Rise of Griffonstone

by PonyPixel

Rating: teen
Tags: Gilda, Profanity, Griffons, Violence, Slice of Life, Gallus, Drama, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 36921

Griffonstone is being restored to its former glory and with Gilda taking charge. However, she’s not fully confident in herself. Plus Gallus and his parents have issues of their own.

Griffonstone is almost back to its former glory. They no longer need the Idol of Boreas, instead, they have a new leader; Queen Gilda. However, their new queen isn't feeling too confident about her new role and she's not the only one as Glynn and Gadget, two griffons who were a part of a gang that shouldn't be named, are concerned about being parents to Gallus.

Published 2022-01-06 08:50:00 UTC
Last updated 2022-02-25 01:35:43 UTC

The Griffon That Would be Queen

A long time ago, the kingdom of Griffonstone was in ruins. The griffons there were greedier than dragons and it was every creature for themselves to grab much gold they want. Thankfully, this was brought to an end when King Grover presented the Idol of Boreas. With this, the griffons entered an era of peace and harmony in their society. The Idol was passed down from generation to generation until it ended up in the claws of King Guto.

He and his guards were attacked by vicious cyclops, who stole the Idol. While making his escape, the cyclops ended up falling into the ravine and took it with him, losing that golden glory forever. Without the Idol of Boreas, Griffonstone, ever since that, fell back into its old habits, it was every griff for themselves. It was so bad, some griffons decided to split up and form their gang.

Years have passed, and a few griffons would start to find some more valuable than the Idol. Gilda, Gabby, and Gallus were managing to befriend ponies and other creatures. Then one day, the Gold Gang returned. However, they weren’t planning on the griffons warming up to the other kingdoms and taking down their long reign of tyranny. After a massive rescue mission by saving the prisoners and miners, talk began going around about a new ruler for Griffonstone, Gilda.

Gilda is lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling while she was deep in thought. She sat up to look out the window and look at how much Griffonstone had come since the reconstruction had started. Any building that was falling apart had been replaced with a much stronger-looking structure. She was happy this was happening, but she noticed a few young griffons flying around without any parent insight.

This was one of the major issues that needed to be fixed and Gilda knew she’d be the first one they’d be looking for a solution. If only she knew how. There were a couple of things that needed to be done, and Gilda knew she’d have to go outside sometime. With a deep sigh, Gilda walked outside to see what she could do.

She walked past a couple of griffons, though he was looking for three specific griffons. He found two of them, both of which had metal limbs. One had metal wings, white feathers, yellow, and patches, and yellow talons that matched his beak. The other had a metal right arm, blue feathers, and fur, black talons with a matching beak, and a pair of goggles.

“...Glynn, Gadget,” Gilda spoke.

“Hello, Gilda,” Gadget greeted.

“Hi,” Glynn also greeted.

“How are you both doing?”

“Fairly well,” Glynn replied. “Everything… seems to be better than before.”

“Yeah, exactly. And you know I’ve been trusted to keep you two in line. I don’t fully understand why you wanted me to do that.”

“It’s just… personal guilt,” Gadget responded, “since… you know… we were involved in the attack.” The griffon with a metal arm looked away, ashamed of herself.

“Right. But you two have more than proofed you’ve made up for what you did during your time serving the Gold Gang. Anyways, both of you can go to Ponyville now.” Both Gadget and Glynn looked pretty happy about this. They quickly flew towards one of the houses and gathered up some supplies. Once they had gathered that, the two quickly flew away to Ponyville. Gilda could tell they were excited and felt happy for them. She then went to try and find the third griffon she had on her mind. Walking into the bakery she used to work at, Gilda found who was looking for at the counter.

Greta was now in charge of the bakery until a permanent owner could be found. Gilda walked over to her girlfriend so they could talk. “Gilda! How are you doing?” Greta asked.

“…Doing fine,” Gilda responded. “I just sent Glynn and Gadget back to Ponyville. I think they deserve it.”

“No doubt. I’ve seen them work until 1 a.m.”

“I don’t think it’s just the gang that they want to make up for.”

“You mean… you mean Gallus?” Gilda just simply nodded. “Ah. I’d… probably feel the same way as you are.” Greta glanced away for a moment before she noticed Gilda looking down in the dumps. “Is there something else on your mind?”

“It’s... It’s nothing.”

“Come on, Gilda, I know what’s going on in your mind. Tell me.”

The griffon just sighed before she grabbed a seat and sat with her girlfriend. "It’s the idea of being a queen. It just sprung on me instantly. I want Griffonstone to be better, but… I’m just one griffon.”

“A griffon who helped infiltrate a mafia organization and took him down,” Greta reminded. “That takes so many guts. You didn’t want any of the griffons to get injured.”

“And yet… that still happened to Gallus. He’s only a teen.”

“Hey, it was bound to happen if you don’t get involved. Also, you’re a much better ambassador than Grandpa Gruff.”

“Yeah, no doubt about that.”

“Haven’t you asked the other leaders about any advice for leadership?”

Gilda thought back to the meetings she attended since the Gold Gang’s downfall and now. There weren’t that many of them, but she never had asked about any leadership advice. “Maybe I should do that the next chance I get. I know the basics, but I think… Queen Novo knows more of the complex details.”

“You see. That’s how you should be thinking. We can put our heads together and figure out what to do with this place.”

“Are you sure you want to sell this? I mean… we had a nice time here.”

“I know, but you were one of the reasons I wanted to work here. Now that you’re thinking of being a queen, I doubt that you’ll have time to be baking pastries. It’s not the same when I’m doing this on my own.” They had a couple of predicaments at the moment when they desperately wanted solutions.

“Yeah… I should go and ask the leaders for advice right now,” Gilda noted.

“You do what you have to,” Greta responded, “I’ll keep an eye out for another customer.” Gilda smiled, hugged her girlfriend, then left to get some advice from friends.

Meanwhile, in Ponyville, Gallus was struggling to walk forward in between two bars. Some nurses stayed beside him while Silverstream waited at the end of bars as their friends stood nearby. “Come on Gally,” she exclaimed in support. “You’re almost there.”

The blue griffon panted as he struggled to keep standing. Still, he kept going, step after step. He panted as kept getting closer to the hippogriff. Eventually, with one last step, Gallus managed to get to the end of the bars and promptly collapsed into Silverstream’s arms. The griffon was out of breath as his girlfriend set him down on a chair. “You did it,” Silverstream congratulated.

Gallus managed to smile as he took a minute to catch his breath. “It seems that you’ve almost fully recovered from your injuries,” Nurse Redheart commented. She checked her clipboard to see how far he came. “Ah! It seems all you have to worry about now are your wings. At least you’re able to walk now.”

“Yep, I still feel the pain from there,” Gallus responded. He looked at his weak wings, which had not been used since he first got bandaged up.

“You recovered pretty fast,” Sandbar noted. “I’m sure you’ll be able to get back into the air again soon.” This helped with Gallus’s confidence.

“Thanks a lot, Sandbar,” Gallus smiled.

“And, Mr. Gallus, before you go, I recommend that you must do wing push-ups as a practice. It should take as long as the rest of your body. No rush whatsoever. You may leave now, and a good day.”

“Thanks, doc!” With that information of knowledge, Gallus and the rest of the young six left the hospital to return to the school. Gallus tried walking their most of the way, but he wore himself out in the process, meaning Yona had to carry him the rest of the way.

“It’ll be great to have you flying again,” Smolder said.

“Yeah, it sure will,” Gallus agreed weakly. “We could have another race if we have time.”

“That sounds cool.”

“You know, those gems have been helping out a lot,” Silverstream commented. “How else do you think they’re going to be used?”

“I don’t know. It’s hard to say since they were mostly used for weaponry,” Ocellus commented. The friends had seen what these gems were capable of, and they were pretty dangerous.

“Speaking of which, does anyone know how Griffonstone is doing?” Sandbar asked.

“I heard that Gilda’s bakery is for rent,” Silverstream noted. “I wonder who’s gonna buy it.” Gallus just remained silent and let his friends discuss their theories. They knew he wanted nothing to do with Griffonstone.

Halfway back to school, Yona looked up in the sky and could see two familiar griffons flying towards them. Glynn and Gadget saw the kids walking on the ground and decided to land and chat. However, they weren’t sure what to say once they saw their son on Yona’s back.

“Oh…. Gallus,” Gadget said. “How… Are you doing okay?”

The young griffon just looked between his parents feeling relieved but slightly annoyed he hadn’t seen them until now. “I’m almost finished with physical therapy,” he informed flatly.

“That’s good to hear,” Glynn commented. “Have you heard anything about Quartz yet?”

“He’s still inside,” Ocellus informed. “He says he doesn’t have anywhere to go. Not to mention his missing leg.”

“That’s why we’re here,” Gadget informed. She was carrying a duffle bag, which she opened up to reveal some metal parts. “This is what I’ve got to make Quartz’s new leg. All I need is the measurements of his leg, so it’ll fit him perfectly.”

“I can show you where he is,” Ocellus spoke.

“Thank you. That’s very kind of you. Lead the way.” Gadget placed the pieces bag into her bag and followed the changeling back to the hospital, leaving Glynn with the rest of the students.

The griffon with metal wings felt it would be good to try and break the ice. “I’m… I’m hoping that you all have been doing well in the academy,” Glynn said.

“So far so good, sir” Sandbar informed. “Nothing too eventful has happened in class.”

“Any plans… like homework or something?"

“I was thinking of having a pool party on the best weekend we get,” Silverstream informed.

“Are you going to use your shard?”

"Of course, I will."

“Well, I’d like to stop by and see what happens to other creatures when they use it. But anyway, I’d like to see this school of yours and wanna see how the students are doing. I mean… despite me being part of that group before, I hope they understand me.” Glynn followed the rest of the students to the school, noticing that Gallus had yet to say a word since he met up with them.

Gadget followed Ocellus back to the hospital. A little while later, they arrived at Quartz’s room. “Here it is,” Ocellus said to her. She opened the door and Gadget saw him on the bed. He had just finished the meal that was brought to him and was now just reading a book. The kobold looked up at his guests, the griffon he was pleased to see.

"Eyy! Gadget, long time no see,” Quartz chuckled.

"Hello, Quartz," the griffon responded. She grabbed a seat while Ocellus left so she could get back to school and see how Gallus was doing. “How are you feeling?”

“Better. Just wish I could leave this place. I felt like I’m getting in the way and I’m almost finished with this book.”

“That’s why I’m here.” Gadget placed down her duffle bag and took out some measuring tape to scale the kobold’s remaining leg.

“Oh, good. A new leg is just what I need. I thought the princess wasn’t going to through with that idea.”

"Well, there other things to take care of. Such as the miners that were rescued and the reconstruction of Griffonstone.”

“And… how’s that going?”

“Fairly alright. I’m one of the few in that town that’s been helping. Since it’s practically a charity event, no griff is helping out… unless they get paid to do so.” Gadget frowned as she began writing notes as Quartz could tell something else was on her mind.

“Is there anything else bothering you?”

Gadget let out a depressed sigh. “I want to make up for something I had no control over and I want to spend time with my son, Gallus.” She brought her claws to her face and groaned. "It feels like I can only do one. If I try and help him, I leave the others griffons to clean up messes made by others. But if I help Griffonstone, I feel like I’m still a bad mother to him!" It sounded like Gadget was at her limit.

Quartz thought about his words carefully. “Listen, Gadget, I’m not the parenting type,” he spoke, "But I can understand your problem. I don’t think you should be worried about it. You have Glynn to help you. I’m sure you’ve both more made up for your mistakes. You’re here now and you can make it up to Gallus.” Those words helped cheer up the griffon as Quartz looked over to his wheelchair. “Could you help me up, I could probably use some fresh air. Maybe we could check on how the boys are doing.”

Gadget felt a bit better after hearing this. She helped the kobold into the chair. She then packed up her things and the two of them left the hospital to check on the students.

Back with Glynn, after a quiet walk, they made it to the school where all of the students were minding their own business. Several of them could see Glynn enter. They knew he wasn’t like most of the gang members, but the thought of the infamous team was too much for some of them caused them some anxiety and they decided to stay from the disabled griffon.

Glynn simply sighed as Gallus didn’t like their reactions. “You know you’re one of the reasons they got out of there, right?” he questioned.

“Don’t hold it against them,” Glynn spoke. “They’re some of the lucky ones.” The way he said that made the young five shiver a bit. Sandbar walked over to Yona to try and help Gallus off her back. The young griffon still felt weak, but still tried his best to stand on his legs, which shook when he put his weight on them. His father walked to his side in case he collapsed. “Let’s take this one step at a time.”

Gallus just nodded. He was still tired from trying to walk from the hospital so talking would take a little more wind out of his lungs. With Glynn by his side, the weak griffon took one step at a time, feeling himself getting stronger with each one. Gallus was feeling more confident and Glynn started helping him out a little less. The father might’ve overcompensated as his son began to struggle again.

Yona was about to step in and help, but Gallus declined. He would’ve spoken, but Glynn could see he would have to explain. “He’s not going to get better until he does the work himself. He needs to do more and more of the work.” He looked down at the young griffon, who simply smiled. Gallus took another breath as he kept trying to walk with his father sticking by his side.

They took a minute to stop so Gallus could his breath. He was at least able to sit up without assistance. “I’m sorry we couldn’t be there when you needed up,” Glynn apologized.

“It’s okay,” Gallus responded. “Somebody had to rebuild Griffonstone. How’s Gilda doing?”

Gilda was flying out of Griffonstone at the moment. She looked around and could see she was heading into a hot rocky terrain. Gilda was flying into the Dragon Lands and looking for one particular dragon. Going in for a landing, Gilda looked around. About five minutes of searching later, she could see a blue dragoness sitting in a pool of lava, relaxing.

The Dragon Lord looked over to see Gilda, figuring something must be up. Ember got out of the lava and walked over to the griffon to chat. “Hey, Gilda,” the dragoness said, “What brings you here?”

“Pardon me if I disturbed you, but I… I need some advice,” Gilda responded. “I’m going to be the new queen soon and I need to know how I keep Griffonstone from falling back down to where it was when the Idol was lost.”

Ember thought for a moment. “Well, griffons aren’t as tough as dragons, but we do seem to share greed. I could give you some tips, but if you want some tips for compassion, you should be talking to Thorax. But let’s get started with figuring out some conflict. Let’s say… you have a griffon trying to purchase some food from the market. Normally, it would cost two bits, but the dealer has risen the price to five and refuses to give a reason for doing so.”

“Uh-huh. I’d tell that punk to give a reasonable price or he could pay a fine.”

“Good. Now, how about one where a griffon steals some food to feed their sick kid because they’re low on funds?”

Gilda thought about this as it was a tough choice. Stealing was wrong of course, but then again the metaphorical griffon was in a tricky spot and she had seen some griffons desperate for food. “Depending on the severity, I might give him a light sentence. Maybe just doing the dirtiest work nobody else in town wants to do.”

“Hmm, sounds like a fitting punishment. Then again, I don’t know too much about griffons like you. How about something like…” Ember thought for a moment. She was trying to think of a scenario that could stump Gilda. “How about one where you have to choose to help one griffon that’s... got a cure for a disease that could kill you in a week, or save a whole town.”

This question looked like to stump the griffon. Gilda thought about this for half a minute before she gave up and tried to change the subject. “Any other leader tips you recommend?”

“Of course. You have to make sure that you don’t have the common folk intimidate you. Once they know someone scares you, they’re likely going to exploit that.”

“Got it. Sounds pretty simple. I did blend in with a dictator so that should prove I’ve got guts.”

“That’s right. Plus, you were the one who helped deal that final blow that knocked that griffondown. They’ll make sure not to mess with you.” The two shared a fist bump as Gilda looked to have more confidence in herself.

“Thanks, Ember. And you know, I’ve been planning on asking Thorax and Novo about other advice.”

“That’s a good idea. Changelings do seem to be better at compassion than most dragons, and Queen Novo has a lot of experience keeping her kingdom in line with planning. Have you tried asking Rutherford?”

“I would… but yaks are like dragons, just with broken grammar and forethought. Uhh… Don’t tell Rutherford that. I don’t want to have any of my body parts replaced.”

“Right. Anything else you need from me?”

“I’ll drop by if I need anything else. I gotta go. Thanks for your advice.” She quickly took off leaving the Dragon Lord to relax before another problem showed up and she would have to fix it.

Back in Ponyville, Gallus and Sandbar showed Glynn their dorm room. Here’s our dorm room,” Sandbar said to Glynn, who went inside with them.

“Hmm, not bad,” Glynn commented, slightly closing the door behind.

“It’s not much, but it’s home,” Gallus noted. He lied down on the ground and tried putting his wings underneath him.

“Seriously, Gallus? Are you trying to do push-ups now?” Sandbar exclaimed.

“Hey, I want to get back in shape.”

“You barely made it out of the hospital. You need to rest.”

“I’d rather listen to your friend, Gallus,” Glynn commented. “You might make yourself worse if you push yourself too much.” The father picked up his son and placed him down on his bed. “You have to rest after what you went through.”

Gallus just sighed, knowing he was going against two creatures that he cared about. He was feeling fairly tired so he took their advice. They heard a knock on the door. “Come in,” Sandbar called. The door opened and was surprised to see Gadget and Quartz enter. The mother was a little tense when she saw her son again. Quartz, on the other hand, was happy to see Gallus again.

“Hey, Gallus,” the kobold said. “Feeling better?”

“Just about… almost,” the blue griffon responded. “Just got to work on my wings and I’ll be good as new.”

“That’s good to hear. I might need some help getting back on my feet.” He chuckled as he looked down at where his leg was missing.

“This might not be the best room to do this,” Gadget commented. She looked around at all of the flammable materials. “Boys, do you know a place here where I can put his legs together?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea on school ground,” Sandbar warned. Gadget wasn’t used to being outside of her lab, so she wasn’t sure where she could build Quartz’s leg.

“You can check with Headmare Starlight,” Gallus spoke. “I’m sure she’ll be able to help.”

“Great. I’ll just check with her real quick.” Gadget walked away, leaving the boys to themselves. She halted, realized that she didn’t get the directions. She went back and opened the door again. “Sorry, where’s the headmare’s office? I need the directions.”

“Go straight and then turn left. You’ll see two big doors on your right,” Sandbar replied. “That’s the headmare’s office.”

“Noted. Thanks again.” Gadget then left again to the office. She was in deep thought when she headed got closer to the Headmare’s office. Entering, the unicorn was filing papers when she saw Gallus’s mother walk in. “Oh, Gadget,” Starlight exclaimed, set her papers aside, stood up, and trotted towards her to greet her. “Hello. It’s nice to see you, mother of Gallus.” She shook her claw with her magic.

Gadget chuckled when she said that. “Thanks a lot, madam. This is a very nice place.”

“I appreciated it. Speaking of Gallus, have you met him already?”

“I sure do, and he’s currently taking a rest. And…” she put down her duffel bag and grabbed her supplies out. “You know me and Glynn were part of the gang before, and I was a blacksmith… making effective weapons and strong armors. Now, I’m also wanting to finish making a new leg for a kobold named Quartz, since his leg was chopped off during the attack. You know a good place around here where I can build it?”

“There’s a lab, but it isn’t being used at the moment. I could have someone else help you.”

“Um... I just need the room and some tools.”

“Alright. If you say so.” Gadget gave a nervous smile and a thumbs up before she turned away to look for the lab. After searching for a couple of minutes, she found the lab and set down her duffle bag on one of the tables. Glynn arrived shortly after while pushing Quartz in his wheelchair.

“Need any help with this?” Glynn asked.

Gadget looked at the parts that would make up the kobold’s leg but then thought back to their son. “Um… I think I can manage it. Plus, I’m sure that Quartz would like to help."

"I mean… yeah… the leg is for me," the kobold noted.

“If you say so,” Glynn commented. “I’m going to check on Gallus again.”

“…You… You do that,” Gadget spoke. “I’ll find you if I need anything.” The two griffons shared a kiss before Glynn went back to their son. Gadget then handed a welder’s mask to Quartz, who put it on as he saw her take out a blow torch.

As the griffon started work on the leg, Quartz wanted to ask a few questions. “Are you still nervous about Gallus?” the kobold asked.

Gadget sighed as she put down her blow torch and removed her mask. “I just can’t… It’s been so long. I have to finish your leg, but… Gallus is going to be eighteen soon. Then he’s going probably move in with his girlfriend and…” She paused before lying her head on the counter. “I should’ve been there for him. Glynn and I should’ve just run from the gang. It’s better than having Gallus being an orphan or growing up to be a killer.”

Quartz could hear Gadget starting to weep from guilt. He rolled over to his friend tried to make her feel better. “If it helps, I was a part of the kobold clan since I was hatched,” he spoke. “Never enjoyed the part of ‘killing dragons.’ Maybe Gallus would’ve been the same.”

Gadget felt a little upset hearing that, but she could understand what Quartz was getting at. There would’ve been a chance Gallus wouldn’t turn out like most of the griffons in that infamous gang. Still, it would be better if he didn’t know anything about the gang at all, but… then maybe he wouldn’t have met her or Glynn. She just sighed again not being sure what to think.

Glynn had a feeling that he had forgotten something and was about to check the lab until he heard what his wife had said. He knew how she felt and just simply left to check on their son, not knowing how to cheer her up.

Meanwhile, Gilda had made it to the changeling hive and was sitting with Thorax, discussing leadership skills over some tea. “It’s going to be hard to find a balance between kindness and sternness,” the changeling king commented.

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Gilda sighed. She gave a sip of her tea as she looked around the hive, seeing plenty of changelings doing their things. “Your kind used to be love leeches right?”

Thorax was taken aback by that. “I… wouldn’t say that.”

Okay… Sorry for being blunt.”

“It’s okay. Just remember, you need to take into consideration other creatures’ sides of the story.”

“Like if a griffon at the market has to raise the prices to make ends meet.”

“Exactly.” Gilda set down her cup as she looked up and thought. “Something else on your mind?”

“Well, you think I’ve got time to make it to Mount Aris before night?”

“Hmm, if you leave now, then maybe.” Gilda looked up to see how low the sun was in the sky.

“Maybe I should get going. Thanks for your advice… and the tea, that was some very good and soothing tea.” The griffon that would be queen quickly took off, hoping she would get to Mount Aris before night.

The sun moved lower in the sky as Gilda pushed herself to get to the kingdom of the hippogriffs. Eventually, she made it to Hippogrifia by sunset. Most hippogriffs looked up when they saw the soon-to-be queen land to take a breather. After getting some air back in her lungs, Gilda walked around until she came across Queen Novo, who was surprised to see her.

“Gilda,” the queen gasped. “What brings you here?”

“I came here for some advice, your majesty,” Gilda responded, still fairly tired from her long trip. “I need tips for when I become queen of Griffonstone. Ember and Thorax have already told me some about being forceful and understanding, now I need some planning skills.”

Queen Novo understood the griffon’s cry for help. "Hmm, let’s sit down for this. You can join Skystar and me for dinner." Gilda liked the idea of having a meal after her long trip and accepted the offer.

The main course appeared to be fish, something quite common around Mount Aris. As Gilda enjoyed her meal, she was fairly curious about the meal considering one of the most known facts about the hippogriff were their pearl shards to turn them into seaponies. “Okay, so... Is there any issue with seaponies about eating fish?” Gilda asked.

Novo had a feeling this would be a question her guest would ask. “It’s not an issue to anybody I know her or in Seaquestria," the queen explained. “That’s a fact, most fish each other kind of fish. It’s a circle of life thing.”

“Right. Now, the reason why I’m here. How do you keep your kingdom from collapsing in on itself?”

"You need to have a good foundation for your kingdom. For example, there should be laws to keep creatures in line.” Gilda had a feeling this was going to be a bit of an issue. “In addition, you should keep the financial situation in mind. You might want to write this down.” One of the other hippogriffs walked over to Gilda and had her a notepad with a pencil.

The griffon wrote down what she had been told before looking back at the queen. “Anything else I’m missing?”

“Well, there should likely be a fleet of guards. If there’s a threat, you’ll want a reliable team to help take care of it.”

"Yeah, Canterlot’s military is so useful," Gilda muttered under her breath. Dinner carried on with Gilda getting more information on what could keep Griffonstone from falling back to rock bottom. As she explained more information, the more Novo noticed that Gilda was frustrated and worried. Eventually, the hippogriff thought it would be best to for herself to ask a question.

“How’s Greta doing?”

Gilda was about to instinctively write that down before she thought what she just heard. “Excuse me?”

“You’re worried about your new role, and I don’t blame you. You don’t just have the other rules to help you, you have close friends like Gabby and Greta, the latter of which I’m sure love you very much.” Gilda blushed a little bit and tried to cover her face with the notepad.

“It’s… very stressful. I mean, I’m going to bring a new era to a kingdom of greedy creatures.”

“So did Ember and Thorax. They just needed some help to do it, and you can do it too.” This reassurance made Gilda feel a little more confident in herself. She looked back at the notes she had written. She looked at her plate which had the scraps she hadn’t eaten yet. “You can leave that there. It’s getting late.”

Gilda was then handed a couple of bits which confused her at first until she heard the whistle coming from the station. “This is for a train ticket, isn’t it?”

“Indeed. Have a safe trip home, Gilda. Don’t be afraid of asking for any more help. This is likely one of the most important changes of your life.” The griffon that would be queen thanked Novo for the advice then flew to the station to catch a train back home. Along the way back, she thought about what she had learned from the three leaders she asked. Her coronation was in a few days and Gilda could still think of a few issues that made her concerned about not being ready.

That evening in Ponyville, Gadget was putting the finishing touches on Quartz’s new leg. Just as she installed a new gem when she heard a knock on the door. Glynn entered the room and was impressed with the look of the new leg. It looked quite similar to the kobold’s old one, but with a couple of hinges here and there but still looked well.

“Wow, Gadget you did an amazing job,” he commented.

“Thanks,” Gadget sighed. “Now we just need to test it.”

“Maybe it can wait,” Quartz said pointing to the window. They looked to see the moon was starting to come out and the mechanic griffon figured out how late it was.

“Huh, I guess time must’ve slipped past me,” she sighed. “How’s Gallus doing?”

“He’s fine,” Glynn informed. "He’s sleeping right now. I’ve also been told that we can spend the night in the castle while we stay here. Come on, you need some rest too.” Glynn helped Quartz out of the lab and Gadget followed carrying the leg.

They passed by their son’s dorm, where the mother stopped to peek inside. She saw Gallus sleeping tightly in his bed. Gadget continued down the hall and sadly went to find her room in the castle. She didn’t know what to think about this.

Dawn on the Horizon

The sun rises on a Saturday morning, the start of the weekend is here. Gallus was happy about this since he can sleep in. Sandbar, who woke up first and got out of the top deck, didn’t disturb him and just went out to the cafeteria to get breakfast for himself. After resting a little longer, Gallus hears the door squeaking open. He raises his blue head, opens his eyes, and clears his vision, he can see an embraced Silverstream standing in the doorway.

“Oh, sorry, Gally,” Silverstream apologized, looking a little ashamed of waking him up. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“…Good morning, Silver,” Gallus mumbled. He tried sitting up before he collapsed back onto his bed. “Help me up, will you, please?” Silverstream did so, helping Gallus get out of bed and onto his paws. He was feeling stronger than he was yesterday, but he still had some work to do.

The two griffs headed down the hall with Gallus getting back to his normal walking pace. “It’s great that your parents are back, you know,” Silverstream commented.

Gallus nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it is. Just hoping they’ll be able to adapt after… all of that.” Silverstream was a little confused by what he meant until she remember how they met Gallus’s parents. Not much was said until they got to the lounge, where Smolder was sitting. She was just reading a book with a bag of hayburgers sitting beside her.

“Morning,” the dragoness greeted, and then sees Gallus becoming better than before. “I see you’re getting better with yourself.” She opened up her bag and held a wrapped burger before handing it over to Gallus. “Here. Take this.”

“Thanks, Smolder,” the griffon replied. He unwrapped his delicious hayburger, and took a bite of it before asking, “So… what’s new?”

“Not too much. They’re still looking for someone to buy Gilda’s bakery.”

“Really? Still no new buyers?”

“They wouldn’t want to given how most creatures like you view it.”

Gallus swallowed what was in his mouth. “Fair point. By the way, have you seen my parents yet?”

“We were about to see how Quartz’s new leg works after we got you up,” Silverstream answered.

“Huh… Sounds interesting. Where are they now?”

“Downtown. They’re probably testing it out right now.” Gallus could tell his girlfriend was getting excited.

“Ok, I… guess we can do it now.” The hippogriff happily flew off as the griffon tried to follow her, but he was still a bit slow. Seeing this, Silverstream slowed down so he could keep up.

Downtown, Quartz had his leg hooked up and was getting used to walking on his metal limb with Gadget and Glynn flying by his side. “You’re doing great, Quartz,” Glynn commented. Quartz smiled and gave a thumbs-up as he tried picking up the pace.

“Take it easy,” Gadget warned. “It’s likely we’ll need adjustments to it.” Quartz kept going and looked over to some buildings that were close to some trees. Wanting to take this to the next level, Quartz jumped up to grab one of the branches and swung himself onto one of the roofs.

Both griffons were shocked by this. “…Should we stop him?” Glynn questioned.

“Just… get ready to catch him if he’s over his head,” Gadget responded. They flew upwards as the kobold began running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop. “Quartz, you shouldn’t be doing this!”

“I need to get back in shape at least,” the kobold responded. He kept running and lept towards a building that was quite far. Too far perhaps. When Quartz realized his mistake, it was too late. He would’ve fallen to the ground if it wasn’t for Glynn catching him in time.

“And this is why we walk before we run,” he noted. They slowly lowered back onto the ground just as they saw Silverstream and Gallus walking by.

“Hi, Quartz, hi, Glynn, what are you doing?” the hippogriff asked.

Quartz rubbed his neck as he felt a little embarrassed. “Hello there. I got a little overzealous,” he explained. “But we do know my leg can keep up with me.”

“That's good to hear,” Gallus commented. He finished up the last of his hayburger as Smolder caught up with them.

“Hey, did you guys see the open lot for a new restaurant?” the dragoness asked.

“Oh, really?” Silverstream asked.

“Yep, not too sure who bought it. Anyways, what do I miss?”

“We just finished with our test run,” Gadget said. “Even though we had a bit of a near miss.” Quartz felt a little embarrassed again.

“I guess we can call it a success so far and grab some lunch,” Glynn proclaimed. “Is anybody hungry?”

“I just had a hayburger for breakfast,” Gallus informed. “So… yeah, I’m still pretty hungry.”

“Good thing the cafe isn’t too far from here,” Silverstream noted. “We can eat there.”

“Alright, sounds good to me,” Glynn commented. “Lead the way.” The happy hippogriff did so with the griffons following with Quartz and Smolder coming along. She noticed that the kobold looked a little guilty.

Glynn could feel the awkward silence and quickly thought of something to break it. “So, Gallus, have you gotten any exercise with your wings yet?” he asked.

“No, I was too tired from yesterday,” Gallus responded. He looked at his wings which felt pretty numb at the moment. “Maybe I could get some work done while I wait for my meal.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“I want to fly again. The doctors said I had to exercise when I could.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to push yourself.” Gallus just grabbed one of his wings which went limp when he let go of it. It dragged on the ground for a bit until Glynn picked it up and helped put it back into a folded position. They eventually made it to the cafe, which already had a couple of ponies there enjoying their meals. They looked over to the visitors with metal limbs, being unable to help and stare.

“Don't they have anything better to do?” Gadget questioned.

“They were like this when we first came to Ponyville,” Smolder noted. “They then stop after a while.” They all found a table to sit at and waited until a unicorn waiter walked over to them.

“Hello there. What can I get you?” he asked. Placing their orders, Gadget was getting fairly annoyed with everyone looking at them.

“Do you mind!?” she roared. Everyone quickly pretended to be looking at their menus, eating, or doing something that made it look like they weren't looking at the disabled creatures.

Everyone was taken aback by her outburst. “Honey, relax,” Glynn requested. Gadget took a deep breath before telling the waiter what she would have for lunch.

After the waiter left, Silverstream decided to break the ice. “So, Quartz,” she said, “Now that you’re no longer a part of the gang, what are you going to do afterward?”

The kobold ninja rubbed his chin as he thought about this. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I’d try out a couple of hobbies. Though I should find a place to stay before any of that.”

“How about trying to get a job at the school,” Smolder noted. “Princess Twilight’s school is good, but they can’t do everything there.”

“Hmm, not too sure about that.”

“Come on, I bet you could help with PE,” Silverstream noted. Then she gasped as she got an idea. “Maybe you could teach us ninjutsu! That’ll be epic!”

Quartz didn’t seem too pleased with this idea. “Sorry, I don’t think many of them would be happy with learning fighting techniques that are for… killing dragons.” Smolder could tell how he was feeling about this.

Gallus wasn't feeling very comfortable about talking about the past of the infamous gang. “I’m going to do some pushups with my wings,” he announced. “Come and get me when our food’s here.” The blue griffon walked away as his parents and friends could tell he was upset.

Meanwhile, in Griffonstone, Gilda was going over the notes that she wrote while in Hippogriffia. She also wrote down additional notes she remembered from Ember and Thorax, taking in all the information she was given and thinking about her new role.

She was in deep thought and was snapped back to reality when she heard a knock on her door. Getting up to answer it, Gilda was surprised to see, of all creatures, Rainbow Dash. “Hi, G,” the Pegasus spoke.

“Dash?” Gilda questioned. “I’m surprised! What are you doing here?”

“I’ve heard you were going to become queen soon, so I figured that we’d talk about it over lunch.” Dash showed Gilda two boxed lunches she brought from home. The griffon let her old friend inside and sat down so they could eat the lunches she brought. Gilda would prefer meat, but ponies didn’t usually have that kind of food, so it was mostly a vegetarian meal. Still, it had been a while since she and Dash spent some time together, so she couldn’t complain. Rainbow Dash decided to talk about a few things while they ate.

“So, I’m pretty sure how you blew up Gideon at the base,” Dash reminded. “Kind of fitting of how things blow up in his face.”

Gilda laughed as that did feel like a fitting defeat. “Yeah. But I think the less spoken of that guy, the better.”

“Right then. Anyway, what kind of changes will you plan on doing?”

Gilda sighed as she couldn't think of what to say. “I’m trying to figure out how to take care of the issues we have right now,” she admitted. Dash could tell that her friend was still upset.

“You could ask Twilight about this. She’s a princess, obviously. She can give you some of her ‘lengthy’ advice.”

“I’ve already talked with 3 of them, specifically Ember, Thorax, and Queen Novo. Look at these notes of their advice I’ve written on. This is more complicated than it looks.” Gilda rested her head on her claw as she was getting frustrated again.

Dash decided to try and get the griffon’s mind off of her new responsibilities. “How about just some fun to get your mind off of this stress?” the Pegasus asked. “Maybe a race like the ones back in flight school?”

A smile crossed the griffon’s face. “Alright, where to?”

“How about getting to the train station and back.”

Gilda grinned as was up for the challenge. “You’re on, dweeb!” The two stepped outside the moment the door was closed, Gilda took off to get a head start. Dash flew after her and didn’t take long for her to catch up.

“Nice try, G! There’s a reason I became a Wonderbolt!” The two friends shot through the air like bolts of lightning as the train station came into view. They flashed past it and turned around heading back to Griffonstone. The pegasus and griffon were soon neck and neck, trying to keep ahead of each other. Gilda looked down to see if there was any place to land when something caught her eye.

Gabby was taking an unfamiliar griffon wearing a chef’s hat over to the bakery. The griffon that would be queen stopped in mid-air as her friends flew on. She could see Greta step out of the bakery and looked delighted to see the other griffon. “Oh, hi Gabby,” Greta spoke. "Who do you have here?”

Gabby was about to speak, but the griffon spoke first. “Gustave le Grande,” he spoke proudly. “I’ve moved away from here when I was 13 years old. I’ve heard this bakery is up for sale, and I also heard that Griffonstone is entering a better age, so I’m thinking about starting my own business here.”

Gilda had heard what Gustave said as she landed behind him. “Hey, we didn’t need your whole life story,” she spoke. “We just needed to know why you wanted to buy this place.”

Gustave simply twirled his mustache. “I was simply asked who I was.”

Gilda just rolled her eyes. “Anyways, since Griffonstone is doing better, you think you’ll settle here for a while?”

“But of course. I’ve also some… certain news involving the griffons at the friendship school.”

“Let’s not talk about that,” Gabby spoke. Gilda and Greta respectively said nothing more about them.

“So, let's just get started with what’s inside, shall we?” Greta spoke. “We’ve already got some ingredients for you to use for your cooking.”

“Ooh, perfect,” Gustave commented. The two griffons walked inside, leaving Gilda and Gabby outside while Rainbow Dash landed beside them.

“Hey, Gilda, why’d you stop?” the rainbow-maned pony asked.

“Sorry, Dash, I just met Gustave,” Gilda explained. “I’ve now found out that he’s the first one who wants to buy this bakery.”

“It’ll put it to use,” growled a voice. Mare and griffons looked over to see an elderly griffon in a fez. The three groaned as they saw Grandpa Gruff walk over to them.

“You know, Gruff, we should be happy that most buildings are… not collapsed,” Gilda spoke. By the tone of her voice, she didn't want to talk with the old griffon.

“What’s his deal this time?” Dash questioned.

“My deal is that those metal-limbed griffons haven’t shown up since yesterday,” Gruff explained.

“What? You mean Glynn and Gadget?” Gabby asked.

“Yes, them! You can’t trust any member of that gang!”

Gilda looked fairly offended by this remark. “Gah… They’re one of the reasons the gang was taken out at all!”

“And also how we got out alive,” Gabby added.

“Exactly!”

Grandpa Gruff wasn't easily convinced. “I’ve seen what those griffons are capable of. I’m not trusting any of them.” Gilda clenched her talons as she was tempted to punch him in the face until she felt Dash placing her hoof on her shoulder.

“Let’s get back to our lunch,” the pegasus suggested.

“Right.”

“Can I join you?” Gabby asked. “I haven’t eaten for a while now.” The two friends agreed and they walked away from Grandpa Gruff. “Maybe you could do some queen practice with us.”

“Uh-huh, sure.” Gilda glanced back at Gruff, who Rainbow Dash could tell was going to get on the soon-to-be queen’s nerves.

Back in Ponyville, the meals that were ordered got to the table. Glynn got up and went to find Gallus, who hadn’t returned yet. When the father found his son, the young griffon was lying on the ground out of breath. Glynn was alarmed.

“Gallus, are you alright?” the older griffon asked.

Gallus took a minute to breathe before responding. “Just did… one too many… push-ups,” he answered. Glynn could tell his son didn’t have enough strength to move right now, so he picked Gallus up and carried him back to the table.

“I told you not to push yourself. You were barely able to walk yesterday.”

“I know.” Gallus was sat down at the table where he rested his head. “I just want to get flying again.”

"We understand that, but you can’t fly if you don’t have the energy to do that. Just have some food.” Glynn started eating his meal as Gallus just stared at his plate for a minute. He eventually started eating as Silverstream decided to try and cheer him up.

“I’ve got a few extra bits,” the hippogriff informed. “We can order any dessert of your choice.”

“Alright,” Gallus muttered. He started eating the sandwich he ordered as Gadget decided to speak her opinion.

“You know, the other students have been here for what? Two years?” she questioned. “I thought they would have some kind of meat here.”

“Well, it’s we were three of the five students from the other kingdoms when the school first opened,” Smolder informed.

“Then it cost more than it would be worth to get meat for just five students,” Glynn commented.

“It’s going to change soon. I know this young griffon a couple from Cloudsdale that got adopted. His family goes fishing so he can have the meat he needs to get strong. We can visit him if you want.”

Glynn liked the sound of a griffon being adopted into a new family. Gadget liked it too but still didn’t feel too confident at the moment. “Maybe once Gallus starts flying again,” she suggested.

“Or you could take a hot air balloon,” Silverstream noted. Gadget tried covering her face so only the hippogriff could see it. Judging by her expression, she wasn’t happy with what Silverstream had said. The young hippogriff didn’t say anything else and resumed eating.

It was a bit of an awkward lunch as they had little to say. Eventually, Smolder had enough and slammed her fist on the table. “Quartz, you want to talk to the other students?” she asked.

The kobold ninja was a little surprised by this question. “Um… are you sure about that?” he asked.

“They’re not going to warm up to you if they only know what they don’t know about the real you.”

“…She’s right,” Glynn noted. “We have to start warming up to them at some point.” Gadget sighed as Glynn and Smolder were right.

“Where exactly do we start?” Quartz asked.

“Hard to say,” Glynn said. “We weren’t given many options for hobbies back in the gang.”

Gadget decided to voice her opinion about this. “The closest I can think of a hobby for me is tinkering,” she admitted. “Not too sure where to go from there.”

“We can help you,” Silverstream spoke.

“Are you sure?"

“Of course. You’ve got to have something fun to do.” Glynn, Gadget, and Quartz did feel that hobbies would help them move on from their previous experience.

“Any recommendations?” Quartz asked. Silverstream began thinking of what they could try out.

Back in Griffonstone, Gabby and Rainbow Dash were putting on an act. “I need that money!” Gabby said with a deep voice. “I have a family to feed!”

“Well, I need that money for a ride to Manehattan,” Rainbow Dash spoke nasally. “I can’t pay that much fish. Your highness, please get this airhead back to earth!” They both looked towards Gilda, who was staring out in space. Dash dropped her acting voice to snap her friend back, “Gilda?”

“Huh?” She looked at her friends which were now confused.

“How long were you not paying attention?”

“Hey, I’ve got a lot on my mind!” Gilda retorted. “How would you feel you were going to be the new captain of the Wonderbolts in less than a week?”

“Well… I would question why the short notice.”

“And I’m under a lot of stress!”

“Stop, will ya!? This is no time for quarreling!” Gabby yelled. Rainbow Dash looked towards the mail griffon before calming down.

The future queen took a minute to find her words before she spoke. “Listen, Dash, I'm just concerned about how this will go,” Gilda admitted. “I mean… being the queen of a kingdom that didn't have a leader for… what, a century?”

“I get that,” Dash spoke. “It’s not going to be that simple.” Gilda looked down as she didn’t know what else to say about this. The girls then heard some grumbling not too far from where they were.

“I can’t believe he’s making me do the shopping,” a female complained. “I clean, I pay attention to what happens at our child’s school. He just sits on his rear while I do everything to keep us alive." They looked to see a griffon that was blue, white, and black, similar to a bluejay. She walked on past them and headed towards the market.

“Who’s that?” Dash asked.

"That’s Gloria," Gabby informed, “A mother of Geena.”

“Huh, neat. How’s she doing knowing her daughter’s at a school to help with her friendship skills?”

“Pretty good. She’s been happy for Geena. Though… he isn’t that nice to her.”

“Who’s he?”

“…Grayson, Gloria’s husband. He’s…”

“One of the worst,” Gilda finished. “He’s a couch potato and yells at anybody that tells him in the wrong. He is one of those creatures who when he loses an argument goes, ‘Well, that’s my opinion.’”

“That kind?” Dash questioned.

“Yep. And there’s plenty more that I’ll have to deal with.”

“Maybe you can talk with Gloria first,” Gabby suggested. “This would be your chance for you to make the right decisions as a ruler; if you’re nice to your subject, they’ll have more respect for you.” This idea didn’t sound that bad. A good ruler does have a healthy relationship with those that lived in their kingdom. Wanting to try it out, Gilda flew over to catch up with Gloria, who’s not aware that Gilda’s standing right behind her.

“Gloria, you have a minute?” the future queen asked.

The griffon that looked like a bluejay groaned. “I’ve got a lot on my plate,” she spoke, “Do you think I…” When she turned around, she paused. Her frustration quickly turned to fear when she saw who she was talking to. “Queen Gilda?! I… Pardon me, I didn't know it was you!”

“Um… You heard about my new role?”

“Gabby had said that it’s gonna happen sometime.” Both griffons looked over to Gabby, who gave a nervous shrug. “I was just… going shopping.”

“I understand that. You never steal a thing.”

“I certainly didn’t do it… It’s just…”

“Is it about Grayson?”

Gloria stayed quiet before letting out a depressed, “Yes… After Geena went to Ponyville for the first time to start a new school life there, Grayson’s been taking out all of his aggression on me. You know what that’s like?”

“I can picture that. But... Listen, Gloria, I’m willing to try and fix any issue that’s in Griffonstone."

“You can get started with griffons who don't pull their weight around the house!”

“And you can take it easy.”

Gloria could sense the annoyance in Gilda's voice. “…I’m sorry. It can only take so much.”

“I understand. Maybe I’d put in a new law for that kind of relationship.”

“Please do. Now, I’ve stalled long enough. I don’t need another reason for Grayson to hate me.” Gloria quickly flew away to deal with her business as Gilda returned to Dash and Gabby.

“I can help you schedule something with Twilight for discussing laws,” Rainbow Dash informed.

“That’d be nice,” Gilda responded. “Eh, how about a break?”

“Yeah, sure. I should be getting back to the Wonderbolts now.”

“And I should… get back to my mail runs,” Gabby added.

“You all go ahead,” Gilda told Dash and Gabby, “I’ll be going to try and clear my head.” Both Rainbow Dash and Gabby left Gilda to give her some time alone. Gilda head back home and looked at the list of what she had written down from the other leaders. The griffon rubbed her brow as she tried thinking about certain laws of fair prices and pulling the fair share of weight in the household. It was going to put a lot of stress on her.

It was around sunset when Gallus’s parents were at the school with Silverstream, trying out origami. Glynn was having a good time while Gadget found this about the same as working with her tools and metal. “This is relaxing,” Glynn commented. “Gadget, how about you?”

“Same,” she admitted, “, but just with paper instead of metal.”

“Still, it’s enjoyable,” Silverstream noted. “There are other things you could try. Sketching maybe.”

This seemed to catch Gadget’s interest. The hippogriff noticed this and was about to go get some pencils and paper when she saw Peridot walk in looking a little nervous. “Hey, Silver, I need to borrow some…” The dragoness paused when she saw Gallus’s parents. “Oh… Ugh…”

“You need something, young lady?” Glynn asked.

Peridot wasn’t sure what to say around these griffons given what she witnessed back in Griffonstone. “I think… I’m in the wrong room. Sorry for disturbing you.” The young dragoness quickly bolted out of the room before another question could be asked.

A few seconds later, Smolder and Quartz walked in. The dragon seemed to be annoyed as she looked around the room before staring at Silverstream. “Was Perri in this room a few minutes ago?” Smolder asked.

“Yeah, why?” the hippogriff questioned.

“I was trying to get her introduced to Quartz here, but that’s going as well as it looks.” The kobold looked to be a bit disappointed as he looked over to Glynn, who seemed to be offering him a seat.

“It’s hard to get used to normal life,” Glynn noted. “But it’ll be okay in time.”

“I guess you’re right.” As Quartz sat down, Gadget had a question.

“Have you seen Gallus recently?” she asked. “I thought we left him to rest in his dorm.”

“You did… but…”

“I told you, you should’ve listened,” noted a voice. In came Sandbar, who was carrying Gallus on his back into the lounge. The young griffon was too tired to respond to his friend.

Smolder looked to be frustrated with her friend’s condition. “Gallus didn’t listen, did he?” the dragoness asked.

Glynn just sighed before he got up from his seat. “Allow me to talk to him,” he requested. He got up and walked over to his worn-out son, who still looked to be frustrated.

“I know what you’re going to say…” Gallus spoke.

“That’s not all I was going to say,” Glynn spoke. “Why did you have your friend here carrying you here?”

Gallus didn’t answer this and just tried avoiding eye contact. “Um, he said he wanted to see you,” Sandbar explained. Glynn nodded at this information as Gadget… She was still having concerned feelings.

“Gallus, you should be in bed, or take a rest at the very least.” Again, Gallus didn’t say anything. “Smolder, could you help take him back to his room?” The dragoness nodded, held her griffon friend over her shoulders, and carried Gallus back to his bedroom with Glynn following them.

When they got back to the dorm, Glynn asked Smolder to leave so he and Gallus could have a private conversation. “Gallus, is there another reason why you want to be flying again?” Glynn asked.

Gallus was a little perplexed by his father’s question. “What are you talking about?”

“It’d be one thing if you had limited mobility but you seem to be walking just fine. At least when you're not pushing yourself.”

“Well, I don’t want to slow my friends down if we're ever going to visit Peter.”

“Your friends include Sandbar and Yona. The last time I checked, they didn't have wings.” Gallus tried to think of an excuse, but he was struggling to do so. “Is there something you're not telling me?”

Gallus looked at his father before spilling the beans. “I hate the fact I keep losing control.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… whenever I try to do something good like save my friends, it starts backfiring and puts others in danger. Not to mention when I thought I could make Gideon agree to a deal, he practically broke eighty percent of my bones.” The young griffon sighed as his father understood the situation.

Glynn helped his son onto the bed and they sat by each other. “I know things have been rough for you recently. All those hours of physical therapy and exhaustion would take a toll on any creature. Your mother and I have been feeling that kind of stress too. Wondering if we’ll ever be able to make up working for a tyrant rather than standing up as you did.”

“He kept things very tight.”

“He did, but he also didn’t pay most of his staff. So that pretty much blew up in his face.” Gallus chuckled, knowing that term was more literal in Gideon’s case. “You're only sixteen Gallus. Things get fairly complex later in life.”

“I know.”

“It’s getting a little late right now. Please, do give both of us a favor and get some rest.”

“Y… Yes, dad. I’ll just be reading a book or something.”

“I can help you with your exercise tomorrow, provided that you watch your limits.”

“I will.” Glynn and Gallus quickly shared a hug before the father left the dorm while the son found a book to entertain himself. Glynn stopped a couple of feet from Gallus’s dorm, knowing this was the most father-son interaction they had. Feeling good about himself, the older griffon went back to the lounge to continue his hobby hunting.

Issues and Adjusting

Author's Note

Don't forget, there's still time to vote.

Issues and Adjusting

As the sun rose over Griffonstone, Gilda slept soundly until she could smell something that made her wake up. It smelled like… toast. She opened her eyes and cleared up her blurred vision to find she was back in her bed with sheets of paper scattered on the floor beside her. She saw Greta at a table about to take some contents out of a bag before she saw the future queen was awake. “Ahh. Good morning, Gilda,” Greta spoke.

Gilda stood up and groaned while she rubbed her eyes. “Morning,” she mutteringly replied. She got up and ended up stepping on some paper. She looked down and saw it was a note with the phrase ‘Don’t increase taxes too high’ written on it. “What happened?”

“When I arrived back home, I saw you lying down on the floor passing out, so I have to carry you onto the bed, although I did have a hard time carrying you there because you’re heavy.” Greta chuckled at her last sentence and took out 2 buns from the white bag as well as some delicious-looking toast. “Here you go. Hope you enjoy Gustave’s breakfast.”

“Gustave baked that?”

“Yep. I swear he’s a wizard in the kitchen. Gabby even stopped by to grab some of this toast before her morning runs. I’m very sure we’ve got the right guy for the job.”

Gilda giggled. “Yeah. Could you imagine if we sold it to Gimme?”

“I could. 20 bits for a scone.” Both griffons chuckled as they sat down at the table. As they ate their breakfast, they decided to try and think of something interesting to talk about.

“So, do you know how some of the students are doing at that school?” Greta asked.

“Uhh… Each one has their own experience,” Gilda responded. “Grace has been doing good on the cheer squad and I’ve heard Gregoria has been doing outstanding in classes.”

"What about others like Garry?"

"He and Geena are doing good in Physical Education, and they’re also rather average in everything else. Gale and Gus... Those two are kind of trouble to handle.”

“Can you blame them though? I mean, you just have to look at the actions of their parents. They only do the bare minimum of what qualifies them to be a parent.”

“Ugh, no kidding. I need to seriously do something about this. Like a fine for every time they don’t act like a real parent.”

“That sounds kind of vague, you know.”

“Well, Greta, I’ve been thinking about it all night. I can’t think of one rule that can neither be explored over does little to nothing to help.” Gilda took a bite of the toast before lying her head down on the table in frustration.

“You know, Gilda, I’m quite sure that it’s going to be impossible to have one griffon rule everything. I mean, if you get sick, then the whole kingdom will collapse.”

“Then what other griffon would…”. Gilda paused when an idea struck her. Greta tilted her head in confusion.

“Would what?”

Gilda thought about this idea quickly before she explained it. “Listen, Greta, I doubt I’ll be able to do everything as a queen, so I’m going to need some help. Would you care to be… my royal advisor?”

Greta was taken aback by this offer and almost didn’t know how to respond. “Really!? Are you so sure about that?”

“You’re one of the few griffons I trust around here. You’re the only one who stuck by me through those hard times.”

“Hmm, you’re right. I also do run the bakery when you go to those meetings… but… this is different though. If we screw up with a business like a bakery, that’s fine, we’ll get our money back another way. This is all of Griffonstone we’ll be taking care of.”

“I know that. If we don’t get this place back in order, who will?” Greta thought about it a bit further as she and Gilda continued with their breakfast.

Meanwhile, Gallus was feeling like he had more energy when met up with his friends in the cafeteria. “Morning, guys,” he said as he walked towards the table with his meal on his claws.

“Hey, Gallus,” Silverstream said glumly. Gallus then sat down.

“Is there something wrong?”

“We didn’t get much luck getting other classmates to like Quartz,” Smolder noted. “Glynn had better luck than him with the hobby hunting.”

“Gadget’s still down in the dumps though,” Silverstream added.

“I thought she would’ve cheered up by now,” Gallus commented.

“She’s been through a lot,” Ocellus noted. The changeling didn’t say anything as her friends all knew and could imagine what kind of horrors Gallus’s mother went through.

“Maybe she needs more time to get used to her new life,” Sandbar guessed. “I’m inquisitive about how the minotaurs and ponies are recovering.”

“Yona want to know if they’re okay,” Yona said.

“Terry said that most of the minotaurs are getting new homes back in his hometown,” Silverstream noted. “He said it was now called Taur-Town.”

“That’s odd, I thought I heard some of them were going to move to Ponyville,” Smolder said.

“How do you think that’ll go?”

“Do minotaurs eat meat?” Yona questioned.

“They’re bipedal cows,” Smolder noted, “so they eat herbs and other plants.”

“Maybe friends ask Terry.”

Sandbar saw the said minotaur pass by as if on cue. “Hey, Terry, can you…” The colt was interrupted by the minotaur.

“Not now, Sandbar! I'm under a lot of stress right now,” Terry responded, “Don’t talk to me for a while, please? I’m not in a good mood.” Sandbar respected his intention and just went back to his breakfast.

“Okay, then we can do it later,” Gallus shrugged. “So, uhh… you know where my parents are right now?”

Glynn and Gadget were taking a walk downtown. A couple of ponies looked towards them and while they had gotten used to seeing more of the non-pony creatures wander around, the metal limbs were another story. The griffons both stayed quiet as they tried not to acknowledge.

“Maybe we should try and find a good home to stay here for a while,” Glynn commented. “I doubt we’ll be able to stay in the castle forever.”

“Right… but... what job would we get?” Gadget asked. “It’s doubtful that we’ll be given a house for free.”

“Yes. I think I might have a chance at the hospital. I’m certain that there’s a repair business around here somewhere.” The two griffons kept looking around and even tried to get a bird’s eye view of the town. When they two passed the post office, they saw a familiar griffon fly inside of it. Feeling that they recognized her, the two landed in front of the office, and walked inside and could see Gabby dropping off her letters from Griffonstone.

The mail griffon heard the footsteps that didn’t sound like hooves, before looking behind her to see Glynn and Gadget walk in. “Oh, hello,” Gabby said while waving.

“Hello, Gabby,” Gadget said. “How are you?”

“You’re better than a couple of days ago,” Glynn admitted. “You seem to be cheerful.”

“Oh yes! I just had that great toast. It wasn’t just toast, there were eggs and cinnamon on it. It was made by the new bakery owner, Gustave le Grand!” She paused and looked down at the crumbs that were still on her chest. Gabby felt embarrassed as she brushed them off.

Both Glynn and Gadget were confused and even glanced at each other for a moment. “We never heard of this guy,” Gadget confessed.

“He’s a great baker. He said he traveled around Equestria and beyond to craft his baking skills. He’s planning on making a grand cake for Gilda's coronation.”

Glynn whistled in shock. “That sounds great, and I have a feeling that it’ll be delicious," Glynn commented. Gadget nodded in agreement. “How’s the soon-to-be queen doing?”

“As of now, she’s rather stressed. Rainbow Dash and I tried helping her, but… I think she might need more information on how to be a ruler.”

“It isn’t a job for everyone. Still, she is the best candidate for being Griffonstone’s new ruler.”

“Yeah. Also, she'd be going to Canterlot today. Princess Twilight was going to give her a lecture.”

“That's good to hear.”

"Oh, I almost forgot." Gabby opened up her mailbags and pulled out a flyer. She handed it to Gadget, who quickly read what it said.

Debuting at the coronation of Queen Gilda, Gustave the Grand is opening his new business of baked goods. From simple loaves of bread to cakes fit for a wedding. Whatever you need, Gustave will bake you the best.

“Hmm, sounds interesting,” Gadget commented. “These graphics looked moderate too.”
“I’m hoping to have some good cake there,” Gabby spoke.

“We’ll be sure to be there,” Glynn noted. "And… right now we're just looking for some kind of job.”

“Hmm, I saw a repair shop in town when I came here. I can show you real quick.”

“Lead the way then, and we’ll follow.” Gabby, Glynn, and Gadget left the mail depot and flew downtown until they made it to a workshop. Walking inside, they found a stallion who was a unicorn with an orange coat and black and yellow mane. He was working on a cart with a broken axel when he noticed the griffons entering.

“Ah! Welcome!” he welcomed. “Welcome to Fixing for All. How can I help you?”

“Good morning, we’re looking for employment since we’ve got here,” Gadget explained. “And I’m very good with tools, and when I heard about this place, I thought it’d be suitable for me to take this job.”

“I see. I’d appreciate the extra help. I just need to get a new axle on this cart and it’ll be good to go.” He showed Gadget where he had a new axle with only one wheel fitted on it. “Just hold it steady while I put the new wheel on.”

“Will do.” Gadget listened and held onto the axle, with her metal talon on the side where the new wheel would be fitted. As the stallion tightened the wheel onto the axle, he soon noticed the metal limb.

He stopped working and stared a bit of the metal limb, which she noticed. “You saw my arm, did you?”

“Yeah… It’s kind of hard to miss.” The stallion felt awkward at the moment.

“It’s alright. It’s something I’ve gotten used to.”

“Um… Right. On the plus side, you don’t have to worry about hammering your thumb. At least not feeling pain.”

“I guess so.” The stallion resumed work until the wheel was probably secure. He and Gadget soon began attaching it to the wagon. After a couple of minutes, the wagon was as good as new.

“Whew! That went well.”

“Are there any other tasks you need help with?”

“There is. I’ve got a job to help fix a roof later today. Care to take this job and tag along?”

Gadget managed to smile as she could feel things looking up. “Yes, please. Show me where I need to go.” The stallion smiled as he started to get his toolbox as Gadget looked towards her husband, who gave a thumbs up.

“Have a good time, honey,” Glynn said, “I’ll be heading back and check on Gallus.”

“Oh, you do that... I’ll just get a feel for this job.”

“I should get going too,” Gabby added. “I still got some mail to run.” Gadget understood. The three griffons left to do their tasks with Gadget following the stallion to his next job. Although, she was wishing she could go and check on Gallus with her husband.

Glynn didn’t take long to get back to the school and quickly found his son sitting in the cafeteria. “Hi, Dad,” the young griffon said.

“Hello, Gallus,” the father responded. “Did you sleep well?”

“Did good, I guess. Also got some good food.”

“Ah, nice. Now, about your wings.”

“I haven’t gotten any exercise yet. Been wanting to but…”

“You were going to wear yourself out before I could meet you.”

“…Yes. Yes, I am.”

“Well, if you want to get that out of the way, we can.”

“There’s an open area outside used for outdoor activities. Come on, I’ll show you.” Gallus got up and led his father outside to the buckball field. Out there, they could see Genna and Garry flying around together. They could see Gallus and Glynn exiting the school.

“Hey, there’s Glynn,” Garry called Geena.

“Yeah, I can see them,” Geena responded, feeling like she heard the obvious. She followed her flying friend down to land and they proceeded to walk over to the father and son.

Gallus was starting with his wing push-ups when Glynn noticed the others approaching. “Why, hello there,” he spoke.

“Hi,” Garry said. He looked down at Gallus doing push-ups. “How are you doing, Gallus?”

“Feeling fine, thank you, Garry,” the blue griffon responded. He slowly did a push-up with his wing and looked to be a little shaky while doing it.

“Take it easy,” Glynn warned.

“I know, dad.” Gallus slowly kept trying to push himself up. His father turned his attention to Garry and Geena, who Glynn hadn’t interacted with that much until now.

“So… Did you two enjoy your days off from school?” Glynn asked.

“Yeah, it was relaxing,” Garry admitted. “Kind of wish we had more three-day weekends. That’d be nice.”

“I think you’d have more work to do on the remaining days.”

“Dang it!”

Geena couldn’t help but look at the metal wings, which Glynn started to catch onto. When she realized she was caught staring, Geena tried to change the subject. “Uh… Where’s Gadget?” she questioned.

“Currently being tested at her new job,” Glynn responded. “She’s helping a stallion to fix a roof at the moment. It should be a good start to help keep us on our paws.” His attention turned back to Gallus, who was starting to struggle. “Okay, Gallus, I think that’s enough for now.”

As he tried to help his son back onto his feet, Gallus tried to keep going. “No…. Dad,” he groaned. “I just need… a few more…” The young griffon groaned as it looked like his wings were about to collapse on him. Not wanting a repeat of yesterday, Glynn picked his son up to prevent him from doing push-ups.

“You were barely able to move when you pushed yourself. And I said…”

“I know. I felt like I could get some extra progress done.”

“I understand that, but you’ll likely do more harm than good.” Gallus sighed as his father placed him back onto his feet.

“Well, that was shorter than I was expecting. What do we do now?”

“Maybe you could give me an introduction about your friends here.” He looked towards Garry and Geena, who he was wanting to break the ice. “Have you two known each other before or after coming here?”

“A little bit before,” Garry responded. “I was kind of desperate for attention, and then I quite ran into Geena, who…”

“Why do you have metal wings!?” Genna blurted out. She was given some stares at how blunt that question was.

“Ehh… It’s not a very pleasant story,” Glynn noted.

“If that’s so, then I don’t want to know," Garry spoke and shivered afterwards. “How do they work, exactly? You’re having an easy time using that.”

“It’s because of the shards that Gadget installed in them. You think I should change color?”

“I don’t know. I mean… a light yellow might be good," Gallus suggested. Glynn figured that would go better with his colors than red did.

“I’d probably go with blue,” Geena muttered.

“Well, Gallus already has the colors of a Wonderbolt,” Garry spoke.

“Wonderbolt?” Glynn asked.

“Yeah, they’re a team of pegasi that perform epic stunt shows. They’re amazing.”

“Exactly. I heard Silverstream wants to join them when she gets older,” Gallus added.

“Really?”

“Oh, yeah, I can see that,” Garry added. “I’ve been wanting to see their shows.”

“Me too,” Geena added.

“I’ve never heard of them before.”

“Professor Rainbow Dash is one of them,” Gallus informed. “We’re bound to see them some time.”

“I’ll be happy to see them.”

“I’ve done a couple of tricks before,” Garry said. “I kind of want to try out for them after I’m done with school.”

“You should start slow, kid. You can’t expect that high of expectations right out of the gate.”

“Out of the gate?”

“It means doing a task immediately. I’d suggest another job in case things don’t work out… and I’m not saying that you will fail…”

“No, I get it.” Gallus soon slowly stood up with a little help from his dad.

“So, what do we do now?” the young blue griffon asked.

“Hmm, I could try getting to know the other griffs here,” Glynn suggested and then turned to Garry, which he forgot his name. “Uhhhh….”

“Garry.”

“Garry, right… Do you think you could find your friends?”

“Sure thing,” the orange griffon responded. He quickly flew inside as Geena slowly followed behind with Glynn helping his son walk while he regained his energy.

“You know what else I like to know?”

“What?” Gallus asked.

“Where Quartz wandered off to.”

Just outside of Canterlot, a train was heading towards the station. Two of its passengers are Gilda and Greta. The soon-to-be queen managed to convince her friend to tag along with her to see if Greta would be a good royal advisor. They decided to pass the time by talking about this idea.

“So, I just talk with the dragon who’s also an advisor?” Greta asked.

“Yeah,” Gilda confirmed. “His name is Spike, by the way.”

“Right, got it. Do you think that I’m suitable for an advisor?”

“I mean… I’m becoming a queen, so an advisor doesn’t sound too difficult in comparison.”

“…Yeah, it does sound easy in comparison.” They could feel the train starting to slow down as they approached the station. The two griffons got out of the coaches with most of the other passengers then headed straight for Canterlot castle.

They arrived at the entrance where two guards were guarding the door. “Hold it!” one guard called. “What brings you here?”

“I’m Gilda, sir,” she said to the guard, “I and Greta here wanted to see Princess Twilight.”

Two guards then opened the door to let them in to see her. It didn’t take too long to find Princess Twilight as they soon found her in the throne room signing some papers.

The alicorn looked up and saw the griffons walk in. “Gilda, I’m glad you can make it,” Twilight spoke. “Though, I wasn’t expecting you to bring Greta with you.”

“My apologies, she suggested the idea that I’d become a royal advisor,” Greta explained. “So, is your assistant going to give me pointers, or is this easier than it sounds?”

Twilight gave this idea a thought. “It’d be a wise decision to have extra help ruling over Griffonstone. Spike should be back any minute. Until then, let’s discuss the issues that Griffonstone has and what laws could fix them.”

“Here’s the list.” Gilda showed a list of the issues her future kingdom had at the moment, which was fairly long. “I doubt we’ll be able to take care of all of them in one session,” the griffon sighed.

“Doubtful, but we can make a start.” Twilight took a look at the list and read what was on it. “Aha, tax payments are the most common issue around.”

“Right on,” Greta commented.

“Yeah. I’ve been trying to think about this one on the way here,” Gilda spoke. “I was thinking that griffons that own businesses would have to pay more taxes than griffons that just work at different jobs.”

“That sounds standard,” Twilight commented. “A little more forethought and I think this will be a good one. Now, could you tell me more about this one that says: both parents pull each other’s weight?”

“Oh, that one. It’s about the students’ parents. Like Geena’s dad. Her mom’s alright, it’s just him that drags them down. He does nothing but sit on his flank and yells at others when he’s in the serious blunder!”

“Then why doesn’t her mother do anything about it?”

“Because until now, Griffonstone’s been a place that’s every griff for themselves!”

“I was afraid of that. A kingdom without a ruler is like a boat without a steering wheel.” Twilight thought of a good counter for this when she heard somebody else walk in.

“I'm back,” Spike announced. The alicorn and griffons looked to the young dragon walk in, along with a kobold who had a metal leg.

“Wait, when did he get here?” Greta questioned, pointing to the kobold.

“‘He’ has a name,” Quartz informed. “I came here to test the limits of my new leg.”

Gilda got a good look at the kobold’s new leg. “Not bad,” she commented. “How does it feel?”

“A little hot if I keep it under the sun for too long.”

“Then I’m guessing your tongue would stick to it in the winter?” Spike asked jokingly. Gilda couldn’t help but snicker at this and realized the creatures were now looking at her.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it,” Gilda apologized. “Old habits.”

“I kind of crossed the line,” Spike admitted. “I felt like some tension was in her and… I don’t know what to say.”

“Ignore that,” Greta spoke, “You think you can give me advice on being a royal advisor?”

“Really?”

“It was Gilda’s suggestion.” The soon-to-be queen gave a nervous grin as she wasn’t sure what to say at this point.

“Then she made a right decision,” Spike commented, “every ruler needs to have assistance. Sure, I can give you my advice.”

“Thanks a lot.” Spike and Greta began chatting as Quartz decided to speak with Gilda.

“You look to be under stress,” the kobold spoke.

“You think?” Gilda questioned.

“Gilda… I’m not trying to make things worse. I came here to see if I could talk with Princess Twilight.”

“What for?” the alicorn asked.

Quartz sighed before he explained. “Your majesty, I ain’t having much luck with getting to know other creatures,” he said, “Especially the dragons at your school since… you know… one attacked them before, and they didn’t trust me.”

“I was afraid of that.”

“Gallus’s friends were supportive though. Especially Silverstream.”

“That's good to hear. What about his parents?”

“They've been doing fine, your majesty. Last time I checked with them, they were job hunting.”

“Ah, that’s nice," Gilda commented. “I doubt they’re moving back to Griffonstone given their history.”

“No kidding. You know, come to think of it, I might know one of the ways you could make Griffonstone better. Much like you did with the… despicable one…,” Gilda understood what he’s mentioning, “you should inspire all griffons to do better, and bring back prosperity that’s once lost.”

"Well, I have been thinking of punishing bad parents. Usually, the ones that don’t take responsibility for their children.”

“Sounds reasonable. Isn’t there anything else you could do?”

“Huh…, now that I think of it, we do have a sign that forbids musical numbers. Honestly, I don’t know the reason why we have that quirky rule. Maybe some griffon put it up after the idol was lost.”

“Then maybe it’s about time for you to change that rule.”

“Hmm, I’ll try that, but I do feel like some rules would be a little more important than that.”

“That’s right, Gilda,” Twilight commented. “Though more singing might raise morale.” Gilda made note of that as she and Twilight took a look at more of the rules that the griffon had thought of fixing.

Back in Ponyville, Gadget was helping the stallion, who was named Ratchet, work on the roof. There was a gaping hole in it, which the pony and griffon were busy fixing by attaching new rafters. Gadget was working on the rafters on the outside, it would be safer for her to be on the roof since she could fly. "How’s it looking up there?” the stallion asked loudly.

“Looks stable,” Gadget confirmed.

“Alright. I’ll just grab my harness and meet you up there.” The stallion walked outside just as Rusty walked by the house.

“Hi, Dad," the colt called.

“Hey, Rusty,” Ratchet responded. “How’s my son doing”

“Doing alright, dad. I’m just hanging out with my friend here.” He watched his son walk down the street with Kelpie following him by his side. After the stallion got his harness on and joined Gadget on the roof. The griffon had heard what the two ponies had said to each other.

“That’s your son?” the griffon asked.

“Sure is. His name’s Rusty,” Ratchet confirmed. He climbed up a ladder while taking some wood and nails with him. He then kneeled beside Gadget and they started patching up the hole as he grabbed two hammers for him and her. As they pound in the nails, Gadget decided to explain something she had on her chest.

“You know, sir… my son and I haven’t had the best relationship.”

“What kind of trouble have you been facing?”

Gadget looked away as she didn’t know how to explain her history. “It’s… It’s complicated. We just... weren’t there when he needed us.”

“Ah, I see. Listen here, whatever complications you’re going through, I’m sure you’ll be able to handle it. You sound like a nice creature.” Gadget managed to crack a smile at this.

“Thank you,” Gadget smiled, and then without realizing it, she swung her hammer and heard a ‘CLUNK!’ Looking down, she and Ratchet saw a dent in her metal arm. “Huh, I guess you had a point not having to worry about hurting my talon with a hammer.” Both workers shared a chuckle as Ratchet looked down at the cart.

“Oh, rust buckets,” he groaned. “I forgot the tiles!”

“Are they back at the shop?”

“Yeah, they should be. It shouldn’t be too hard. Just keep working here, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” With that, Ratchet mounted down the ladder and hooked up to his cart before running back to his shop to get the missing supplies.

Gadget kept working on the roof while he was gone. As she worked, she could hear some chattering down below. She looked down and could see Gallus, Glynn, and practically all of the griffon students she recognized from the school. Curious about what was going on, the griffon flew down to interact with them.

“Glynn, what’s going on?” Gadget questioned.

“Gallus’s friends wanted to have a chat with me,” Glynn explained. He leaned closer so he could whisper to his wife. “I think they’re enjoying a parent’s company.”

Gadget nodded before looking towards their biological son. “Gallus, how are you doing?”

“Feeling better,” the young blue griffon responded. “Only got a little bit of exercise with my wings.”

“Well, you’re getting there. Much like I am with my new job. And… speaking of which, I should get back to work.” Gadget flew back onto the roof and got some more wood to cover the hole in the roof, though she could see the plank was too long to fit. She quickly got the saw the Ratchet had left behind to cut the board down to size.

As she worked, Grace spoke to Glynn. “Do you want me to show you what kind of cheers I have planned?” she asked. “I’d hope you’ll like it.”

“Well, maybe in a wider open space,” Glynn said.

“There’s plenty of open space right here. I just need something for pom-poms.” Grace thought for a moment before she flew back to the school to retrieve her items.

“You know, while we’re waiting, Geena and I could show you the tricks we did,” Garry suggested. “We could make some of those clouds into hoops.”

“Um, Glynn,” Gregoria spoke, “I kind of want to talk about the different histories I’ve learned at the school. Do you want to hear about the dragons or the hippogriffs?”

Glynn was feeling a little overwhelmed with all the griffons trying to get his attention. Gallus quickly dragged his father away. “Guys, you know he’s my dad, right?” he asked.

“Come on, Gallus, we just want to spend some time with him,” Gus spoke. “He’s cool.”

“Now, everyone,” Glynn spoke, “Let's take a minute.” Gallus looked back at his father before glancing at the other griffons, all looking angry and upset.

“Okay,” Gallus groaned. He walked away from the griffons and sat beside his mother, who had finished cutting the plank.

“Are your friends trying to spend time with your dad?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

"Can you really blame them? I’ve experienced what most of their parents are like. What’s the orange one’s name?"

“Garry.”

“Yes, I think I met his mother. She’d barely pay attention to whatever I said. And then there was this blonde one who we couldn’t please no matter how hard we tried. She made us feel like dirt.”

“Huh, I’m not sure if they have a griff here.” Gallus looked towards Gregoria, who looked familiar with the short description.

“Maybe your friends just want some love.”

“Probably. They don’t want to go home for the Blue Moon Festival.”

“Oh, that boring holiday.”

“Yeah. We’re not celebrating it though. Maybe Gilda will make a new holiday. We could just celebrate Hearth’s Warming. It’s a pony holiday.”

“I figured.” Gadget flew back onto the roof and started hammering the cut board in place. Gallus was tempted to fly up and join her, but his wings weren't strong enough yet. Instead, he climbed up the ladder and joined his mother. “Gallus, you shouldn’t be up here. You should at least have a harness.”

Before he could say anything, Gadget quickly grabbed her son and carried him back onto the ground. “Ah, come on.”

“I was responsible for you getting injured before, and I’m not going to let it happen again.” Gadget left her son standing on the ground and took down the ladder so he couldn’t climb up again. She tried to continue her work but had a feeling that Gallus was wanting to spend time with her. Still, she knew the roof needed fixing, and by the time Ratchet came back with the tiles, the griffons were gone. Gadget didn’t under another word until they got the roof retiled.

That evening, Twilight had placed a pin on the last problem Gilda had written down. “Okay, I think we can figure these all out tomorrow,” Twilight suggested.

Gilda yawned as she was starting to get tired of thinking of different rules. “Right. Do you have any rooms we could stay in tonight?” the future Queen asked.

“We do.” Twilight went to find some ponies to prepare the rooms while Greta returned to the throne room.

“Hey, Greta. How was it with Spike?” Gilda asked.

“Easier than I thought,” Greta answered, “So you don’t have to worry about so much weight on your shoulders.”

“That’s good to hear,” Gilda smiled, and rubbed her eyes feeling her need for a rest increase. She suddenly jumped as she felt something wrap around her. Looking to her right, she saw Greta was wrapping her wing around her.

“May I help you escort to your room?” Gilda blushed and agreed for assistance.

After walking down the hall, Gilda and Greta made it to their room. They walked inside and lay down on the bed. “I think part of my fatigue is boredom,” Gilda guessed. “Eh, I better get used to it. I’ll be kept busy.”

“You’ve still got me.” Greta nuzzled against her girlfriend who hugged her tightly.

“Thanks for helping me through this, Greta.” Gilda placed a kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek. The two got comfy before they eventually fell asleep.

Other griffons wouldn’t have such an easy time. Gadget had finished her work and returned to Twilight’s old castle and was lying in bed. She looked behind her when she heard a knock on the door. She could see her husband approaching her. “Can’t sleep?” he asked.

“…No,” Gadget sighed sadly. Glynn climbed in bed with her to see if he could try a lighten her spirits. “Did you and Gallus have a good time?”

“Sort of. We tried to have some father and son time, but his friends were kind of desperate to join in.”

“Gallus and I had our theories. They probably wanted to know what it’s like to have a real parent.” Glynn was surprised but it did make sense to him. The nature most griffons had was self-centered. It was only natural the students would want a parental figure after learning about friendship.

“We’ll handle our problems one day at a time. Right now, it’s time to rest.” Gadget didn’t respond and just turned over to face towards the window. Glynn didn’t say anything else and tried his best to get some sleep.

In one of the dorm rooms, meanwhile, Gallus was grumbling. He was trying to keep quiet so he didn’t disturb Sandbar, who was already fast asleep. “What’s with them?” the blue griffon grumbled. “How would they feel if their parents were the only ones that cared and I steal their attention?” He almost felt himself crying. “Don’t they know what I went through?”

Crossing the Line

The sun arrived the next morning. Gilda has woken up from her bed ready for another day. She’s already at the dining table with Princess Twilight waiting for their breakfast to come. “I gotta say, it’s nice having other ponies cook your food,” Gilda said to Twilight. “I’d rather do it on my own if I were you, but this is nice to have them.”

“Yes, that is a plus,” Twilight agreed with a smile. She and Gilda looked to see one of the chefs walk in carrying small cups of maple syrups, glasses of milk, and plates of stacked pancakes. Spike and Greta walked in right on time, both surprised to see how many pancakes they had.

“Sweet,” Spike commented, licking his lips. “I’m getting hungry already.”

“Me too,” Greta added, feeling the same as Spike. “I guess you’d get used to the royal treatment,” she joked to her. Gilda chuckled as some of the pancakes were set on her plate. It was given to her and she dug in while Twilight took a look at a list.

“You know, Gilda,” Twilight said, “It’s a good thing you decided to spend the night here because laws can be very difficult to write before being executed, and they sometimes can be misinterpreted.”

“You’re right,” Gilda commented while chewing up her pancakes.

“Oh, I almost forgot to tell you… Rarity said that she’s been designing a dress for your coronation.”

“Wait, for real?” Gilda questioned with a beak full of pancakes.

“Of course. And… not to mention we have Pinkie helping design the party planning.” Gilda swallowed her food as she was shown the list Twilight was holding.

“Alright. Might as well get this over with as soon as possible.”

“Right. After breakfast of course.” Twilight was given her pancakes and started eating while Gilda looked at the list for her coronation preparations.

At the school cafeteria, Gallus was complaining to his friends. “I know things are rough with them,” the blue griffon complained, “But he’s not their dad, he’s mine!”

“Settle down Gallus,” Sandbar suggested. “Glynn is one of the oldest and nicest griffons we’ve ever met. It makes sense why the other griffons want to spend time with him.”

“Well, yeah. But they still had homes back at Griffonstone. Meanwhile, I’m lucky to find some shelter from the rain.”

“That’s horrible,” Silverstream commented.

“Tell me about it. Dragons live in caves, but they don’t have to worry too much about the cold with pools of lava around.”

“Yeah, you’ve made your point," Smolder noted. “What are you going to do about it.”

“Remind them about genetics and what we went through at the base.”

“Gallus, most of the other griffons had hard lives too,” Sandbar noted. The blue griffon didn’t say anything else and just ate his breakfast.

Meanwhile, Garry and Grace had finished their meals and decided to head outside to meet Glynn and Gadget. “You sure we’ve got time before class starts?” Grace asked.

“I ate fast,” Garry responded, “and so did you. I’m sure we’ll have a little bit of time.” The two rounded a corner, not seeing Sunburst until they crashed right into him. The stallion was carrying papers, which fell all over the floor when he was rammed by the students.

“We have a rule about running in the halls for a reason,” Sunburst reminded. He stood up and started picking up his papers. “Classes will be starting in a short time. Where are you two going?”

“Only want to see Gallus’s parents,” Grace explained.

“Oh… I’m afraid you won't have enough time to visit if you don’t want to be late for your first class.”

“Can’t we just see them just one bit?” Garry begged.

“I’m sure they want to chat, but I think Headmare Starlight would have a word with you. There’s still time later on.” Both griffons sighed with frustration and disappointment before they walked back the way they came to use the washrooms.

Classes were now in session with everyone mostly feeling as they usually were, except for a majority of the griffons. Gallus did his best to keep focused, but he couldn’t help and looked over to one of the other griffon classmates. “Gallus, let it go,” Sandbar whispered.

“Sorry, I can’t help it,” Gallus whispered back in response. He looked back at the chalkboard and wrote down what details were added. They didn’t say any words as they kept focused on their lessons. Gallus looked out the window to see if he could spot his parents. No luck from the angle he was at. All he could do was simply wait until classes were over. He was itching to get out of class, which made it difficult for him to pay attention.

The second he heard the bell ring, Gallus tried to run out, only to stumble a bit with his muscles still weak to handle. He recovered and made it to his locker to get the books needed for his next session. He looked over to Silverstream, who was standing beside him with a small container.

“Hi, Gally,” she said with a slight giggle. “I went back to Sugarcube Corner yesterday and got you something to help lighten up your spirits.” The happy hippogriff showed her boyfriend a box of 6 red velvet cupcakes with white chocolate icing on top.

“Whoa! Red velvet?”

“Yep. I know it’s your second favorite.”

“Thanks, Silvy,” Gallus appreciated. He helped himself to grab one of the cupcakes as they’d save the rest for later.

“So, how are your wings?”

The griffon swallowed his beakful of the cupcake before he gave his wings a flap. “Feeling better than before, though they are still not strong enough to fly.”

“You’ll get there.” As Gallus took a nibble of his cupcake, Silverstream has something else to say. “Hey, you know, I’ve also been planning on having a pool party at the pond. You think you’ll be able to help me plan it, please?”

Gallus gave it a thought. “A pool party, huh? Yeah, I’ll help. I bet the others will love it too.”

“I wanna try it because all I want is to see what buffalos, kirins, and minotaurs turn into when I activate my pearl shard here. Perhaps buffalos would turn into walruses like the yaks, or minotaurs into whales…”

“Could be.” Gallus closed his locker while he finished up his cupcake. “I hope your hypothesis is correct.”

“How do you think your parents would react to it.” Gallus’s face quickly formed a frown, much to her regrets. “Oh, Gally… I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No, Silver, it’s alright. They’re just trying to adapt to normal lives as we speak. But now, I have another reason to hate going to school.” The griffon chuckled as he tossed the last of his cupcake into his mouth and walked off to their next class. Silverstream quickly went to her locker to put the cupcakes away for lunch. Like Gallus, she was curious about what his parents were up to.

Glynn and Gadget meanwhile were flying to Canterlot. From what Gadget had heard, some ponies living there had seen a bipedal creature heading to the big city on foot. Putting those pieces together, they flew to Canterlot to see if they could find him. After they landed, they started wandering around the boulevards of the city to look for where their friend was. Several bystanders and pedestrians saw them and were anguished seeing those two. The couple didn’t say anything until they heard someone talk to them.

“Hey, you two,” a female spoke. Both Gadget and Glynn looked to see Greta poking her head out a shop’s door.

“Greta,” Glynn uttered. “What are you doing here?”

“Gilda was wanting help with making new laws for Griffonstone,” Greta explained. “Since we stayed the night here, the princess suggested we get two birds with one stone…”

“Greta, could you get in here?” asked a voice. Greta groaned as she went back inside with them following her. Inside, they quickly found Gilda standing by some mirrors while wearing a golden dress that looks unfinished. Parts of it were held together with needles, several loose threads stuck out, and a few gaps were showing. She was surprised to see two griffons arrive unexpectedly.

“Gadget? Glynn?” Gilda questioned. “What are you two doing here?”

“We thought we heard Quartz arrived here,” Gadget said, “although we… do not expect to see you here.”

“Well, I kind of wouldn’t want to wear this dress all the time.” Gilda looked back at the skirt of the dress, which looked fit to be a ball gown.

“Hmm, I’m no dressmaker,” Glynn commented, “but this might be a bit much for a coronation.”

“That’s exactly what I said,” Greta commented and then turned to Rarity. “Didn’t you have a gala dress or something?”

“This is something you don’t see every day,” Rarity noted. She walked over to the future queen and double-checked her measurements. Rarity started working on the ball gown to make it a little more subtle. “Would you like some gloves with this?”

“Hmm, no thanks. I’ll pass,” Gilda responded. She was feeling too fancy.

“I admit… you look stunning with a slimmer dress,” Glynn commented.

The future queen liked the compliment she was given. “Thank you.” She then felt Rarity place a tiara on her head. “What’s this for?” Gilda asked.

“This is a placeholder for your future crown,” Rarity explained. “Though, I’m sure the real one will look much grander.” Rarity got back to work as Gilda looked at her reflection in the mirror.

She turned to Greta and whispered, “Where’s the real crown?”

“Princess Twilight said she’s having it made as we speak," Greta answered.

“Ah, nice.” Gilda looked at her reflection again, thinking about the responsibilities she would have again.

“I’m proud you’re going to put those new laws to work,” Gadget commented.

“So do I,” Gilda commented. “Also… if by any chance I go mad with power and became corrupt unintentionally, try to stop me.”

“Will do,” the griffon couple responded. It was likely Gilda said this as a joke, but they weren’t willing to take any chances.

Gilda could see their faces having a feeling they didn’t find it that funny. She then focused back on her dress, which Rarity was making progress on.

“Gilda, how’s this one?” Rarity asked. “Does this looks better for you?”

“Uh…, yeah, I think so. I’m not one for dressing up,” Gilda responded quickly, then turned to Greta, Glynn, and Gadget to hear their opinion. “What do you all think?”

“I think you look terrific with that gown,” Glynn commented with his wife nodding in agreement.

“I second that,” spoke a voice. In came Quartz, who was carrying a spool of fabric.

“Oh, thank you, Quartz,” Rarity said. “I’ve been looking for this shade of gold.”

“I figured I might as well help while I’m here.” The former ninja looked over to Gallus’s parents, surprised to see them. “Wait, w… what are you doing here?”

“Looking for you,” Gadget explained.

“Ah. I’m sorry if I left unannounced, I was trying to see if I could find some creature that could look past... well, you know… my past.”

“How successful was that?”

“I only managed to have a talk with the princess’s assistant, he’s a nice dragon I’ve met. Other than him, everyone here just tried to stay away from this monstrosity, which some said.”

“Boy, that’s a shame,” Glynn commented. “Why don’t we go back to Ponyville and try that again, but this time with the students. Maybe you could help teach them some of your ninjutsu. Think of it for more a means of self-defense rather than vengeance.”

“I like what you’re thinking, buddy,” Quartz said, liking the sound of that, and quickly hopped onto Glynn’s back. “Anyways, good luck with your coronation, Gilda. Oh… and be sure to tell the princess where I’ve gone.”

“Will do,” Griffonstone’s future queen responded with a wink. “I’ll see you later.” The griffons and kobold waved goodbye to each other. Once outside, Glynn, Gadget, and Quartz all flew back to Ponyville, leaving Gilda to think about her role.

Back at school, Gallus was still fuming about his parents’ time being taken from him. He had managed to stay quiet as to avoid annoying his friends. Still, he held a grudge against most of his fellow species. He kept bottling up his anger, which was never a good idea.

Eventually, when it was time for lunch, he saw Garry and Geena sit down at one of the tables. Instead of joining his friends, Gallus sat down with them instead (particularly beside Geena), who were confused that he sat down with getting lunch. “Can we… help you, Gallus?” Geena asked.

“I’d like to talk with you about my parents,” Gallus responded.

Garry was confused. “What about them?” he asked.

“I mean more of what happened yesterday. You know, when you two interrupted me and my dad spending time together!” Gallus sounded angry given his tone of voice, which was drawing the attention of the other students.

“He can think for himself,” Geena responded. “If he wanted to help spend time with us, that’s his choice. No one forces someone to change what he decides.”

“A choice he was forced to pick.”

“Do you think we forced Glynn to spend time with us all the time?”

"Well, it’s what it looked like. Everyone else was just following your lead.”

Sandbar and Silverstream walked over to Gallus to try and calm him down. “Gallus, let's just you some lunch, shall we?” the young colt suggested.

“Excuse me, I’m in the middle of something,” the blue griffon explained. “Don’t you interrupt me!”

“Oh boy, I don’t like where this one’s going…” Garry muttered to himself.

“They’ve got some really good sandwiches today,’ Silverstream noted. “I can give you one if you like.” She tried to get her boyfriend to stand up, though Geena had something else to say.

“Just because someone’s your parent, doesn’t mean that only you can spend time with them,” she expressed.

“At least my parents wanted me,” Gallus grumbled.

Geena’s eyes narrowed after hearing this. Her blood was starting to boil. “What… did you say?!”

“I said: at least my parents wanted me!”

Geena’s talons started scratching on the table as she was now fuming. “You… BASTARD!”

Without hesitation, she hastily grabbed her tray and tried to smack Gallus in the face with it. She would’ve been successful if it wasn't for Garry grabbing her tail and holding her back. “Take it easy, Geena! Stop!” Garry shouted. She tossed her tray to the side and pushed Garry back so she could tackle Gallus to the ground. Smolder and Ocellus witnessed the scene and quickly ran over to separate the two griffons.

“Gallus, why would you say that?” Ocellus questioned.

"What? It's the truth," Gallus responded. Geena tried to break out Smolder's grip, but the dragoness held on tight.

“SHUT UP!” Geena roared.

“You had it better than I did!”

“Better? BETTER!? Do you know what happens when my dad was angry?!”

“At least you had a home to live in! Do you know what it’s like to sleep on the streets, especially in the cold winter?! You at least have a roof over your head…!”

“GALLUS!” roared a voice. The room went silent as they saw Glynn, Gadget, Quartz, and Sunburst standing in the doorway. Glynn was rubbing his throat after raising his voice. “I beg your pardon for doing this.” The young griffons stayed quiet as their friends stepped out of the way.

“That’s alright, Mr. Glynn,” Sunburst said, and then walked towards Geena and Gallus who’re now in big trouble. “Geena! Gallus! You two report to Headmare Starlight’s office,” Sunburst ordered.

“He’s the one who…” Geena was cut off.

“Now!” he sternly ordered. Neither Geena nor Gallus said anything as they took the walk of shame to the office. Glynn and Gadget followed them, making their son feel ashamed of himself. It didn’t help that Glynn was scowling most of the way.

When the two students got to Starlight's office, they waited outside as she was told what had happened. As soon as the griffons were let in, they saw Starlight, Glynn, and Gadget looking at them, all looking stern.

“Do either of you think what you did was appropriate?” Starlight asked.

Gallus just looked down at his talons while remaining quiet. “He’s the one who started the fight!” Geena protested.

“And who was the one who tackled him to the ground?”

“Did you hear what he said to me?”

“It was hurtful I’m sure, but you could’ve ignored him, and this would’ve not happened in the first place.” Geena just growled as she glared daggers at Gallus.

“So, what will be their punishment?” Gadget asked.

“Since this is just a minor incident, they’ll be given detention after today’s classes.” Starlight then looked at the students before asking another question. “Are we clear?”

Geena refused to make eye contact while Gallus just sighed. “Yes, Headmare Starlight,” he responded glumly. Gallus looked towards his father, who he wasn’t used to seeing irritated.

“We’ll talk later, Gallus,” Glynn noted to his son. Gallus sighed and just nodded as Sunburst started writing a note.

“And Geena…, because of your outburst recently, I’m going to have to let your parents know about this,” the stallion explained.

Geena glanced at him, now looking worried. “What!? No, you can’t do that!” she cried. Trying to stop him, Geena tried grabbing the note away, only to have Starlight force her back into her seat by using her magic.

“Geena, that’s enough,” Starlight noted. “Don’t make me extend your detention to three days.” Not wanting to get into any more trouble, Geena kept her beak shut. “Alright. Now everything’s clear, all of you are dismissed. I don’t want to hear about that again next time.”

After they were dismissed, including Gallus’s parents, they were just about to split up. “Listen, Geena,” Gallus said, “About what I said. I…”

“GO TO TARTARUS, GALLUS!!!” Geena snapped with tears flowing from her eyes. “I’LL NEVER WANT TO TALK WITH YOU AGAIN!!!” She quickly took off to get away while she sobs hard. As Gallus saw her run in tears, he felt terrible to himself. He shouldn’t have said it in the first place.

Elsewhere, Gilda and Greta were taking the train back home to Griffonstone. Greta just finished up having a snack in the buffet car before rejoining her girlfriend. “Hey, you think that these trains will start serving meat?” Greta asked. “I know ponies never eat meat, but hey, the school started accepting more creatures in different corners for… I don’t know? Almost half a year?”

Gilda wasn’t listening. Her head seemed to be in the clouds. Greta got her attention by snapping her talons next to her girlfriend’s ears. “Huh?” Gilda questioned. “What happened?”

“What is it this time?”

“I’m sorry, Greta… It’s the griffons that don’t pull their weight. I can’t apply the same punishment to every griffon because they might be different. If every punishment is the same no matter the crime, it’s going to turn into a game of ‘How much can I get away with?’”

“Right. You got the princess and her staff looking over that as we speak. Just settle down until we can do something.” Gilda meekly smiled as they waited to get home.

After the train stopped at the station, the two griffons got out of the car and saw a few pony construction workers constructing new train tracks. “Huh, guess those are the new tracks to the Dragon Lands, that’s neat.” Gilda guessed.

They walked off to the village where they could see a few other griffons wandering around. One of them Gilda recognized as Gloria, she looked to be worse than the first time they saw her.

“Hey, Gloria,” Greta spoke, and Gloria turned to see them. “How are you?”

“I’m in Tartarus right now,” the tired-looking griffon muttered. “Grayson has been worse since I tried standing up to him. I told him to get off his flank, but that… made him double down.”

“You know, if you want, we can have a productive conversation with him,” Gilda suggested.

“I had enough of his BS. I’ve tried to get him out of the house but… I’m worried about Geena.”

“What about Geena?”

Gloria looked down and sighed. “He’s been sending threats, saying that he’ll take her out of the school himself.”

“He can’t do that. Even if Griffonstone’s new laws are a work in progress, I’m rather sure that Equestrian laws will show him how justice works.”

Gloria’s stress was starting to make her shed tears, worrying about what would happen. “If you’re so confident in these new rules, you’re going to put in. You can tell that to my husband yourself!” With that, she stormed off, pushing Greta to the side.

“I thought things were starting to look up for this place,” Greta sighed.

“How do you think I feel?” Gilda asked anxiously. “I’m the one who had to deal with all of this.” She flew off to try and find where Grayson was.

As she expected, Grayson was still at home, sitting on his flank, watching films being shown from a projector that was likely standing on its last legs. He heard the pounding on the door, which he simply ignored. When he didn’t answer, the pounding got more intense. Unable to hear his movie, Grayson had enough, so he stood up and opened the door.

“What is it?!” he asked, angrily. He was surprised to see Gilda standing outside waiting for him.

“I want to talk with you, Mr. Grayson…”

“What do you want?”

“I’m giving you a warning about things that are changing around here,” Gilda explained. “I’ve seen Gloria visibly upset about how you’ve been acting worse than before, and threatening to take your daughter out of school for good. And that’s saying a lot since you were pretty bad to begin with.”

“Hey, you ain’t no parent. You don’t tell me how to raise my child.”

“And I ain’t no farmer, but if see a bunch of cows running around aimlessly and the crops gulping in flames, I know that somegriff has screwed up.”

Grayson didn’t like getting called out, especially griffons like Gilda and Gloria. “Listen here, I live my life the way I want it. I’m one of the reasons Geena exists, so she should learn some respect.”

“Here’s one thing, you earn respect by giving others respect. And honestly, I’m surprised there’s any respect around you.” Grayson just glared at her for a moment. Without warning, he slammed the door shut in her face, hitting her beak. Gilda bammed on the door demanding for him to open it, but there was no answer. “I’M NOT EVEN FINISHED! OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR!”

She repeatedly knocked on the door rapidly and even called out to him with insults and slurs. After five minutes with no response, she gave up with a sigh of defeat, feeling like she was wasting her time.

Gilda walked down the lane hoping to get home and have some time to herself. However, that was easier said than done. She was cut off by a griffon couple who hardly paid attention to who she was. Judging by their fur and feather patterns being orange with some stripes, she recognized them as Garry’s parents. She was annoyed as it is, then she saw a familiar griffon in a fez. Grandpa Gruff was busy talking with another old griffon when he turned around and saw Gilda attempting to fly in the opposite direction.

“Hey, you!” the old griffon wheezed.

Gilda stopped and groaned while turning around. She landed in front of the old griffons, practically done with the day already. “What do you want?” Gilda asked.

“Apparently, this griffon here…”

“Goldie, dear,” the old griffon noted.

“Yes… she was asking a question that’s not about her granddaughter. She’s all yours.” Gruff walked away, leaving Gilda to talk with Old Goldie.

“If it’s not about Grace, what’s it about?” Gilda asked.

“It’s that new baker,” the old griffon spoke. “I vaguely remember him from somewhere before.”

“Oh, you mean Gustave? He said he left Griffonstone when he was a teen. He’s back now since I’m not going to be using that bakery I originally owned.”

“Oh, that’s right. You’re going to be a queen. I don’t remember how to thank you for helping rescue my granddaughter. My memory is faulty sometimes.”

“It’s alright, I understand. And you’re welcome.” Old Goldie smiled as she slowly stepped over to Gilda to give her a hug, which the younger griffon accepted. “You’re the nicest griffon I’ve met all day.”

“Thank you for that dear. I feel happy getting out more often knowing that Grace is happy. Is she doing well in school?”

“Doing great from what I’ve heard. Have you seen Gloria? I want to talk to her.”

“Hmm, sorry dear. I don’t recall seeing her today.”

“Alright. Worth a shot.” Gilda flew away wondering if she would be able to find Geena’s mother. She kept flying around until she saw Greta heading to a location that most griffons didn’t interact with nowadays, The Great Geque Castle. It had been abandoned since the idol had been lost. Gilda flew towards the castle to catch up with Greta. “Greta?”

“Oh, hi. Sorry for leaving you unattended.”

“What are you doing?”

“Checking out your new home,” Greta responded.

Gilda was surprised by this. “New home?”

“That’s right. A good loyal queen deserves a nice castle like this.” Greta smiled.

Upon closer inspection, Gilda noticed that the castle was much cleaner than expected. She had been focused on helping with the rest of Griffonstone, she didn’t pay attention to the castle until now. Having a feeling that she should get used to living here, Gilda took a look inside.

The castle had been cleaned off all the vines, dust, and other kinds of messes that were left in there. Now there was a red carpet rolled out leading to the grand throne. Gilda looked to see a painting of King Grover hanging on one of the walls. She looked around the castle to see what else there was to see, and she found a lot that she never thought would be in there. There was a kitchen, a dining room, a private bathroom with a big tub, then Gilda found the bedroom. It has a queen-sized bed with a sofa next to the window that shows almost all of Griffonstone. Gilda couldn’t believe her eyes on what she was seeing right now.

“Now, I’m kind of glad you picked to be your advisor,” Greta spoke. Gilda looked behind her in shock as Greta had just walked into the bedroom. "I’m already envious of this place.”

“This is incredible. How did I not see any of this get in here?”

“I’m not sure. I think one of the princess’s friends said something about… chaos or something. It was Pinkie Pie, she was kind of vague with the details. I don’t know how they did it, especially Pinkie Pie, you’ve got to admit they got you the good stuff.”

Gilda had to agree. She walked over to the bed and lay down on it. She sighed with relief at how soft it was. “Oh, yeah. This is life.” Greta decided to join her and lay down on the grand bed.

“You wouldn’t mind if we share this, do you?”

“Be my guest.” Greta joined her girlfriend on the bed and both got comfy. “I wish I could stay here all day.”

“Me too.” The two griffons snuggled together as their worries all melted away.

Geena, on the other claw, was grumbling. She was still mad at Gallus for what he had said and getting dragged into detention. She wouldn’t drop it and everyone who heard her was getting annoyed. She and the other griffons excluding Gallus were at the school’s lounge chatting about her incident with Gallus.

“I mean… what reason would he have to say that?” she doubted, covering her eyes with her claws. “If he had my dad, he’d be happy to live on his own.”

While the other griffons did agree Gallus crossed a line, Geena’s complaints were frustrating them. “While I do agree with you on the parent thing,” Garry spoke, “but…”

“Exactly! You have parents that don’t even pay attention to you.”

“Yeah, but I can stay in their house all the time.”

“Still, he’s lucky to have Glynn and Gadget. If I were him, I’d…”

“Enough!” Gus called. The two griffons looked to see him, who’s sitting in front of them, staring daggers at them. “We get it, okay? We get it!. You have a bad dad! Luckily you never met my mom.”

“Oh, that’s so sad, Gus,” Geena said sarcastically. “What does she do?”

“You ever hear the phrase, ‘Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?’…Well, it is thanks to my mom that I have that mouth. That and she’d hardly pay for anything and use me as a guilt tripper.”

“That bad?” Garry questioned.

“You can say that.” They looked over to Grace and Gregoria, who had been staying silent and overheard the arguments. “Girls, what are your parents like?”

Both Grace and Gregoria were taken aback by this. “Why do you want to know?” Gregoria asked.

“It’s to help shut Geena up.”

“Um... Okay. I… don’t have a good relationship with my parents. Mostly because they say I should stick to ladies work.”

“Ladies work?” Garry said with a confused look.

“It means they were pushing me to be a mom and try and have more kids.”

“Eugh… That sounds wrong in many ways,” Gus commented.

“It was.”

“My parents don’t really want me around,” Grace sighed. “But… I’m very lucky to have my grandmother.”

“You mean Oldie Goldie?”

“Yep, that’s her,” Grace replied with a sigh. “Too sweet for Griffonstone.”

“How on earth did we not see her before?” Gus questioned.

“She usually stays at home,” Grace explained. “Not to mention her memory isn’t what it used to be, but she’s been doing better after the last Blue Moon Festival.”

They all looked over at Geena, who still looked annoyed.

“What do you have to say about that?” Gus asked. Geena didn’t say anything as she looked to have something on her mind. “Geena, we all have it bad. Not to mention…”

“You don’t get it,” she retorted. “My dad is the worst compared to yours.”

“Oh, really? Is your dad named Gideon?” That name sent a shiver down all the griffons’ spines.

“Gus, you’re on thin ice right now,” Gregoria warned.

“Hold on, she needs to hear this,” he noted. She looked Geena in the eye as he stepped closer to her. “What could have your dad did that was worse than Gideon?”

Geena looked down at the floor as she started breathing heavily. “He… Th… They aren’t the same," she stuttered. She wiped her tears away hoping the others didn’t see them.

“Do you have any idea how much getting electrocuted hurts? Grace, Gregoria, help me out here, will ya?”

“I… don’t like remembering that,” Grace noted.

“Me too,” Gregoria added.

“Exactly. Geena, we had been through Tartarus when we were captured before.” Geena’s eyes started darting back and forth as her breathing got worse and she was in a cold sweat. “Just because you’re angry at Gallus, that d…”

“YOU WERE ONLY THERE FOR A WEEK!” Geena shrieked. Almost everyone jumped back out of surprise. “I have been living with my dad since the day I hatched. My mom and I were just… He never cared about us. He... He would just…”

Garry could see that his friend was about to cry and was wanting to end this. “Come on, Geena, let’s go,” he suggested. “You need a little rest on…”

“No, Garry! They need to hear this.” She pushed Garry back and stared down at Gus. “You were so lucky. Gideon was an insane griffon who had an iron talon, destroying other griffon’s morals for money, and murdering other creatures for power!.”

“And you had a dad who is a freaking couch potato,” Gus stated. “Those don’t stack up together.”

“Well, I grew up with him all my life, Gus! He never apologizes for anything he did wrong to me. Especially when he... When he…” This was getting too much for Geena to handle. “AH!” she wailed and flew away from the others bawling her eyes out. No one quite knew how to react to this until Rarity walked over to them.

“What is going on here?” she questioned.

Gus decided he’d be the one to explain what happened. “I broke through thin ice,” he sighed, knowing he had joined Gallus across the line.

Gadget was sitting beside a window thinking about what they’d say to Gallus. Glynn had left to think about what he’d say as both weren't expecting to talk about this kind of conflict with their son. Gadget was struggling to think of what to say, so she decided to walk around and see if that could help her think.

While she walked around, she saw a young minotaur, Terry, walk past her. He looked to have an expression of worry and frustration. Gadget followed him to his dorm where he sat down and opened a box taking out some bags of cogs and what looked like an apple tree that had a crank on it. The young minotaur also took out some tools and tried to put the gears together.

He put some of the gears together and tried to test them out by turning the crank. The gears struggled to turn and he even hear them click as their teeth jumped to the next slot. In frustration, he ended up throwing something towards the door, where Gadget was standing. She caught the object and looked to see it was a model pony’s head.

“Oh, I’m… so sorry about that,” Terry apologized. “I didn’t realize you’re there.”

“It’s okay,” she forgave. “I understand.” She then walked towards him and gave back the head of a model that he threw. “What seems to be the problem, little one?”

Terry sighed. “I’ve been trying to build this stupid model right here.” Gadget took a peek at what he had built so far.

“What’s this supposed to be?”

“Rusty said that it’s supposed to be a pony bucking an apple tree. The problem is that it’s overly complicated. He offered to take it back, but I decided to give it a shot. Now I’m reaping what I’ve sown." He pulled out the instructions and showed them to Gadget. “Here, this is the instruction manual.”

She looked at the pages that Terry had opened and tried to see what was wrong with what had been built.

“Can I borrow that for a minute?”

Terry then gave the model to her and checked closely to see what was wrong. From the base to the models, and finally the gears. She was inspecting them right now until she noticed one of the gears was sticking out.

“Ah, I see the problem. That gear there is too big.” She showed the diagram to the minotaur who looked between it and the model had so far. “Here. Look the diagram here… and look over here.”

“Oh! So that”s what I did wrong.” He started taking some of the parts off so he could remove the odd-fitting gear. After that, he then grabbed the correct-sized gear and placed it together with the remaining parts he removed. “Whew! I can’t believe I wasted all of that time.”

“It’s a simple mistake. Besides, I could help you fix it if you need me. This looks simple compared to the tools I used to build.”

“You’d really do that?”

“Of course. It makes up for my past mistakes.”

“I was thinking about Geena and Gallus’s outburst at lunch a while ago.”

Gadget paused as she looked down. “Oh, yes... That.”

Terry looked at Gadget like she had just been punched in the gut. “Are you okay, madam?”

“…I just… I feel like I could’ve been there for him. I want to help Gallus out with his physical therapy, but at the same time, I wanted to help rebuild Griffonstone for my past. Even when I do get close to Gallus, I try to get a job so I’m able to keep a roof over the heads of my family. It’s a no-win situation for me!” She covered her face with her talons as she let out a sad groan.

“I kind of understand your problem, madam. Listen, if you want to spend time with Gallus, I understand that. This model is something Rusty gave for a hobby. I can survive without completing it now.”

“Y… You mean it?”

“I get what you all are going through. Take care of everything that you’re having trouble with. I’ll do something else to keep entertained. I definitely need some time to calm down anyway.” Gadget gave a meek smile before she left the dorm as Terry looked for another hobby to keep himself busy.

Gallus had gotten to the classroom where he’ll be in detention. He didn’t say anything and just sat down at an empty desk, waiting for one of the professors and Geena to show up. Instead, Gallus saw his parents enter the room shortly after he had arrived. They stood across from his desk, waiting for each other to speak first. Eventually, Glynn broke the silence.

“Gallus, why did you think that was appropriate to do such a thing like that?” he asked sternly but softly.

The young griffon sighed as he explained himself. “Dad, I was just… so angry,” Gallus sighed. “I finally had you in my life and… felt like the others were taking you away from me and caring for them instead of me. I couldn’t accept it. It felt like I was just kept going up and down with some sort of sick sense of humor. My whole life before I went here and met my close friends was the worst. I was lucky to have griffons like Gabby helping me out in times like that, but mostly, especially as a fledgling, I was on the streets… in the rain and snow.”

Both parents could feel what their son was talking about. “Gallus,” Gadget said, “You need... We should’ve…” She was having a hard time choosing her words.

“No, I shouldn’t have said that to Geena in the first place. I was so upset. I wanted to apologize to her, but I think it’s impossible now.” Gallus laid his head on his desk feeling like he was about to cry. Feeling bad for him, Glynn placed his talon on his son's shoulder.

“We understand your frustration, Gallus,” he said. “I honestly can’t explain the emotion when I saw Gideon planning on chaining you up with Gilda. The best I can describe is feeling scared from your fate and years of resentment of putting up with his orders overflowing.”

“But he was a monster. Geena just wanted a real dad. All griffons here wanted proper and caring parents like you.” Glynn sighed as he thought about his next words carefully.

“Gallus,” Gadget spoke. “We’re sorry for not being there for you. Our guilt was overbearing for us, and we want to make up for it any way we could. Now, it… seems we were taking on too much. I’m sorry, Gallus.” Gadget held her arm as she could feel herself tearing up.

“Mom, I understand,” Gallus spoke. "We all want normal lives too.” Both mother and son felt terrible about past actions. Glynn took a deep breath before he spoke up.

“We’re a family,” he spoke, “We stick with each other through hard times like before and now. I’m not sure how many families go through the kind of struggles we’ve been through, but what’s important… is how we adapt to it. Our past is behind us, and we won’t move on if we keep on focusing on it. We’re together now, and we shouldn’t be worried anymore.”

The two griffons remained quiet for about thinking about Glynn’s words. Gadget wrapped her wing around her husband and nuzzled him while wiping away another tear. They tried to get Gallus to join in with the hug, but their son had one last thing to get off his chest. “Do you ever think… that Geena will forgive me for what I’ve said?” he asked.

“Just give her some time,” Glynn spoke. “You’re mind wasn’t in the right place. Promise us you’ll not do this again.”

“I promise, dad… I promise” Glynn smiled as he used his wing to pull his son into a group hug.

A few moments later, Applejack and Geena entered the room. She said nothing and just went to the furthest desk from Gallus’s. “Hello there, you already talk with Gallus, right?” Applejack asked.

“Just did,” Gadget said.

“Alright. Now, I’ve got some assignments for him and Geena, so you better leave this room now.”

“Okay, we’ll see ourselves out,” Glynn spoke. He and his wife left the room so the students could get on with detention. Applejack handed out 2 sheets of paper to both of them, each one with a different message to write 100 times. Gallus’s sentence was: I will not insult others’ home lives. While Geena’s read: I will not smack classmates with lunch trays.

“You know what to do, just write your given sentence a hundred times and you’re all good. Understand?”

Both Gallus and Geena nodded yes, and Applejack sat on the teacher’s desk.

“This is stupid,” Genna muttered to herself. “What is this supposed to teach us?”

She muttered other crude things under her breath as she wrote down the words she was given. Gallus did the same, occasionally glancing over his grumpy classmate. He knew it would take a while for her to forgive what he said, if ever. As detention carried on, Gallus could’ve sworn he saw Geena wiping a couple of tears.

Get Out of Town!

Not much of the day was eventful for anyone, especially for Gilda, who’ll soon be the queen of Griffonstone. She had gotten up from her bed in the castle’s bedroom, which was hard for her since it was one of the best ones she ever laid on, and occasionally checked with the other parents whose children were at school. It was among the same story as Gloria with Grayson. Either the parents gave an excuse for their behavior that held any water or they just ignored Gilda’s words like they have a language barrier. She vented her issues to Greta, who figured out an idea to let out some stress.

The evening arrived and many griffons were back home. Gustave le Grand got out of the bakery and was just about to close his new business down for the night. Until Gilda and Greta came by and walked into the bakery. “Eh, what brings you two here this late?” Gustave asked.

“Sorry for coming in late,” Gilda apologized, “but Greta said that she thought it was nice to have a nice snack after a long day of dealing with griffons who… presumably shouldn’t be parents.”

The bakery’s new owner thought about this for a moment. “If you were just some random griffon, I’d be pushing you out right now. Nonetheless, since you’re going to be a queen, I can make an exception. Wait here, I’ll prepare something special.”

The chef walked away to the back of the bakery as his customers sat down at the new table had set up. “Wow… How long has this been here?” Gilda questioned.

“Who knows,” Greta shrugged. “He did say that he was planning on remodeling this place a little after your coronation.”

“Nice.” The future Queen rested her head on her talon while looking out the nearby window.

“Are you still upset about what’ll happen?”

“You’d be too if you can’t get a single griffon listening to you!” Gilda groaned in frustration unsure what to do.

“Well, give them something more than a slap on the face. Try explaining to them the punishments they’ll get if they don’t clean up their acts. The worse their acts were, the worse the penalty they’ll get, even for a murder or a robber.”

Gilda remembered some of the consequences she and Twilight had talked about. She has said that Equestria is very strict when it comes to punishments for criminals who’ve done sinister acts to the common, and seldomly or periodically gave them death sentences and execution depending on their crimes given to the Supreme Court. Giving them second chances is often, again, depending on their actions, if they sincerely and truly promise to never do such a thing again. Gilda understands why Equestria’s justice system is very adequate, despite ponies having their rights, they knew about the consequences following that and wanted to have a peaceful lifestyle rather than a chaotic and disorderly one. A confident smile reappeared on her beak.

“You’re right, Greta! They should and must understand the harsh consequences they’ll face if they never listen. First thing tomorrow, we’re laying down the law.” Greta smiled back at her girlfriend’s confidence returning.

“See, there’s a smile I’m looking for.” A few minutes later, Gustave walked back with a light blue box of half a dozen red velvet cupcakes decked with whipped cream frosting.

“I present to you a preview of one of the pastries on your special day,” Gustave announced. He handed the cupcakes to the two impressed customers.

“Wow, Red velvet! You went the extra mile, le Grand,” Gilda remarked complimentarily.

“Anything for a queen who’s willing to rebuild the kingdom.”

She handed the chef his payment. “Thanks a lot, chef. I’ll see you later.”

“You too.” Both Gilda and Greta waved their goodbyes to him and took their cupcakes home to them.

“Gilda,” Greta asked, “you think we should spend the night in the castle?”

“Hmm, well… it’s technically mine, right?” Gilda questioned.

“Yeah… you’re correct.” The two griffs flew back to the refurnished castle and made themselves comfy in the dining room. While the cupcakes weren’t that big of a meal, the two enjoyed the treats anyway. Besides, they weren’t that hungry anyway.

“You know, Greta, I don’t want to do anything extreme for punishments. These will be only used for the big cases.”

“Right, like with Grayson… To be honest, you know he’s gotta go instantly. It’s going way too far for his broken family.”

“Agreed. Never pulling his weight and whatever he has done to Gloria and Geena.”

“I swear if he’s letting his aggression out on them…”

“Greta, take it easy. As the new queen, I’ll make sure he’s properly taken care of. I’ll run by the new laws once Twilight takes care of them. We need to wait until then.”

“Alright then. I doubt the other griffons will understand you.”

“They’re not used to change. They’ll learn soon.” The future queen took a big bite off her cupcake, leaving a bit of frosting on her beak, which Greta noticed something and giggled about it. “What? What’s so funny?”

“You… got something on your beak.” Greta pointed to the location of the frosting, which her girlfriend quickly noticed. Gilda gave an embarrassed laugh as she wiped some of it off.

“You want some?” Both lovers laughed at this before leaning closer to nuzzle Gilda. Neither of them said anything as they embraced each other warmly.

Gallus wasn’t doing as well. Geena had finished her paper before he did and Gallus hasn’t seen her since. Even at dinner in the cafeteria, she was nowhere to be found. Gallus would’ve asked one of the other griffons, but he felt like what he said to Geena had damaged his relationships with them. The young blue griffon simply sat and ate his dinner, often just stirring his utensil while staring at his plate. His friends were concerned about him and tried to get him to talk.

“Gally, don’t worry. Geena will soon forgive you,” Silverstream reassured. “She needs some more time to get hold of herself.”

“Yeah, my dad has said that already,” Gallus muttered. He placed his fork down and held his head on his claw. “I can’t believe I said that.”

“You said you were furious,” Sandbar reminded. “No one thinks straight when they’re enraged.”

“But to bring up that kind of topic?” Gallus then glanced at Ocellus. “Celly, how’d you feel if I brought up Chrysalis to insult you?”

“I’d…. likely to lose my control,” the changeling responded. The tone of her voice made Gallus add another thing to his list of things he shouldn’t have said. The griffon banged his head on the table a few times until his friends stopped him.

“Gallus, stop beating yourself up over this!” Sandbar demanded in an imperative tone. “Just not to think about and…” His words were interpreted by Garry, barged into the conversation.

“Sorry for the interruption,” the orange griffon spoke, “but have any of you seen Geena? I’ve been looking for her since she was in detention..” The young six glanced at each other before all shaking their heads.

“Garry, I apologize for what I said earlier to her that made her cry,” Gallus apologized. “If there’s anything I can do to help…”

“Gallus,” Garry raised his claw, gesturing him to stop talking. “I understand and I don’t blame you for that. I’d be jealous too.” Garry walked away still wondering where Geena was.

“I think I know where Geena could be,” Ocellus spoke.

“You mean our treehouse?” Silverstream asked. The changeling nodded in confirmation. “I’ll go check it out with Garry.” The hippogriff flew to help the griffon search the treehouse while Gallus laid his head on the table with a sigh.

Silverstream has caught up with Garry and told him where Geena could be, asking him if she’ll tag along with him to help. He accepted her request and they both left the school together and were about to go to the Treehouse of Friendship to find her. It was nighttime, so going to the Everfree Forest was risky and dangerous because the surroundings were pitch-black. Luckily the moon shines the reflected sun’s bright rays for them to see their way.

They’ve reached the treehouse and begin their search. They checked both inside and outside, but she was still nowhere to be found. They kept searching and searching, even in the tightest spaces. And again, still ain’t there. Until they heard the rustling of the leaves.

“What was that?” Silverstream freaked out.

Garry looked just in time to see a blue tail slip into a bush. He could tell who was hiding just by the tail color. “I think I know who’s there,” he said to Silverstream. “Wait here.”

He stealthily sneaks towards the hedge, and at the right moment, he tackles the one who’s hiding the bush, Geena. She freaked out and fiercely thrust Garry out, trying to make a run for it only to have Silverstream block her escape.

“Geena, what are you doing out here in the…” Silverstream paused as she noticed something from her, “middle… of the… night?” She saw some streaks of aqua across Geena’s face, starting from her eyes. “H… Have you been crying?”

“Get out of my way!” Geena shouted. She shoved Silverstream to the side, nearly making her collapse. Geena would’ve gotten away if Garry didn’t tackle her to the ground. “Gah! Garry, GET OFF ME!”

“Were you trying to run away?” Garry questioned, “…from us?!”

“I said get off!” Geena tried kicking the orange griffon in his stomach, but Garry wouldn’t budge. Even when she kept repeating this action. The pain was getting to her friend.

“Geena… please! Where do you think you were going?”

“Why won’t you let me go?!”

“I’m worried about you, that’s why! I know what your dad is like.”

“Shut up, Garry!” If kicking wasn’t going to work, Geena resorted to biting. She bit down on Garry’s arm, who retaliated by biting her wing. Silverstream was concerned about this and tried to separate them.

“You two, please!” she begged. “Stop brawling!” She jumped back when Geena tried biting her talon, which was annoying Garry.

“Seriously, Geena?” he questioned. “Are you going to act like that?”

“I SAID, SHUT UP!” Geena cried. Her eyes were beginning to water as she tried kicking again, only to have Garry catch her paws.

“Geena, this needs to stop now! Gallus and Gus indeed crossed the line, but they want to apologize to you.” Geena kept on kicking while listening to her friend, with each kick getting weaker.

“They were just angry,” Silverstream spoke, trying to help with the situation. “We all do bad things when our minds aren’t in the right place.” Geena wiped her tears away as she was trying her best not to cry.

“Geena, please,” Garry begged. “You can’t act like this.”

“Then what should I act like then?!” Geena snapped. “If I listen to him but don’t get it exactly right, I get a smack. I break something by accident and try to explain myself, a punch! Answer his questions with the slightest tone? I get kicked on my spleen!” Tears were starting to pour down her face like waterfalls. She stopped kicking Garry as he gave a sympathetic look and she loudly wailed afterward. “What did I ever do to deserve him?” She tried to say more but could only muster a couple of sniffles before bawling into her friend’s chest while wailing.

Silverstream was covering her beak, flabbergasted by what she had heard. Garry kept hugging his friend before he turned to the hippogriff. “You go back first, Silverstream,” he spoke quietly. “We’ll meet you back later.”

Silverstream just nodded and flew out of the forest while Geena let out all of her repressed emotions.

After getting back to school, Silverstream told her friends, who’re just finished their supper and were about to go to their dorm rooms, what she heard from Geena. Needless to say, they were horrified. “…And that’s what I’ve heard from her.”

“Yikes! That’s terrible!” Ocellus cried.

“What kind of father does that?!” Yona questioned.

“I would help Geena with her dad if she wants,” Smolder spoke. “I’ll be ready if he goes wrong with our friend.” She cracked her knuckles as a thumping sound could be heard. The friends looked to see Gallus banging his head against a wall.

“C’mon, Gallus!” Sandbar cried. “Stop! Why the heck are you doing to yourself!?”

The blue griffon stopped banging his head so he could look at his friends. “I want to forget what I said to Geena,” Gallus answered. “It’s better to forget than remembering it again.” He soon resumed head butting the wall before Silverstream placed her claw in between him and the wall to stop him.

“Gallus!” Silverstream scolded, “Do not hurt yourself over this! This is getting absurd!”

“I insulted someone who’s beating treated like a punching bag. I might as well…” He paused before he looked at Ocellus, knowing what he would say could offend her. He was about to bang his head on the wall again, only to be caught by Silverstream’s claw.

“For goodness sake, Gallus! Stop!”

“What’s going on in here?” called a voice. The Young Six looked to see Glynn and Gadet enter the room. “Gallus, are you trying to injure yourself?” his father suspected.

“I… I fully deserve it this time,” the young griffon muttered.

“What are you talking about,” Gadget asked.

The students all looked at each other before Silverstream decided to answer the question.

“It’s about Geena’s dad,” she spoke.

“What!?” Gadget and Glynn said in shock.

“I and Garry went out to find her and…” As she explains about she heard about the scenario with Geena, both of them were already feeling disgusted towards Grayson. The explanation was something that the parents weren’t expecting.

“And that’s it,” Silverstream finished.

“How could… out of all of the griffons!” Gadget cried. “I swear if I ever see him…”

“Gadget, should we not stoop to his level?”

“And what level were you on when you whacked Gideon with your wing?” Glynn didn’t have a response to this. He just stood there thinking that whatever he said would contradict himself. There was a long awkward silence. Nobody quite knew what to say.

Gallus read the room and simply reported, “I’m going to bed.” He walked away to his dorm, leaving his parents at a stalemate.

“Gadget…. I’m not sure what to say here,” Glynn admitted.

“I do,” Gadget spoke.

“Are you seriously going to beat that father up?”

“It would give him a taste of his own medicine.”

“…Gadget, listen, I know you want to help Geena, but there, her father has to be dealt with professionally.”

“Glynn, we can do something other than just tell somebody off and give them a slap on the wrist. He beats her! She’s only a teen, and she has a long life journey just like the rest of the students here, including Gallus.”

Glynn couldn’t find his words. The situation was upsetting and blunt. The parents and students went silent as they heard someone walking over to them. It was Geena and Garry, who didn’t say a thing with her simply staring at the floor as they passed by the parents and students. Silence remained in the room as Garry took his upset friend to her dorm.

Gallus wasn’t sure how to feel given what he knew. He arrived at his dorm room, together with Sandbar, and just simply lay in his bed staring up at the ceiling. He just sighed as he felt terrible about what he had said to Geena to make her feel so bad.

The next morning, the sun rose over Griffonstone. Gilda and Greta were fast asleep, snuggled up tight in the queen-sized bed. The sun shone through the sparkly clear huge window and hit the eyes of both griffons. They groaned, yawned, and stretched as they started waking up.

“Good morning,” Greta muttered.

“Good morning, Greta,” Gilda replied. Neither griffon was wanting to get out of bed, but Gilda knew she had a job to do. “I better go. We’ll be together again later, okay?” she blinked with a smile.

“Alright,” Greta chuckled. “See you later.” Gilda stepped out from under the covers, leaving Greta alone in bed. She slowly started getting up just in time to see her leaving the castle.

Gilda figured if she wasn’t able to get the parents to listen to her, she figured she would stop wasting her time and focus on other griffons who’re willing to listen. After grabbing a quick breakfast from Gustave’s bakery, and Greta catching up with her, they began flying around town and checking on other griffons Gilda hadn’t taken notice of before. While a couple of them were still stuck in the mud, a few of them had learned about Gilda taking charge of the kingdom. They wised up and decided to give some amount of respect to their future queen.

So far, Gilda was enjoying herself. However, her mood changed when she found Gloria, who was sitting down with her eyes being covered with her claws. Gilda even heard her… sobbing?

“Gloria?” She then stopped by. “Are you okay? …What’s going on?”

Gloria gave her the answer by revealing her left black eye. Gilda was shocked. “Sweet Grover! Gloria, what happened?!” Gilda asked in a concerned them.

“It’s… it’s Grayson,” Gloria answered. She stared the soon-be-queen dead in the eye while pointing at her bruise. “You see this right here? This is my life! The life I’ve been roped into because I trusted the wrong guy! Not only do I suffer this, but so does my daughter! And his reason for this? Geena got in trouble at school. And since she wasn’t home, Grayson took his aggression out on me!”

Gilda took a look at the upset mother and thought about the horrible treatment she and Geena had to go through. There was no doubt this was the last straw. “Gloria, say no more,” Gilda spoke. “I’m going to get some help and take care of Grayson… once and for all!” With that, the future queen flew off to get some serious help. If Grayson wants to play rough with them, she’d bring creatures that played rough too.

Back at the School of Friendship, the word had spread around about Geena’s horrible treatment from her father back home. The students felt sorry for her, making her outburst at Gallus feel more understandable. Several of them gave their concerns to her, which in turn was making Gallus feel worse about himself. He hardly said anything to anybody, which wasn’t helped by some of the looks he was given by the students on her side.

Glynn and Gadget stopped by some times to try and cheer their son up, but Gallus was still showing melancholy about losing his temper. He felt like one of the worst creatures in Equestria at the moment. His friends were getting concerned about him. They tried to talk with him, but they were lucky to get any words out of him. It was clear that Gallus felt like he was at rock bottom.

A moment before lunch, Gallus was trying to find a spot to be alone. That’s when he found Geena walking towards him. From the look at her impression, she was still feeling under the blue like him. Gallus felt a quiver as she slowly walks towards him. Both of them had a bit of bad blood with each other since yesterday, so Gallus wasn’t sure what to say since he didn’t think she wanted an apology; all he wants is to say sorry to her. The moment Geena stood in front of him, a few seconds of awkward silence has filled the air until she has something to say.

“Gallus,” Geena asked, “is it true you and the others have discovered a secret tunnel to Griffonstone?”

“Uhh… yes,” Gallus responded. “…Why did you ask?”

“I… I want to check on my mother. Maybe my dad has likely found out about the letter they got and that’s bad news for her.”

Gallus thought about what he had just learned last night. This felt like a chance where he can do something to make up for his mistake. “Okay, let’s make it quick,” Gallus sighed. “I’ll have a chat with you later after this. Follow me.”

A smile grew on Geena’s face as she followed Gallus to the library.

They arrived at the edge of the library to see a grate where Gallus and his friends have gone before in their previous adventures. After checking left and right to see nobody was looking, he removed the grate with some help from Geena, though he didn’t take notice of the saddlebags she was carrying. Gallus allows her to go first before he came in last. Once they were down in the tunnels, Gallus pulled the grate back in place, but it was heavy, and he hadn’t fully recovered from his injuries yet. The grate only partly covered up the hole as the two griffons made their way to Griffonstone. Gallus was going a bit slow though, which was concerning to Geena.

“Are you okay, Gallus?” she asked.

“Just… feeling fine,” Gallus panted. “Let’s all make sure that your mom is alright.” He forced his muscles to pick up the pace and lead the way with Geena behind him.

Back in the library, Terry was grabbing some books when he tripped over the grate that Gallus left out of place. “Ow!” the minotaur groaned. He looked at the loose grate before he tried pushing it back into place. “Who the heck moved that thing?”

Terry shrugged it off and went to check his books out before lunch.

Later, in the cafeteria, Garry looked around seeing that somebody was missing. “Geena?” he called out. “Geena!? Where are you!?” After failing to find his friend there, the orange griffon kept searching around the school. He saw Terry, who had stopped to check on his hoof again after his trip. Garry was confused about what he was doing. “Why are you checking your hoof?”

“Some idiot moved the grate in the library,” Terry explained.

“Which one? The one at the edge of the library?”

"Yeah, I think so. Why do you ask?"

“Uhh… Nothing, I only need to check something.” Garry quickly flew away as a confused Terry carried on towards the cafeteria.

Glynn and Gadget had decided to try and think of something to cheer up their son and were just heading to the cafeteria to talk with him. “Maybe he simply needs a day off of school,” Glynn suggested. “He’s been going through a lot lately.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?" Gadget asked. “I’m not sure if it’s at the point where he should put off his schoolwork.” Both griffons were suddenly taken by surprise when Garry flashed by them. “Hey, slow down!”

“Sorry, I’m in a hurry!” Garry replied. He made a beeline for the library, confusing Gallus’s parents. Wanting to know what was wrong, Glynn followed him with Gadget soon joining him.

They found Garry, struggling to move the grate out of way. He felt like it would’ve been harder if it wasn't for it being out of place. When he finally got it out of the way, he saw the parents walk in. “What are you doing?” Gadget questioned.

“There’s a secret tunnel that leads to Griffonstone, right there. I have a feeling that Geena went there. I’m going to get her!” He began climbing into the tunnel just missing Gadget trying to grab his tail.

“Kid, get back here! This place looks damn dangerous!” She jumped in after him with Glynn now getting concerned.

“Gadget, wait! I’m coming with you!” he cried. He dove in after his wife, who was busy chasing down the runaway teenager.

In Griffonstone, Gallus was struggling to push the plate out of the way. Geena did her best to help, but it was a workout for both of them. Geena had to help lift Gallus out of the tunnels after they were done. “You should rest here for now,” Geena suggested. “I’m going to just… check on my mom.”

“Okay… You do that…” Gallus sighed. He was out of breath and could barely move.

“Why are you so tired?”

“I did… some wing push-ups last night. Had trouble sleeping as well.”

“…Right.” Geena flew away, leaving Gallus to his rest, right beside the open hole.

Meanwhile, Geena flew until she arrived at her house, which is only a few meters from where Gallus is resting. Knowing that her dad was in there, she carefully opened the door, trying not to create any creaking noises. She could hear the audio coming from her dad’s film projector, and saw him just sitting still, staring at the screen. Geena stealthily snuck in and went to her room as fast as she can, and started to grab everything that was hers. It wasn’t that much, just some blankets and valuable items she kept hidden from her father, like her pocket watch that was missing an arm, a couple of bits, and even a ruby shard. She stuffed them all into her bags but felt that she needed a few more bits.

Desperate to get out fast, Geena snuck into her parent’s bedroom and quickly scavenged around for whatever amount of money she could find. Figuring her mother had hidden the money somewhere Grayson wouldn’t find it, Geena gave up her search and decided to just get out of there. In her haste, she unintentionally ended up slamming the door too hard. The sound grabbed Grayson’s attention.

He opened the door to see who opened and slammed it and could see Geena about to take off with her stuffed saddlebags, dropping a couple of bits while rushing. Just as she tried picking them up, she heard her father call out, “What are you doing here!?” Geena froze before she turned around to see Grayson approach her. Geena was terrified as he walked over to her.

“Oh… no!” Geena muttered frighteningly with fear in her eyes.

Back at the secret tunnel, Garry had wandered around a little bit until he got to the Griffonstone exit. He barely took notice of Gallus, who was just about to take a nap, and instead just flew away to find Geena. Gadget and Glynn eventually found their way to the exit, thanks to following Garry, and poked their heads out to see their worn-out son. “Gallus, what are you doing here?” the mother questioned.

Gallus looked up and saw both his parents climbing out of the hole. “Oh, hi,” he responded, now that he regained his energy. “I came here because Geena was worried about her mother.”

“And from what we learned,” Glynn spoke, “Garry is worried about her.” He helped his son step up and was about to help him step into the hole when they heard someone.

“Get away from her, ya beast!” called a voice, followed but some grunts that were mostly associated with pain.

“That sounded like Garry,” Gallus commented. Glynn was surprised with what he had heard, thus losing his focus and allowing Gallus to run off to where he heard Garry.

“Ah, for crying out loud, Gallus!” Gadget cried. She was starting to lose her patience with her son.

Gallus managed to find Garry, who was being pinned down by Grayson. Geena was desperately trying to get her dad off of his friend. “Dad, please, stop!” Geena pleaded.

“Stay out of this, kid!” Grayson ordered. He quickly shoved his daughter to the side as he pushed his claw down on Garry’s head, who was groaning. “Do you not understand that you should stay away from my daughter?”

“As if you treat her with respect, punk!” the orange griffon groaned with sarcasm. This comment got on Grayson’s nerves, so he pulled up Garry’s face before forcing his face into the dirt. Geena tried tackling her father to the ground and while it did get him off her friend, gasping for air. Geena tried to through a punch, but her dad was much stronger and ended up pinning her to a wall.

“You stupid son of a b****,” Grayson growled. “You’re a waste of space. I know pieces of s*** that have more value than you. It’s times like this that make me wonder why I didn’t just smash you before you hatched!” Gallus never thought he’d ever hear something that cruel. He quickly picked up a stick on the ground and ran over to smack him hard in the back of his head.

Grayson hit the ground and Geena wasted no time running over to Garry to make sure he was okay.

“Garry! Are you okay?”

“I’m alright,” Garry replied, still lying on the floor with his injuries.

Gallus's parents showed up to see the disaster. Gallus glanced back at them, letting his guard down for Grayson to grab him around his neck. "Who do you think you are!?" he roared. Gallus gasped for air as Gadget immediately thought back to her time with Gideon.

Without hesitation, she pounced at Grayson, decking him in the face with her metal clam. It left a back bruise on the abusive father’s face before looking up at Gadget. “DON’T YOU THINK ABOUT LYING ONE FINGER ON MY SON!” she roared.

“Oh yeah? Who's going to make me?" Gadget was about to show off something with her metal arm if it wasn’t for someone speaking up.

“Grayson!” called a voice. Everyone looked to see Gilda had returned, far from happy with what she was seeing. By this point, an audience started to build, watching the conflict ensue. “Enough is enough, I warned you about your actions! I have given you many chances but you haven’t changed a bit.”

“So what? All I see is a bunch of cripples, punks, and egg machines telling me what to do.”

“Egg machine… An egg machine? Are you trying to make everyone here hate you!? This ain’t a slum anymore, this is a prosperous society.”

Grayson just laughed, not taking anything seriously. “Who’s going to make me listen to you anyhow?”

“You’ll regret this… Garble!” Gilda then drew attention to a friend she brought over from the Dragon Lands. True to her word, Garble had followed her home to take care of the horrible excuse for a griffon. The dragon towered over Grayson, who was now looking as pale as a ghost. “Grayson, as I said, I’ve warned you so many times, and yet you chose to ignore me. Grayson, this is your last chance to make the right decision. Either… you get out of town and never come back again, or I have Garble here to let him deal with you in any way he chooses.”

Smoke puffed out of Garble’s nose as he cracked his knuckles. Grayson looked around at all of the griffons that chose to watch what was happening. Some were horrified with what they had witnessed, while most were disgusted by what they witnessed. With a growl, Grayson stood up. “Fine!” he huffed. “There’s nothing I want to do with this dump anyway!” He was about to walk back inside to grab his things, but Gilda stopped him by yanking on his tail.

"Did I tell you to pack your things? I only gave you one other choice; LEAVE!” Grayson was wanting to strangle Gilda right there and now, but he knew that Garble would do far worse things to him. With no chance of victory, he simply took off, flying away from the recovering kingdom with citizens throwing whatever items they had on hand at him. “And don’t even think about coming back!”

Geena watched her father fly away, leaving her speechless. “Are you okay?” Glynn asked, checking the bruises she and Garry had.

“I… I think so,” Geena responded. She looked speechless from what she witnessed. “He's… gone? For good?”

“Trust me, Geena” Gilda spoke, “I’m already thinking of punishments for him when he comes back.” Seeing her dad leave, therefore no longer being able to do anything to her was something Geena never thought would happen. She didn’t know how to react. She was overjoyed but she felt like crying.

Gloria flew in from the crowd over to her daughter, seeing her starting to cry. “Geena!” the mother gasped. She quickly hugged her daughter in an attempt to calm her down. “It’s okay, Geena. It’s over. We’re finally free. He’s out of our lives." Gloria could feel the waterworks coming on. She eventually joined in with her daughter’s crying with tears of joy, knowing the worst creature of their lives was gone.

It took a little bit for everyone to calm down from the drama. At this point, Gallus had checked over his griffon friends’ injuries. Aside from a few bruises, they were fine. Geena was still crying a couple of tears of joy, but she was quiet now. Everyone that witnessed Grayson being banished had quickly learned to wise up to Gilda.

“Citizens, listen up,” Gilda spoke, “I want to make sure about everyone here to follow orders, but I want to make one thing clear; I am no dictator like Gideon, it is different from a monarchy like Equestria has. Grayson was given plenty of chances, but he refused to listen. Even to the point of slamming the door in my face.”

“We’d never do that to you,” blurted out a random blonde griffon. He didn’t want to be banished or get beaten up by a dragon.

“I'm not going to do that to anyone. You’ll only find yourself in positions like that if you push your luck with the law.” Just then, Gabby had returned from her mail runs. She could see Gilda giving an announcement to everyone and felt a little awkward right now. The future queen saw the mail griffons and called her over. “Gabby, you’re here. Did you bring over the new laws?”

“Um, yes. Yes, I do.” Gabby responded. She pulled a scroll out of her saddlebag and handed it to Gilda. "What did I miss?"

“I’ll explain later.” Gilda opened the scroll up and began reading the laws that Twilight had recommended. While she did that, Gallus was still feeling down.

“Gallus?” Gadget called. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, mom,” Gallus responded. “I’m alright.”

“Are you? You still sound awful.”

“It’s just... I could’ve done something more than just hitting Geena’s dad with a stick. Heck, if I could start a domino effect that takes out of one of the worst gangs in the world, I could’ve at least gotten rid of one guy.” He looked beside him at Geena, Gloria, and Garry, who were all looking happier. “Yet… I still managed to get some creatures caught in the crossfire.”

He placed his face in his claws with his mother doing what she could to comfort him.

“I understand you just want to stand up for your friend, but you haven’t fully recovered.” Gallus looked at his wings, he was able to hold them up, but they still felt fairly weak. “I know what it’s like trying to make up for your mistakes, I’ve been doing that ever since the gang was disbanded. I tell you what, when we get back to Ponyville, we’ll get you flying again.”

Gallus smiled at this comment, but then looked over to Geena, who was approaching him. “Hey, Gallus,” she spoke. “I’m sorry about… not accepting your apology.”

“No, you don’t have to apologize,” Gallus responded. “It was mostly on me. I crossed a line. I’m sorry for reminding you of… him. It was a bad mistake I’ve made”

“It’s okay. I forgive you. He’s gone now, and we don’t have to worry about him anymore.” Geena looked in the direction her father flew away from, meekly smiling.

“Thank you, Geena. What I know is… that you’re as better as your friends like me and Garry. I know all of us deserved better, including you… Geena.” Gallus’s words just made her heart pound with joy, and without doubt, gave him a tight warm hug. Both Geena and Gallus have finally reconciled with each other. “Um… What’s going to happen with you and your mother?”

“We’ll be fine after this. I think mom will do better knowing that we won’t have to deal with dead weight. That and she’ll likely sell some of my dad’s stuff.”

“Salt in the wound?”

“Oh yeah.”

Gadget couldn’t help but laugh at this, then she remembered about school. “Kids, we should take you guys back to school,” she said. “I’ll try and talk with your headmare, but I can’t promise you guys not getting in trouble.” The teens agreed to this and quickly went to the tunnels.

Geena stopped by her mom real quick before she left. “Bye mom,” she said. “I’ll see you at the coronation.” The mother and daughter shared a hug before the younger one left for the tunnels with Gallus’s parents following her.

After they left, Gloria looked over to Gilda, who was finishing the list of laws she was reading. Griffons started disbanding after they heard the new laws that would be put in place. Griffons started to disband and carry on with their day. Gilda turned her attention to the mother that still had a black eye.

“Gloria, I’m sorry for taking so long to deal with your husband,” Gilda spoke. “As your new leader, I should’ve dealt with him sooner.”

“Don’t get upset about doing the right thing,” Gloria spoke. “He’s out of my life, and I don’t have to worry about Geena.” Gilda was confused until she was shown the young griffon’s saddlebags. “I think she was going to run away today.”

“Oh…. Where do you think she would go if I haven’t taken action against him?”

“Would it matter? She’d never survive out there.”

Sensing that she was getting worried, Gilda did her best to comfort her. “She’s heading back to school. She’s got good friends there. Friends, that if she didn’t have them, I think she’d be a worse place than she is now. It’s going to get better from here. You’ve been a good mother getting her this far.” Gloria smiled as for the first time in a long time, she was truly delighted. She took Gilda by surprise with a hug, which Gilda humbly accepted.

Gallus, Geena, and Garry were given a warning about ditching school when they got back. However, given the conflict they went through, Starlight gave them a warning. The three students had a lot of work to catch up on, which was made more difficult with their hunger.

Fortunately, they managed to get it finished when the sun started to set. Gallus was doing some light exercise out at the buckball field when he saw his parents show up. “Are you feeling alright?” the mother asked.

“Doing fine, thank you,” Gallus responded. He stood up and looked at his wings. “I’m feeling stronger now. So, you said you were going to help me.”

“In a certain way. Glynn, are you ready?”

“Ready on standby,” Glynn responded. Gadget looked up to a nearby glow then grabbed onto her son’s talons. Slowly but surely she started lifting Gallus into the air. The young griffon was practically dangling before he started flapping his wings. He wasn't fully recovered yet so he was mostly relying on Gadget to keep him up.

When they got to the cloud, Gadget helped set her son down on it then flee a few feet away. She turned back to her son and held out her arms. “Okay, Gallus,” she spoke, “Try flying to me.”

The young looked at his mother and then at his wings. He could see his dad below them, ready to catch Gallus if things went wrong. Gallus took a deep breath before he started flapping his wings again. The young griffon started lifting himself upwards and slowly started moving closer to his mother. Gallus nearly fell a couple of times, which nearly made Glynn fly in and catch him, but the young griffon didn't give up. Inch by inch, he finally made it over to Gadget’s arms where he nearly collapsed.

Gadget held onto her son who breathed heavily as they slowly came to the ground. “You did great,” the mother said. “A little shakey, but you’ll get there.” She let her son go and looked him in the face before placing a kiss on his forehead. “Let’s go back inside, shall we? You have to help give me a proper introduction to Terry. He says he's been trying to build this functioning model."

“Oh, so that's why he’s been so cranky lately,” Gallus chuckled. “Of course, I will, mom.” Glynn joined his wife and son as they walked inside to do something calming and likely get something to eat.

It was nighttime in Griffonstone. Most of the citizens had gone to sleep at this point, two of the ones that were still awake were Greta and Gilda. The future queen lay back on her bed with her royal advisor soon joining her. “Hello Gilda, how are you feeling?” Greta asked.

“A little bit better,” Gilda responded. “I’ve sent Garble home a while ago. He said that he’ll support me on my coronation and also would tell Ember about what happened recently”

“You mean kicking that deadbeat out of town?”

“Yep. Still, I took care of him sooner.”

“Better late than never. Besides, I’ve talked to Gloria before she went home. Grayson’s now dead to her.”

“He will be dead if he tries to come back or even try getting revenge on us.”

“Then you must get five more dragons if that happens.”

“I would’ve said I must lock him up with Gideon, but that works too.” The two started getting comfy pulling the blankets over them. “Have you heard how Gustave is doing?”

“He’s great. Already getting started on the pastries for your coronation.”

“Mmm… That’ll be nice.”

“You know, I think some careers around here need to be reworked. Like maybe knights to help enforce the rules and help with security.”

“That’s a good idea. Just hope that we don’t go too far with it. I don’t like being abusive using the forces.”

“Just relax. You chose me to be your advisor, I’m giving you some advice to settle things down, and allowing me to help you with some of the decisions around here. Like maybe hiring the staff around this castle. You’ll need a maid soon.”

“We’ll work it out. I need to make sure that the griffons respect the one in charge. I hope that doesn’t make me sound big-headed.”

“You’re just being cautious.” Greta let out a yawn. “If I were you, I’d just sleep on it.” She closed her eyes and soon drifted off to sleep. Gilda stayed up a little longer, thinking about what other features would need to be fixed. Eventually, she got tired enough and fell asleep.

When she woke up, Gilda found she wasn’t in bed. She wasn’t in the castle. She was still in Griffonstone, but there was a thick fog all around her. It looked like it was cutting off the rest of the world. “Hello?” Gilda called. She was feeling a little scared. “Greta? Gabby? Dash?” She tried to fly around and find somebody until the future queen heard a voice.

“Sorry about the look of the place,” a male spoke. “This is the first time I’m doing this.”

Gilda was fairly confused by what this meant, but she had a feeling she heard that voice before. “Who’s there? Whoever you are, come out! I’m not afraid to fight!”

She looked around until she saw a silhouette walking out from the fog. Gilda was about ready to pounce in defense, but she gasped when she saw who the figure was; King Grover. He’s wearing the crown as well.

“What the… How are you here? Where are we?!”

“No need to panic, Gilda,” Grover spoke. “Again, pardon me for this all looking ominous. Rules for being a spirit are very complex.”

“Uhh… okay then. You’re not going to haunt me, are you?”

King Grover chuckled. “Not at all, Gilda. I’m here to have a chat with you. I’ve done my best to give a demonstration. Follow me please.” Grover walked through the fog, which made Gilda nervous. Trusting the spirit of the king, she followed him. She kept walking until things started to clear up. Griffonstone looked a lot more clear and there are griffons wandering about in the cliche nature they were known for.

Everyone Gilda could see was angry, trying to get away from everyone, and some were trying to get a few bits in any way they could. She saw Grover flying above the chaos and flew over to join him. “What is this?" she asked.

“What you’re seeing right now… is the past,” Grover answered. “The day I became king.” He pointed over to another version of himself who was carrying the Idol of Boreas. He held it above his head and it shined in the light of the sun, grabbing the attention of everybody. “I made the idol as a way of bringing peace to all griffons. It was the only solution I could think of, the greed was destroying us.”

“You made that?”

“Yes. I was hoping it’d be the start of something new, and to bring the kingdom into a new era. Unfortunately, I was unable to bring myself, to tell the truth about the Idol of Boreas. Even though I managed to keep the kingdom afloat, my fear of telling every griffon that the idol was just a piece of gold kept holding me back. I was nervous they would release their rage on me and the kingdom would fall back to what it was before I stepped in. Then… Well, you know… the idol was lost.”

“Oh, yeah. King Guto, right?”

“That’s correct.” Griffonstone went dark as they soon saw Guto leaving the kingdom, with various griffons throwing junk at him in disgrace. “I don’t hold any grudges against Guto. There’s very little that griffons can do against a cyclops the size of the castle.”

“No kidding.”

“I lost hope. And years have passed, and Griffonstone fell into ruin again. Then, you chose your friends over the idol.” Gilda looked and saw herself with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, likely right after they got out of Abysmal Abyss, judging by the cast around Dash’s leg. “I was angry when I saw the idol lost into the abyss.”

“Why? Am I doing something wrong? I tried spreading friendship.”

“Aye, but you made a mistake. You gave up.” They both watched as Gilda tried talking to some griffons, offering them a scone and friendship. Nobody took her offer, and when some punks even tried stealing her scone, Gilda chased them off, but the container the scones were in fell over, spilling the pastries on the ground. After wasting her time out there, Gilda tossed her remaining scone on the ground and flew home.

Gilda sighed as she didn’t like remembering this. “I lost my patience, your majesty, and… I guess the rest of Griffonstone suffered from it.”

“We all have bad days. What’s relevant is how we overcome. And you Gilda, you certainly did.”

The Gilda from the flashback zoomed past both of them. Turning around, they saw the battleground of the Gold Gang defending themselves from Equestria’s armies. A loud explosion could be seen followed by Gideon crashing to the ground with the remains of his fake idol. Gilda landed in front of him with her armor on.

Gilda chuckled. “Yeah, I remember that moment. It felt so satisfying.”

“Agreed. You have the potential, Gilda. Unlike most of our kind, you never cared about anyone else or how to make things better. Instead of worrying about yourself, you looked for ways how to make things better for everybody. Not just griffons like us…” Grover removed his crown and placed it on Gilda’s head, “but for all creatures as well. All you need is to keep your spirits up. You cannot let your doubts hold you back as mine did. If you put your mind to it, you’ll be a perfect fit for Griffonstone’s queen.”

Gilda looked up at the crown then noticed a scarf with the kingdom’s emblem appearing around her neck suddenly. Looking at her surroundings, she and King Grover were at the grand castle’s balcony. She then looked down and saw a crowd of griffons showed up now that they were back in Griffonstone, cheering for her. Some waved the flags of Griffonstone, big and small, patriotically and proudly, and others brought their children too to see the historic moment. They even chanted ‘Viva Griffonstone!’ numerous times.

Gilda looked back at Grover, who gave a warm smile. “Thank you, your majesty. I promise I’ll make you proud.”

“No need to worry, Gilda… Because you already have.” King Grover smiled. “Good luck… your majesty.” With that, Grover started flying into the sky until he was out of sight a few moments before Gilda was blinded by a bright flash.

Gilda, with her eyes wide open, woke up while breathing. She was awoken by the sunlight shining in her eyes. She looked around at her surroundings and realized that it was a dream. “What a dream,” she muttered. “It felt so real.” She laid down again for a few minutes until Greta came in.

“Rise and shine, Gilda!” called Greta. The soon-to-be queen sat up in bed as she looked at her girlfriend up and ready. “Your coronation is coming up soon, so let’s get ready.”

“Alright, I’m up. I’ll be with you in a second.” Greta got out of the room first. Gilda jumped out of bed and quickly muttered to herself, “I’m ready,” before following her girlfriend outside. It was time. “This is for you, King Grover! I promise!”

Author's Note

So, I’ve added violence and profanity just to be on the safe side.

Long Live the Queen

Finally, the day has arrived. It was the day of Gilda’s coronation. It is time for her to take the role of a queen. She kept thinking about the dream she had about King Grover and didn’t know how she could explain, so she keep it to herself and just went on with her day.

It was still morning, and everyone was getting ready for the big day. The venue is still in progress as decorations weren’t in place yet. Eventually, the Friendship Express showed up at the train station with an interesting train of rolling stock. It pulled the coaches it usually hauled, but it also had a few boxcars. The ponies that were on the train started unpacking the crates, furniture, and a colorful-looking cannon. Greta, who’s ready to be Gilda’s advisor, was heading to the train station to greet them. As she greets them, she could see two familiar ponies that the soon-to-be queen was close with: Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.

They were both checking over the cargo being unloaded from the train when Greta walked over to introduce herself to them. “Hello there,” the advisor spoke. “I assume you two are here to set up the coronation, am I right?’

“We sure are,” Pinkie confirmed. “I got everything ready and waiting to be set up.”

“How’s Gilda doing?” Dash asked.

“She did a great show yesterday,” Greta responded. “Really put some griffs in their place.”

“Awesome. I gotta ask her about that.” They looked back to one of the coaches, where Rarity stepped out, carrying Gilda’s dress on a hanger. “Oh good, you’ve got the dress. Now, where’s the crown?”

“Twilight said she’ll bring it when she and the other kingdom leaders and ambassadors come,” Pinkie replied. She hooked herself up to a wagon and put it with her party cannon up to Griffonstone. “Come on, let’s make this party grand!” Greta and the ponies that brought supplies followed her up to the kingdom.

Dash flew ahead of them and quickly found Gilda talking with Gustave. “So, you’ll have everything ready in time, le Grand?” the soon-to-be queen asked.

“I do. The biggest worry will be the three-layer cake,” Gustave noted. “I’m afraid the oven I have on claw can only fit one layer at a time.”

“Don’t worry. Hopefully, everyone will be patient enough to wait for the big reveal.” She smiled.

“Yo, G!” asked a certain pegasus. The two looked up and saw Rainbow Dash landing next to her old friend from flight school. “What’s up?”

“Dash, you made it,” Gilda beamed.

“It’s amazing to see that you’re taking the responsibility as a queen.”

“Thanks a lot!” They slapped their wing together like an old handshake as she could see Greta returning with the rest of the ponies. “Oh, good, the rest are here.”

“Especially Pinkie Pie. You feel that you’re up for this?”

“If you’d ask me that last week, I’d be trying to find an excuse to say ‘no’. But after the last few hours, I’m ready to take the throne.” Dash smiled as she was proud of her friend.

Both of them and Gustave jumped when Pinkie suddenly joined with their conversation. “Gilda!” she cheered. “Since it is your special day, I figured you help give your opinion on which setup is best.” Pinkie quickly showed her a couple of drawings of having balloons and streamers in different styles. “Here. Pick one that’s best for you.” Either having them in arches, scattered, or just have a couple tied to one point.

“Hmm… they looked incredible… Let’s go with the balloon arches, it’s more welcoming than the others.”

“Okie Dokie.” Pinkie bounced over to her cart and managed to somehow pull out some balloon arches composed of purple and gold balloons. This was shocking to Dash and Gilda.

“How the heck…?”

“You know, G, some of the students have said she’s an anomaly in reality,” Dash would whisper.

“Yeah. I can see that,” Gilda admitted.

Gustave could believe what he was seeing and just simply turned around. “I better go before my mind gets blown,” he spoke. “Besides, the perfect pastries can only be made by the best for the best.” As the chef walked off, Dash smirked.

“I’ve met him before,” Dash informed. “It was a baking contest and some of the pastries were sabotaged.”

“Sabotaged? Who did it then?" Gilda asked. Dash felt steered around this question as Rarity walked over to the future queen with the dress.

“Sorry for jumping into the conversation, Gilda, I’m hoping that you and I can have a minute,” the unicorn spoke. “I want to help you prepare for your coronation.”

Gilda simply nodded and walked along with Rarity as Rainbow Dash decided to follow them towards the castle. “Wow! You got a truly adequate place,” Dash commented.

“Yep. Just wait until you see the bedroom. You’ll be surprised.” Gilda, Dash, and rarity walked into the castle so Rarity can get her dressed up.

During this, Dash explored the castle, amazed at her friend’s new home. She was astounded by the new looks at the place, including the floor, the windows, etc. The Pegasus nearly got lost for a minute until she managed to find the bedroom, where Rarity was grooming Gilda.

“Couldn’t I just toss the dress on and everything will be okay?” Gilda asked.

“Nonsense,” Rarity spoke. “This is a very special occasion, Gilda. You must look exquisite when you step out of that balcony, and everycreature will admire you more.” She combed the future queen’s feathers as the griffon saw her old friend from flight school standing by the door.

“I know the feeling,” Dash spoke. Gilda simply sighed and let Rarity do her work. Gilda still felt optimistic knowing what she remembered from last night’s dream.

Later that day, back at Ponyville, the students from the School of Friendship were let out early to go see Gilda’s coronation. Well… everyone. The griffons were especially happy knowing what their new queen’s actions were yesterday. Gus was one of them as he, Sunshine, Emerald, and the rest from the journalist club got their news reporting gear ready.

“Oh boy, it’s about time something like this happens,” Gus said with excitement. “It was a gamble of what’d happen to you in Griffonstone.”

“Too true,” Sunshine agreed. “Did we get a good picture of it before the reconstruction?”

“No, but I was able to find a couple of photos,” Emerald reported. “All we need is how the kingdom is looking right now… and a picture of Gilda.”

“Uhh… You mean Queen Gilda.”

The dragoness just rolled her eyes. “Yeah… right.”

It’s not just them, others were there to join with the griffons to witness the historic moment, including November Rain, Summer Breeze, Peppermint Goldylinks, and Berry Bliss just to name a few ponies. Pyther, Peridot, Coral, Kelpie, Pate, Trud, and Moss are also joining them. Rusty Wrench was also with them, together with Gale, who’s eager to witness the coronation. And of course, the Young Six, including Gallus’s parents and Quartz, are also going.

“You know it’s amazing to see that the griffons are going to live a new life,” Berry Bliss said. “Now they have the new queen, there won’t be any mess on the streets.”

“Yeah, I know, right?” Summer Breeze exclaimed. “I’m happy for them.”

“Me too,” November Rain agreed,… and then thought of something. “Hey, do you think we’ll witness déjà vu? You know… with Princess Twilight’s coronation where she almost fell from the balcony, and… other disastrous stuff?”

Peppermint chuckled. “I don’t think it’ll happen. Maybe it’ll be different from Princess Twilight’s coronation.”

“Hopefully. But we still have to write down our report about the coronation, which will be due next week. It’s extra credit.”

“Right… Thanks for reminding us.”

Pyther, Coral, Tarsi, and Kelpie are with Grace and Gregoria chatting while waiting for the train. “I’m so proud of both of you,” Coral exclaimed with joy. “I’m glad you won't be able to feel lonely again like before.”

“Thanks a lot, you guys,” Grace appreciated. “I’m also happy that I was able to see my Grandma Goldie again.”

“Me too,” Gregoria added.

“With that, I am hoping that I’ll travel to Griffonstone without any awkwardness from before,” Kelpie said.

“So do I,” Pyther declared. “I always wanted to see the new beauty of your home.”

“Me three,” Tarsi added.

Meanwhile, Gale was with Rusty, Moss, and Trud, also having a chat. They’ve never seen Gale so excited before since he’s frequently been a little grumpy and slouchy. “Gale,” Rusty said, “It’s amazing to know that you don’t have to live under the dumps anymore.”

“Yeah,” Gale said with a smile. “It feels great!”

“That got me thinking,” Moss said, “if we still have time, you think you can show us where your house is?”

“Trud agrees with yellow bug pony,” Trud agreed. “Yak would love to see Gale’s home.”

“I’ll think about that,” Gale replied. “My house ain’t that tidy yet…”

The Young Six, meanwhile, are also having a chat with each other. “I have a good feeling that Gallus, now that he has his parents, will have a better life there,” Ocellus said. “He’s been very down on not wanting to go back to Griffonstone to stay.”

“Yes, exactly,” Smolder consented. “I wonder what his house looks like?”

“You’re telling me,” Sandbar stated.

“Maybe new queen have new vacant house for Gallus,” Yona said. Silverstream nodded.

As they kept waiting, they all heard the train whistle. They saw the train to Griffonstone pull up to the platform. The doors opened and everyone on the platform quickly started getting on board while chatting about Gilda and the possible changes to the future of Griffonstone.

Gallus and his parents were finding their seats, with the young griffon feeling much better with his wings. “Are your wings feeling better?” Glynn asked.

“Much better, dad,” Gallus confirmed. He gave one of them a flap, barely feeling any fatigue. “No pain. How about you two? Are you settling well in Ponyville?”

“Now that we don’t have to keep worrying out about our relationship, we’re doing fine,” Gadget confirmed.

“Good one, Gadget,” said a voice. The family of griffons jumped when they saw Quartz had shown up again.

“Oh, please…!” Gallus cried. “Don’t… do that!”

“My apologies. I’ve been trying to get to know some creatures around Ponyville. Different verse, same as the first.”

“You’ll get there eventually,” Glynn reassured. “No worries.”

“You could try with some of the students that aren’t dragons,” Gallus suggested. He saw Geena and Garry walk past them to their seats. “Come.” Gallus had Quartz follow him over to the two young griffons.

Geena and Garry got comfy as she saw the two creatures walk over to her. “Oh, hi, Gallus what’s up?” she asked.

“Only a few things. First of all, how are you feeling after… you know.”

“Better than I’ve felt,” Geena admitted, “I never have to see him again! Last night was the best sleep I ever had.”

“Nice. Anyways, have you two been introduced to Quartz here?” He gestured to the kobold, who was hoping to make a good first impression.

“Hi there. It’s nice to meet you,” Quartz spoke. He held out his claw to which Garry shook it with his talon.

“So… What’s it like to have a metal leg?” Garry asked. He paused realizing how blunt the question was. “Um…”

“It’s okay. I’m used to having awkward exchanges. I’m getting used to the new leg. What I wish I could get used to is settling in Ponyville.”

“Actually, that raises a question,” Gallus commented, “Where do you sleep?”

“In the castle’s guest room. There’s more than one and I leave your parents to their privacy.”

“Right,” Geena commented. “So, why are you tagging along with us?”

“I’m not getting anywhere with either ponies or dragons, so I figured I start with you.”

“Oh, like having training sessions?” Garry asked.

“Um, I was thinking more of getting to know one another,” Quartz stated.

“I think some of us would like the idea of learning self-defense,” Geena commented. “I’d love to learn some of your techniques.”

“Me too,” Garry added.

Gallus was tempted to object but thought about it a little deeper. “…Yeah, they might have a point,” he commented. “There are some kobolds and gang members out there. If we do some of that pressure pointing stuff as self-defense instead of intentionally attacking other creatures, it would be a bonus.”

Quartz rubbed his chin when he heard this. “I have been considering this idea,” the kobold admitted. “Perhaps, if I mentor some of the students, then they’ll start warming up to me.”

“Yeah, you should tell headmare Starlight about this,” Geena commented. Quartz quickly sat down with the two griffons, chatting about how these training sessions would work out.

Gallus went back to sit with his parents as they noticed Smolder walk into the carriage.

“Hey, Gallus,” Smolder called, “look who I found.” She walked over to her friend and parents a small beige griffon that was holding her claw.

“Peter,” Gallus gasped.

“Hi, Gallus,” the little griffon greeted cutely. “It’s been a while.”

“You’re coming to Griffonstone with us too?”

“I am.” The little griffon simply nodded. “Together with my family.”

He then noticed Gallus's parents. He’s a little creeped out by their metal limbs, he tried hiding behind Gallus. “It’s okay, little one. They’re my parents.”

Peter was a little confused by this until Gallus began explaining a few things, though he did make sure to leave out some major details. Peter was a little too young to know everything.

They began building some more bridges as Peter led Gallus and his parents to his family. Glynn and Gadget were happy that they could have regular conversations with other creatures not needing to worry about their past anymore.

“It’s nice to meet you, sir,” Bronze Box, Peter’s adoptive father, greeted while shaking his claw.

“Nice to meet you as well,” Glynn said.

“I see that you’re Gallus’s actual parents,” Summer Bloom said. “What a shocking discovery he made.”

“Uh-huh,” Gadget affirmed, “I’m just happy that he’s finally united with us. Our relationship with each other is kind of rough until it has settled.”

“How’s little Ricky doing, Sun Snow?” Gallus asked.

“He’s doing great,” Sun Snow said. “He’s being well-behaved as well.” Ricky the cockatoo then squawks three times. “Yes, Ricky. I know you’re as excited to see the coronation as Peter. You better not fly away from me.”

“What about Star Drop? How’s her relationship with Peter?”

“Doing great. Ever since you and… what’s that dragon’s name?”

“Smolder.”

“Yeah, Smolder. Ever since you and Smolder left our house, Star Drop is feeling closer to him than before. She even tells him about her interest in the Wonderbolts.”

“That’s right,” Star Drop said. “It takes time for me to be more close to Peter. And when he heard about the coronation in Griffonstone, he jumped for joy.” Sun Snow nodded in agreement.

They then heard the while blowing, signaling their departure to Griffonstone. “Alright, we’ll talk again soon. I’m going back to my seat.”

“Okay. See you later then,” Sun Snow said to Gallus.

“I also wish you the very best for Griffonstone,” Star Drop complimented, which made Gallus smile. He then went back to his seat, the same goes with his parents.

A few seconds later, the train left the station heading towards Griffonstone. The train ride is a little mixed. Many of them were still hesitant to see how the griffons would be acting, hopefully not being mean nor cranky, though most of them had hoped after hearing that Gilda have laid down the law. The trip from Ponyville to Griffonstone took only between an hour or two. Some passengers took a long nap, and Gallus was one of those passengers who took a quick nap; while others chatted silently with each other, still talking about the renovation of Griffonstone, including the ones from the school’s journalist club.

After a long ride, they finally arrived at Griffonstone. The passengers got out of their coaches and started trekking towards the renovated kingdom. Several of them were amazed by the new look of its original home, which includes enhanced houses. They also noticed the decorations hanging around, thanks to Pinkie Pie working her hardest.

“Hi, everyone!” the pink pony called. “Welcome to the new improved Griffonstone!”

“Hey, Pinkie,” Glynn called. The party pony saw the griffons and other creatures show up.

“Well, You’re all just in time,” the pony spoke, “we’ve got the tables and chairs set up.” Pinkie pointed to the tables that were just having some table clothes placed on them.

“Wow, this place looks better than the former!” Silverstream cooed.

“Look at all of these houses,” Ocellus said in amazement.

“Look like Queen Gilda did a great job on this,” Smolder expressed.

They flew around the newly rebuilt Griffonstone with the other students being impressed. “Looks like somebody put a lot of effort into this place,” Gus commented.

“It does look splendid,” Gale added. He flew around to see if he could find his home.

Grace looked around with Gregoria until they spotted an old female griffon sitting at one of the tables. “Granny Goldie!” they called.

The griffon adjusted her glasses and looked over to the two students approaching her. “Grace! Greggy!” she exclaimed happily. “How are you, my little ones?”

“We’re fine,” Gregoria replied. “How about you?”

“I’m just being chipper. Everyone’s been acting nicer around here. I knew that Grayson was one of the toxins that are keeping this place down.”

“Yep, and we’re glad he’s gone,” Grace noted. “The less spoken about him, the better.”

Geena, meanwhile, was looking around for her mother. She promised herself that she’ll be with her to see the coronation. That was until she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw her mother standing behind her with a smile on her face.

“Mom!” Geena exclaimed and gave a warm hug.

“Oh, Geena! I’m so happy to see you again,” Gloria cheered.

“Same to you, mom,” Geena said. The two let go of each other’s hug as Garry caught up with them.

“Hello, Miss Gloria. How are you feeling right now?” Garry asked.

“Much better, thank you,” Gloria explained. “I’ve finally managed to clean up the entire house since he isn’t around anymore.”

"Good riddance I say. So, what are you two going to do next?”

“Hard to say. Grayson was one of the worst griffons I’ve met in my life. Now that he’s away, we don’t have anything to worry about."

“I’ll be fine with that, mom,” Geena spoke. She then looked towards Gallus, who was with Peter and his family. “Hey, Gallus, Peter, come here!”

The blue and beige griffons heard Geena's calling. With the bigger griffon by his side, Peter flew over to the group of griffons. “Peter, I like you to meet my friends,” Gallus spoke. “That’s Geena, and that’s Garry. They’re very competitive…”

While Gallus helped the chick-cub break the ice, his parents looked around for Gilda with Quartz’s help. “So, you think I’d make a good teacher for them?” Quartz, who was walking beside Gadget, asked.

“I’m positive that you can do it,” Glynn commented. He stopped flying in mid-air as he looked towards the castle. “I have a feeling that our answers have been looking at us in the face this entire time.”

“I knew it,” Gadget said. “Since that place was so messed up, I kind of let it blend in with the background.” Both griffons felt kind of foolish to overlook the castle of all places. Quartz walked back to check on their son while they checked out the castle.

They were already inside the castle. “Hello?” Glynn called. “Gilda?! Where are you?”

“In here!” called a voice. The two followed the sound of where the voice came from and eventually found Gilda, in her bedroom, with her dress on. Dash and Rarity were admiring her look as Gallus’s parents entered the room.

“My, my, Gilda,” Glynn gasped. “You look magnificent.”

“Thank you,” the soon-to-be queen replied. “I’m glad this look will be worth it.”

“Your welcome for this,” Rarity spoke. “I’ll be outside seeing how the progress is going.”

“You need me for anything, G?” Dash asked.

“So far, I'm good at the moment,” Gilda responded. “You go ahead and check to see if there’s anything important that needs attending.”

“Sure thing. I’ll take care of that, your majesty.” Dash winked at her and walked away with Rarity as her friend was left with the other two griffons.

“That needs some time to get used to,”

“I don’t think a close friend has to call you ‘Your majesty’ every time they address you,” Glynn stated.

“Rarity didn’t call Twilight ‘Your highness’, Gilda remembered. “She addressed her like a normal friend. I’d have her address me by my real name.”

“That’d be wise, I’d say.”

“How are you adjusting to the new royal life?” Gadget asked.

“I honestly… I think I’m ready,” Gilda responded. “Would you believe me if I got some confidence from a dream?”

“…Possibly. It is good that you’re over this situation.”

“Yeah, I’ve got some other royals to help me out when my back’s against the wall. By the way, how are you and Gallus doing?”

“We’re doing much better, and so is he. He’s almost flying again."

“Wow! I see he’s almost recovering.” Gilda looked at the mirror seeing herself in the dress and imagined herself wearing the crown.

“Well, you’re doing amazing,” Glynn spoke. “We’ll just be waiting outside and check on Gallus. He’s watching Peter at the moment.”

“Isn’t that chick-cub that got adopted by a family in Cloudsdale?” Both griffons nodded in confirmation. “Sweet. I hope I get to meet him soon.”

“We’ll check on him and see if he wants to meet you,” Gadget spoke. "Good luck on your coronation, Gilda.” The two left the room as the future queen took a few minutes to prepare herself.

She breathes in and out slowly as she needs to gain confidence. She looked at her reflection on the mirror again and thought about everything she experience in her dream with Grover.

“King Grover… I know you’re watching me right now. I promise I won’t let you down.”

Later, Gustave pushed a three-layered cake towards the coronation, where Pinkie helped place it on the table with the rest of the pastries, which kind of looked pitiful in comparison. “Ah, my finest work,” Gustave commented. The cake had purple icing covering each layer with golden frosting decorating the edges.

“This looks so tasty,” Pinkie commented. She was doing her best to resist taking a bite.

“Contrôlez-Vous. We'll have a piece right after the queen is crowned.” Pinkie listened and stepped away from the cake.

Gilda took a peek outside of the castle’s window and could see plenty of griffons starting to sit down as well as the students from the School of Friendship. Then she saw a couple of creatures enter. There was Prince Rutherford, Queen Novo, King Thorax, Dragon Lord Ember, and Twilight Sparkle. The alicorn princess was walking towards the castle, accompanied by two guards that were carrying a small box. Gilda watched the other royal get to their designated seats.

“Gilda.” The soon-to-be queen jumped and found Greta standing beside her. “Your crown is here,” the royal messenger declared.

“Oh… I saw it from downstairs. Princess Twilight’s guards were carrying it,” Gilda responded. She took a deep breath as her girlfriend could tell she was nervous.

“Gilda, are you okay?”

“It’s nothing. I need to… take deep breathe for a moment.” Both griffons looked to see Twilight enter the room with the guards carrying the box.

“Okay, Gilda,” the alicorn spoke, wearing a confident smile. “It’s finally time. And everycreature is ready to witness it. Are you ready?”

The griffon in a dress collected herself before responding with, “I’m ready when you are. Let’s do this!”

“That’s the spirit!”

Twilight then went out to the balcony together with Gilda, where they can see everycreature talking with each other while waiting. Then on cue, with her hoof raised in the air, her guards sound their trumpets with melody, getting the crowd’s attention. The guards then placed their horns down, and Princess Twilight, who’s holding the microphone, and Gilda flew above the crowd to allow her to make an opening statement.

“Citizens of Griffonstone!” Princess Twilight proclaimed. “I greet you all a good afternoon. Today on this special event, I am happy to announce that with years of greed, cruelty, neglect, and various other misdeeds, Griffonstone has now finally entered a new era; one where all griffons can live in full harmony and prosperity with each other and creatures across Equestria and the Beyond. To help lead this kingdom into this new dawn, may I beseech you to direct your attention… to your new ruler… Gilda the Griffon.”

With the applause from the audience, Twilight passed the microphone to Gilda. She took a deep breath, and with courage, she speaks up from her heart.

“Citizens of Griffonstone, the Beyond, …and Princess Twilight of Equestria” Gilda declared with confidence and then starts her speech.

“Welcome. It is an honor for me to be your very first ruler of this kingdom after many years of disorderliness and chaos within our society. I’m very happy to see all of you here, so we can leave all the terrible ways of our home in the past. We’re reviving, we’re making our comeback, we’re bringing back the golden era that was once lost, we’re making it better for all, even outside of Griffonstone. I’m proud that all of you here are going to witness this blessed historic moment, especially for the young ones. We’ve been faced with so many challenges and difficulties in the past, especially when our home was destroyed by a specific group which I’ll not mention its name; they have been living under the chains of slavery and torture and been indoctrinated with immoral beliefs, and now they’re free, they’ll never live under that fragile roof again.

It’s been a long journey for griffons like me to come here this far. Ever since King Grover has made and found the Idol of Boreas, our kingdom became a very prosperous society, until… it fell again under King Guto. And, with the help from my good friends from the outside, I realized that the Idol was only a golden statue, it was only a symbol, like the Elements of Harmony as Princess Twilight here has said before. We don’t need that golden figure to make this kingdom look stronger, we have our hearts and actions to do what’s right to make a better community, and all of you can make a grand difference.

We still have a chance to make a good relationship with each other as a family. We also still have a chance to make good allies from within and outside. We cannot rely more on just money and valuables in our saddlebags, we all rely more on peace, progress, and responsibility. I’ve seen griffons before doing things that are vile, disgusting, and… downright cruel. But those kinds of creatures have no place here now. Our future generation will learn from what we’ve done and what they’ve done in the past, and they’ll fully understand and will become role models for the future.

My decision on being your queen is the one I never regret. I highly doubt I’d be able to get here on my own, I’ve had help from friends from all over Equestria and even beyond to help show me what we could be. If King Grover were alive today, he would’ve been more joyful than ever. I’ve seen him in my vision, and his spirit was proud of all I’ve done.

Citizens, let’s not look back on our tragic past as it has moved further away from time, let us instead look forward to the future for the very bright era to come. I promise to make Griffonstone great, peaceful, and prosperous again. I promise that I’ll allow every one of you to secure your individual rights as a citizen, allow you to voice out any concerns and criticisms regarding the problems out of your beaks, and above all things, every parent here must take great care of their own children; but if anyone dares to abuse and harass that right of the other, then they’ll face severe punishment according to the law and justice will be truly served, as it has been observed recently.

Remember this, my friends: This is not the end, everything is just the beginning.

From the bottom of my heart, I hope that we can help spread this era of peace throughout future generations. I thank you all for your support. I also want to thank all of my very close friends who also have their full support for me; if it wasn’t for them, I’d not be here to do what’s right. Now then, it’s time to march forward and unite as one! For the sake of our generations! For King Grover! For Griffonstone!”

With that, the crowd gave a loud round of applause, which made Gilda smile. Soon, Greta flew over to them with the box, which she opened up revealed the new crown. This gold crown has a ruby in the middle with a pattern of emeralds and diamonds beneath it, and it has a statue of a griffon on top, which represents strength prosperity instead of greed. Twilight levitated the crown above Gilda’s head.

“With great dedication, I now present to you…” she then lowered the crown onto her head, “Gilda, Queen of Griffonstone!” The crowd had let out several cheers and whistles as their new queen had never felt more proud. Greta then gave her the queen’s scepter, which is made of pure silver, with a tip of the scepter that has a head of an eagle on one side and a head of a lion on the other. She grabbed it, gave Greta a bow as a sign of respect, and raised it proudly in front of the audience, which made them cheer more.

After everyone had calmed down, they started helping themselves to the pastries. While Gustave required a small fee for each dessert, nobody cared that much. Gilda was offered some of the cake for free and walked over to where the other leaders were.

“Welcome to royal club,” Rutherford lauded.

“Congratulations,” Ember applauded.

“Thanks a lot,” Gilda responded. “It feels great.”

“So, how does it feel to finally be the queen of Griffonstone?” Thorax asked.

“So far… it’s not bad. But I’ll not put my expectations too high thinking that it’s too easy.”

“This place is looking better than from what I heard it was like,” Novo commented. “What other plans do you have after this celebration?”

“Right now… I’m thinking of working out the new tax laws. After that, I’m going to be assigning some new roles like guards for the castle. Ember, you think you could help with the training?”

“Sure thing,” the Dragon Lord responded. “Anything for an ally like you.”

“I could have Pharynx help out too,” Thorax suggested. “He knows what it’s like to be a soldier.”

“Whatever works, I’ll go for it,” Gilda said. “Thanks for your help.” They sat and chatted for a little while longer until they saw Grandpa Gruff walk over to their group. They were all confused to see him while the newly crowned queen groaned. “Give me a minute. I’ll be right back.” Gilda rolled her eyes as she turned to face the old griffon. “What do you want from me, Gruff?”

“Gilda, I had a feeling that you wouldn’t be cut out to be the queen," Gruff spoke. “I thought wrong.”

The new queen tilted her head in confusion. “What’re you talking about?”

“I just tossed the responsibility of you being the new ambassador of Griffonstone because…”

“You didn’t care?” Gilda answered.

"Exactly. However, after the ordeal yesterday, I have better hopes for you.”

“You serious?”

“I’m seriously serious. I’ve seen some of the chick-cubs that need proper attention. Gavin! Graff!” Two young griffons flew over to the old grump and stood beside him. “I’m trying to teach them new ways until they’re old enough to go to the school in Ponyville.”

“That’s… a very good plan, I say. Maybe I should start with building a school here.”

“I’m only taking on a few griffs. Don’t expect me to be a teacher.”

“Wouldn’t expect you to do that, but I’ll give you credit for inspiring the idea.” Gruff just smiled as he walked away with the young griffs by his side as Rainbow Dash flew over to the royal griffon.

“What did he say?” the pegasus asked.

“He gave us some more hope for the future,” Gilda explained. "You think it’d be a good idea to have a school here?”

“I think so. If you’re going to do that, you need to plan on a budget.”

“Thought so. I wouldn’t want to leave the work all for you.” Both friends chuckled as the pegasus gave the queen a play punch. It looked to be a good time for all. While nobody noticed it, a certainly ghostly king looked at the creatures celebrating the new dawn of the era. Grover simply smiled before ascending into the air and disappearing right into thin air.