This was a day I had been looking forward to for years, after entering and working through the Royal Guard Academy, I was selected as one of the new officers in the Canterlot Palace Guards. It would have started soon after graduating, but when I had to make a visit to Griffonstone the Palace informed me that I would start later instead.
Not that I can really argue, apparently it was ordered from Princess Twilight herself, but as I followed one of the Palace administrators to meet the Captain, I couldn’t help but notice a few of my friends at the Academy already working. I had hoped we would be together on the induction day, but now it looks like I am gonna need to catch up.
Although when we arrived outside the Captain’s Office, and after a few knocks yielded no answer and a locked door, it looked like I wasn't the only one that needed to catch up.
“I’m sorry Gallus, it appears Captain Armour Plate isn't here right now.” The administrator then looked through her notes. “It does say he’s at the Palace on duty, so if you wait here, I’ll go find where he is and let him know you’re here.”
“Sure, I can wait.” Because thanks to Academy training, I can wait. Minutes outside the Captain’s office is nothing compared to hours outdoors to wait for field training to begin. The admin politely nodded and made her way out, leaving me in the corridor. Time would pass in that quiet space, every now and then the sounds of hooves stepping on the stone or rugs as someone would walk past, although one could glance and not find anyone who remotely looked like a Captain.
The only thing I could do to pass the time was thinking, which I didn’t really want to do, especially not now. It had only been a few days since I got back from Griffonstone, and the trip wasn’t truly uplifting.
Even Silverstream was showing concern, we moved into a new house together about a month ago, and earlier that morning she said I had been distant after graduation happened. I should make it up to her, the last few years had gotten more motivating and cheerful since we became closer, I just didn’t want her to feel sad that morning before she went off to teach new students at the School of Friendship.
The next sounds I hear were steps, although they clearly were not hooves. It wasn’t sounds of metal gauntlets making loud taps on the castle floor, nor the sound of clopping as if it was someone barehooved. It was a lighter sound as if needles were striking the floor, and at best I could make out two feet making these sounds instead of four. It wasn’t until I looked down that it occurred to me, they definitely weren’t the sounds of hooves, they were talons.
The steps were getting slightly louder, before stopping beside me. After turning my head in the sound’s direction, that was when I saw him. The old grey griffon with a scar down his left eye, an almost permanent scowl across his face and a fez on his head. Out of all the griffons in the Griffonstone to see, he was the last.
“What are you doing here?” I asked with resentfully.
The other griffon just raised one of his bushy eyebrows. “Is that how they taught you to greet other creatures at the School of Friendship, or did you decide to forget all that after you left?”
Had to rub my temple at that one, he just had to play into my good side even if I wasn’t happy with him. “Fine. Hello, Grandpa Gruff, so nice to see you!” I could not be bothered to hide my sarcasm at that point. “Now what are you doing here?”
“Can't an old griffon like me come all the way to see the griffon he raised become this big deal soldier in Equestria?” he asked, obvious that he couldn't hide his patronisation either.
“If you wanted to see me become a Second Lieutenant of the Royal Guard, you would have gone to the Graduation ceremony at the Academy.” I judgingly answered.
Grandpa Gruff returned an indignant glare. “You know I wasn’t able to go…” He was right, I remember finding out he was on the guestlist for the ceremony when I made requests to invite all my friends. On the day, Silverstream was there along with Smolder, Sandbar, Yona, Ocellus, even Gabby and Gilda showed up, but Grandpa Gruff was nowhere to be seen.
“You never told me though, I had to find out from Gilda, not that she wanted to give me a direct answer, so I found out the real reason from Gabby after the ceremony...” I decided to check the corridors and apart from us two griffons, there wasn’t another creature in sight. "Besides, right now is not a good time."
Grandpa Gruff appeared to notice too as he folded his arms. “I'm not surprised that you'd rather stand around in an empty room than talk to your own guardian." He said frustratingly. "We haven't spoken to each other since you left for the Academy, two years ago. You could have spoken to me in Griffonstone a few days ago, yet you barely said a word during the occasion.”
I took a deep breath, as I recalled seeing Grandpa Gruff when I was there, but only from a distance. “There wasn't much to say, no other griffon had much to say when I was there." I shrugged. "The strange thing was some griffons approached me, interested in what I had gotten up to at the Academy, and appearing really happy for me to be in the Royal Guard. Stuff like that never happened the last time I was there...” I could hear Grandpa Gruff chuckle to himself, he probably knew things had changed while I was away, though I wasn’t convinced.
“They also talked about you, about how proud you were of me and how much you supported me…” I looked back at Grandpa Gruff with a glare in my eyes. “…but through the entire time I was there, I felt nothing. I didn’t feel anything because it doesn’t feel true.”
“That’s ridiculous.” He snapped back. “I’ve always told you how proud I was of you, and I let you have any opportunity you wanted.” He started boastfully, with his beak pointing near the ceiling. “When I first met you, you were a homeless delinquent who could barely say a word other than your own name and stole food to survive. You got an education and a good work ethic because of me.”
I couldn't take the nerve he was having, so I couldn't help but pick his supposed brag apart. “Well to start, it would have been nice to see that you were proud of me. One of the few times I remember you saying it was when you would complain about travelling to Parent-Teacher meetings.”
He was quick to be defensive. “I requested updates from the school on a frequent basis, I shouldn't have to travel so far to hear what I already know.”
So, I hit back. “Oh and sure, being brought up by you was slightly better than being brought up by no one. Except the most you did was pay me to do errands, and lock me up in a closed dark room if I ever did anything you didn’t like.”
He still tried to hold his own. “What I didn’t like was you getting into trouble with other griffons, pickpocketing and conning them out of their bits. If it wasn't me having to go to your defence, you would have probably been locked up somewhere else.”
And I was not backing down. “As for your support, "let me have any opportunity I wanted"? What about when I wanted to join the Royal Guard? I had my friends behind me when I got a scholarship to the Royal Guard Academy but in Griffonstone? I had no one.” Grandpa Gruff looked on silently judging, but I wasn’t going to stop.
“I thought if there was one griffon who’d take my side, it would be you, but that clearly was a mistake. Instead, you said that sending me to the School of Friendship was a mistake. You said that joining the ‘Pony Army’ was going against my own kind, that I’m not a true griffon anymore.”
The old griffon got tense, folding his arms tighter. “I was angry…” He responded, his voice had lowered. “I didn’t think that school would do anything good even after you begged me to let you stay, but then I saw how much you improved. You were being respectable, you were setting a good example, even if you ended up doing something bad you held yourself to account.”
Hearing that did remind me a lot from those days at that school, where they finally gave me a place I didn’t think I had at home. He wasn’t the only one that didn’t think the school will do anything well, but it helped me make friends, see new places and try out things I didn’t think was possible.
When I was little I wanted to be a knight just like in the old stories that Grandpa Gruff used to rattle on about for bits, but Griffonstone didn’t have Royal Guards anymore, just a group of volunteers who’d call themselves an army.
“When you came back to Griffonstone, and rallied up all the Griffons to fight alongside other creatures to stop those villains from taking over the world, I had high hopes that when you finished school, you’d have a place to make Griffonstone better than before.”
Grandpa Gruff had slowly calmed as he spoke, but then as he looked back at me, he tensed up again. “But when you did, you said you were going away to Canterlot. I had my suspicions before, but you made it crystal clear that day that you didn’t want to return to Griffonstone. What else could it be except living with ponies had made you ashamed to be a griffon? So you went behind my back, and joined the Royal Guard just to spite us.”
“Ashamed?” I responded, raising an eyebrow. “You thought going to a school where I made friends, where I was happy for years, was a mistake because I was somehow ashamed to be a griffon?” Hearing him trying to defend his actions was frustrating but hearing him act like he knows how I feel was infuriating.
“I am a griffon! Being a griffon is part of who I am, I’m proud of that! What I didn’t like was living in a place where no one would look out for me, where other griffons had families, but I didn’t!” I could see Grandpa Gruff getting frustrated now, but I was not finished.
“Had it not occurred to you that if you thought for a moment about what my feelings were, we wouldn’t have gotten in a fight that led me to leave and never want to speak with you again? Did it ever occur to you that you could have done a better job at showing how ‘proud’ and ‘supportive’ you were so that I wouldn’t have been encouraged to cause trouble to other griffons?”
Grandpa Gruff's blood was starting to boil, but I decided to give one more. “Did it ever occur to you that if I had a better upbringing, even from you, that I probably wouldn’t have needed to go to the School of Friendship in the first place and stayed in Griffonstone?”
“OKAY FINE!” Grandpa Gruff finally snapped. “I wasn’t a great carer, and I’m sorry! Maybe if I had asked for help, I would have known what to do instead of making it up as I went along.” It was starting to feel surreal again to hear him being apologetic, even if he was still as loud and angry as usual in the process. I wasn’t sure if he was angry at me, himself, or both.
“Maybe if I sucked it up and went to all those meetings and ceremonies, you would have seen how much I cared. Maybe if I didn’t let my bad temper and anger get ahead of my judgement, I wouldn’t have spent two years not talking to one of the few griffons I actually cared about. So there, are you happy?!”
There was a short pause as I took in what Grandpa Gruff had said, I could only answer how I felt. “Yeah, actually I’m a little happier. But you know, I would have been even happier if you said any of that before…” I wanted to finish, but I couldn’t.
Any effort to finish what I said would be stopped by my thoughts from what I found out after the graduation ceremony, and I could start feeling tears forming over my cheeks. Not that it would matter, Grandpa Gruff could tell what I was going to say going by his doleful face and widened eyes. In the end, I was on the floor with my back against the wall, using my talons to try and wipe away any tears I had. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Grandpa Gruff sit down next to me, equally saddened.
“I really did want to see you at your graduation.” He said sincerely, his voice now calmer and slightly broken. “I wrote so many letters and spoke to different ponies from within the Academy to argue that I should be there. Griffons were telling me not to bother, but I got the invitations in the end. However, I also didn't want to ruin your big occasion, so when I got sick....”
I managed to dry my face, and with a long sigh I responded with “I know”. As we sat together in silence, I thought back to the events he did turn up to, like the School of Friendship gatherings and ceremonies, and ended up quietly chuckling to myself for a bit.
“You know, if you were there, I’m sure you’d find something to complain about. Like how every pony was dressed up all fancy while you just had your hat, or how uptight and snooty some of the other guests were, or even how we were all stood out in the sun all day with almost no shade to cover us from the heat.”
“Perhaps” he responded in agreement, himself giving a light chuckle. “But for me, just to see you up on stage, with your head held high as you accepted your degree and a new job, it would have been worth it.”
It was hard to believe that he would say the kind of thing I had not heard him say in my lifetime, I couldn't help but smile as I looked at him, as rare as it was.
“If you did go…” I followed. “I think I would have told you that despite how I feel about you, I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for you. So…thanks.”
Grandpa Gruff blinked as we looked at each other, I’m not sure how often he heard that from another griffon. “I just played a part, Gallus. You did the rest, you and your friends.”
I couldn’t help but agree with him, the friends I made at the school of friendship and the royal guard academy got me through this far, not to mention the teachers along the way. In the end, it was still Grandpa Gruff who got me to that point of finding them.
“Well now that you’re old enough, maybe you could start thinking about making your own family.”
My heart skipped a beat when I heard that, as Silverstream appeared in my mind. I couldn’t help but blush at the thought of what he was implying. “Yeah, maybe I could.”
Soon I could start hearing hoof steps, this time slowly getting louder. It didn’t occur to me who was approaching until the steps stopped. “Second Lieutenant Gallus?” said a deep yet sophisticated voice. Turning to see who it was, I could see a large brown stallion in full armour with four stars in view.
My heart nearly stopped upon recognising what that meant. “Y-Yes Captain Armour Plate, sir!” I shot up from the wall to face the stallion, fully upright and with a salute.
He remained deadpanned in response. “At ease, soldier. You haven’t started to work yet for formalities.” I slowly dropped my salute and relaxed my stance, although I remained upright. “Let me apologise for causing you to wait, emergencies will always impact the schedule. As you are not a member of staff yet, you shouldn’t have been left on your own in the palace grounds.”
The administrator from earlier left me to find Captain Armour Plate, it probably wasn’t her intention to leave me on my own in the corridor. "I wasn't on my own for long, sir. Actually, I was..." I turned back around, but no-one was down the other side of the corridor. It was like Grandpa Gruff left without even making a sound.
The Captain looked concerned like he couldn’t see what I could see. “Is…everything alright, Gallus?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I answered, but as I turned to face him, he did not seem convinced from the glazed look on my face. “I’ve just had a lot to think about, what had been going on in Griffonstone, and starting this job later than everyone else…”
The Captain gave a small comforting smile. “I wouldn’t worry about starting a few days later than your friends from the Academy, I’m sure you’ll be able to catch up with the help of your Lieutenant” he reassured me. “Besides, I find Princess Twilight’s decision to be fully reasonable. From my own experience, even the most battle-hardened soldier needs some time to themselves after returning from a funeral.”
I nodded, as much as I didn’t want to think about the time at Griffonstone, a lot of the emptiness had gone after getting it all out to someone. “I feel better now,” I admitted, quietly but with optimism.
“That is good to hear, now if we step into my office, I can get your induction underway. The sooner I can get you to your squadron, the better.”
Just like that, for Grandpa Gruff and I, that was the last time we spoke.
