And some things never will.
“Take care and don’t binge too much chocolate. We’ve got a full shift tomorrow!”
“Duly noted, Captain. Cya Gallus!” Tungsten waved as he trotted off, the royal guard leaving the gryphon Captain to hang up his armor.
“He’s totally going to that confectionery eating contest. Dangit, Tungsten, if I have to re-stock the antacids in the medical kit again…” Gallus muttered as he stowed his armor in the locker. Padding over to a simple stone side room of the changing area, the gryphon held up a small blue crystal around his neck to a larger counterpart set on the wall.
As a portal snapped into existence, Gallus shook his head as he walked through towards his home.
Fifteen years, how much has changed. It has been much more peaceful with Twilight at the helm, for the most part at least. It certainly makes my job easier just overseeing new recruits and handling formalities nowadays. I have to say, these magic portals are pretty handy; lets any-creature live across the lands and work for the Princess.
Everyone united in friendship, just how it should be.
As he walked across the Ponyville streets, the Gryphon’s wings drooped ever so slightly, eyes slowly lowering to the ground.
So much has changed, yet it feels like I’m stuck in the past at times.
Even if it’s not true…I think.
After graduating the School of Friendship, he and the other ‘micro-elements’ or 'student-six' as they called themselves in jest, somewhat moved on to their separate lives. Of course, they stayed in touch much like their older counterparts. Their meeting last week had been interesting, namely when Yona decided to prove once and for all she could conquered the ‘Pinkie and Cheese Chocolate Milkshake Challenge.’
Unfortunately she had been bested, leaving Sandbar to watch over the comatose yak as she recovered halfway through the chocolatey concoction.
Fifteen years since our adventures, another fifteen since that part of my life and I still have nightmares.
Not many creatures knew the details Gallus’s life before the school. Most ponies wouldn’t understand and most who did probably wouldn’t care. Poverty was an alien thing to most of them, so Gallus having scratched his way through life in Griffinstone was just an unpleasant bit of information to them. Thankfully such barriers were slowly being broken down with species mixing in with Equestria’s population more and more. Ironically, his rougher past had made him being Captain of the Royal Guard a bit easier, since he understood the more unpleasant aspects of life.
Of course, that came at a cost.
Therapy. Oh, the successful look on Trixie’s face when she convinced me to go through it over a decade ago. Years later, and at least I’m doing better, just once every few months now. I think I have another meeting in a week or two actually.
It always cropped up at the worst of times. Getting ready for a shift or even greeting a foreign delegation, the winds of his mind would shift. Suddenly Gallus was back in Griffinstone, freezing gusts chilling him to the core as he vaguely wondered when his next meal would be. The dark shroud clouded his thoughts, every positive point in his life seeming dim and faded.
Why can’t I just be happy?
Most of the time was fine, but his past refused to leave the gryphon be. It was a part of him, true, but even now it dug in its claws. Occasional nightmares, a sudden spastic shaking of his claws if a cold wind blew the wrong way…
I guess I’ll never be free from it. At least work is fulfilling, I can’t ask for much more than that from a job. The first gryphon Royal Guard Captain. That’s a huge accomplishment! I still have friends, a stable job, a home, everything I never had growing up.
As he turned the doorknob to his home, the Gryphon’s ears fell flat, a pressure welling up in his throat and threatening to squeeze out of his eyes.
So much time has passed, and everyone else is so happy. Why can’t I….?
As the door closed behind him, Gallus’s sides shook with barely contained sobs, a familiar cold wind seeming to stab underneath his now-healthy frame and feathers.
I mean, at least I’m getting help. That’s more than I was doing when at school for the most part. But at least I still have my friends. Yet every time my mind wanders, I’m back in-
A warm blanket suddenly draped itself over the gryphon’s shoulders, Gallus leaning into a pink feathery pillow that hugged him close. As quickly as the wind in his mind brought freezing and terrifying thoughts, the climate changed. Warmth spread through his body, the gryphon’s claws now becoming entwined with someone else’s.
Silverstream.
Five years since we graduated the College of Friendship and I was rising through the ranks of the Guard; how did it take me that long to ask you on a date? And then two years after that, how in the world did I manage to ask you a question that terrified me to the core?
One word is all it took to make me the happiest I’ve ever been. Early thirties; we were behind our friends in that aspect, true, but here we are.
Silverstream hugged her gryphon closer, matching her breathing to the more distressed pace of the one creature she loved more than anything. It had been like that ever since they had begun writing letters to each other, the hippogriff somehow able to pick up when her gryphon counterpart was stressed. Six months ago distance had no longer become an issue, Silverstream immediately able to jump in when her favorite gryphon was feeling down.
“Rough day at work?”
“Not related to the Guard at least. So, I guess in manner of speaking. What about you?” he whispered in reply, Gallus being half-dragged over to a more comfortable position on a waiting couch. Two feathery pink arms wrapped around his torso, the slightly larger hippogriff now resting across her own blue pillow.
“Eh, being a teacher of the school is still daunting, but having Sunburst as Vice-Headmare there helps a tooon. I swear that stallion has read the entire library. Princess Skystar is drafting a semi-ambassadorial role for me, so that’ll be interesting. Probably because I talk with so many races, I need to have an official capacity of some sort at long last.”
Gallus nodded, relaxing in the reassuring arms of Silverstream for a time as she scooted closer. Occasionally the pink hippogriff shifted, finally achieving a comfortable position as she was half-wrapped around Gallus’s torso.
“The thoughts again?” she asked, the usual ever-present energy the hippogriff exuded changing to a more affectionate medium as Silver gave his claws a gentle squeeze.
How could I forget? She knows; the one creature I can trust with it all. The same hippogriff who stuck by my side through all those sessions with Trixie, other counselors, and all the nightmares. She was always there…is still here at my side.
“It seems so silly,” Gallus murmured, prompting a soft, questioning hum from Silverstream. “Just a few moments ago, I was wondering why I couldn’t be happy. It all seems so overwhelming, like a dark blanket over my mind. It becomes so easy to forget all the good.”
Hugging Silver a bit tighter, Gallus looked down into a pair of adoring eyes, their depths swimming with enough affection to drive away any harsh winds his mind could throw at him.
“You always help me remember that I am happy, Silver, when my mind starts arguing with itself. So much has changed over the years but it feels like my past keeps dragging me back. Nightmares, counseling, the post-traumatic stuff…”
“We all have a past, Gallus,” Silverstream whispered, “Be it good, bad, or just ‘there’, it’s one’s past. It won’t change, but how you handle it can.”
A long affectionate kiss interrupted any words Gallus was going to say in reply, Silverstream shifting to relax in her gryphon’s arms.
“And you’ve handled it like any other problem you’ve faced; head on. Even if you were kicking and screaming at yourself while trying to improve, you still did it.”
“And you stayed at my side, promised to be at my side, even through all…” Gallus’s words trailed off, beak quivering ever so slightly.
“Gallus, I promised to marry you,” Silverstream whispered with a tender smile. “You. The rough gryphon who enjoys hugs just as much as I do. The gryphon who is trying his best, no matter what the problem may be,” she paused, “The gryphon who has a past I can understand, and think he’s no less of a ‘griff for dealing with it the way he has. Don’t ever think you are less for that, Gallus, because you mean so much to so many creatures,” Silverstream’s beak quivered, her eyes swimming with loving tears. “You mean so much to me.”
Gallus smiled, holding his wife close in a tight embrace.
“It always seems like such a far away issue when you’re in my arms. Just holding the one ‘griff I love seems to chase it all away.”
Silverstream promptly began to sniffle, prompting the gryphon to smile as she glared at him good-naturedly.
“N-not fair!” she pouted, giving him another loving kiss.
“But it’s true. I get so stuck in my head sometimes, and then you just know when to be there…”
“And I’ll always be here for you Gallus. Just like you were there when I faced my fears in that cave all those years ago. You’re here for me when I have a rough day at work; why would I ever not be there for you? I love you, and that’s not ever going to change.”
As Gallus rested his cheek against Silverstream’s the gryphon let a few tears leave his eyes, a genuine smile flickering at his beak.
Some things change,
and some things never will.
Author's Note
Just an adorable idea I had after viewing the last 3 episodes of G4. I thought a bit of fluff would help combat the bitter-sweet ending of this era. I'm both sad it's over, but glad they didn't drag it out any longer.
I'm certainly not going anywhere for a while though; I hope this brightened up some reader's day.
p.s. This was in no way influenced by my bias towards a certain Hippogriff and Gryphon.
p.p.s. Not at all.
