Graff's Inter-Dimensional Adventures

Almost an hour later, we were done taking inventory. We did a quick double-check, then headed out with the clipboard. Fluttershy was busy tending to a snake, so we waited until she was done.

"Professor Fluttershy, we're done," Mandy informed her as he gave her the clipboard.

"Thank you," she nodded, then began looking over our work.

As she was doing this, I noticed something vibrant blue moving in the corner of my vision. I turned my head, and was pleasantly surprised to see Gallus entering the premises. And it seemed I wasn't the only one, because as soon as Silverstream saw him, she rushed over and gave him a bear hug.

"Hey, Silverstream," Gallus began, "You ready to go?"

She squealed in delight, "Yes! I've always wanted to see Griffonstone!"

My ears perked up at this. They were headed to a Griffon city? Now this, I wanted to see!

Finally, Fluttershy nodded. "Yep, it checks out. Thank you both."

I nodded, "No problem, Fluttershy. I gotta get going, so I'll see you later."

She blinked. "Oh... Well, alright. See you later, Graff."

I gave a wave to Fluttershy before hurrying off after the 'griffs.

Thankfully, I managed to grab their attention before they could fly away. "Hey, guys, wait up!"

Gallus turned, then smiled. "Hey, Graff! I didn't realize you were back."

Silverstream gasped. "You two know each other?!"

Gallus clarified, "Sorta. It's a bit of a long story involving parallel universes."

I blinked. Oh yeah, hadn't they mentioned —

Wait a second.

"Speaking of which," I began, "I was kind of wondering about that."

Silverstream looked confused. "Okay, could some-griff please tell me what you're talking about?"

Gallus stepped forward. "You remember the class on that human world, right?"

She nodded, starting to piece it together in her head.

"And you remember how, for every-creature here, there's a counterpart there?"

She gasped. "Is he—?"

I nodded. "I'm from that world, and Gallus knows this world's me."

Silverstream looked like her head was about to explode. "I didn't even realize!"

Then she gasped again. "Wait, are you wanting to meet yourself?"

Gallus blinked, realizing she was on to something. "Yeah, are ya?"

I admitted, "I am kinda curious about it, yeah."

Gallus grinned broadly. "Well, why didn't ya say so? Come on; I can't wait to see the look on his face — er, your face? — when you meet yourself!"

They both took off, headed back into town. I, on the other claw, ran after them.

When I found them, they were already at the train station. As I approached, I saw them buying three tickets—

Oh shoot.

"Here ya go, Graff," Gallus came over and handed one of the tickets to me.

I took the ticket and looked at it guiltily. "Thanks, Gallus. I promise, as soon as I can, I'll pay you back."

Silverstream pshawed as she rejoined us. "What are you talking about? I was the one who paid, and it wasn't much at all!"

I blinked. "Huh?"

Gallus smirked. "It may not seem like it, but Silverstream here is actually the niece of a Queen."

I gawked, "Really!?"

She nodded. "Auntie Novo's quite benevolent with her inheritance."

Words couldn't describe how bewildered I was. Two royalty in one day?! In the 20 years I'd lived in the human world, I'd never even met my state governor!

Quickly, I recomposed myself. "But still, I wouldn't feel right if I didn't repay you for the train fare."

She shrugged. "Eh, if you want to do it, then go right ahead. No pressure, alright?"

I bowed instinctively. "Of course."

She blushed. "Okay, that's a bit too much."

I stood back up again. "Sorry."

It was a surprisingly short train ride to the base of the mountain holding Griffonstone.

The REAL time-sink was the journey UP the mountain. It took the better part of two hours for us to fly up, mainly because I was so inexperienced in flying. But with their pointers, I was able to figure out how to fly for most of that journey. Good thing, too; the walking path seemed needlessly winding.

Eventually, we reached two griffon statues that reminded me of The Never-Ending Story. And beyond that was...

A rather dumpy town. Several houses were in states of disrepair; griffons of all shapes and colors went to and fro, clearly avoiding one another; and some landmarks were outright falling apart.

I gaped at the sight before me. Not to judge a place on appearances, but... "This place is a dump!" I couldn't help but blurt out.

Gallus, instead of being offended like I thought, merely shrugged. "It's not as bad as it was a year ago, but yeah, it's still really run-down."

Silverstream, however, couldn't be more excited. "I'm finally here! I'm in Griffonstone!!" She leapt up and excitedly flew around, checking everything out up-close and saying hi to the clearly grumpy passerby.

Gallus watched her and chuckled. "She's so optimistic. Kinda reminds me of Gabby."

I blinked. "Who's Gabby?"

He shook his head, "It's not important. C'mon, lemme show you around."

He began to lead me around the town, pointing out the different districts. The residential district was comprised of most of those houses I'd seen from the gate; the market district consisted of shops, stalls, and a scone cart; and finally, the recreation sector, which was comprised of a demolished library and some other miscellaneous buildings.

The more I looked around, the more I realized that the Griffons were in dire straits. And if what Gallus said was true, then they had been even worse off a year ago! Just the thought made me shiver.

Eventually, my curiosity got the better of me. "What happened here?"

Gallus sighed. "Basically, a long time ago, we Griffons had an idol that united us in pride. In that pride, we were one of the greatest civilizations of the Old Age. But when that idol was stolen and lost forever, we lost that pride, and the unity left as a result. Now, most griffons are self-centered cheapskates who won't so much as step out of your way without you paying them first."

"Oh..." I mulled over that. Conceit to the point of self-destruction?

...it sounded way too familiar to me.

Then Gallus shook his head. "But ever since we got in close contact with ponies, they've been helping us relearn friendship without the need of the idol, and we're slowly starting to rebuild ourselves up."

I nodded, "That's certainly good to hear."

Before Gallus could reply, he accidentally bumped into someone. Without even looking, he replied, "Oops, sorry, my —"

"Gallus?"

We both froze at the voice. Gallus finally looked at who he ran into, and jumped.

It was me.

Or rather, it was this world's me. He looked almost exactly like I did at the moment, except his feathers were much more neatly-groomed (likely in service of self-image, seeing as this was not the place where one would expect the residents to look groomed), and he walked around with a more 'I'm better than you' attitude.

Oh no. I could already tell where this was going, and I knew I wasn't gonna like it.

Gallus smiled. "Graff, it's so nice to see you! Funny story, I was actually just looking for –"

However, Graff seemed more interested in me (and I couldn't really blame him, either). "Hey, who's this guy, and why does he look like me?"

I replied flatly, "I'm you from another dimension."

He froze for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Nice try, poser; you're probably just some wannabe who thought he could —"

"My name is Graff William Gribble, I'm 20 years old, and I like art. I have a grandma named Giselle who raised me since I was 2, and sometimes, when nobody's looking, I pick the gunk out from between my teeth."

His jaw fell open, and he was stunned. "Y-you really are me..."

I smirked, my hunch having been correct. "And you're still the jerky persona I abandoned three years ago."

He sputtered, "W-well, you try living your life without being assertive! No-griff respects anything you do unless you're direct and firm about it!"

I shook my head. "That's what I thought, too. But trust me; a little kindness can go a long way."

He scoffed. "Yeah, whatever."

Gallus, who'd been awkwardly listening from the side, took that moment to butt in. "Hey, uh, Graff?"

Both of us turned and asked "Yeah?" simultaneously.

He flinched, then continued, "Why don't we go and do something? Y'know, to break the ice between you?"

Graff did a double-take. "Gallus, we're already the same person."

Gallus stiffened, before slapping himself.

I pointed out, "But still, it's a decent idea. How does dinner sound?"

Graff rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm hungry anyways."

With that decided, we went off to find Silverstream.