Gallus skulked around the ruins of Griffonstone, grumbling to himself. Grandpa Gruff had ordered him to go to some pony school just now, despite his vigorous protests against it. But, since Grandpa Gruff was pretty much their appointed leader, he couldn’t refuse, and there were no parents to have to refuse for him. Not that he wanted those. Griffons were pretty much terrible creatures in general, to each other and others. The only Griffon he didn’t know who was like that was-
“Hey Gallus!” Came a perky voice. As if summoned by thought, Gabby The Griffon appeared and started walking by him. Gallus started at the sound of her voice, so lost in his own murmurings that he hadn’t heard anygriff approach him. Not half a second later, he relaxed again.
“Hi Gabby.” It was muttered, hostile. Gabby, hearing it, frowned.
“You seem super grumpy today. Wanna talk about it?”
“No… Yes… I don’t know.” It was a defeated sigh. Gabby was the only Griffon who really was nice to everygriff, even when they weren’t nice back. Gabby didn’t touch him, but the feel of her eyes somewhat felt to him like a wing being wrapped around him. He sighed. He might as well complain about this to somegriff.
“Grandpa Gruff is making me go to some prissy pony school. So uncool.” He said.
Gabby somehow perked up. “Pony school? Where?”
“Ponyville, I think?”
Gabby let out a piercing squeal. “Ponyville?! That’s where the cutie mark crusaders are! You are so lucky! You’ll get to meet them! I’d love to see them again!”
He made a disgruntled noise. “Yeah, sure. Lucky.”
Gabby came down from her dreamy bubble and looked at him. “You don’t sound happy to go there.”
“Because I’m not.”
“Why not?”
“Because I belong here! Among my own kind! I already feel like I don’t belong here, and I don’t want to go someplace just to feel that again but a thousand times worse! At least I actually know griffs here! Why would I want to go to another place just to not find a home there too?!”
Gabby had paused at his outburst. For a minute maybe, silence prevailed over the pair of them. Finally, Gabby broke it.
“So, you don’t have a home too?”
Gallus looked up. “What?”
Gabby nodded. “I didn’t have a home or family here either.”
“B-But I saw you! You had dinner with Gilda and Grandpa Gruff at the Blue Moon Festival!”
“Yeah, because Gilda invited me. She remembered that I didn’t have a home.”
“You know Gilda?” He asked.
She nodded. “When I was a chick I kind of looked up to her. Like, not in a big sister kind of way, but like, “Someday I want to be like her” kind of way. I mean, She was brave and tough and strong, and all the stuff Griffons were thought to be, but once in a while she’d give me a free muffin or smile at me, especially when I was young and didn’t have a job. She kind of became family. Or, the closest thing I ever had to it, anyways.”
Gallus was still reeling from all of that. “Gilda smiles?”
“Not often, but sometimes. And usually when she does the most is when she’s getting or sending a letter to Ponyville! Her friend Rainbow Dash lives there.”
“She’s got a pony friend?”
“Mhm! They went to junior speedsters camp together, from what Rainbow Dash told me!”
Gallus didn’t know what to say to that, so he just shut his mouth.
Gabby, seemingly realizing she’d gotten off topic, picked up again. “I grew up without a family, Gallus. And I would see what they had and I didn’t have, and sometimes it would make me really sad. But Gilda showed me that one small thing from another griffon can make a really big difference. She made me want to be that griffon for others. That’s why I smile all the time. I hope that one day, I can do that for somegriff. Someday, maybe they could think of me as family…”
“What’s the point of that? If you don’t know where you came from, what’s the point of even having a family? It’s not like they actually do things for you. All the families in this town do is argue and fight. There’s no point to that. I don’t wish I had a family, but I do wish I had a home to sleep in.”
“You don’t get it, do you?” Gabby’s voice was quiet, surprised.
“Get what?” He asked. Huffing angrily.
“Gallus, family doesn’t end with the griffs you’re related to. It’s who you want around you. Gilda became my family. And I know even though you only spoke to her a few times, she could be yours too. Especially since you’re going to a pony school! You could tell her about Rainbow Dash’s adventures while you’re there! You would always have something to talk about.”
“I’m not going to that school!”
“Why not? A chance to get out of here, to have a roof over your head and a bed to sleep in, to meet new creatures- what’s not to like?”
“Because I-“ He simply stopped, and went silent.
It took Gabby a second to realize where he might have been going with that, but when she did, her eyes grew sad. “You still don’t know who they are, do you? Your parents?”
“No…”
“And you don’t want to leave because you think they’ll come back?”
He nodded.
Gabby straightened up, tougher, bolder all of a sudden. About as cocky as Gallus himself might be on a regular day. “Well I think that’s pretty sad!”
He looked up. “What?”
“If your parents couldn’t be bothered to stick around and see what an amazing griffon you grew up to be, that’s pretty sad! You’re a good griffon, Gallus, and anygriff who won’t give you the time to show how amazing you are doesn’t deserve to get to know you!”
He stared at her, half bewildered, and half amazed, before he smiled a tiny bit. “Thanks, Gabby.”
“It’s true.” Gabby smiled. “But that’s why I think going to Ponyville would be good for you. When I went there, the Cutie Mark Crusaders showed me real friendship for the first time ever. I was kind of scared at first you, know.”
“You were?”
“Uh huh! I knew when I went there to find them that I wanted to get a Cutie Mark because every pony there seemed so nice and friendly, but It was really scary being with all these creatures I never met before. It was overwhelming. But you know what I found out?”
He was curious now. “What?”
“They were as nice and friendly as I thought they would be. They smiled at me, and they welcomed me, and they made me feel like what I thought home was supposed to feel like. But I learned that home wasn’t just having a roof over your head. Sometimes home is the place where everyone is nice to each other and cares about them. Sometimes home isn’t a place. Sometimes it’s another creature. But you’ll never find it if you don’t go.”
Gallus pondered this for quite a while. He thought about how alone and Isolated he’d felt, growing up in Griffonstone. He’d wondered time and again what home would feel like, what family was like. He’d long since come to grips with the fact that he would never have a family, and that he was doomed to be alone. But now, Gabby’s words were making him rethink everything. He could recall snippets of griffins smiling at him, rare as the Blue Moon festival. He’d always thought they were pity smiles, smiles that said, “Oh you poor orphan”, or “Someday you’ll understand what you’re missing”. But maybe… Maybe he was wrong? Maybe it was a subtle way of saying “Keep your head up.”. Griffons didn’t do well with feelings other than anger or spite. But… He thought about Gilda, and realized that maybe in some way, he had looked up to her in some way too. She was older, after all. He remembered- or thought he could- her smiling at him that way when he’d been very young. Had he really misinterpreted that all this time?
The only griff he was sure didn’t feel that way was Grandpa Gruff. He was the stereotype of Griffon’s that made the rule. But yet, there was Gabby, who broke every one of those rules. It was so confusing, and the thoughts and images swirled around in his head like some churning cauldron brewing a new cocktail of emotions. He had to stop himself a minute, clear his head, before he tried to understand what he felt now.
It was a new feeling. Different, and weird, but good in a way. He tried to find a word for it, and a memory to match it. Finally, he remembered a griffon smiling at him, very faintly, and feeling that feeling. He knew now what it was. Hope. It had been so long since he’d felt such a thing, that he could hardly remember it. He’d learned not to pin his hopes to the chest of another griffon, but this was different. He wasn’t putting them onto another griffon. He was putting them onto a place now. He lost his hope that Griffons could change. But maybe he could change, and Ponyville would be the place to change him.
He still wasn’t sure how he felt about leaving Griffonstone. Sure, he hated those dirt roads, those crumbling buildings, and those decrepit statues. But they had been home to him for as long as he could remember. The comforting familiarity they provided was something he would miss. But as he knew all to well from the countless hours watching other Griffon families, everygriff had to leave the nest sometime. And even if he didn’t make it over there, he could always come back here. But the promise of hope for change called to him like a siren song. Freedom from the past that encircled him could be reached at last.
It was time. He had reached the point of fission. He was ready to separate from Griffonstone for a while, and leave the nest. He didn’t know what would wait for him out there in Ponyville, but he hoped for something great. It was time to leave the dusty roads and desecrated buildings behind him. He knew better than anygriff that if you always stay where you are, you will never get to where you want to be. And he knew where he wanted to be.
A place with a roof over his head. A place where griffons weren’t jerks to each other. A place that wasn’t falling a part at the seams. A place where he could have fun, and be himself, and enjoy his life instead of having dread about waking in the morning and worrying what the day would bring.
He looked at Gabby, finally, her eyes covered in worry for him. He smiled at her, gave her a nod. “Okay. I’ll do it.”
Gabby looked as though she would explode in relief and happiness. Though she usually would have bounced off the walls with joy, she kept it contained for the sake of Gallus’ dignity.
“I’m so happy for you.” She said sincerely, eyes sparkling.
He nodded. He couldn’t think of anything else to say.
Some time later, After a short time making friends at the School Of Friendship in Ponyville, Gallus was drifting between the line that separated wakefulness and sleep. Before bed, he remembered the wonderful day he had had at school with his friends. An image of the School Of Friendship flashed before him, just before he crossed the border into sleep. And as it’s image was in his mind, burned into the back of his retinas, a soothing voice spoke one sentence to him.
Here’s Where You Belong.