious you and Gruff have some things to say to each other, and...well...you never have said it."

Gallus chuckled drily. "What, you want me to just vent at that guy? Because I can definitely get behind that idea."

Ocellus shook her head. "No, we're not. We're saying...this is unfinished business. It's something that you've been avoiding. And nocreature can ever really move on with their lives if there's something they just spend the rest of their days wishing they'd done when they had the chance."

Silence fell, and for a time it looked as though Gallus was just going to stick to his choice and not listen to the others. Then, after a time, Silverstream stepped forward, gently placing her claw upon his shoulder. Gallus turned, looking her in the eye, seeing the soft way she was looking at him. It was a face that could melt even the stoniest of hearts, so naturally it was mere moments later when Gallus unleashed another long sigh, giving a slow nod afterwards. "Alright...alright, I'll talk to him." He hopped off the edge of the fountain. "But I make no promises, okay? An old coot like him probably doesn't want to talk to me any more than I want to talk to him."

The others didn't say anything, instead just following their friend as he began to make his way forward. They followed for some time, going past street after street, until they were in one of the less cleaned-up parts of town. Now whether this was just due to the fact that the Griffons just hadn't gotten round to this part yet, or if the locals just didn't care for how it looked, they couldn't say. All they could say though was that Gallus still didn't look very happy to be here, and some of them wondered if these unpleasant-looking streets were where he had to grow up back in the day. Eventually, they stopped, with Gallus having halted outside the doors of an especially busted-looking house. He took a few calming breaths, then balled his claw into a first, before giving a few knocks onto the door of said house. About a full minute passed before anycreature heard anything, and when they did it was hardly a pleasant voice. "For the last time, no sales! I'm not interested!"

Gallus grimaced. "Okay...here we go." Again, he knocked, this time taking a step back, just in case.

Immediately the door opened, and just as Gallus instincts had predicted, Gruff had emerged, waving a cane about like a lunatic. "I told you I don't want any...!" But then he stopped, and with his one good eye he squinted, letting him truly see who was here. And of course, as had so often been the case with him, he frowned. "Oh...you."

Gallus frowned right back. "Yeah, nice to see you too."

Gruff looked past him, to all of Gallus' friends, some of whom nervously waved to him, before again focusing on the blue youth before him. "What do ya want, Gallus?"

Here, Gallus faltered, standing in utter silence before this adult who had supposed to have been responsible for him. He took several deep breaths, and then, after a good long wait, finally spoke. "I want to know...why you're unhappy. And more than that..." He took a single step forward. "I want to know why you're always unhappy...with me."

Though looking somewhat surprised by the question, it wasn't long before Gruff resumed his natural state of sourness. "What, ya come here for a wishy-washy feelings forum like some Changeling?"

Ocellus, unsurprisingly, took offence to that. "Hey! Don't knock the feelings forums! They're a perfectly healthy way to voice grievances and troubles!"

Gallus watched as their other friends held her back from what was undoubtedly going to be a long rant on her part, leading to him shaking his head before looking again to Gruff. "Look...I don't like talking with you. And you don't like me being around either. You've made that clear in all the time I knew you."

Gruff rolled his eyes. "And yet, here ya are!"

Gallus resumed his earlier frown. "Yeah...here I am." He stepped forward again. "But I want to know...why? Why do you have such a problem with me? Why do you have such a problem with everyone and everything around you? Why...why are you always just...gruff?!"

Gruff stayed quiet for a long time, as did everycreature else, but eventually, the older Griffon looked Gallus right in the eye. "Ya wanna know why, boy? Ya wanna know why I got no joy in my life? For decades, I've watched this great city fall further and further, until it was nothing but a dump. I'm the only one who's old enough to remember how things were when they were at least a little bit good, and whenever I talked about it, to you, to Gilda or anycreature else, all they heard was a tied old-timer who was just rambling about the good old days." He looked around. "And now things are getting good again, and it's all anycreature can talk about. Nocreature cared when I talked about Griffonstone being good way back when, and they just see me as a relic when I do. Some dusty trinket on a shelf they'd just want to forget about."

Gallus paused, looking to the side briefly. "That explains why you're grouch to everyone else, but what about me? What problem did you have with me?"

Gruff snorted. "I never hated ya, kid. I was harsh on ya, I insulted ya, and yer friends too...but I never hated ya."

This, of course, came as a surprise to Gallus, who looked to him sceptically. "Well you sure as heck made me feel like you hated me."

Gruff held onto his cane, making sure he was properly stable, before continuing. "I was angry...but not at you. I was angry at everything. You had no parents, no family, no home. Your life...it was everything that was wrong with Griffonstone all wrapped up into a single kid. Ignored, unwanted, going down a bad slope."

Gallus chuckled drily. "Gee, way to make a Griffon feel wanted."

Gruff frowned to that, but continued all the same. "Point stands, boy. I looked at you, and all I saw was just how bad things were here. Griffons were supposed to take care of Griffons back in the day, but when you were younger...they didn't. All there was ta look after ya was...well..."

Gallus, if only a little, softened. "...You."

The elder Griffon leaned against the side of his door, as if simply standing was tiring for him. "I'm no parent. Never wanted ta be. But Griffons shouldn't leave other Griffons, so...I took ya in."

"It...wasn't a great time," Gallus said quietly.

Gruff looked to him, and though his face remained as unpleasant as ever, his voice, for the first time, sounded less harsh than what people usually heard from him. "I'm, not asking ya to forgive me. I didn't do good with ya. And I won't ask ya to come back. Your happy now. Happier than you ever were here. If your choice is to go to Equestria or wherever else and have that be your home...then that's probably for the best."

Gallus thought long and hard over those words, then nodded slowly. "Equestria...is my home now. I never had any love for Griffonstone, and I probably never will." After a quick pause, he looked to his guardian again. "And believe me, I have no intention of forgiving you for treating me like I was unwanted...even if that wasn't how you really felt. My time with you was bad, and I'll never think differently of it." Though reluctantly, his expression became less stern after a moment or two. "But...you sent me to Princess Twilight's school. That was...the best thing anycreature had ever done for me. So..." He stepped forward. "For that...and that alone...thank you."

Gruff didn't look happy, or relieved, and simply shrugged. "Well...good to know I did something right with you."

Slowly, Gallus took a few steps backwards, turning to walk towards his friends. Then, he halted himself, looking deep in thought, before giving one final glance back to Gruff. "Take care, old coot. We'll probably never see each other again."

Gruff, for perhaps the first time in many years, gave a laugh, albeit a dry and cough-inducing one. "If there's one thing we Griffons are actually good at, boy...it's looking out for ourselves."

Gallus too chuckled, watching as the older Griffon closed the door. Now there was only the silence of the neighbourhood, and as Gallus walked back to his friends, he watched as Ocellus stepped forward, looking unhappy. "I'm so sorry, Gallus. This was a terrible idea. You and Gruff didn't resolve things, you didn't make amends, you..."

But she was stopped when Gallus raised a claw, and he gave her a smile. "Not everycreature can be friends, Ocellus. Friendship is good, but...sometimes too much bad has happened for it to all just be swept under the rug. I understand him, he understand me, and we both know that we're fine without the other. It's not the happiest thing, but...it's something we can live with." He saw Ocellus open her mouth to speak, but he again interrupted her by moving forward and embracing her in a hug. His Changeling friend was of course taken aback by this, but soon reciprocated, and before long all six of them were joining in on the hug, creating a very heart-warming image. When it was all over, and the the youths finally parted, Gallus gave a firm nod to them all, smiling to those he considered his true family. "Come on...let's go home."

Returning Home

The mood during the train trip back to Ponyville wasn't exactly uncomfortable, but there was nevertheless an air of silence hanging over the six friends after their encounters in Griffonstone. After all, they'd found a friendship problem, even if it wasn't the one they'd expected to find, and it had been given a resolution. By all rights they should have been happy that their task was a success, and yet, they instead found themselves deep in thought over the exact kind of problem they'd witnessed, as well as the fact that the resolution hadn't been what they'd probably had in their mind. Sandbar, looking to each of his colleagues, could see just from their expressions that those thoughts were going through the minds of every single one of them, and so, after letting out a long sigh, he turned to face them properly before speaking up. "Okay, I think we can all agree that this big quest of ours might not be going the way we expected it to."

The others, as if having waited for one of them to say that very thing, all breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally! I thought we were gonna sit in silence the whole time!" Smolder remarked.

Silverstream, who of course was sitting next to Gallus right now, gave him a private look, which he returned with a smile, before looking to Sandbar herself. "I was kinda expecting big adventures, tonnes of fun, that sort of thing. You know, like what Princess Twilight and her friends usually had?"

Yona smiled to her. "There no reason we can't still have that, right?"

Ocellus nodded, putting on a smile of her own. "Yona is right. We'll still be able to do what they did. It's just...well...this first task didn't go according to our expectations."

Gallus chuckled drily, but otherwise seemed to be in a far better mood than he had been during this particular mission of theirs. "That's putting it mildly, Celly. Still..." He pondered the last couple of days, then softened in his tone. "I can't say I'm unhappy with how things turned out. There was a problem, or at least important stuff that needed to be done and...we did it." He gave a quick shrug. "Can't really ask for more than that."

Given that Gallus had a very personal stake in the mission they'd just come back from, the others all silently looked to one another before deciding that he was right. They were successful and had managed to do some good. And with that thought in mind, the children all seemed more satisfied than they had been minutes before, looking out of their respective windows as the train station of Ponyville finally started to come into view. There was the usual screeching of the brakes of course, and after watching many of the other passengers disembark, they began to walk off themselves, with Smolder giving herself a quick stretch. "Okay, was that trip longer coming back than going there? Because it definitely felt like it."

Yona smiled to her as she too stepped off. "Long or not, Ponyville never change," she remarked, looking fondly at the town they once more found themselves in.

Sandbar gave her a smirk. "Well, aside from the school, the palace and the gaping crater where the old library used to be."

Yona blinked, then blushed. "Yes...besides that."

The group all laughed together, making their way towards the palace in question. During that time, Ocellus pulled out some papers she'd stored in her saddle-bag, looking over the notes she'd written on there. "I wonder if it's worth sending letters to Princess Twilight about what we've been doing? She tasked us with this role after all so should we keep her abreast of how things went?"

Sandbar looked to her, appearing to have things on his mind as he spoke. "It's worth thinking about. Kinda like how she used to send letter to Princess Celestia back when she first moved to Ponyville."

Gallus arched an eyebrow to his pony friend. "Wait, she did that every day? Even when she became a Princess?"

Sandbar shrugged. "Nah, she sort of stopped doing that after a while." He looked back to Ocellus, smiling to her. "But yeah, it's definitely something we should maybe do. I know she'll be interested in hearing what's been happening."

Ocellus beamed to that, but Gallus groaned. "Could we maybe wait until we have a friendship mission that didn't involve me in some personal way?" Ocellus and Sandbar coughed nervously, but Gallus eventually mellowed out, giving them both a wink before walking ahead of the rest. Eventually, and after walking in silence for some time, the children all arrived back at their new home, with Gallus sighing with content at seeing it. "As cliche as it may be to say this, it's good to be home."

"Race ya!" Smolder announced, charging forward.

Yona laughed. "Yona accepts challenge!"

Before long all six of them were running as fast as they could, all in the hopes of being the first one to reach the door. After a minute of solid sprinting though, it was the race's instigator, Smolder, who reached the door first, pushing it open as soon as she got there. "Ha! I won! Victory for...me?" She fell utterly silent, and as her friends reached her, so too did they. For as they looked on to the inside of the castle, they saw that they were not alone here. Not Starlight, but another mare, and one very familiar to them. "Princess...Twilight?" Smolder asked.

The mare before them, so much like the new ruler of Equestria, smiled to them, taking a step forward into the light that now poured in through the front door. And as she did so, the youths could see her sparkle in the sun. This newcomer, seeing the recognition on their faces, smiled to them. "No, I am not the Princess. But it is good to see you all the same."

Yona smiled widely, jumping forward a few steps before bellowing out her enthusiasm. "Tree of Harmony! Yona so glad to see you too!"

Seeing all the other children gather beside her, the avatar of the Tree looked to each and every one of them, before finally speaking up in that not-quite-used-to-speaking way of hers. "Long have I listened to you, to your worries, your fears and your hopes. You have taken a great task, and the one whose image I now use was wise to leave you with this great role in your world."

Smolder looked to her with interest. "Yeah, we were kinda wondering if you were gonna show up." Then her eyes widened. "Wait...are you here because you have a friendship mission for us? Like, a real official one and not one we just made up for ourselves?"

The spirit of Harmony smiled to her. "I have no quest for you, Smolder. But I want you to know...I am proud of the efforts you have made thus far."

Gallus scratched the back of his head, looking uncertain about that. "Er, I dunno. We didn't exactly fix a friendship or make one happen, ya know?"

The spirit shook her head. "Perhaps not, but you devoted yourself fully to the cause of trying to mend what was once broken. And through friendship itself might not have been born that day, you still succeeded in doing something good." A pause, and then the spirit looked upward, to the sky that she could see through the still-open door. "You must think I wish for all to be friends with all others, but this is not so. I know, as you now do, that not all can live with love for one another. It is something I have long come to understand in my many centuries in this world. But though your hearts still bear doubt over the question and possibility of failure, know this..." She looked back down to them, resuming her smile. "There was no failure in your journey to Griffonstone. And indeed...it proved that you were truly worthy to bear the mantle that Equestria's Princess has passed down to you."

Silverstream clapped happily, looking to her friends with a smile so big it looked like it was about to burst off her face. "Hear that, guys?! We're worthy!"

Again, the spirit looked to them all fondly. "Yes, and I foresee you retaining that worthiness long into your futures. I see you passing on the lessons as they were passed onto you. And in time, though you may not yet see it in yourself, a day may come when you eclipse even the greatness of the one you have succeeded."

Sandbar blushed, gulping. "Eclipse Princess Twilight and her friends? I dunno, that seems like a big ask, Miss Tree."

Yona patted him on the shoulder. "Early days, friend Sandbar. Princess Twilight no know she meant to be big Princess one day. We no know what our futures be either."

Ocellus too looked to her pony companion. "Yona's right. There's no telling what might happen to us. Glory might not be something we're seeking, but if there's good we can do in the world, then you can all bet we're gonna give it our all!"

As befitting a group of friends such as these, Ocellus' words caused all of them to confidently put their paws, claws and hooves together, giving a loud "yeah" as they did so. The spirit, seeing this sense of unity and camaraderie, gave a nod. "Truly, friendship is alive and well in you, and should fate smile upon us, Equestria and the world beyond will be truly blessed to have you there to safeguard all that is good in the land."

Gallus chuckled. "Well, no pressure, eh?"

The children watched as the spirit began to turn, her image starting to fade, but before it vanished completely, Sandbar quickly moved forward, stretching out his hoof to her. "Wait!" Fortunately, the spirit listened, and turned to look at him, though she said nothing, instead waiting for the young stallion to get his own words out. "It's just...what do we call you? You're probably gonna visit us again one day, right? So...what's your name? I mean, you can't just expect us to keep calling you 'the tree' all the time, right?"

As had happened often today, the image of Twilight smiled to them. "I possess no name, nor do I have any desire for one. If there is a title you wish to grant me, then grant it, if that is how you choose to speak to me."

Sandbar thought long and hard on that, and then, at last, smiled back to her. "Then we'll see you next time...Harmony."

The spirit, though at first looking like she was uncharacteristically taken aback, eventually returned to her smile, giving a quick bow of her head before, finally, fading entirely. Now there was silence in the castle, and all the children gathered together to just stare at the spot where Harmony had been. They all soon looked to one another, and though no words passed between them there was definitely a renewed sense of confidence and purpose among them. However, that silence was brought to an end when a familiar voice called to them from behind. "Oh! You're back!"

All eyes turned to see that it was their Head-Mare, Starlight, now approaching the castle from outside, looking to them with eager curiosity. "Soooooo...how was Griffonstone? Find any friendship problems? How'd it all go?"

Again, the group looked to each other, but after a while Ocellus simply blushed and gave a shrug. "Well...it's complicated."

Gallus rolled his eyes. "To say the least."

Starlight chuckled. "Well, I'd love to hear it." A smirk soon came to her. "And I know Twilight would too." As she saw them look to her with confusion, she began to elaborate. "I sent word to her about where you were going after you left, and she wrote back saying she'd love to know what you've been up to."

Hearing that, the group considered what they'd been talking about earlier, and after giving each other another knowing looks, Ocellus turned to Gallus. The latter saw her look to him, and knew instantly what she was thinking. He considered it, and without even saying a word, he nodded, granting his silent permission. Looking back to him with appreciation, Ocellus then cleared her throat. "Sandbar? If you would?"

Giving her a salute, the stallion whipped out a sheet of paper from his saddle-bag, along with a quill, then looked to her again. "Raring to go, Celly!"

After nodding, Ocellus began to speak in her most professional tone, all while her friends looked to her. "Dear Princess Twilight..."

Author's Note

And I think there would be a good place to leave off. I might think of new ideas for these kids in the future, but as of this posting I think this is a decent place to cut off the story :twilightsmile: