All throughout the School of Friendship, students' talk and laughter filled the halls as they prepared to break for the Holiday. The decorations, supervised by Professors Belle and Pie, were especially festive this year, with Professor Belle adding her unicorn magic to the tinsels and garlands, which added a special twinkle and shine that outmatched the previous year. And, even though the students would be spending Hearth's Warming with their families, and thus away from the School, everycreature's heart was uplifted by the beauty of the spectacle.
Everycreature...except one.
Gallus was well used to living on the fringes. Sneered at by the other Griffons for being "pony-colored," he lived alone and seldom interacted with anygriff other than Gilda, who was the closest one he had to a friend. But the year before, when word had reached the Griffon Empire of the ponies opening a so-called "School of Friendship," it was she who had told him about it and encouraged him to go. Openly, he had scoffed along with the other griffons at one of the few gatherings with which he'd taken part...but secretly, once he was alone in his one-room hovel, he'd taken the poster he'd stolen from the Town Square and read and reread it. A place where...where creatures from all over Equestria would actually...live together?! With nocreature fighting another for food or shelter? It sounded far too good to be true!
But...he had nothing to lose by trying, and he certainly had no real reason to remain...so about a week later, he gathered his few belongings, waited until the cover of night, and then tried to sneak out unnoticed. Only to be stopped by a derisive voice asking, "Where do you think you're going?" Gallus winced and turned around, only to see the one everygriff called "Grandpa Gruff" staring at him from his porch.
"I...I'm just going for a night flight...nothing special," Gallus tried, but the look on the old griffon's face told him he wasn't fooled.
He chuckled. "No need to lie to me, sonny," he grinned. "I can see you're heading off somewhere far away, what with that bag of your stuff thrown over your shoulder and from the looks of it, everything you own." He took a puff of his pipe, leaned forward, and sneered, "You're going to live with those ponies, aren't you?"
Gallus raised his chin. "So what if I am?"
Gruff cackled, "Haw! You'll be back in a week, you young fool! Nocreature does somethin' for nothin', so this is just a trick by those ponies to get a bunch of noodleheads like yourself into their kingdom and then use you for free labor!" His grin grew wider. "You'll see!"
Though he tried to keep up a confident expression, Gallus couldn't help but be affected by the old geezer's words, for after all, he'd never even seen a pony, let alone been to Equestria, so how could he know what he'd find? Plus, even as bad-tempered and unpleasant as Gruff was (and to be honest, he was like that with everygriff), he was still older and possibly wiser. Maybe...maybe he was...right?
But no...anyplace had to be better than here...so...he'd take his chances. Gallus frowned and said, "I'm still going, old griff, and I don't care what happens after."
As he turned away, Gruff shouted, "Wait!" Gallus looked back, only to see that same grin again. "I can tell you what to expect once you get there! I've been to Equestria, so I know how they are." He then paused and said something uncharacteristic.
"This is something you feel strongly about, isn't it?" Gallus' brows raised at his tone, and then he slowly nodded his head. The old griffon smiled. "Don't think this makes us friends or anything, but if it's that important to you...I'll take you there and see you get settled."
Gallus couldn't keep the shock off his face. "W...why would you do that for me?"
"Grandpa" frowned. " 'Cause I don't trust them ponies, and you're my kind...we gotta look out for each other." Then, his grin grew greasy as he held out his claw. "Plus, you're gonna pay me!"
Gallus sighed and reached into his meager bits sack.
While Gallus and the other non-pony students were certainly not used for "free labor," there were a few...cultural hiccups.
Such as the first time the griffon showed up at lunch after finding his own meal out in the wild.
He was still cleaning the blood and fur off his beak, oblivious to the reactions of the pony students, when a shadow loomed over him. He looked up to see Professor Shy's kind face smiling down at him. "Come with me," she quietly said, then turned and led him away to her office. Nocreature knows what she told him, as he never spoke about it, but he never again did his own hunting the entire time he was a student.
That was all last year, and he'd gotten over all his social faux pas and made lasting friends among beings he'd only thought of as prey animals a few scant months before attending the School...but now? Now, he couldn't imagine his life without any of them.
Which made it all the more imperative that he did not ruin their holiday as he had done last year.
His plan had so far worked perfectly. He'd said his cheery goodbyes to his friends, packed his bags, and flew off in the direction of Griffonstone...only to wait until the cover of darkness and fly silently back to the empty school. He'd left the window of his second-floor dorm room slightly ajar, and if luck was on his side, one of the janitors hadn't noticed and relatched it. Otherwise, he'd be spending the holiday out in the woods, for he wasn't going to go..."home."
As he snuck back into the dorm and cautiously looked around, his mind was filled with both turmoil and regret. While he hadn't been...happy...back in Griffinstone, at least he hadn't known any other way of living, for everyone he knew lived the same way: surly, uncooperative, unfriendly...gruff...and that was all he'd expected when he'd made his way to Equestria. Gilda had told him of her experiences with the pony Flight School and her friendship with Professor Dash, but he'd only half believed her tales. Now...he'd lived among them for over a year and seen for himself, so he didn't know how miserable he'd been.
So he'd vowed he would NEVER go back to Griffinstone!
Once he'd satisfied himself the School was indeed empty, he made himself a nest in front of the Hearth's Warming tree and fell asleep each night staring up at it. They had no such customs back home; one day there was the same as another, and it was simply one more reason never to return. His beak turned red as he remembered how he had ruined the tree the year before in his desperate attempt to get all of his friends to stay with him, and a single tear threatened to slip down his cheek, but he angrily wiped it away as he consoled himself with the knowledge he'd never be so selfish again!
He was just beginning to drift off to sleep when he heard a quiet, "I thought I might find you here..." He nearly jumped out of his feathers and spun around!
"Gah!! Who is that?!" He brandished his claws and peered into the darkened corners. "Show yourself!" A delicate blue figure stepped out of the shadows and into the twinkling lights of the tree. Gallus' face fell. "S...Silverstream? Wha...What are you doing here? Why aren't you with your family?!" She smiled sweetly at him.
"I couldn't leave my friend to spend Hearth's Warming alone, now could I?"
Her answer was extremely unhelpful! "How did you know I was here?! I didn't tell anyone, no one knew what I was planning; what gives?!"
She giggled as she walked up to him, then stood next to him in his nest. "I know you better than you know yourself, I'd say. I know you don't have any real family in Griffinstone. I know you're all alone back there. So when you were so "happy" about returning, I knew it was an act." She looked down. "This looks very comfortable. Shall we?" Gallus blushed as his throat went dry. She giggled again and gave him a gentle push to turn him so they both faced the tree, then she settled down with her legs folded underneath her. Gallus stared at her for another moment, then joined her.
Their sides were warmly touching as she looked up at the tree and said, "It's quite lovely, isn't it?"
He answered, "Yes...yes it is..."
But he wasn't looking at the tree.
