Hearth’s Warming Grief

by PonyPixel

Rating: teen
Tags: Sad, Young Six, Original Character, Profanity, Griffons, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 6364

The holidays are coming and everyone excited, except for the griffons.

The holidays are coming up and that means the students are all going to be heading home for a while. Some of them aren’t wanting to go home, like Pate not wanting to be apart from Shimmy, or Trud not being able to join in the fun due to his injury. However, the griffons don’t wanna go home. None of them.

Published 2020-09-09 19:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-09-09 19:00:01 UTC

Once in a Blue Moon

Hearth’s Warming, a wonderful day to spend time with your family and friends. A symbol of unification to all, no matter what species you are or what tribe you’re in. For other creatures, it has the same symbolism as theirs, especially for the changelings, who’re adored this holiday; there’s the Snilldar Fest for the yaks, Three Days of Freedom Festival for the hippogriffs, The Feast of Fire for the dragons, and finally, The Blue Moon Festival for the griffons. Well, the Blue Moon Festival wasn’t that exaggerated and enthusiastic unlike Hearth’s Warming, they’re trying not to yell at each other. For the griffon students, including Gallus, this one’s going to be different.

Sandbar was humming to himself as he carried some bags with presents inside. Those gifts inside are for his good friends. Pyther and Coral were walking down the hall until they saw the earth pony. “Hi Sandbar,” Pyther called, with a wave.

“Oh, hi Pyther, hi Coral,” he greeted back. Coral then looked at the bag he’s carrying.

“Sandbar, where are you going with those?” the hippogriff asked.

“I’ve been saving some bits for my friends’ presents,” Sandbar replied. “Have you seen them?”

“Well, Gallus, Smolder, and Ocellus were in the library last time I checked,” Pyther said. Sandbar thanked the girls and walked to where his friends were. He arrived at the library, and there, he found Gallus, Smolder, and Ocellus together in one place.

Gallus was just doodling or writing something in a journal while Smolder and Ocellus snuggled with each other. Their friend Sandbar soon walked in with his presents. The three friends then saw him come by. “Hey, Sandbar,” Gallus muttered.

"Hi guys," the colt replied. He quickly placed the present down on the table, each one with wrapping paper matching the color scheme of his friends.

"Wow, when did you get these?" Ocellus questioned, feeling shocked at the presents that are on the table.

"It was a little pricey, but I think they were worth it." He passed out the presents to his friends who started ripping them open. Smolder was very surprised at her gift, after opening it. Inside, it is a nice dress that was white and golden and even had some nice white bows to go along with it as accessories.

"Wow!" the dragoness gasped. "Sandbar, you shouldn't have."

“You can try it on if you want.” Smolder looked excited and ran off to do just that as her friends opened their gifts, except for Gallus though. Ocellus opened her gift to find that it was a novel. It was titled “Embracing a Change.”

“Wow, Sandbar, this is great,” Ocellus commented.

“That book made me think of you and the changelings, so I thought since you like reading books so much, it would be a good experience for you.” The changeling smiled at the gift she received from her friend. Sandbar then looked over to Gallus, who was just staring at his present. “Gallus, aren’t you going to open it?”

The griffon looked up at his friends while having a frown on his beak. “I’ll open it later,” Gallus muttered, sounding glum. Carrying his present, Gallus flew out of the library, leaving Sandbar and Ocellus with the remaining two presents on the table.

“You think Gallus is feeling upset because of his holiday?” Ocellus asked, feeling concerned.

“Probably,” Sandbar responded. They looked over to Smolder, who was now walking back while wearing the bows and dress that Sandbar had given her. She was impressed by the bows that can fit over her horns.

“Sandbar, you really outdid yourself with this,” the dragoness spoke.

“Thanks, Smolder,” the colt replied. “Now, there’s just two left for...”

Before he could finish, a familiar hippogriff and yak burst into the library. “We’re back!” Silverstream cried.

“Oh, hi girls,” Ocellus responded.

Yona and Silverstream walked up to the table with the yak nuzzling against her boyfriend. “Hey, girls,” Sandbar chuckled before he hugged Yona. “So, how was the friendship mission?”

“It was a success,” Silverstream exclaimed.

“Yona and Silver help Iron Will,” Yona responded.

“That minotaur?” Ocellus questioned.

“Not just him,” Silverstream said, “There’s a whole village of minotaurs. One of them he was dating and…” She then saw the presents on the table. “Ooh, are those presents?”

“Oh, yeah they are,” Sandbar chuckled. He soon passed the last two presents to his friends that just showed up. Silverstream wasted no time ripping into her present. Inside, was a colorful looking box that had some sort of spring inside, which looked like it had been squashed.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“It’s called a Tumble Spring. Let me show you how it works.” Sandbar gathered a couple of books and stacked them to make a mini-staircase. Silverstream opened the box to get the spring out to let Sandbar demonstrate. He then placed the spring at the top and gave it a bit of a push so the top would tumble onto the lower step. When the bottom half caught up with the top half, it suddenly fell onto the lower step. This kept repeating until the entire spring made it to the bottom.

Silverstream was amazed at what he new gift just did. She grabbed the spring and brought it back to the top of the mini staircase and repeated the process. While she did that, Yona opened her gift to find there was a necklace that had a bead-shaped like a sea turtle.

“Whoa,” the yak gasped.

“I thought since you’d miss me over the holidays,” Sandbar explained, “So, I thought I’d give you something that would help you remember me. What do you think of it?”

Yona picked up the necklace and put it around her left horn. “Yona loves it!” She quickly hugged her boyfriend as a way of saying thank you for the gift, along with a kiss.

“I’m glad you like it.”

“I’m liking Smolder’s dress,” Silverstream spoke. The dragoness smiled and did a curtsy. “These are so amazing.”

“They really are,” Smolder agreed. “So, what were you saying about the minotaurs?”

“Oh, it’s a really interesting story, but I have one more question: where’s Gallus?”

“He left a while ago,” Sandbar replied, “With his gift I gave him.”

Gallus was slowly flying down towards the hallway. He let out a sigh as he looked at his present. He was on his way back to his dorm room when he heard some talking.

“Wow, Emma, you shouldn’t have,” gasped a voice. Gallus looked around and found Sunshine looking at a set of goggles that was given to him by Emerald.

"You did say that you had a hard time when you were a seapony," Emerald said. "So, I thought I could give you some goggles that were in your prescription." The hippogriff tried them on and was amazed at being able to see with them.

"Thanks, Emma." Sunshine gave the dragoness a hug, who then hugged him back. Gallus then looked past them and could see Gus sitting by himself looking upset. Emma then noticed Gallus and waved to him.

“Hi Gallus,” Emerald greeted happily.

"Oh, hey guys," Gallus said glumly. "Nice goggles."

"Thanks," Sunshine replied. He placed his new goggles back in the case they came with before putting his glasses back on while Emerald was curious about the gift the blue griffon was holding.

"Hey, Gallus, where did you get that gift from?" the dragoness asked.

"Oh, this is just a gift I got from Sandbar," he replied.

"I see. What's inside?" Sunshine asked

"I don't know. I haven't opened it yet."

"Well then, let's see what's inside." Sunshine almost reached out for the griffon's present until Gus smacked him in the back of the head, and his glasses fell out of his head. “Hey! What’s the idea!?”

"You didn't see me ripping into your present, did you?" Gus questioned. The hippogriff shook his head in response.

"You know that was uncalled for," Emerald stated.

"It's not my fault if Gallus should be the one to open his gift." Gus walked away from the group as Gallus looked at his present.

"He's right," the blue griffon admitted, "I think I should open this later." He flew away leaving the dragoness to help with the hippogriff's glasses, which were thankfully unharmed.

Elsewhere in the school, Shimmy Shake was sitting on the sofa in the lounge sitting with Pate. She was super excited about the holidays today. "I can't believe Hearth's Warming is here," the cheerleader said.

"Yeah," Pate agreed. "Can't wait to pass presents around."

Shimmy looked across the room to see Lighthoof winking at her with Tarsi, who looked like she was holding something. The changeling then turned into a dove before flying over to the changeling and mare before landing in between.

"Oh, hey," Pate gasped. He then looked perplexed as the dove dropped something down. It looked like a tiny branch with leaves and red berries on it. "What's this?"

"A mistletoe," Shimmy answered. She started leaning closer to her boyfriend who was a little confused about what was going on.

“Okay, what does this have to do with Hearth’s Warming?”

“This.” Then their lips locked. Pate didn't know how to react to this and just stood there frozen. Eventually, Shimmy stopped the kiss and looked at her boyfriend in the eye.

The changeling didn't know how to respond and just started shifting between a bunch of different forms before he stopped a goat and fainted. Tarsi hopped off the sofa and changed back into a changeling. "I say this was a success," she commented.

"Did it work?" Peridot asked. She, Dotta, and Grace had come out of hiding and were surprised to see the faint goat which then turned into a dazed changeling.

"He'll be fine," Shimmy reassured. She stood up and helped Pate up while he was still delirious. "What did you think of that?"

"Gah bu ti af be a muh," Pate stuttered. The girls just laughed at this.

"So, girls," Lighthoof said, "What kind of holidays do you celebrate at home?"

"Well, dragons have the Feast of Fire," Peridot explained.

"Yaks have Snilldar Fest!" Dotta declared. "Yaks sing and smash."

"Sounds about right," Grace commented.

"What about you Grace?" Tarsi asked. The griffon suddenly froze. She looked at the girls as she didn't know what to say. She looked around until she saw a blonde griffon gesturing over to her to try and get her closer.

"Um... I gotta go." Before the girls could ask why Grace took off like a rocket. This left the cheer squad a little bit perplexed. Grace flew into another room with the blonde griffon, whose fur was light yellow, wings were brilliant yellow, beak and talons were light amber and her feathers covered her right eye. "Thanks, Gregoria."

"No problem. You know it could be easier if you just told them," Gregoria stated.

"But they seem so happy, I don't want to upset them."

"I understand, but they're going to figure out what the Blue Moon Festival is. It's going to be hard to believe that all the griffons will keep their beaks shut."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I'll feel better when they find out." Grace rubbed her arm as she sighed while Gregoria placed her talon on her shoulder.

"Listen, you don't have to tell them right now. But I really think it'll be best if you told them before we leave." Grace just sighed before she flew off. Gregoria just sighed before walking off in a different direction.

Gallus saw Grace fly past him as he was just about to open the door to his dorm. He then went inside, flew to the top deck of the bed, and sat down with his present still on his claws. He sat there for a minute in deep thought while looking at the gift, thinking about that time when he first put purple slime on the tree and made a mess on the tree and the whole room to avoid his friends from leaving. He was either grateful or guilty for that incident he did before, but still, he hates being alone.

"Yak happy to head home," said Trud from across the room. Gallus left the present in his room before flying towards Trud's dorm. He arrived at their dorm room, could see Trud with Moss and Gale chatting about the holidays.

"You sure that you'll be able to smash things with that cart?" Gale, who’s sitting on the top deck of the bed, questioned.

"Yak figured out how to activate breaks on cart," Trud explained. He gave a couple of stomps and unlike last time he did end up moving backwards.

"Good for you," Moss commented, "Just give us a warning next time."

"No promises." Gale just rolled his eyes before lying down in bed.

"Hey, guys," Gallus said. He stepped inside the room and sat down with the trio. "How are you feeling?"

"Trud excited!" Trud exclaimed.

"I can tell. Moss, what about you?"

"As long as one of the presents that has what's inside broken, I'm up for passing presents," the changeling explained. Gale and Trud were a little confused by this. The white griffon just sighed before covering his head with his pillow. "What's with you?"

"Maybe it's probably the cold. I think I'll just leave him alone." Without another word, Gallus walked out of the room and back to his. Like Gale, he climbed onto his bed and looked over to the present he sat on the table. The gloomy griffon rested his head on his pillow and let out a depressed sigh.

The holidays kept getting closer and closer and nearly all of the students were getting excited; everyone except the griffons. They didn't notice at first, but soon it was becoming hard to miss. One day, a couple of students were flying around outside the school. These students were Garry, Geena, Smolder, Sulcus, and Pearl.

The two griffons were managing to keep ahead but Smolder was soon catching up. "You guys think you can beat a dragon?" she laughed.

"Don't get cocky," Geena remarked. She flew in front of Smolder and kept moving around to make sure the dragoness would stay behind her. Garry stayed ahead and was proud of keeping his lead. As for Sulcus, he was really starting to get tired.

The changeling was sweating and panting as he started falling behind. Pearl took note of this and started slowing down to help Sulcus out. "Hey, guys," the hippogriff called, "I think we're going to head back inside."

"Aw, what?" Garry groaned.

"I think I'm going to go inside too," Smolder admitted. "This weather is starting to get to me."

"Seriously?!" Geena questioned.

"Can you and Garry keep racing?" Pearl asked.

The two griffons looked at each other in disbelief. "It... It's not the same with just two of us," Garry stated.

"Well, you can have your fun. I'm going to help Sulcus get some rest." Pearl carried the sweaty changeling back inside and Smolder followed. Garry and Geena were left outside, by themselves.

"I hate this," Geena growled, slammed her winter cap on the snow. "Why do we have to go home?"

"We don't have to," Garry said, "We can always bunk with our friends."

"And what are our parents going to say? They're going to wonder where we are."

"Oh yeah. That's right."

"I just wish we had something better there," she said, picked back up her cap. Begrudgingly, the two griffons went inside to get away from the cold, but they still had a sinking feeling.

Pearl, Smolder, and Sulcus walked down the hall together. The changeling was catching his breath as the hippogriff helped him stay standing. "Man, griffons really do play hard," Sulcus panted.

"Oh please, you should see dragons when they get competitive," Smolder remarked. She seemed to be thinking about something.

"I really enjoy doing things like racing," Pearl spoke, "But it felt like they didn't want to stop."

"Don't most creatures do that when they're having fun?" Sulcus asked.

"Yeah, but they were acting like their lives depended on racing." The two could put their appendages on what was wrong, Smolder, however, had a feeling she knew why.

Elsewhere in the school, Gregoria was helping Sandbar, Silverstream, and a couple of the other students decorate the tree. “I’ve gotta say,” the blonde griffon said, “This is pretty fun.”

“I’m glad you’re liking it,” Sandbar said. He pulled out an ornament that looked like a moon and hung it on one of the branches. Yona grabbed an ornament that looked like a sun.

“Yona love decorating with friends,” the yak proclaimed.

“I’m very happy for you,” Rarity said. She carried away the empty boxes as Gregoria looked at the decorated tree.

“This is amazing,” she gasped. The griffon had never seen anything that was so amazing.

“It really is,” Ocellus agreed. She looked in one of the boxes and could see there was a star that was in the exact shape of Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark. “You want to put this on the top?”

“Uh... Sure.” Gregoria was given the star and flew up to the top of the tree and placed it on. The star gave off a lovely glow which the students oohed and awed at. “I never thought that this could be so cool.”

“The tree is nice,” Sandbar agreed, “But I think it’s much better with friends by your side.” The colt looked over to Yona and Ocellus, the former he decided to walk over and share a kiss with. Ocellus gave off a happy sigh as she could taste their love. Gregoria felt happy for them, but she could still feel she was down in the dumps.

The three friends could see her expression was pretty similar to Gallus’s. “You think we should talk to her about this?” Sandbar asked.

“Uhh, I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Ocellus commented.

“Gallus didn’t like talking about Moon Festival,” Yona noted.

“You have a point, but he was at a breaking point. Remember?”

"Yeah," Sandbar said. He and the girls looked and could see the blonde griffon was now sitting on of the chairs in the room while looking in deep thought. "Maybe we should give her some more time. I don't think she's really in a talkative mood." The girls nodded. The colt and girls went back to what they were doing while Gregoria just sat on the sideline.

Gallus was now in the cafeteria getting some flan for snacks. He sat down and started eating it as Gus and Gale sat beside him. "Sup?" the white griffon asked.

“Sorry guys, I’m not in a talkative mood,” Gallus muttered.

“Why do you think we’re here with you?” Gus asked. He looked over to Kelpie and Flare before blocking them from his view with his wing. “Ten bits says that our holiday’s going to suck.”

“Hey, Professor Fluttershy did say to watch the language.”

“I’d be happy if she could keep us from going home. Why would you want to stay in a place like Griffonstone?”

“At least you’ve had a home,” Gallus muttered quietly.

“It’s going to be so boring,” Gale groaned. “You know how they don’t allow singing?”

“Yeah,” Gus sighed. Gallus didn’t pay much attention to their conversation. He was starting to think deeply about his situation. Most of the griffons were in the same situation when he had the first time. Unlike him, the griffons had families they could go back to. This kind of made it difficult for Gallus to think about what to say.

He got up from his seat to get some more snacks. While he did that, he could see Geena and Garry flew past him carrying a matchbox. Curious, Gallus left his tray behind and followed them stealthily.

“Garry, this is so stupid,” Geena whispered. “We’re gonna burn a tree?”

“Hey, they’re going to question who did this,” Garry responded quietly. “That way we get to stay here much longer.”

“Okay, but don’t try and blame this on me.” Gallus managed to hear what they said and he made sure that they didn’t see or hear him follow them down the hall.

Eventually, they got to the room that had the freshly decorated tree. Geena took a deep breath before taking one of the matches out of the box until... “What are you doing?!” questioned a voice. She and Garry looked back to see Gallus staring them down.

“Uh... G-Gallus,” Garry stuttered, “What are you... Doing here?” He was trying his hardest to stay calm.

“Were you planning on setting the tree on fire?” Gallus asked, sounding a little angry.

“Gallus, this isn’t what it looks like,” Geena fibbed.

“So, what candles were you planning on lighting, huh?” The three griffons all stood there with no response.

Geena clenched her talons as she was starting to get angry. “Hey, you would do the same thing to stay here.”

“I have. Two years ago. I covered this entire room in slime. Now, you’re going to set a tree on fire!”

“Honestly, I would rather do that than go home.”

“I thought you said our parents would worry,” Garry reminded.

“I did... But... I don’t wanna go home.”

“But our parents...”

“I know what I said!” Some of the students that were passing by overheard the griffons’ conversation. Grace, Gregoria, Sunshine, Coral, and Pyther peeked into the room to see what was happening.

“Guys, please! Just give me the matches before something bad happens,” Gallus requested. Geena looked at the matchbox in her talon before looking at the match in her other talon. Acting quick, she lit the match causing Gallus to react by pouncing on her to get the match. This ended up backfiring as the match flew out of Geena’s talons and landed on one of the tree branches, causing the whole tree to catch fire. The creatures that were eavesdropping quickly ran into action with Gregoria and Sunshine running to get to some water to extinguish the tree while Grace and Coral tried to help Pyther keep the flames under control.

“What did you do?” Coral questioned.

“I... We didn’t...” Geena said, couldn’t figure out what to say.

“Don’t talk to her!” Pyther cried as she found a blanket. “Girls, give me some help here.” Grace and Coral flew over to Pyther. Gallus decided to give them some help by grabbing the corner that needed one more creature. They then used it on the flames to try and suffocate it.

Gregoria and Sunshine came back with some buckets of water as they could see what the others were doing. "Be careful!" Gregoria cried. "If you keep it on too long it'll..." She couldn't finish as the blanket soon caught fire, causing the creatures holding it to let go out of fright. Gregoria and Sunshine then quickly splashed their buckets on the tree to put it out, but it wasn’t enough. They were about to go for more water until a beam hit the last of the flames, trapping it in crystals.

Looking towards the door, they could see Starlight Glimmer who was furious. “In my office. Now!” she demanded.

The students that Starlight had found at the scene of the fire were now sitting in front of her desk. The headmare looked down at the students, who all had mixed reactions. Geena and Garry were feeling guilty about doing their idea, Gregoria, Gallus, Coral, and Pyther were mad they were getting dragged down with them, and Grace and Sunshine were just worried about being in trouble.

“Just why did you set that tree on fire?” Starlight asked.

“To be honest with you, I was trying to stop Geena and Garry from doing that,” Gallus affirmed. “I learned my lesson from last time.”

“Yeah,” Pyther confirmed. “And we were trying to put it out.”

“I figured that's what you were doing,” Starlight commented. "Normally I would keep you on school grounds for something like this..." This comment made Geena and Garry a little excited. "But since this is the holidays, I'll leave you off with a warning."

Many of the students gave a sigh of relief. Geena wasn't so happy. "But... We..."

"We understand the situation," Gallus interrupted, covering Geena's beak. “We’ll be on our best behavior now.” Geena just scowled at him before they all left Starlight’s office.

“That could’ve gone better,” Gregoria muttered.

“No kidding,” Coral agreed.

“If we were going to be stuck here, I would’ve killed you,” Pyther said to the griffons, clearly angry.

“...Please calm down,” Sunshine begged, feeling a little scared.

Pyther groaned. “I’m sorry. It’s just... I don’t want to be away from my family.”

“I get that. Just try and keep calm until we go home.” Pyther nodded.

“Easy for you to say,” Geena grumbled. She, Gallus, Garry, Gregoria, and Grace were still feeling a little down.

Coral looked at the griffon and started getting a little annoyed. “Okay, I know we’ve just had a bit of trouble a few minutes ago, but what’s with you guys?” the hippogriff questioned.

Most of the griffons didn’t know what to say to this, but Geena didn’t do this. “Hey, you would want to stay here if your home was crap!” Geena cried.

“Language!” Grace warned her.

“Oh come on, think about Griffonstone. It’s a mess. No creature would ever want to live there.”

“Okay, Geena, calm down,” Gregoria requested. Geena just growled and flew off taking Garry with her. Gallus and Grace didn’t feel very confident about talking right now, so they flew off. That left Gregoria with the rest of the students.

“...Do you want to talk or something?” Sunshine asked.

“Not really,” Gregoria sighed. “Though, I feel like I’m going to have to.”

“What’s going on here?” Ocellus asked. She and the rest of the young six, minus Gallus, walking over to them.

“We just heard about the tree here just caught on fire awhile ago,” Smolder said. “What happened?”

“I knew I should’ve told you guys about this earlier,” Gregoria sighed. Thus, she began to explain to the freshmen about the Blue Moon Festival. The young five remembered how Gallus felt talking about this. Coral, Sunshine, and Pyther were quite shocked by the griffons’ holiday.

"That's seriously what you do?" Coral questioned.

"Yeah. Just one day where we're nice to each other."

"...That's not right," Silverstream said. "You need a new holiday."

"You sure about that?" Sunshine questioned.

"Well, the Summer Sun Celebration was replaced with the Festival of the Two Sisters," Sandbar commented. "So, it doesn't seem too impossible."

"Canterlot is a city that is much more advanced than Griffonstone, from Gallus's description," Ocellus spoke. "So, I think we could make it work."

"Yeah. We just need to get every griffon on board with it," Gregoria said. "And I mean all of the griffons."

"You're not just talking about the griffons at this school, are you?" Silverstream asked. Gregoria simply nodded.

"That sounds hard," Yona commented.

"Well, we can get started with all the griffons that are at this school," Sandbar noted.

"We... might as well get it over with," Gregoria sighed. They turned around to go find the rest of the griffons. They had a hard time finding them as they weren't even in their dorms. In fact, they couldn't find any other griffon in school. They were all gone.

"Where did they go?" Smolder questioned.

"I guess they've had enough of going home," Pyther guessed. "You heard what the Blue Moon is like."

"Fair point. But where'd they go?"

The students pondered for a minute before coming up with an idea. "I think I know where they could be," the colt said.

"Where?" the students asked.

"Silver, Yona, Smolder, Ocellus, come with me."

"What about us?" Gregoria asked.

"I need you to see if you can contact Gilda and/or Gabby as well as the rest of the students." Sandbar walked away with the girls, leaving the others to find Headmare Starlight.

Gallus was at the treehouse along with the rest of the griffons. "So, you really hang out here?" Gale questioned.

"Yeah, I've been here before," Grace confirmed.

"It's definitely better than Griffonstone," Gus commented. "Just need to set up a couple of nests and we'll be set."

"We can't stay here," Gallus stated.

"Well, we're not going back home," Geena stated.

"You stayed because your parents would wonder where you were."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean they'll be happy to see us."

"Is there something you're not telling us?" Gus asked. Geena just crossed her arms and didn't reply. "Hey! You're the one who set that tree on fire."

"What other good reason could I have thought of not going home?" Geena replied angrily.

"You keep going back and forth and your points!"

"He has a point," Garry agreed. "What's your deal?"

Gallus turned away from the griffons' conversation and just sat by the treehouse's window. "Gallus?" called a voice. The griffon looked around until he could see his friends walking towards the treehouse. The griffons were alerted to this and they quickly found places to hide. Gallus just stood there knowing his friends were going to find him.

"There you are," Silverstream cried. She and her friends surrounded the blue griffon. "Why did you and the others flee here?"

"I guess you can say we were running from our problems," Gallus muttered. He began looking around for the griffons' hiding spots. "Come on guys, they've caught us." Knowing he was right, the griffons started walking into view.

"Can't you leave us alone?" Gus questioned.

"Only if you give us a straight answer," Smolder remarked. "Gallus told us he doesn't want to go home because he's an orphan, what's your deal?"

Many of the griffons didn't say anything until Geena spoke up. "Some parents just don't care," she said. The young six looked towards her. "You know why I was reluctant to go home? My dad's horrible. Barely wants anything to do with me because I wasn't ‘born as a boy,’ and... When he's mad, he gets violent."

The griffon went quiet as Sandbar started putting together what Geena said. "That sounds terrible," he commented.

"That's probably the worst of it. Everyone else just has a neglectful parent." The rest of the griffons agreed with Geena's statement.

"...One or both?" Yona asked.

"Either," Geena muttered. There were a couple of seconds of awkward silence.

"Well... at least you have each other," Silverstream said. "You've been enjoying your time at the School of Friendship."

The griffons looked towards each other thinking about what the hippogriff said. "She's right," Grace commented. "I don't remember the last time I had so much fun before I came to this school."

"Yeah," Gale agreed. "Honestly though that changelings and yaks like Moss and Trud would be kind of a pest to me, but I did feel horrified when Trud broke his legs."

"Not to mention the other creatures put up some good company," Garry added.

“That doesn’t mean they can’t come with us,” Geena sighed.

“Still, we can hang out together at Griffonstone,” Gallus said. “If we’re going to suffer through this, we might as well do it together.”

“That’s pretty brave,” commented a voice. The students looked around until they saw Gregoria heading over to them with Starlight, Gilda, and Gabby.

“How did you get here so fast?” Garry questioned.

“Teleportation is really handy,” Gregoria said.

“Wish it didn’t make me dizzy,” Gilda muttered. “Anyways, we’ve been told that you didn’t want to go home.”

“Plus, we heard what you were saying just now,” Gabby added.

“So then what do we do?” Geena asked.

“I’m up for Gallus’s idea,” Gregoria said. “If we’re going somewhere that’s pretty bad, it’s better to be around creatures that we enjoy spending time with.”

“It’s gotta be better than nothing,” Silverstream commented. Many of the griffons agreed with her.

“Still, it’s going to be crud,” Gus complained.

“At least we’re together,” Grace stated.

“How about we talk about this on the way back to school?” Starlight asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Gilda said, “I’m not teleporting again.” The griffons and other creatures walked back to the school while talking about their predicament.

“You really think that Griffonstone could get a different holiday?” Grace asked.

“It’s worth a shot,” Gallus said. “I’d take anything other than the Blue Moon Festival.”

“Just remember,” Sandbar said, “We’ll always be here for you Gallus.” The blue griffon smiled at his friend's comment.

Soon, it was time for the students to head home. Gallus sat at the station while holding his present he had yet to open. “So, are you really sure about this?” Geena questioned.

“We can’t keep running from our problems,” Gallus stated.

“Yeah, I can agree to that,” Gilda sighed. “If you ignore them, they’ll just come back to bother you. You’ve got to face them even if they are painful.”

Gallus smiled at this bit of info. “Thanks, Gilda.”

“I would’ve liked it if you told us what was wrong,” Moss said to Gale.

“Hey, it’s my first year at the school,” Gale said. “I probably still have work to do.

“Knowing how you spend your free time, that’ll take forever.” The griffon and changeling laughed before the former gave the latter a play punch.

“I really wish I didn’t have to do this,” Grace sighed.

“You’ve got friends by your side this time,” Lighthoof said. She pointed to the rest of the griffons, who were just as upset as Grace, but were still willing to do it together. Eventually, they heard the train whistle blowing, and the train leading to Griffonstone just arrived.

“Welp, here it is,” Gabby said.

One by one, the griffons got on board the train to head home. Gallus, meanwhile, before he’ll hop on, say his goodbye to his friends. Gallus then gave Sandbar a bro hug. As he hopped on the train, he looked back at them once again and went inside with the others. The griffons looked at their friends that were on the platform before the doors to the coaches closed. With a loud whistle, the train started off for home.

The trip was taking a long time and some of the griffons took a nap to pass the time. Gallus then decided to open the present that was still wrapped up. Opening it, he found a picture frame of him and the rest of his friends, The Young 6 and the new freshmen, posing for a picture for their third year of school. Also, there was a note which the griffon read.

Dear Gallus,

I had a feeling that you didn’t want to go home. You said that you now lived with Gabby, but still, it’s in Griffonstone. I really wish you could’ve stayed but then I was thinking about the other griffons who’re studying here as well. So, I thought this would be a good reminder to help keep you happy.

Just remember, the future is bright for us and others. We've been through a lot of things most creatures our age would be overwhelmed by. Whenever you're feeling like the world is against you, just take a look at this picture. These are the creatures that will always be there for you.

Sincerely,

Your friend, Sandbar.

Gallus took a look at the picture once again and smiled. He even shed a tear on his eyes. He’ll always remember the good times. "That's a nice picture," Grace commented, peaking at the image.

"Thanks," Gallus replied. The rest of the griffons looked at his present.

"Huh, I remember that," Garry commented.

"Tell me about it," Gus said, "My beak still hurts from smiling so long."

"Was I the only one who noticed the spontaneous songs?" Gregoria asked.

"What are you talking about?" Garry asked.

"...Never mind. But it's a nice picture."

"Yeah," Gallus agreed. "It really is." Knowing what would await them, the griffons knew that they were going to have a good time.

Back at Griffonstone, Garry walked over his mother, who had her beak deep in a book. “Hey, mom, I’m going to hang out with my friends.” The mother just nodded not even looking up from her book. “Then I’m going to rob a forest and start a bank fire.” Again, Garry’s mom just nodded.

With that confirmation, the young griffon left his home and headed to another building, where all the griffons who were enrolled at the school as well as Gabby, Gilda, and Greta are there to celebrate. Garry knocked on the door 5 times, and Gabby opened the door.

“Hi, Garry,” Gabby greeted him with a smile.”

“Hello, Gabby,” he replied back. “I hope I’m not late.”

“Nope, you’re just in time. Come in.”

Garry then went inside and closed the door. Many of the griffon students were seen playing games, having a good chat, etc.. They also have their smiles on their faces as well, knowing that it’s going to be fun. There were also a couple of pastries on the table that looked like to have frosting on top.

“Where did you get this stuff?” Gus asked while eating the pastry.

“Pinkie gave me some baking supplies while I was in Ponyville,” Gilda explained.

“I think it’s a nice boost,” Greta commented. “Makes it taste way better.”

Gallus picked up one of the frosted pastries and took a bite. “Ah, it reminds me of Ponyville,” he sighed.

“Speaking of which,” Gabby said, “Didn’t Princess Twilight say that Griffonstone would be rebuilt?”

“She did,” Gilda confirmed. “I can’t wait for that day to come.”

“Yeah,” Greta agreed. “Me too!”

“All hoping that this dumpster fire of a kingdom gets rebuilt,” Gallus loudly exclaimed.

“I,” called all the griffons.

“I’m already loving this.” Soon, the griffons began enjoying themselves. Talking about subjects like how Griffonstone would change for the better, to the adventures they had while in Ponyville. They all agreed that this was the kind of thing they could all enjoy.