The Writing of The Bonds of Love (Chapter Eleven: Closure, Part Two) · 8:04pm May 28th, 2023
And we're back! Due to apparent word count limitations, this chapter's discussion required it be split into separate posts, and today I bring you the second half, containing the oh so tumultuous resolution to Gallus and Grandpa Gruff's fued. Let's not waste anymore time and get right on into it!
~ Never Break the Chain ~
Not much to say about the opening to this scene. Gallus obviously wasn’t going to go searching for Gruff, but the girls all act as adults and keep him from leaving anyway. Gilda even calls Gallus out for blaming himself for Gruff being out there and preemptively heads that off by reassuring him this isn’t his fault and finding Gruff isn’t his responsibility.
To think, I considered opening this scene with the girls having already left and Gallus sulking as he watched them disappear into the snow through the window. Another thing I considered was having Gallus break, punch, or throw something to vent his frustrations, but that seemed far too violent for him.
Instead, I had him scream into a pillow and reassure himself Gruff’s actions weren’t his fault. Because, again, screw Gallus backsliding on his character development for the sake of emotional drama.
Besides, if we need emotional drama, there’s plenty to wring out of Gavin. And since we already did that to the poor kid last chapter, I skip the pretenses and let him be angry from the get-go. And yet another implication of Griffonstone’s past flaws was Gavin actively rebuking Gallus for having such a strong reaction to “one dumb fight.”
“So what if Gruff upset and hurt you; can’t you suck it up and deal with it?” is effectively what Gavin is saying—Not out of malice, but because he’s been taught he too needs to follow that very rule.
You’d be correct to assume this means Gavin has been on the receiving end of Gruff’s belittlement; I even considered making that more prevalent but decided not to. Not because I wanted to leave things subtle, but rather to focus on Gavin’s actual source of anger.
Gallus broke his promise. And while Gruff made him do so, that doesn’t change the fact Gallus lied and got Gavin’s hopes up. Though I won’t deny a part of this conversation feels recycled due to last chapter’s dinner conversation—again, because I got carried away with that scene.
Nevertheless, Gavin is upset, and he has every right to be. Knowing this, Gallus immediately concedes Gavin was right and this whole situation isn’t fair whatsoever. You know? As opposed to attempting to calm Gavin down with empty platitudes and generic life lessons about “accepting change” or whatever else Gabby would have tried saying.
But after the dinner scene last chapter, it wouldn’t make much sense for Gavin to go “Why do you even wanna go back to Ponyville anyway!?” here. Instead, I grant Gavin some character development of his own by having him not lambaste Gallus further for breaking his promise, but rather, ask why Gruff made Gallus break it to begin with, what could Gruff have possibly said or done to make Gallus want to high-tail it outta Griffonstone, and most importantly, why did Gruff send Gallus away in the first place when he was already so happy in Griffonstone.
But the truth is Gallus wasn’t happy in Griffonstone; he never was. And Gallus admits as such, not bothering to hide what an absolute wreck he had been for most of the story.
Like I said, I wanted Gallus to wholeheartedly respect Gavin’s intelligence, not sugarcoat everything just because Gavin’s a kid. Yes, Gavin is a kid, hence why Gallus thinks over how best to explain everything, but he does still explain everything. Gavin deserved that at least.
Plus, it gave me an excellent opportunity to play “retroactive cover-up” and answer the unasked question of why Canon Gallus never had the problems T.B.O.L. Gallus had. The answer: He wanted so much to be happy and confident, he tricked himself into believing he really was those things and acted accordingly—yet another recycling of the personality issue. And it’s only now, after all his counseling and growth that Gallus can appreciate how awful he truly felt at the time. It’s a rather dark thing to think about, but there is light and hope in that Gallus can now say with 100% certainty he is a far cry better now than he was then.
The pain never goes away; he still has bad days where it’s easy to slip back into old, unhealthy habits, but nevertheless, Gallus is healing. Day-by-day. Step-by-step. He’s still walking the road to recovery, and every day his burden gets that much lighter. And if he’s anything to thank for that, it’s the oodles of therapy he gets from Best Pony Starlight and the absolutely phenomenal support network that is Silverstream, Sandbar, Yona, Ocellus, and Smolder.
It all makes for a nice recap of Gallus’ story so far. Whether or not it was warranted is up for debate, but I enjoy it regardless. It’s a wonderful way to properly end Gallus’ journey to recovery, and also an excellent starting point for the final third of the story.
This is all well and good, but it gets even better because this scene isn’t just about bookending Gallus’ recovery. It’s about Gavin too. Because the child took note of something Gallus said in particular: That Gallus hid his fears and heartache.
Something Gavin’s been doing too…
Aw yeah, boys and girls! It’s time to draw some parallels between the two orphans! Gallus wasn’t the only one to blame himself for his predicament, but thankfully, recounting his journey to stop doing that allows Gavin to consider the same.
Gallus doesn’t care about parallels, however; he’s horrified Gavin was unknowingly emulating him again and doesn’t hesitate to swoop the fledgling into a hug and fervently assure it wasn’t his fault.
And though Gavin tries protesting, he’s caught off-guard by Gallus crying over him. Why? Because I was watching Pop Culture Detective again, and learned of a certain social stigma about how men usually aren’t “allowed” to cry in media, and if they do, they’re actively belittled for it. And me, the oh so magnificent stereotype breaker I am touched upon the issue by having Gallus openly cry over learning Gavin was blaming himself for his orphanhood and be completely unabashed about it.
Obviously, in-universe, it’s also to showcase Gallus’ character development again by having him not the least bit ashamed to cry—something he struggled with way back in Ch.1(Transition)—and yet another implication for how bad Past Griffonstone was/is with Gavin being utterly dumbfounded that it was okay to cry, let alone be sad. I even considered having Gavin rebuke Gallus for crying on pure instinct but decided against the idea since Gavin was too adorable to make act that awful.
Who told Gavin he wasn’t allowed to be sad or cry and whether or not Gallus learned the answer, I’ll leave to your interpretation. But I will say if Gallus did find out who it was, he yelled at them. A lot.
For now, Gallus’ main concern is comforting Gavin and reaffirming that, yes, it’s okay to feel sad and cry. Every feeling you feel is equally important, and that includes sorrow. No matter what anyone tells you, it’s okay to feel your feelings and be sad.
And because I’m trying to finish this scene before I drag it out any further Gavin is an absolute smarty-pants who looks up to Gallus in every way imaginable, he immediately accepts Gallus’ words and stops bottling his feelings, launching into Gallus’ embrace and begging him to not go, to not leave him alone again.
But as painful as it is, Gavin doesn’t get his wish. Gallus doesn’t owe Griffonstone anything. He never did. And it still wouldn’t be fair to ask him to stay when he didn’t want to, especially now. So despite Gavin’s pleas, Gallus is still going to leave. Thus, he offersnot an empty, “Okay, Gav, I’ll stay, just for you” or similar. He merely holds Gavin close and continues comforting the crying child.
The girls were originally going to return with Gruff right about now, but I didn’t think it’d be realistic they found him in the five-or-so minutes Gallus and Gavin were talking. Thus, I have roughly a quarter of an hour pass while Gavin bawls his eyes out. This change was certainly for the best, not just for the realism, but also for the fact it allowed me to let Gallus and Gavin’s discussion sit for an extra few minutes, rather than interrupt it right at the emotional climax just for some cheap, five-second-long drama surge.
They continue talking for a little longer, and although Gavin bluntly acknowledges he’s most certainly not alright and desperately wishes Gallus would stay regardless, he remembers the dinner conversation and recognizes it wouldn’t be right to ask Gallus to stay.
But that doesn’t mean Gavin’s wrong for wanting that—something Gallus makes abundantly clear. Plus, even if Gallus is going to go home, he still finds it sweet Gavin wants him to stay and finish exploring Griffonstone together.
And look at that! We get another bit of redundancy with how Gavin reveals Gilda, Greta, and Gabby all told him not to talk to Gallus about everything… Despite the fact we already confirmed as such last chapter. 
Thankfully, we’re distracted from that by the confirmation Gallus will return to Griffonstone…eventually. Yes, he still hates the place, and yes, he considers Ponyville his true home. But he still has the character development necessary to accept Griffonstone has indeed gotten better. Even if it’s not his home, there are plenty of things for him there—Gavin being one of them. Like it or not, he grew up there, so even if he doesn’t want to live there ever again, Gallus fully accepts Griffonstone and his own status as a griffon are a part of him and his life.
Sooo…? Yeah. Despite the hassle with Gruff, Gallus accomplished exactly what he set out to do with Griffonstone: Find reasons to not hate the place anymore.
Well, he does still hate it, but you know what I mean.
And just to be on the safe side, Gavin double-checks to make sure Gallus will keep his promise to visit more this time, much to Gallus’ inward wince. But one promise he’ll definitely keep is to write to Gavin more often.
Gavin responds by going full Gallus-fanboy, promising to write every day, and though Gallus knows full-well he’ll run out of things to say—it’s only realistic—he agrees to do so for a little while, doing absolute wonders for cheering up the kiddo.
I said it before, I’ll say it again: I love Gavin! 
Back to our regularly scheduled plot, the girls return, dragging a half-conscious Gruff in with them and plopping him down on the couch, and Gallus immediately launches into a panicked, adrenaline-fueled frenzy of asking if Gruff is okay over and over again.
Griselda was going to show up here too, but given I made it a point to have her close the library and go home early, it wouldn’t make sense if she, by some plot-ordained miracle, bumped into the other girls and joined their search for Gruff.
Kudos to Gruff for knowing Gallus enough to know he loves the library and thinking he’d go there first. Unfortunately, he was wrong; Gallus fled to the closest place he had a support network. Also kudos to Gruff for knowing he probably shouldn’t speak right now, given what happened earlier, and shutting up when Gilda told him to. … Also unfortunately, that doesn’t last long.
Also, no, I don’t know what that medicine Greta gave Gruff was as I don’t know the first thing about treating hypothermia beyond the person needing to stay warm. But I needed Greta to do something other than stand around; why do you think Gabby noticed Gavin was up and asked about it? It wasn’t entirely ‘cause I figured it realistic one of the girls would notice that. Besides, I figured, “Hey, no one’s gonna care too much about him getting a generic pill shoved down his beak to help treat his hypothermia.” Still thought I’d bring that up here because I apparently love poking fun at myself.
Just like Gallus loves asking if Gruff really is okay in this scene. But you can already guess why that is: Emotions are complicated.
Luckily, Gruff makes them uncomplicated for a brief moment by saying something so disgustingly horrid, the only emotion anygriff can bring themselves to feel is pure rage, which Gilda expresses not with a punch or smack—warranted or not, Gruff isn’t exactly in peak physical condition right now—but with a flick to the eye.
Gallus’ response, meanwhile, is to give Gruff the same cold shoulder treatment the buzzard gave him back when they first reunited, and leave without another word.
He doesn’t need to say anything anyway; the girls say plenty on his behalf, enough that Gallus has to hold a pillow over his head to blot it out. How he still heard his door open and close a moment later rather than see his door open and close is me using the wrong verb and not realizing until the re-edit a mystery, but said door opening heralds the arrival of Gavin who plops down next to Gallus, not wanting him to be alone, and joins in on the fun of blotting out the sound of angry griffon noises.
I then spend about a week and a half trying to continue where I left off, getting a sentence or two down, then dropping the story because…? I don’t know; I kept distracting myself from it all over again.
Same thing happened again when discussing this chapter for the “Writing of…” I don’t know what it is; maybe it was the burnout returning, maybe I was just bored, or maybe I was just so exhausted from my IRL job, I just couldn’t work up the mental energy to continue writing for too long.
Thankfully, and obviously, I got through it; though the upcoming scene with Gilda was certainly more taxing to write than it had any right to be. And while that was most certainly due to that weird pseudo-burnout relapse, it probably didn’t help that this Gilda scene was never originally intended.
Originally, Gruff was going to be completely unconscious when the girls brought him back; he’d still be alive of course, he just wouldn’t have gotten the chance to say anything to Gallus like he ultimately did. Afterward, we’d timeskip to the day before Gallus left.
The scene would open with Gruff waking up to find Gallus either sitting by his bedside or hovering over him. Regardless, Gallus would not be remotely pleased, furiously berating Gruff back for all the crap he intentionally or unintentionally put Gallus through. Gruff would naturally argue back, but Gallus would then leave the room, not caring that Gruff was calling after him, still trying to explain his side—Sound familiar? The next day, Gruff would have somehow convinced Gallus to talk with him one last time where they’d have basically the same conversation they ultimately did.
After some thought, I realized that idea was stupid. Yeah, Gruff hurt Gallus, but would Gallus really be that petty to sit there and wait for Gruff to wake up so he could spend twenty minutes yelling at him? Even after Gruff nearly died in that blizzard, chasing after Gallus to what was most likely apologize? Yeah, no. Gallus’ anger in that context would seem, though justified, unnecessarily cruel. Not to mention the rather repetitive setup of the two Gallus/Gruff scenes.
I still needed them to have that fight though, so the next best thing was to figure out how to justify Gallus rebuking Gruff to begin with. Thus, Gruff said that particular line.
This led to another question, to my dismay: Why would Gallus want to even be in the same room as Gruff? Outraged or no, Gallus now knows better than to give into that outrage and engage with somegriff he’s spent the entire story hurting himself over and finally accepts to be a terrible creature. For goodness’ sake, Gallus already knew the best thing to do when he first fought with Gruff was to get the hay out of Gruff’s house and away from him. So then, what would drive Gallus to want to seek out Gruff and talk to him at all?
First answer was Gabby, having her come to Gallus and convince him to talk to Gruff. Two reasons this didn’t happen:
#1) Gabby, at this point, wouldn’t have done this. She’d already admitted she believed Gruff loved Gallus and apologized profusely when the opposite seemed to be confirmed, so regardless of optimism, there was no chance Gabby would have presently believed Gruff did love Gallus. If anything, she’d have probably morosely advised Gallus to not bother so much as looking at Gruff on his way out.
And #2) I had already given plenty of time to Gabby over the course of this arc and wanted one of the other griffons to have the spotlight.
Greta was obviously not going to get it due to being a glorified background character; Gavin had plenty of screentime himself; and Griselda certainly wasn’t around to comment on the situation.
That left only Gilda. And good thing too, I wanted to do more with her.
The “Savior of Griffonstone” oddly didn’t get much time to shine in the chapters when we were there, and that never sat well with me. Yeah, there are reasons why Gilda got relegated to the background, but that didn’t make it any less right she barely interacted with Gallus till this point. So, since I had the chance, I didn’t hesitate to give her and Gallus a scene.
I think it took me around three or so days to fully complete it too, so that sucked. But the end product certainly speaks for itself.
We still timeskip to when Gallus is about to leave, and though he’s finally, fully accepted he can’t keep hurting himself over Gruff’s love, he’s hurting regardless—Even still trying to find some way to justify Gruff’s words before catching himself and commanding himself to stop defending Gruff.
Gilda pops in, and there’s no use beating around the bush—She’s there to convince Gallus to give Gruff one last chance. But before we get to that, we get a glimpse of the relationship Gallus has with Gilda.
Long story short: They’re friends. Simple as that. If anything, they’ve been friends since before Gallus left Griffonstone, though you can bet they never once said as such until after he attended the Friendship School and she started fixing Griffonstone. It’s clear they have a history together, and though we never learn specifics—other than they know about each other’s nerdier interests—they both care for each other greatly. And it’s because of this Gilda feels so compelled to urge Gallus to talk to Gruff.
Gallus is fervently opposed to this, recognizing Gilda’s asking him to go right back into the toxic, cyclical relationship he has with Gruff. Again, I’ll elaborate further, but for now, I’d like to highlight the line:
“He’s not my dad either. And the more I keep wishing he was… The harder it is to move on,” he concluded resignedly.
You already know what’s so good about this line, but I wanted to highlight it anyway because it’s one of my favorites lines from the chapter. Another line I’d like to draw attention to is:
Gilda was ready to chastise him for his enmity, but she calmed herself
Yet another hint at how bad Griffonstone and its residents once was, through even Gilda—the leader of the Restoration Project—still coming dangerously close to reprimanding Gallus for wanting to escape an unhealthy relationship and getting snippy when she advises otherwise.
Of course, Gilda knows how wrong that is and calms herself down enough to think over exactly what it is she wants to say and for Gallus to do. But Gilda is still Gilda, and if the show’s to be believed, she never was the best at handling emotions. That said, this is a Gilda who’s been at the Restoration game for a while now, so she has the self-awareness and maturity to admit she’s not the greatest at friendship lessons and advice, preferring to leave that to the ponies.
Nevertheless, she carries on, clarifying she genuinely doesn’t want Gallus to cut off Gruff yet because I, the author, plan to have them make amends.
But why then would Gilda want them to make amends—let alone believe it even possible—became the question. Thankfully, there was a built-in explanation ripe for usage: The Rainbow Dash incident.
Gilda’s been through this exact situation before—Throwing away someone you care about more than almost anything. And needless to say, it sucked. Gallus knows; he was there to watch his friend take out her frustrations when she inevitably returned to Griffonstone. And while Gilda and Rainbow have repaired their relationship, that doesn’t mean the same will eventually be true for Gallus and Gruff.
Knowing this, and in a display of her own off-screen character development, Gilda openly confesses to the true depths of her heartache upon losing Rainbow Dash. And eagle-eyed readers might have noticed a certain something she does during this confession: Stroke her headcrest. Just like Gallus does. 
Gee, it’s almost as if Gallusabsolutely picked that up from her. 
Gallus’ counterargument: Gilda and Rainbow cared about each other; the same isn’t true for him and Gruff. So if Gallus wants to be happy and finally move on with his life and recover, the best thing he can do right now is permanently cut Gruff out of his life and give up on hoping he cares about him.
But what if Gruff did care about Gallus, and equally importantly, what if there were a way to prove it? Would Gallus be happy then, knowing for absolute certain Gruff did care?
Though he hesitates, there was no other answer Gallus could or would have given other than yes. He could be happy. The problem is Gruff’s hurt him one too many times, and now, he’s not gonna bother sticking around to find out for sure, especially when Gruff tried blaming him for the blizzard situation.
And since I wanted to avoid repeating the same mistake I made with the Schizophrenia debacle—Talking out of my a
about something I’ve very little proper experience with or understanding of—and since I also didn’t want Gilda to come across like she’s saying, “Yes! Stay with the guy who tried to guilt-trip you for his near-death experience because the plot demands you to!” I make sure to have Gilda admit she has no idea whether or not she’s right, acknowledging the very real chance she’s dead wrong, Gruff doesn’t care, and that talking to him will only hurt Gallus all over again.
And while Gallus is most certainly of the belief he should have listened to the girls and stayed home… Gilda’s equally certain Gallus deserves to know 100% either way whether Gruff does or doesn’t genuinely care about him. In other words, she wants him to have closure—Ey! Chapter title drop, yeah!
Jokes aside, the theme of closure was one I had always wanted to touch upon, considering how helpful attaining it is for someone recovering from trauma, but until now, I never had a chance to go all-in on it. And now? I took that chance.
Still silly Gilda specifically says “closure” though, but hey, I’ll get better the more I write; I promise!
What’s not silly however, is I eventually realized Gilda would need a reason to believe Gruff cared. Gabby had the generic reasons: All those letters and updates, always having a spare room available; getting Gallus out of Griffonstone… You know, the same things Gallus thought proved Gruff cared to begin with.
Gilda, however, needed something more than that. Both to undeniably prove to both Gallus and you, the audience, that maybe, just maybe Gruff genuinely cared, and to serve as the explanation why Gilda thought the same, despite her being the most hostile toward Gruff of the group. She was gung-ho about beating the stuffing out of him not two scenes prior, yet suddenly, now Gilda thinks Gruff cares about Gallus? Why?
Thus, the “Wrapping presents” line gets its payoff.
Gilda went to Gruff’s house and searched it for him, so what could she have happened to stumble across but a lone, little gift all nicely wrapped for the codger’s favorite fledgling.
The gift was always a photo, but its subject changed a bit. It was originally a picture of Gallus and Gruff fishing—when Gallus was roughly Gavin’s age—but some time later, I figured that wouldn’t be best. Not because of any emotional reason—It honestly didn’t matter what the picture’s context was so long as it was of Gallus and Gruff in happier times.
Believe it or not, what got me to change the subject of the photo was a question: When had Gallus ever mentioned having gone fishing with Gruff before this point? Answer: Never. So it would have felt like a ret-con had it remained. After all, if Gallus treasured his memories of fishing with Gruff so much, why wouldn’t he bring that up before when attempting to convince himself and others Gruff loved him?
Furthermore, if it was a picture of them fishing, who would have taken the picture? At least with Gallus leaving for the Friendship School, you can assume it was Gabby or Gilda taking a farewell photo or something—Terribly missed opportunity to not have Gilda have a similar picture to help further explain where Gruff even got the photo to begin with, but again I say, the subject of the photo was never the most important part of it. The most important part, as far as Gallus is concerned, is that Gruff even had the photo at all. That line about there being no pictures filling Gruff’s home certainly hits different right about now…
One little picture, however, isn’t exactly proof Gruff cares about Gallus, but it is enough to convince Gilda he does. As she says:
“Gallus, I won’t pretend that Gruff is a nice griffon,” Gilda resumed softly. “He’s a cranky, selfish piece of garbage! But we all care about him anyway, and he cares about all of us. Even you.”
What better way to summarize how Griffonstone as a whole feels toward Grandpa Gruff than that? But as for his relationship with Gallus specifically? Though Gallus would love nothing more than for that relationship to be amicable, there is a very real chance Gruff doesn’t care. And if that happens…? If Gallus goes out there, gives Gruff one last chance, and receives only hostility…? If Gruff shows once and for all he really doesn’t love Gallus…? What then?
The only thing Gallus should do and the only thing Gilda says he should do.
Gilda’s face darkened as she answered, “You get on that train, go back home, and never see him again. You never even write him again! You don’t owe him, us, or Griffonstone anything!”
By now, you’ve probably noticed I’ve been avoiding using a certain word beginning with the letter “a” when discussing Gruff. Don’t worry, that discussion is fast approaching, but suffice it to say…? Yeah, that particular connotation was what inspired this entire conversation about whether or not Gallus having closure and knowing for sure if Gruff loves him is worth the risk of talking to him and getting hurt all over again or worse.
Honestly, the answer is probably no. And in the real world, the answer most certainly should be no; don’t stay with people who only ever hurt you.
But Gallus is Gallus, not other people. So he thinks long and hard about the conundrum and comes to a conclusion.
Like Ocellus told him, it’s okay to want Gruff to love and care for him. But like Gallus told himself, he can’t keep hoping for that if it’s not true; it’s only hurting him in the long run. But Gallus has one thing that truly gives him the strength to face Gruff one last time: The knowledge that, even if Gruff doesn’t love him and never will, he still has plenty of friends and family both in Griffonstone and Ponyville who all love him more than Gruff ever could.
And really? That’s all he needs. So Gallus begrudgingly agrees to give Gruff one last chance, much to Gilda’s relief, under the condition he leaves the moment Gruff starts hurting him again.
I then mock myself for this last minute addition to the chapter with Gilda’s line:
“Sorry for, uh, springing all of this on you.”
Because yeah, this scene does feel awkwardly inserted into the flow of the chapter’s pacing. Thankfully, I course-correct said pacing by having Gallus immediately ask if the others are still here—they aren’t; the following scene is specifically between him and Gruff—and quickly work up the courage to go and get the confrontation over with.
Gavin then gets a brief moment to show off his book knowledge and character development by having spent that entire time helping Gruff figure out what to say/how to apologize to Gallus via the Friendship Journal. But the time has finally come for the long-awaited Gallus/Gruff scene, so Gilda hastily shoos Gavin to her side, and the pair leave.
Whether or not they were totally outside the window, listening in on the entire conversation between Gallus and Gruff, is something I’ll leave to your interpretation.
~ Father Guardian and Son, Take Two ~
Gallus and Gruff’s relationship was always an oddity. The show never truly explored their relationship beyond Gruff being his “guardian,” yet most have taken that to mean Gruff is a father figure to Gallus. How good of a father figure, however, is up to everyone’s individual interpretation.
Some stories show Gruff as a cold but otherwise caring parental figure, others have every other character berating him for being a flaming heap of garbage who treats Gallus terribly.
I’ve always leaned more toward the former of these two interpretations. Although it was impossible to say Gruff openly loved Gallus, if his casual disregard for him in “A Horse Shoe-in” is any indication, I initially presumed that “casual disregard” was the result of Gruff’s bad attitude. That he ultimately did love Gallus, but he never showed it because he wasn’t comfortable admitting such feelings due to how he was raised in Griffonstone, the capital of emotional baggage.
Such was what I intended to address in the first draft of A Day for Familywhere Gruff would make up with Gallus, thanks to a certain hippogriff’s meddling. The original reason Gruff didn’t show up for Friends and Family Day in A.D.F.F. wasn’t that he felt unwelcome in Equestria thanks to Trixie, but rather, because he was an old-timey jerk who didn’t feel remotely secure in admitting he loved Gallus like a son. And it was only after Silverstream tracked him down and convinced him how much Gallus needed Gruff—an emotionally healthy, fatherly Gruff, I should stress—in his life that Gruff would concede he needed to get over himself and tell Gallus he loved him.
I could have left it at that. I could have simply let it be that Gruff had problems showing his true feelings and how much he cared for Gallus, hiding said feelings due to little more than a bad attitude and unhealthy pride. It’s not a downright terrible explanation for his actions. A little underwhelming and simplistic, sure, but still narratively satisfactory.
And it was satisfying. … In the first draft. Which didn’t happen. Thanks to A.D.F.F.’s word count limit, I had to throw all this out and postpone my plans for Gruff. A true blessing in disguise, that.
Because I couldn’t do anything with Gruff in A.D.F.F., I had ample time to reevaluate his relationship with Gallus for T.B.O.L., and in that time, I eventually focused on one particular line Gallus himself often fretted over throughout the story.
“Gallus doesn’t need to know Ah’m proud of him.”
This one line alone changed how I perceived and wrote Gallus and Gruff’s relationship.
“Why would Gruff say that?” I asked myself. It’s easy to read the line as Gruff deflecting away from any parental responsibility he might have for Gallus. But the more I thought about the line, the more I wondered how much of a deflection it ultimately was. And eventually, I theorized Gruff wasn’t deflecting at all—or at least, only partially—rather, he genuinely meant Gallus shouldn’t need to know Gruff or anyone else was proud of him.
Make no mistake, how I came to perceive this line was directly influenced by how I wrote Gallus in T.B.O.L. If I hadn’t been writing Gallus to have problems with his self-esteem and sense of identity, I likely wouldn’t have given this line a second thought and the Gruff subplot would have subsequently suffered severely.
Nevertheless, this line did greatly influence how I wrote Gruff, and soon, I came to wonder something else: What exactly in the show did suggest Gruff cared more for Gallus than he let on?
Short answer: Nothing. There’s nothing in the show suggesting Gruff cared for Gallus as anything more than someone he’s arbitrarily the guardian of.
Yeah, as Gilda, Gabby, and Gallus all acknowledge, he always asks for updates about Gallus’ condition, but what does that show? That he wants/needs to make sure Gallus isn’t dead? That doesn’t prove anything, and Gallus even says as such. But what about when Gallus said Gruff always had a spare room available if he needed it and took care of him, etc.? Don’t forget, that was never even implied in the show; that was something I specifically added for the story.
So what then is Gallus to Gruff? Well, if it wasn’t obvious enough, I loathed the notion of Gruff being completely apathetic to the boy. I always intended for the two to make amends and work to make their relationship better, but what exactly was wrong with their relationship had now changed.
No longer did Gruff avoid Gallus purely to be a dk; rather, Gruff avoided Gallus because he knew full-well how much Gallus craved his attention and validation. It’s not that he didn’t like Gallus; it’s that he never considered himself Gallus’ parent and lashed out when Gallus or anyone else insisted he was. Hence moments like this:
“He ain’t mah kid! Ah don’t know where you got that stupid idea, but you need to get over it!”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Gramps,” she hummed sweetly. “My bad for assuming you loved Gallus when you constantly demand Gabby to bring you updates about him.”
“Well, you assumed wrong!” he snarled venomously.
Gruff’s definitely a walking trash fire, but that was never the root cause of the problems between him and Gallus. Gruff never wanted to be Gallus’ father, nor considered himself to be his father. At most, Gallus was merely Gruff’s favorite of the orphans he had to deal with. Yeah, maybe Gruff cared about Gallus a bit more than that, but that was it. The end. This was all Gallus was to Gruff: An orphan fledgling he felt sorry for and helped out on occasion.
At least? That’s what Gruff would have everyone believe, including himself. But the truth is T.B.O.L. Gruff really does care more for Gallus than he’d ever willingly admit. And he knows Gallus better than anyone else as well. And it’s for these two reasons that Gruff sent Gallus away.
Gavin wanted to know why Gruff sent Gallus to Equestria, and though Gallus wondered if it was only to get him out of Gruff’s feathers, the truth is Gruff always knew how horrible Gallus felt in Griffonstone. How sad, lonely, and guilty Gallus felt wandering the streets and wondering why his parents abandoned him.
And so the first chance he got, Gruff got Gallus out of Griffonstone. Even if he was going to “Pony-land,” Gallus would finally get a fresh start and hopefully make some happy friendships and memories. Which is exactly what happened.
What Gruff didn’t plan on happening, however, was Gallus stillconsidering him his father figure and everygriff else thinking the same. As I said, Gruff cared for Gallus but never considered himself his parent. Which is rather awkward when you realize everygriff else constantly clamored on that Gallus was Gruff’s kid regardless of what Gruff himself wanted or thought.
Now, as bad as Gruff’s role in this particular conflict is, if we are to remain entirely neutral, Gallus isn’t exactly innocent either.
What exactly would you think or do if some random child suddenly slunk up to you, basically said, “You’re my dad now whether you like it or not,” and then got everyone around you to actively side with them, then when you proceeded to not reciprocate, they had a breakdown and blamed you for it?
Was it wrong for Gallus to consider Gruff a father figure? Of course not. But does that mean Gallus was right to expect Gruff to act that part, even if he didn’t want to? Was it right for him to expect Gruff to put up pictures of him in his house? Well? I’ll leave that to you. But as far as Gruff’s concerned, the answer is a resounding no, and even Gallus often acknowledges Gruff doesn’t owe him anything.
As for why Gruff doesn’t want to consider himself Gallus’ parent? Well, that’s entirely up to you too. Perhaps Gruff just hates the idea of being a parent in any sense, hence why—as far the show said—Gruff never had any offspring. Perhaps he’s scared of the responsibility of parenthood? Or perhaps he recognizes Gallus still has a father, even if he abandoned him, and doesn’t feel it’s right to assume that role. There are any number of reasons why Gruff wouldn’t want to be considered Gallus’ father, and I’ll let you come to your own conclusions regarding that.
Nevertheless, everygriff in the story expected Gruff to act as Gallus’ father for reasons he can’t possibly fathom. By which I mean, the fandom, including me, assumed the same thing of Gruff and Gallus’ relationship, and that inspired this entire plot point.
Now, having everyone you know constantly breathe down your neck, insisting you be some random orphan’s father regardless of what you want or think and then labeling you a heartless monster for opposing that is already bad enough. But what makes it even worse is the orphan himself, or more accurately, their reasons for wanting you to be their parent.
Griffons have a rather unfortunate—though not entirely unfounded—reputation as being rude, insensitive bullies and prideful, Bit-hungry jerks. So then, how would someone like Gruff react to a fellow griffon who can’t feel proud of themselves and instead needs you to be proud of them for them.
Remember that phrase I mentioned earlier: “I’m set in my ways”? Well, it’s that exact phrase that helped me focus on Gruff’s particular mannerisms. After all, he was alive since King Gruto’s time and has since seen the fall of their kingdom and its Restoration. He’s simply from a completely different generation of griffons, one where they held their heads high and basked in their own pride and glory—Or rather, the pride and glory they felt from possessing the Idol of Boreas, but that’s beside the point.
So I made that the problem. The reason Gruff doesn’t think Gallus needs to know he’s proud of him. The reason he avoided Gallus and refused to attend every event he invited him to. The reason Gruff is so undeniably, horribly cold to Gallus all the time. And that reason is what we’ve seen Gallus spend the entire dang story doing.
Wondering why his parents could have ever abandoned him, why he just wasn’t good enough. Fearing that he deserved to be abandoned, that there was something wrong with him, that he didn’t deserve love. Bottling up his frustrations and fears, hurting himself in the process. Always devaluing his work and intelligence and importance, apologizing for the littlest of mistakes and berating himself for making said mistakes.
Always needing someone, be it Starlight, Silverstream, or Gruff… Always needing someone to tell him that, yes, he is loved, yes, he does matter, and yes, he is, has been, and always will be good enough.
Gruff has known Gallus has had all these problems since day one—it’s another reason he sent Gallus to the Friendship School—and he absolutely despises it. Not because he doesn’t understand why Gallus has problems being proud of himself, but because Gruff genuinely, thoroughly believes Gallus should be able to be proud of and secure in himself.
And it’s because Gallus hasn’t been able to be that for most of the story that Gruff refused to visit. I mean, why else would Gallus want Gruff to visit for Friends and Family Day, their play, or the Science Fair if not for Gruff to look at what Gallus had done and be proud of him. Unfortunately, it’s also because Gruff never visited that he never saw Gallus’ character development taking place.
So you can imagine his surprise—and relief—when this particular exchange happens:
“Gallus,” he began, flicking his tail irritably. “You can’t keep needin’ me and everygriff else to be proud of you for you.”
“I wasn’t asking you to be,” he fired back. “I just wanted you to be there.”
“Oh, for the love of— Gallus! You need to be proud of yourself!” he shouted, hacking violently afterward. Once Gruff caught his breath, he finished, “We’re griffons, Gallus. We’re proud of who we are, and we’re proud of what he have. Same goes for you.”
“I am proud of who I am and what I have,” he reaffirmed determinedly. “And not because I’m a griffon, but because I’m me!”
“You are?”
“Yes! I just wish you were proud of me too. And no!” Gallus interjected before Gruff could argue. “It’s not because I ‘need’ you to be proud of me or something stupid like that! I just… I ‘want’ you to be proud of me. There’s a difference…”
Scratching his neck, Gruff mulled over his words. “Do you really, truly mean all of that?” he anxiously inquired.
“Yes.”
“Then yeah.” Gruff hesitated for just a moment longer before finally saying, “Ah’m proud of you, Gallus. Ah, uh,” he nervously rambled on. “Ah know it’s too late to admit it, but Ah am.”
The moment—The!Moment!—Gallus tells Gruff he can and is entirely proud of himself for who he is, Gruff immediately admits he’s proud of Gallus too. That alone should tell you how much Gruff truly cares for Gallus.
Before this point, Gruff never felt—for lack of a better word: “Safe,” showing how much he cared. Because if he did, it would only encourage Gallus to continue seeking validation from others, rather than find it in himself.
Needless to say, that wasn’t something Gruff wanted Gallus to do.
Infuriatingly, Gruff never explained any of this to anyone. Why? Well, the easy answer is we wouldn’t have such a compelling subplot otherwise. But the in-universe reason is, once again, Gruff’s bad attitude. Why would he have felt he needed to explain himself when everygriff was so busy harassing him for not being more openly loving toward Gallus? Would anyone have even believed him if he did say anything, let alone take his side on the matter?
Plus, emotions are complicated, and as we all know, Griffonstone is the capital of emotional baggage.
Thus, Gruff did exactly what so many others in this story have done: Bottle up his problems and feelings. Only, unlike everyone else in the story, he didn’t hurt himself doing so; instead, he hurt literally everyone else.
Life’s a bh, ain’t it? 
Well, it’s certainly felt that way for Gallus for a long time, and Gruff’s seeming disdain for Gallus only made things worse. And that was something I adamantly refused to ignore.
Though I, as the author, knew the truth behind Gruff’s treatment of Gallus, I also knew that wouldn’t mean squat.
Sure, Gallus expecting Gruff to be his father regardless of what Gruff wanted may not have been the best thing in the world, but Gruff was the one who deliberately refused to sit Gallus down and explain that he didn’t want to be Gallus’ dad.
Gruff was the one who actively avoided contacting Gallus, knowing it only hurt him more and not caring whatsoever. Gruff was the one who abused Gallus’ kindness and need for approval to snag some free house-cleaning. Gruff was the one who discouraged Gallus and tried to force his own cynical worldview onto him. Gruff was the one who declared Gallus and Silver’s relationship a farce. Gruff was the one who chased Gallus into the blizzard. Gruff was the one who tried to blame Gallus for his own near-death experience…
Gruff hurt Gallus.
It wouldn’t have been right to simply ignore that. Ignore that Gallus and Gruff’s relationship was nothing shy of toxic, if not downright abusive.
That said? I didn’t want to portray their relationship as abusive in the traditional sense, or abusive at all, really. Toxic and unhealthy? Certainly. Legitimately physically, verbally, or psychologically abusive? No.
Why? Because if Gruff genuinely abused Gallus in any way like that? Then no amount of “explanations” or “redemption arcs” would be enough to make it feel even remotely okay that Gallus gave Gruff one last chance and ultimately made amends with him.
Ironic then, that Shrinky Frod commented on this chapter and just straight-up called Gruff an abuser. Yeah. I had to laugh when I read that one—Here I am not wanting to portray Gruff as stereotypically abusive, yet here comes Shrinky Frod bluntly throwing that wish out the window. 
They were right, of course. Gruff may never have harmed Gallus in that particular way, but he harmed Gallus nevertheless. And even if I didn’t originally want to portray their relationship as irremediably abusive, it would have been a crime to neither acknowledge Gruff’s deplorable behavior nor make him suffer the consequences for it.
Those consequences come in the form of Gallus’s behavior toward him in this scene, and to save myself some time, I’m gonna highlight the most notable examples:
“That was the plan. Things changed,” Gallus explained, keeping his answers quick and concise.
Gallus trying to engage with Gruff as little as possible, partially in an effort to keep his own temper in check but mostly because he just doesn’t want to talk to Gruff.
Thus begins the guilt-tripping. “I did. But I have to go. We talked it out, so he understands.”
Another moment of Gallus keeping his responses painfully short and to the point while also showing him remaining hyper-vigilant to Gruff’s abuse.
“That’s no excuse.”
This line speaks for itself; no reason would ever justify what Gruff did or said to Gallus, and Gallus acknowledges as such.
“A part of that is because I have nothing to say to you,” Gallus explained, feeling a touch of gratification when Gruff flinched. “The other part is because I don’t want to talk to you.”
Nothing major to say here; I just really love this line.
And lastly:
“So?” Gruff gulped. “Do you forgive me?”
“No,” Gallus answered simply.
“It doesn’t matter how many times you say it,” Gallus growled venomously. “You don’t get to just say sorry and pretend like everything is okay. An apology doesn’t make what you said better, and it sure as peck does not just wave it away!”
“Well, you did. … You hurt me, Gruff,” he grimly affirmed. “And I don’t have to forgive you. I don’t owe you my forgiveness, and you certainly don’t deserve it.”
There are a lot of things Gallus—or anyone, for that matter—can forgive. Abuse is not one of them.
And overall, that’s the main fact that drove this entire conversation between Gallus and Gruff. Sure, I can quote practically all of Gallus’ lines because of how much I love the raw emotion he speaks them with, but we’d be here even longer if I did that. Honestly, I think I’ve made my point quite clear regarding this conversation.
Gruff hurt Gallus; that wasn’t okay; and I adamantly refused to communicate otherwise. In fact, I actually did consider having Gallus ultimately decide against mending fences with Gruff. Perhaps I’d hint they would reconnect later, but for this scene, Gallus would recognize Gruff had hurt him far too much and that, for now, he wanted nothing more to do with him.
Obviously, that didn’t happen. I like my happy endings, and I hated the idea of making Gruff this one-dimensional wretch for the sake of it. That didn’t mean I could flirt with the idea, hence Gallus comes supremely close to walking away and cutting Gruff off indefinitely/permanently.
And this where we circle back to Gruff’s side of the debacle. While the message—for lack of a better term—of this conversation is mostly about how toxicity and abuse aren’t things that can or should be automatically forgiven, I didn’t lose sight of the fact this was still a conversation between characters with their own distinct personalities and viewpoints.
In Gallus’ case, he spends his half of the conversation refusing to buy into anymore of Gruff’s crap and actively lambasting Gruff for the mistreatment. Gruff, however, is a different beast. Because on top of his cranky, horrible attitude that still needed to be adhered to, I also needed to slowly lead into the revelation of Gruff’s true feelings for Gallus. And once again, let’s start quoting him, shall we?
Gruff cleared his throat and calmly elaborated, “Well, Ah wanted to know if you were really leavin’ tomorrow. The girls all said you were, but Ah wanted to hear it for mahself.”
Here we open with Gruff trying to talk to Gallus about what was going on which will hopefully lead into him being forgiven. I somewhat wish I had made it more clear how anxious Gruff was here, but it wasn’t necessary—might have even detracted from the moment, honestly.
“But didn’t you promise Gavin you’d let him show you around Griffonstone?”
Now, Gallus believes this to be Gruff trying to guilt-trip him, and perhaps it is. But it’s equally possible it’s not and Gruff was simply confused about why Gallus would break his promise to spend time with his No.1 fan? Either way, it’s Gruff, so it came out accusatory even if he didn’t mean it to.
“Ohhh,” Gruff groaned, sneering judgmentally. “Oh come on, Gallus! You can’t seriously be that upset about what happened. Ah mean, why would you leave because of that anyway?”
And here’s where Gruff ignorance, stubbornness, and pride work against him horribly. Because rather than understand and empathize with Gallus’ feelings concerning what he said, Gruff’s still in denial Gallus could be that upset over what happened. After all, he and the other griffons lived in complete misery for ages after the Idol of Boreas was lost, so surely Gallus can handle having Gruff say something mean to him…right?
The answer is no, so Gruff’s attempt at an apology?
“Ah— Ah didn’t mean anythin’ at all! Ah was just cold and upset, and Ah said somethin’ Ah didn’t mean,” he said, expecting that to work. “Everygriff says somethin’ stupid when they get mad; it’s just how we are.”
Firstly, the “expecting that to work” part I added specifically to emphasize how stupid Gruff was in that moment to think his excuse would, you know, work. And secondly, that “Everygriff says somethin’ stupid when they get mad; it’s just how we are” part is another moment to highlight the generational difference between Gruff and Gallus.
As mentioned, Gruff comes from a period of Griffonstone’s history when there was no hope for them whatsoever, and all that remained was for everygriff to be vile and abrasive toward one another.
Gruff lived through that and probably saw more horrors than anything Gallus saw or I’ve hinted at throughout these two chapters, so Gruff can’t help but instinctively wonder why Gallus would react so immediately, so harshly toward something Gruff said in a moment of exhaustion and anger. Can’t Gallus just deal with it, just understand Gruff didn’t mean what he said, just bottle suck it up, put on a smile, and pretend everything is fine?
No. The answer is no.
“O-Okay.” Gruff tapped the sofa cushion, unsure of what to do next. After Gallus refused to say anything further, he gave up and asked, “So, um, do you forgive me? You’re, uh, kinda quiet.”
Oh yeah, you can definitely feel Gruff’s anxiety here over Gallus forgiving him… A hint at how much he really does want to still be part of Gallus’ life.
“Well, Ah…” He shifted, looking somewhat affronted. “Ah am tryin’ to apologize to you. What? Am Ah supposed to write up some two-million-word-long novel about how sorry Ah am?”
Firstly, the “Two-million-word-long novel” part was totally me making fun of myself again for how bloated T.B.O.L.’s word count was getting. But more importantly, here we see yet another example of Griffonstone’s horrible influence affecting Gruff: Doesn’t matter how bad the act is, if the other apologizes, you forgive. Regardless of whether they meant the apology or you meant the forgiveness, they apologize and you forgive. It’s only good business, after all.
And hey! The ponies sure abide by that motto if Luna, Discord, Starlight, Trixie, Stygian, etc. are any indication, so it’s not as if they have any right to say one shouldn’t forgive a wrongdoer—something Gruff himself acknowledges.
Of course, every villain the ponies forgave did something Gruff still hasn’t: Made an effort to be better. An argument could be made against Discord, but I digress. And even if he did try to act kinder toward Gallus here or afterward, would it really be satisfactory?
Gruff isn’t even really apologizing in this moment. Oh, he most certainly is sorry for what he said, but what he’s doing here and now isn’t a real apology, it’s an empty one. It’s a cheap “I’m sorry, please forgive me,” and Gallus sees right through it. And good thing too, because if he had just accepted Gruff’s initial “apology,” then there’s a good chance Gruff would never have learned a thing and eventually gone right back to acting how he did before—a telltale sign of a genuine cycle of abuse.
As if there weren’t enough reasons to laugh at myself for the whole “I didn’t want to portray Gruff as an abuser” thing…
Luckily, however, we have this moment:
“Why you—” Gruff stopped, sharply inhaled, and slowly exhaled. “Gallus? Ah really am tryin’ to apologize. Ah ain’t lyin’ or pullin’ a con; Ah genuinely didn’t mean what Ah said. Ah’m! Sorry!”
Suddenly, Gruff’s apology doesn’t sound so empty anymore. And yes, it seems he is trying to act better toward Gallus. For while his first instinct may have been to reprimand Gallus further for not forgiving him, he recognized that wasn’t the right thing to do—thanks, Gavin!—calmed himself down, and reaffirmed he was genuinely, truly sorry for what he said.
Sadly, while Gallus does thank him for the apology, subsequently getting his hopes up, his hopes are then dashed when Gallus still denies Gruff forgiveness.
Because even if the apology is genuine, that doesn’t negate the hurt. And Gallus has been hurting for a long, long time…
And with these lines:
“What!? D-Do you still not believe me!? Oh Grover’s Treasure, don’t tell me Ah do have to right a dumb apology novel!” he shrieked, throwing up his talons.
“Wh— Well, why not!?” Gruff squawked, fidgeting nervously.
“Gallus, how many times do Ah have tell you Ah didn’t mean it!?”
“Ah get that, but Ah’m tryin’ to make amends here, Gallus!” Gruff yelled, succumbing to a quick coughing fit. “Ah— Ah didn’t mean to hurt you.”
You can see quite plainly how terrified Gruff is of losing Gallus. So much so, he completely switches gears in this moment here:
“If you had died, it would not have been my fault.”
“Well, duh! Of course it wouldn’t have been your fault!”
Rather than go “Ugh! Why are you whining so much because of a few dumb words you know Ah didn’t mean,” Gruff reaffirms Gallus is correct. Because Gruff absolutely does not want Gallus to hold the idea of Gruff possibly dying against himself. It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, but it’s probably the best proof Gruff’s apologies are legitimate—Gruff both agreeing wholeheartedly that what he said was wrong and encouraging Gallus to not listen to it whatsoever.
But when all is said and done and Gallus still seemingly refuses to accept Gruff’s apology nor does he want to see or talk to him ever again, what does Gruff do?
“…Heh. Heh-heh-heh,” Gruff chuckled dryly. “If that’s the case? Then why am Ah even wastin’ mah breath?” he mumbled, looking utterly defeated.
He gives up. And funnily enough, this line:
“Whelp? Ah guess that’s that… You may as well go finish packin’ up; ain’t you got a train to catch tomorrow?”
Was originally part of the previous one, but I didn’t exactly like how quickly Gruff went from defeat to feigned indifference, so I split them apart and included Gallus making one last jab about Gruff not really feeling guilty and Gruff being legitimately hurt by the accusation.
Now then! We’ve wrapped up the dramatic, “Will Gallus forgive Gruff or not” part, so let’s actually get into the forgiveness part.
See, Gallus too is a fully fledged character in his own right, much like Gruff. And since we spent so much time having Gruff’s dialogue be driven by who he is, it was only fair we do the same for Gallus, writing his actions and dialogue to be driven not by his righteous fury over Gruff’s actions, but by his own established personality and character.
And need I remind you, T.B.O.L. Gallus has gone on record saying he felt sorry for the Legion of Doom? So even if it goes against his better judgment, Gallus can’t help but try one last time to reach out to Gruff.
And though this effort comes dangerously close to backfiring, it doesn’t. Because now that he believes/fears Gallus is going to cut him off, Gruff finally comes clean about everything I’ve already discussed. How Gallus should be proud of himself rather than need others for that and whatnot. Again, I already discussed this, so we won’t go over it again.
What we will go over is the matter of Gallus’ parents.
In the original Gallus/Gruff argument, it would end with Gallus leaving the room to let Gruff get some rest, but before he could, Gruff would ask if Gallus still wanted to know about them. And rather than asking just to gauge whether Gallus has moved on or not, Gruff was instead offering to tell Gallus everything about them. Who they were, why they left Gallus, what happened to them…? All of it.
And then I realized…? That was stupid. Not because Gallus’ parents have been a lingering mystery this entire time, but because the entire point of this story was Gallus moving on and recovering from the trauma of being abandoned.
If I may highlight one last quote:
“I have been working so! Hard! To not blame myself for things beyond my control, to not worry all the time; to not demand perfection of myself… To love myself,” he said, shivering slightly.
For Gallus to do that—To go this entire story, spend his every waking moment actively walking that path of healing toward peace and serenity—To finally overcome his problems and learn to love himself…?
For him to go through all of that, only for him to finally be told what happened to his parents right at the end, right as soon as he had effectively completed his journey to recovery…?
That would have been an absolute slap in the face to everything this story had done and stood for this entire time. I guess one could consider Gallus learning about what happened to them a “reward” for completing his development, but no. Reality isn’t that simple and clean, as much as we wish it were. It wouldn’t be fair to spend the whole story having Gallus learn to move on from his parents throughout the whole story only to immediately find out about them regardless.
So no. Gruff doesn’t offer to tell Gallus about his parents here; if anything, he’s both shocked and extremely relieved to find Gallus finally let that matter go. That said, Gruff does still know the full story, so he is quick to say them leaving Gallus wasn’t exactly “simple.”
Nevertheless, Gallus no longer cares. It’s been a while since we last discussed them, but this moment has been a long time coming. The moment Gallus finally acknowledges he already has a family, and they’re all the family he needs. He doesn’t need two griffons that abandoned him for whatever reason.
Yeah, he does still partly care and would love to know what happened, but as far as he’s concerned? It’s as Starlight told him so very long ago: They made their choice, and he paid the price for it. So even if he does learn who they are, it won’t matter. Gallus finally has the family he’s always longed for, and they love him more than his parents ever could.
Heck! The cranky, old vulture sitting in front of him loves Gallus more than his parents, and that’s saying something. 
It is true, however. Gruff loves and is proud of Gallus, and now that he’s finally admitted as such, the two slip back into that same dynamic from before their fight over Silverstream, both cracking jokes and having a good laugh, be it over Gilda likely wanting Gallus to yell at Gruff some more or Gruff’s best organ being his beak rather than his heart.
My favorite joke definitely has to be Gallus noting how Gruff has the best poker face in Griffonstone because he’s perpetually scowling, only for Gruff to fully agree.
Back to the drama, Gallus confesses he still doesn’t forgive Gruff. Explanation or no, Gruff hurt him, and that hurt ain’t going away anytime soon. But luckily for Gruff, Gallus also upholds the same belief Starlight shared with him.
That no matter what happens, everycreature deserves someone.
That said, Gallus and Gruff’s relationship isn’t anywhere close to mended just because the latter apologized. They need to work on…well? Everything! Because as it is now, neither of them can go on as they have—Gallus caring too much and Gruff too little.
And while Gruff remains adamant about not being Gallus’ “dad,” Gallus is no longer asking him to be. He’s instead asking for Gruff to be his friend, which Gruff naturally sees right through, recognizing it to really mean Gallus still wants him to be his family.
Another round of “I’ve lived my life and I’m set in my ways” later, Gruff admits that, for as cold and disgruntled a griffon he is, he does have a heart. And if there’s anything worth changing himself for, it ain’t Bits. It’s family.
Now don’t that just tug at the heartstrings? 
Speaking of which, now that we’ve got all the drama sorted out and have had a nice chat about Gavin and Gilda, we end with one last chat about Silverstream.
It’s the subject that sparked their feud in the first place, and here it’s used to mend fences just a bit more. And I’ll do us all a favor and not copy/paste 75% of it here. You all read the scene, you know what happened.
I will highlight this though:
“You said you loved her ‘cause she was there for you,” he acknowledged, sounding almost accusatory. “On Friends and Family Day and whatnot…?”
“That was technically our first date, yes,” Gallus answered, shifting awkwardly under the elder’s glare. “Why do you ask?”
“Her bein’ with ya that day… That ain’t the only reason you love her, right?”
Is obviously Gruff double-checking to make sure Gallus loves Silverstream because of who she is too, rather than for cheap, superficial reasons. Because of this, I was tempted to not have Gallus comment on how beautiful Silverstream is, but I eventually figured I was overthinking that point and kept that particular compliment in. And on that note, the full range of Gallus’ compliments—her voice, her painting, her giggle? All retroactive additions. The 2nd Date dinner conversation came first, and I circled back to this moment to fluff it up a bit. Why? Because I wanted to.
And last but not least, this line:
“Oh, hush up and get to the love story already!”
Is—you guessed it—me making fun of myself again for how long it took to actually get to the 2nd Date. Because wow! It really did take forever to get to it.
Thankfully, with the Gruff subplot taken care of, and Gallus’ main character development completed, there’s nothing standing between us and that sweet, sweet romance fluff!
Sadly, said fluff is locked away in the next chapter; whereas this chapter still has one last subplot to resolve.
~ A Happy Hearth’s Warming to All! And to All, A Goodnight! ~
While I considered opening this section with the girls greeting Gallus at the train station, I figured it’d be better to skip that part and open with Gallus telling them what had happened.
And while I originally wanted both Smolder and Silver to react rather irately, it made more sense they would have had those reactions off-screen when Gallus first told them about what happened. So with that said, I’ll leave you all to imagine how peeved Silverstream was to learn what Gruff said to her sweetie. But of course, since we’re picking up after Gallus finishes his tale, both the girls’ reactions are somewhat tempered.
Thus, Silver is far more concerned with the fact everything worked out and Gallus is happy than everything Gruff said and did. Makes sense for her character too, given the next two chapters. But obviously, I still wanted to show them being angry at Gruff, so I delegated that to Smolder. And since I was still worried I screwed up again with the “abuse” angle with Gallus and Gruff, I made sure to sneak in this exchange:
“Do you think the old geezer was actually sorry? Or do you think he was just saying that?”
“I have no idea, Smolder,” he answered, shrugging. “I want to believe he was being genuine, but I’m not gonna ignore the chance the others made him apologize. At the end of the day, Gruff is Gruff… Maybe he’ll change, maybe he won’t.” Gallus took a deep breath and concluded, “I’m optimistic though. We still need to work a few things out, but…? I think we will.”
But that’s all I have to say on that matter.
Next on the agenda is informing Gallus that Silverstream patched things up with Smolder, with the latter taking a jab at Starlight’s lack of subtlety in getting the two to do so. And as ecstatic as Gallus is to learn the girls made amends, his mood is a little soured by Gabby’s Blue Moon Festival gift to him: A dopey sweater with a bunch of hearts on it.
His original issue with the sweater was itwas significantly uncomfortable, but I thought that was too cliché, so instead, Gallus is merely embarrassed to wear something covered in hearts. Thankfully, he’s far less embarrassed upon learning his girlfriend thinks he’s cute in it.
Smolder thinks it looks ridiculous, but at least Silver defends her boyfriend’s honor, and she does so without feeling guilty for arguing with Smolder too! How’s that for character development?
I was tempted to open the scene with the trio having already exchanged holiday presents, hence why Gallus had opened Gabby’s. But then I realized that would mean Smolder unwrapped Silver’s gifts off-screen, and that wouldn’t do. Thus, we get a rather awkwardly inserted moment of Silver dashing off to get said gifts, leaving the others to sit and wait for her to come back.
And since they needed something to do, I had Smolder give Gallus the ring. Because why not? After that “Future life” conversation he had with the others back in Ch.8(Tension), everyone should have known where his and Silver’s relationship was gonna go, so why not overtly hint at the lovebirds’ eventual marriage?
And of course, I turn that fact into a plot point by making that Ch.8(Tension) conversation the very reason Smolder got him the ring to begin with—thanks, Shimmy Shake! And for as shocked as Gallus is to receive it, he and Smolder quickly play innocent once Silverstream returns.
Silver was initially going to be suspicious of their behavior, but I thought it’d make more sense for her to believe them without a second thought—She has no reason to not trust either of them, after all. Plus, her mind’s on other things right now, namely: Gifting Smolder her paintings.
And while Silverstream claims the reason she’s giving Smolder her gifts early is Gallus got her mind on the subject, the real reason is I didn’t want to wait in-universe for the other Student Six to return for them all to exchange their gifts collectively. But since I can’t exactly say that’s the reason, I have Gallus acknowledge Silverstream is just too dang excited to see Smolder’s reaction to the paintings to wait, to which Silver can’t help but agree.
Silver’s gift to Gallus was originally that dumb flower painting I kept wanting to be plot relevant. I realized how stupid that was—After he mentioned it back in Ch.8(Tension), of course she would have shown it to him off-screen, so why would she gift it to him now?—so I swapped that idea out for another: Tickets to Las Pegasus. Even if I couldn’t show that date in-story, them planning for it at least hints the two are going on dates off-screen, further enriching their romance. Plus, it allowed me one last chance to mention them playing laser tag.
Smolder’s gifts, however, are the true focus, so we skip to that and have her adore the night sky painting because of course she would. And as for the second one?
In one of the updates I posted to my Blog about this “Writing of…”, I mentioned how I loathed the original cover art for The Bonds of Love since it was just a picture of Gallus and Silver walking, nothing that remotely conveyed the story of T.B.O.L. at all. I also mentioned how I had hoped to find and use a picture of all the Student Six with Gallus and Silver featured more prominently, but to my immeasurable disappointment, I couldn’t find a picture like that.
I was still bitter about that when writing this chapter, so I turned my frustrations into a plot point by having Silverstream’s second painting be of the Student Six. I didn’t really describe it beyond that, but I didn’t need to. What mattered wasn’t my cover art frustration—Which matter even less thanks to Johnerose126’s cover art(Thank you again!). What mattered was Smolder’s reaction to it. That reaction being: Barely holding back tears at having a big ole portrait of all her friends.
But as if I’d ever settle for that; Smolder’s entire breakdown was driven by her fear of outliving them, so what else could I have done but make it so, in a sense, she wouldn’t outlive them.
Thus, Silverstream went to Starlight and had both paintings enchanted—because it wouldn’t make sense to just enchant one and not the other—to effectively be immortal. And just to really sell how durable the paintings are now, Silver mentions Starlight claimed both paintings could survive a black hole—a claim Smolder will especially appreciate considering her astronomy knowledge. And appreciate it she does upon realizing:
“Y-You mean… I won’t lose them?”
Needless to say, it’s impossible for Smolder to hold back her tears any longer, but they’re thankfully tears of the joyful variety this time. Because while her fears aren’t entirely abolished, at least Smolder can live knowing she’ll always have some remnant of her best friends with her throughout the centuries. A reminder of who they were and what they meant to her. For no matter how long she lives and how many years fly by, one glance at the painting will be enough for Smolder to forever remember the five creatures she loved more than anything.
In other words:
“No, Smolder. You won’t ever lose them,” she confirmed. “It’s like I said… We’ll always be with you, Smolder,” Silverstream promised serenely.
Have I mentioned how I’m not remotely subtle? Yes. But that’s not always a bad thing, especially here. If anything, my lack of subtlety makes the emotional impact that much more gripping.
And with all of this said and done, the chapter is all “emotional drama”-ed out, so we end on the trio wishing each other a Merry Christmas Happy Hearth’s Warming and sharing in a big, warm, loving group hug. D’awww…!
And so ends the Griffonstone arc.
I love these chapters so much.
Ch.10(Home) and Ch.11(Closure)—On their own, they’re both fantastic, but together, they make for one of, if not the single best story arc in The Bonds of Love.
Sure, there are some things which still bug me—I wish I had done more world-building for the Blue Moon Festival, and there’s a few too many clunky, retroactive addition—but otherwise, look at what happened in these chapters alone:
We traveled to Griffonstone and saw what had become of it since Gallus had last been there, affording him the chance to resolve his feelings over the once-total dump, now-restored kingdom.
We spent the holiday with our favorite catbirds, some old, some new, and one Gallus’ No.1 Fan.
We had a B-plot resolving the last bits of Smolder’s subplot, including her and Silverstream making amends after everything that happened between them.
And last but certainly not least, we finally, finally addressedGallus and Gruff’s relationshipwhich thankfully ended in the two beginning to make amends themselves.
These two chapters did a lot, so is it any wonder why I considered them to be the best chapters of the story? Even now, I still can’t decide whether the Griffonstone chapters are better than the Smolder and Mount Aris ones.
Regardless, these chapters will always hold a special place in my heart—which was certainly helped by Ch.11(Closure) getting T.B.O.L. onto the Featured Tab. And given I spent roughly 40k+ words talking about both of them, that should be fairly obvious, and I certainly hope all of you found them to be as magnificent as I did.
So, to close this section out, I want to ask everyone a question. I’ve already asked it before when I first published Ch.11(Closure), but Shrinky Frod was the only person to ever provide their own answer. And of all the things I wish more people had commented about on The Bonds of Love, this is the issue I’m most interested to hear people’s thoughts on.
Did Gallus make the right choice staying in contact with Grandpa Gruff?
Even if the answer is a simple yes or no and even if I obviously have my own opinion on the subject, I’d love to know all of yours.
But for as great as these chapters were, the next two are just as good, and they’ve been a long time coming. Join me next week as we finally discuss Gallus and Silverstream's long-awaited 2nd Date!
~ Additional Tidbits ~
— 1) During—or slightly before—Gallus and Gavin’s conversation, Gilda’s home was going to suffer a power outage, forcing them to light candles to actually see anything and making the home feel even colder than it was. I considered this purely for the ambiance because it wouldn’t have serviced the plot at all, hence why it got cut. Plus, I didn’t want to go through the hassle of explaining why Gilda’s house suddenly had electric lighting but not electric heating.
— 2) When Gallus was telling Gavin he still has bad days, I considered having him say a line like:
Which, well? No. Gallus has had more than enough character development for that to be an issue. Plus? There are certain things associated with this particular issue, and, uh, I didn’t want to imply Gallus was dealing with them. I already screwed up with the Schizophrenia debacle, I didn’t want to risk another similar screw-up.
— 3)
Um, Gavin, why are you asking if Gallus’ friends are the reason he considers Ponyville his home when he already confirmed as such last chapter? Could it be I wrote that line without realizing how redundant it felt and didn’t bother adjusting for said redundancy since I couldn’t think of a better way to write the line? … Nooooo! It couldn’t possibly be that; that’s preposterous! Me!? Not knowing how to fix a mistake in my writing!? Never!
— 4) Regarding the line:
I didn’t want to include the “Blame me” part since I figured you’d all be smart enough to see exactly what Gruff was doing. But…? I added it in anyway ‘cause I didn’t want to leave it even remotely ambiguous what Gruff said wrong, even if for little more than a scene.
If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m not subtle.
— 5) This exchange:
Is one I’ve had multiple times IRL, in fact, it was with the same person I mentioned says, “I’m set in my ways.”
— 6) Regarding the photo, I considered including a line clarifying Gruff was not only hugging Gallus back in it, but alsogenuinely smiling at Gallus, or at least trying(Badly) to hide said smile.
Ultimately cut the line since I felt leaving that unsaid was better for the story. Gruff smiling in the photo would have been a dead giveaway he did undeniably love Gallus, which would have made the next scene rather bothersome since you’d spend their entire argument rolling your eyes and waiting for it to end, knowing full-well the latter loved the former. Without the context of Gruff smiling in the photo, even if you do expect them to make up, there’s still that microscopic chance they won’t.
Is Gruff smiling in the photo though? I’ll leave that to you, same with whether or not Gallus is smiling in it as well, or if he’s bawling his eyes out at having to say goodbye to Gruff.
— 7)
Why, yes! Silverstream’s talk with Smolder in Ch.8(Tension) where she emphasized Gallus’ future was his own choice did indeed inspire the word choice of this particular line.
— 8)
I’d like to draw your attention to how Gallus specifies he’s proud of himself because of who he is. And remember back during the nightmare sequence when “Cozy” asked him who he was? What was his answer again? Oh, right. His answer was Gallus.
I just thought I’d mention that; it’s one of my favorite details regarding Gallus’ development.
— 9)
Don’t mind me, I’m just acknowledging another avenue of the whole “Don’t forgive abuse” element. Sometimes, you’ll get genuine apologies, other times, you’ll get straight-up lies, and sometimes, you’ll never know which is which.
Thankfully, I’m the author, so Gruff could only have been genuinely apologizing, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t/shouldn’t still acknowledge the opposite possibility.
— 10) Remember how I mentioned I’d occasionally work until the wee hours of three and four in the morning when writing? Well, that really started to catch up to me during this chapter. How so? Because around the point of the story when I was writing the second Gallus/Gavin scene and the Gallus/Gruff scene after that, I started nodding off mid-writing. It was annoying since whenever it happened, I had to concede defeat and go to bed, regardless of how much progress I had/hadn’t made.
However, there was one standout example of this I find quite amusing. One of the times I nodded off, I managed to startle myself awake only to discover I had—I kid you not—started writing aboutKing of the Hill in my half-asleep state. I have no idea why I started writing an essay about King of the Hill in the middle of Gallus yelling at Gruff, but yeah. That’s a thing that happened.
— 11) If you were wondering if I was going to leave some cryptic hint about what really did happen to Gallus’ parents somewhere in these chapters, I’m afraid you were wrong.
I do have an idea or two for what I could say about what happened and who they were, but honestly? Less is more. I’ve given hints about what happened to them via Gruff—“Ah’ve seen what happens when the love don’t last.”—but I’ll leave it purely at that. I won’t even confirm whether or not they’re dead during the events of T.B.O.L.; I want to leave all the theories and ideas entirely up to you.
Now please tell me what your theories are down in the comments; I’m dying to find out what you guys think happened!