A month has passed since Gallus and Twilight Sparkle took a visit to Griffonstone in hopes that they would be able to celebrate the Blue Moon Festival. However, that wasn’t the case as they were confronted by Grampa Gruff, Griffonstone’s infamous dictator. He made it absolutely clear that Gallus would never be invited back to Griffonstone after he agreed to enroll in the School of Friendship. Gruff feared that should Gallus return, he might corrupt Griffonstone with his newfound knowledge of friendship. However, he was not afraid to tell Gallus what he thought of friendship. As he was about to beat the living daylight out of Gallus, however, Twilight stepped in and said some...choice words to him. This, believe it or not, did scare him. After she and Gallus returned to Ponyville, Gallus couldn’t stop thinking about the experience. He feared that Grampa Gruff may come back for revenge. Because of his paranoia, Gallus secluded himself from his friends and even his grades and attendance have been slipping. This worried Twilight, who suggested that he made an appointment with Counselor Starlight. Gallus took this advice to heart, and after his last class of the day, he went to see Starlight.

“Hello, Gallus. Glad you could come.” Starlight greeted the griffon.

“Like I had a choice in the matter.” Gallus thought to himself as he took a seat.

“Headmare Twilight told me that you and her tried to celebrate the Blue Moon Festival in Griffonstone, is that correct?” Starlight asked.

“Yes.” Gallus answered.

“And it didn’t turn out as well as expected.” Starlight continued.

“Yeah.” Gallus responded.

“I see. Well, Headmare Twilight said that she was worried about you. You’ve been missing a lot of school lately, and your grades have been slipping because of that.” Starlight continued.

“Well, come to think of it, I haven’t been studying as much as I should. I haven’t exactly been hanging out with my friends as much either. But I have a good explanation.” Gallus confessed.

“Okay.” Starlight responded.

“Although I liked how Twilight stood up for me that night, I’m always afraid that Grampa Gruff would come back for revenge.” Gallus said.

“Gallus, do you hate your grandpa?” Starlight asked.

“That’s just his name. He isn’t my or anygriff’s real grandpa. Anyways, to answer your question, no. I don’t really hate him. I just want to know why he doesn’t like me. Y’know, it’s just not him that I’ve been getting my abuse from. It’s from the other griffons in Griffonstone. The food vendors would refuse to give me food, my parents threw me away before I was even born, griffons refused to even give me money for food, and Gilda just ignored my situation. Gabby was pretty much the only griffon I liked, but even then, we didn’t interact much because she was so scared to even be near me because Grampa Gruff thought she was too nice to me. According to him, everygriff was required to torment and abuse me. And I just don’t see why. I didn’t deserve any of this. Why does everygriff hate me?” Gallus explained as his voice got choked up as tears filled his eyes and rolled down his cheeks.

Starlight made her way to the crying griffon to give him a hug. “You’re right. You didn’t deserve this. You’re an intelligent, bright young man who cares deeply about his friends and his studies. But, I need to know. When did this abuse start?” Starlight asked.

“It started before I was even born. My parents were expecting a hatchling that they hoped would be like all of the other griffons: mean, greedy, and prejudiced towards creatures who believed in friendship. They later found out the egg looked unusual from the average griffon egg. That meant that the hatchling would be a complete disappointment to not only its family, but the entire griffon species as a whole. When they found that out, they realized that I didn’t matter and threw me inside a dumpster. When I was born, I didn’t know where I was. It was dark and smelly and no other griffons were present. At that point, I was scared and confused. A week later, the trashman went to empty the dumpster, and that was the first time I’ve ever seen light. As the trashman reached for a trash bag, I hopped on, clinging for dear life as I exited the dumpster, and that was when I made my escape. Then, I realized that I had to find my family. I’ve spent three weeks looking for griffons who looked like me, much to no avail. I became hopeless and depressed, and that was when I met Grampa Gruff. At first, I thought that he was part of my family as he took time to observe what I had to go through. I was hungry, filthy, and exhausted and I hoped that he would take me to his place to get me cleaned up and fed. However, he looked at my feathers and began yelling at me. I couldn’t understand it at the time, but it sounded really harsh. Then, he started beating me to a pulp until he thought I was dead.” Gallus responded.

Starlight was horrified by what she heard. “Oh my goodness! That’s horrible! I’m sorry, Gallus!”

Gallus let out a sigh and said “Thanks, Starlight, but no apology or sympathy will reverse the horrible actions inflicted on me. It’s been a part of me for my entire life. The bad memories have been on loop in my head for as long as I can remember. In my dreams, I still feel the pain inflicted on me by Grampa Gruff and the other griffons. The thought of graduation scares me. It’s a happy time for most, but I even dread the thought of having to leave this school. The fact that I’m forced to leave my safe haven to go back to Griffonstone scares me.”

“I understand, Gallus. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me about your problems. And remember, you’re not alone. Your friends, professors, and I are available if you need any assistance.” Starlight assured the griffon.

“Thanks for everything, Starlight. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Gallus said.

“It’s nothing. I’m just doing my job. Have a hug.” Starlight replied as she hugged Gallus.

“Y’know, I’m not always the huggy type, but I really needed that. Thank you.” Gallus said gleefully.

“Anytime, Gallus. Have a wonderful rest of your day. And make sure you get your homework done!” Starlight replied.

“I will!” Gallus said as he exited Starlight’s office.

Author's Note

This was originally going to be its own story making this part of the trilogy that I have originally planned, but after some thinking, I decided that it would be better as a chapter in my next big project, which is this.