//------------------------------// // Episode 21: "The Tragedy of Gallus Griffon" // Story: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 10 // by twilightsparkle3562 //------------------------------// … Gallus the Griffon had had a rough life. In fact he'd been born into a rough life. But he'd suffered an even worse life thanks to a tragic series of events that made him into what he was today. However, he wouldn't be able to run from these dark events forever. It all started one morning when he and his friend, Silverstream were at gym class, Spitfire serving as the teacher. Gallus wasn't acting like his normal self and the Wonderbolt commander and part time gym teacher took notice. "Gallus," She called as he struggled to take part in a game of multi-creatured buckball. "Why do you look like a balloon with a hole in it? Get your head in the game and play it!" "Oh, s-sorry Professor Spitfire," Gallus solemnly replied, returning his focus to the game. However, his close friend Silverstream was taking notice of his nearly depressed look. "You've got to improve on your defense!" Spitfire cried, hovering over the players. "Otherwise, the ball will pass right over you every time! And you, dragon, what did I just tell you?! Improve your defense!" "My name is Smolder!" Smolder grumbled and then asked under her breath. "Why does she call me dragon all the time?" But Gallus couldn't stay focused on the game. He ended up causing his team to surrender points to the other team. But even once gym class was over, Gallus continued to be distracted and unhappy, causing Silverstream to become more concerned than ever. This was odd behavior even for Gallus. "Gallus?" She asked him as they sat in the treehouse after school was over. "Why have you been acting so…withdrawn lately? You've got me worried. And if I'm worried then you know our friends are worried too." Groaning loudly, Gallus turned to Silverstream with a sad look on his face. "Today's just been a frustrating day, that's all," He replied, but Silverstream wasn't buying it. "I'd rather not go into the details about it." But Silverstream was quick to take notice of her close friend's sadness. She had seen this kind of behavior before from him. "Come on, Gallus!" She pleaded, trying to take his eagle claw only for him to swat it away. "You can tell me what's on your mind. I'm your friend and I promise to not tell anycreature if that's what you want!" Sighing, Gallus turned to Silverstream. "Do you actually promise not to tell anycreature except for the professors and the princesses?" He asked. "I swear it, Gallus!" Silverstream firmly nodded. "Good," Gallus replied as he shut the door of the small workroom they were in. "Do…do you remember the time I sabotaged the Hearth's Warming tree to keep us all together from going back to our families?" "How could I forget?" Silverstream asked, her eyes looking up to the ceiling for a moment. "Did that have something to do with this? Why couldn't you just tell us in private then? We're your friends, Gallus!" Gallu looked back towards a picture of himself and the rest of his friend sitting on a desk. Looking at the picture, he couldn't help but feel slightly emotional, although he tried to keep said emotions in check. He didn't want to seem weak or compromised. "I did it for a reason. A reason I didn't want to have to tell anyone about." "Because you grew up in Griffonstone as an orphan?" Silverstream asked, walking over to Gallus as he merely nodded back to her. "Or is there something else?" The young hippogriff had detected something within Gallus that troubled her deeply but had no idea of the horrors that she would be learning about in time. … … "Gallus, I can see it in your eyes," Silverstream commented with concern. "You're hiding something from me and I don't like it. Why are you trying to keep secrets from me?!" "Because it doesn't concern you!" Gallus replied in a sharp tone, looking away from the hippogriff. "They're my own demons, not yours, Silverstream!" Despite being snapped at by her friend, Silverstream refused to go away. She wanted answers. "Sorry," Gallus apologized, now realizing he was being a bit overbearing and lowering his voice a bit. "You should…you should leave now, Silverstream. I'm just not feeling myself right now." "Gallus," Silverstream insisted, staying at her friend's side. "I'm not leaving, at least not now. Something must have happened to you and…" But Gallus swatted Silverstream's claw away with his wing. "I said leave! Forget I said anything! It's nothing you would know about anyway, you grew up in a big family!" Reluctantly sensing that Gallus wasn't going to answer her questions, Silverstream reluctantly departed. "Gallus, this isn't going to go away if you don't talk to someone about it." She told him, hoping her words would get through. … The next day, Silverstream took her concerns to Trixie's office, hoping that at least the guidance counselor could offer some assistance. "So, from what Trixie is hearing, Silverstream," Trixie commented while sitting behind her desk. "Is that Gallus is holding something back from you, and you want Trixie's help to get him to confess. Is that it?" "Yeah, Counselor Trixie," Silverstream replied with a firm nod. "And every time I try to ask him, he just…pushes me away. I don't get it, I'm his friend. He should tell me what's on his mind." "Have you been judging him on his past?" Trixie asked, causing Silverstream's eyes to widen in shock. "Because it seems to me that everycreature judges one another on our pasts, whether we mean to or not." "Never, Counselor Trixie, never!" Silverstream cried in shock! "We've all seen this behavior from him before. He even tried to keep us all together for Hearth's Warming during our first year here. And that's what his behavior now is reminding me of." Now it was Trixie's turn to feel shocked! The news somecreature would do something like that on such an important holiday! "That's a…little extreme," She almost gasped, barely remembering to keep her composure. "What did he do?" "All he did was mess up the tree to try and get Headmare Twilight to keep us all together over the break," Silverstream explained. "But he came clean and we all chose to stay with him anyway." "Well, Trixie would have handled the situation differently," Trixie commented in what sounded like concern. "Have you ever considered putting yourself in Gallus' position? Surely you've wondered why he would do something so extreme." Sighing deeply, Silverstream sat back in deep thought. "In what way, Counselor Trixie? How do I put myself in a position to see what Gallus sees?" "Well, see the situation from Gallus' point of view," Trixie suggested. "We all aren't born to do what we do to others. Sometimes, there has to be a motivation for it and in order to get that motivation, we must put ourselves in their horseshoes as it were. That's what I've been trying to do. If I can picture what the audience is thinking then I'll know what I have to do to reel them in and keep 'em hooked." … Heeding Trixie's words, Silverstream went about the rest of her day trying to do just that: Putting herself in Gallus' horseshoes (even though he didn't actually wear them). But it wasn't until that she and Gallus met again at the library later in the day that Gallus started to show signs of his defenses lowering. Silverstream decided to seize on this opportunity. "Gallus," She lightly called as she sat down next to him. "I've been wondering…" "About what?" Gallus bluntly questioned in a bored tone. "I…I went to see Counselor Trixie this morning and…" Silverstream started to say with a gulp. "Oh, you did?" Gallus asked again, trying to focus on his schoolwork. "Listen, if you're trying to ask me about…" "She told me to put myself in your horseshoes, whatever those are." The hippogriff blurted out. This made Gallus stop what he was doing to look down at his cat like feet. "What are you talking about?" He asked. "Of course I don't wear horseshoes! I'm a griffon, not a pony!" Sighing deeply, Silverstream tried to approach the situation with a cautious tone. "Gallus, as your friend, you've been concerning me today, just like yesterday. This just isn't like you and I'm worried!" "Well, I'm sorry if I'm making you worried!" Gallus growled and then shooed Silverstream out of the library. "What I'm thinking concerns me and me alone! Got it?! I'll be fine, I'll get over it like I get over everything! Now please leave me alone!" Silverstream nodded in shock as Gallus went back inside the library, leaving the hippogriff trembling. At that moment, Luster Dawn and Cherry Tomato along with Quiet Play arrived and saw the troubled Silverstream. "What was all that about just now?" Luster Dawn asked the hippogriff. "It's Gallus." Silverstream replied, her shocked look still plastered firmly on her face. "What about him?" Luster Dawn questioned and then appeared to snicker. "Did you two have a fight or something?" Silverstream blushed briefly! "It's nothing like that! He's hiding something from me, Luster Dawn, and he won't reveal anything to me!" She cried out. "It's so annoying, and I hate it!" "Maybe he'd rather not talk about it, like Quiet Play," Cherry Tomato remarked. "If you want, we can go someplace else and talk about it." "Someplace else." Quiet Play nodded, echoing Cherry's words. But Silverstream didn't want to go someplace else, she wanted to be with Gallus and help him with whatever problems he had. If only he would let her. … … "He just won't talk to me about whatever it is that's bothering him," Silverstream cried to the rest of her friends the next day as they all gathered at the tree house after school. "I mean, there was the tree incident last Hearth's Warming, but he had a good reason for it." "Perhaps maybe what motivated him to sabotage the tree came back," Sandbar suggested. "You all remember how he doesn't have a family to call his own like the rest of us do. Really sad, but he's obviously made peace with it." "We should at least try to help him if it's really bad," Ocellus added. "Maybe he's only pretending to have gotten over it so we won't worry." "I doubt he'll really listen to any of us," Silverstream cautioned. "He won't even talk to me about what was bothering him, so why would he tell the rest of you?" The rest of the students just sat in the treehouse in silence, thinking of what to do to help their comrade. "Maybe we can ask Professor Luna to go into his dreams or something?" Smolder suggested. "Isn't that what she does best…aside from teaching us along with her sister?" "Yona think that great idea!" Yona declared. "Professor pony interpret Gallus' dreams for us!" "I agree with Smolder and Yona," Ocellus nodded. "I think the best way for us to help Gallus is to go into his dreams. Professor Luna always says dreams are a window into the mind and soul." "Okay, sounds like a plan," Sandbar agreed. "But who's going to be the one to ask Professor Luna to help Gallus?" It was at that moment that Silverstream volunteered. "I'll do it!" She declared, raising her claw. "I want to help Gallus out any way that I can!" … So Silverstream went to Luna the next day to ask her request to help Gallus out. "Silverstream, I understand your concerns greatly," Luna commented as Silverstream sat in front of her desk. "Gallus has been concerning me as well. During our lessons, it seems like he isn't paying attention. But I've been busy with other students, and I hope you understand you're asking me to do something very serious." "Of course, Professor Luna! I know that, but we're all concerned for him!" The hippogriff declared. "It's like he's trying to hide something from us and I don't know how to get through to him! Are you sure that you can…?" Luna raised a hoof to silence the hippogriff, contemplating briefly on what to do next. "Silverstream, going into the dreams of others is not something to be taken lightly. There are things in the minds of other creatures that they may want to keep secret. Trying to coax it out of them through their dreams isn't always the best approach, even for me." "But we all want to go in as well, professor!" Silverstream urged. "If he won't tell us himself, then we will just have to find out for ourselves! I want to help him just as much as you do! Whatever he's trying to hide is destroying him, I can tell!" "And we will find out, Silverstream," Luna reassured her student while draping a wing overher. "As long as you and your friends follow my instructions very carefully. The dreams of others can be a frightening place, and if you don't tread carefully you can have adverse psychological effects on a creature's mind." … That night, Gallus went to sleep still thinking about the trauma lingering in his mind. It was never easy when the date drew close to the anniversary of that tragic day. From outside Gallus' dorm, Luna silently watched him sleep for a few seconds and then made her way over to the dorm that held all of his friends in. "He's asleep now," Luna whispered as she walked inside. "I must warn all of you though that we might experience traumatizing events. If you wish to back out now, please leave the room. If you stay you do so at your own risk." But nocreature left, all stayed. "Very well," Luna commented, as she shut the door behind her and activated her magic with the glow of her horn. With the five gathered students asleep, she cast a spell that transported herself and the five directly into Gallus' dreams. Suddenly, all found themselves in Griffonstone amongst griffons of all kinds. "Wow! So this is what it's like to be in a dream? I could get used to this!" Sandbar remarked, looking down and seeing the clearness he now was featured as. "This is really cool!" Silverstream laughed, managing to transform herself into a series of stairs at the foot of a tall structure. "Look, Ma, I'm stairs!" "You and your stairs obsession." Smolder muttered under her breath. However, all soon noticed that there was something different about the griffonstone that they were in. It seemed like it was in the midst of a horrible war. "Wait a minute!" Ocellus remarked with a gasp, hovering to get a good look of what they were surrounded by. "This must be from the Griffon Civil War. I remember learning about it in Headmare Twilight's Equestrian History classes." Just then, they saw a blue feathered male griffon in Gallus' likeliness approach what appeared to be a cart containing Griffon Scones, the only pastry served in Griffonstone. At the same time, a mother griffon and her offspring approached the cart with the offspring wanting a scone. "Come on!" The mother griffon much to the offspring's displeasure. "We don't take anything from the enemy!" "You birdbrain!" The scone selling griffon cried out, causing the male blue feathered griffon to back away in surprise. "And what do you want?" The male griffon approached the cart and extended his claw for a scone, only to be rudely turned down. "Do you have any bits?" She gruffly asked and the male griffon politely nodded that he didn't have any. "Then go away!" "What is wrong with griffon?!" Yona asked in shock. "Griffon wants scone! Why griffons not share?!" "Because he doesn't have any bits," Ocellus sadly replied as they watched the scone selling griffon leave. "It's not fair. If we have to eat then we have to eat. Even in the old days of the changeling hive we didn't turn others away because they couldn't pay." But all could only watch as the blue feathered griffon groaned in frustration and flew away. Suddenly, Luna activated her magic again much to the students' confusion. "Professor Luna, what are you doing?!" Silverstream asked in alarm! "I sense a darkness approaching!" Luna ominously replied, motioning for the students to gather around her. "Come with me and stay close. This will not be pleasant." … Soon, all found themselves in the bedroom of a house where they saw the blue feathered male griffon again. But this time, they saw a light blue feathered female griffon fly into a bedroom. She had a look of anger on her face and swatted a knife down from the male griffon's claw. "Orbus, this has gone far enough!" She cried, glaring angrily at him. "Why must you continue to obsess yourself over making everyone in Griffonstone love each other?" "Because we need to start loving and respecting one another, Athena!" Orbus cried, snatching the knife away from her. "Don't you get it? Griffons need to learn to let go of their animosity and move on with their lives!" "Not everygriffon is going to listen!" Athena protesed. "You know something, Orbus? Ever since the war, you've been in denial of the truth!" "What denial?!" Orbus bitterly snapped! "The denial that by forcing everygriffon to bend to your will, you are ruining more lives than benefiting them!" Athena told him! "Is this the kind of world you want our only son to grow up in?!" A look of desperation befell Orbus' face as the deranged griffon picked up Athena and threw her! "No, you're lying!" He hissed! "Don't you see?! I will never stop, I will never give into the animosity that now befalls us! But you've left me with no choice! This ends now!" Realizing what was about to happen, Athena's face began to show urgent fear! "Orbus, Orbus! No!" She screamed in desperation! "Please! We'll find another way!" "I love you, Athena." He whispered and the scene went dark for a moment. When it came back the now lifeless female griffon fell to the ground. Right away, Orbus was overcome with guilt over what he had just done and proceeded to tower over his son's crib made of worn, rotted wood. The baby began to fuss in fear, not knowing what had happened. "Gallus, I love you and I hope you can forgive me…for what I must do!" Orbus whispered again, soon he had stumbled to where his wife's body was, collapsing and dying on top of his wife. "What…just…happened?!" Ocellus whimpered in horror, looking over at Luna. "Is this what's been troubling Gallus? The way his parents died?!" But Silverstream said nothing as she looked at the torment her best friend had been going through. She now had a sense as to why Gallus had been constantly troubled lately. She knew her own family had had arguments, but nothing ever like what she had just witnessed. Maybe her parents had worked out that agreement so that this sort of thing wouldn't happen to her and Terramar? No, they loved her and her brother too much to do such a thing or even consider it! … … Realizing that they had all seen enough, Luna teleported herself and the students back to the real world. Each student awoke in shock of the shared nightmare that they all had together. "Unreal," Sandbar remarked. "Was that Gallus as a baby? I thought he was orphaned from birth." "It must have been him, it couldn't have been any other griffon," Smolder commented in realization. "And that must have been…" "My dad," A voice called and they all turned towards Gallus who had a tired look on his face. "You saw my dream, didn't you? You know what happened." "Gallus, why didn't you tell us all of this?!" Silverstream cried, flying over to him. "All this time you were suffering in silence!" "It was my burden and my burden alone to bear!" Gallus replied, turning his head away from Silverstream. "My dad wanted to bring peace back to Griffonstone and some creatures couldn't handle the truth, even my own mom. Because of what Griffonstone was, my parents died!" "Gallus, I'm so sorry. Nocreature should ever have to grow up without parents." The former princess of the night commented, walking over to him and attempting to reach a hoof out to him, only for Gallus to swat it away. "No, you're not sorry! And I don't need your pity!" Gallus snapped, pushing Luna away. "If you had all known in the first place…" "But we didn't know, Gallus," Silverstream interrupted, raising her voice slightly. "We didn't know that something like this happened because you decided to keep your feelings hidden from us." "Unlike my dad, I didn't become crazed with making everycreature friendly to one another!" Gallus protested. "You see? That's why I sabotaged the tree to keep all of you here with me during Hearth's Warming Eve last year, because I couldn't bear to return home and relive that painful moment all over again. The moment this cruel world took my parents from me! If it hadn't been what it was they'd still be alive!" "When did all of this happen, Gallus?" Luna asked. "It has something to do with the timing of the Hearth's Warming holiday." "It was on the Blue Moon Festival, long ago," Gallus answered. "The one day where griffons are supposed to put everything aside and act friendly, is instead the day where my great tragedy began. My father was supposed to be my mentor. The griffon I would turn to whenever I had problems. And what does he do? He takes the easy way out and takes my mother with him!" A few tears flowed from Gallus' eyes as he spoke. The pain in his voice was evident, there was no denying that this dark episode of his life was haunting him. "He just got…he just got so caught up in trying to make griffons like each other after the war. He was just too far gone to be reasoned with," Gallus cried. "It seemed like he was trying… to create his own world, a world that he wanted every griffon to be a part of." "No creature can force another to live according to their way of life," Luna sighed, remembering how it felt when she was Nightmare Moon and had sought to bring about eternal night. "I was in your horseshoes once, Gallus. But when I tried to make everypony live their lives according to my vision, I ended up being banished for a thousand years. I lost control to my darker self and nearly starved to death the kingdom I swore to protect." "You're lucky then, Professor Luna," Gallus bitterly remarked while looking at her. "You got a second chance to live your life. But my mom and dad will never get a second chance because they're dead, don't you get it? Dead!" Silently crying, Gallus turned his back away from the group. But both Luna and Silverstream approached him and placed a hoof and claw on his back respectively. "Look Gallus," Luna said in an honest and understanding voice. "You may not like what I have to say, but…" "But what?" Gallus sniffled. "Realizing what needed to be said, Luna sighed deeply. "Sooner or later, you are going to have to learn to forgive your father and let go of what he did. A wise pony once said that it's better to destroy your enemies by making them your friends." Gallus was aghast by what he had just heard! "Make my father my friend?!" He cried. "Why should I forgive him for what he did?! It cost me everything, my once chance at a happy life!" "Because that's what Twilight has done," Luna replied. "Do you remember how she met Headmare Starlight?" She turned to the other students. "Do any of you remember?" "Yeah, Yona remember Counselor Pony was mean pony before." Yona declared. "Because she was afraid of friends being taken away from her, and Twilight had to talk her talk out of changing the future according to her will," Luna explained. "There have been plenty of others that we have given second chances to, Discord among them." "But my dad isn't Discord and he isn't like Headmare Starlight!" Gallus retorted in a hushed voice before he raised it up a few notches. "The only reason I would bring my dad back from the dead…is so I can send him back myself! Make him pay for what he did to me! It's no less than what he deserves!" In a fit of rage, Gallus made a fist and punched the wall of the dormitory! "Violence is never the answer, Gallus," Silverstream pleaded with him. "Even though griffons don't like each other, what your dad did was not the answer. He's dead now, don't give him another thought. Strive to be better than the griffon he was." "And what would your answer be if it was you that it happened to? Hmm?" Gallus snapped, throwing a stack of papers off of the desk, before glaring at Silverstream in the face! "Talk to the guy? Cut him a break? Give the poor guy a pass? I doubt it! You would be as angry as I am now, and for good measure!" Having heard enough, Luna restrained Gallus with her magic and placed him in a chair next to one of the bunk beds. "That's enough, Gallus!" She commanded in her royal Canterlot voice. "You mustn't give into your anger like this! You'll only destroy yourself, just like your father!" "Oh and what are you going to do about it, hmm? Are you going to give me extra friendship lessons after all?" Gallus retorted. "Something that Headmare Twilight wasn't able to do? Go ahead! I don't care! Anything's better than being back in Griffonstone!" "No, we are going to Griffonstone and you are going to make peace with your father," Luna said firmly, causing Gallus' mouth to drop wipe open. "It seems clear to me that if we're going to get past this, you need to find common ground with your father. And don't worry. We're all going with you, all of us." Silverstream stepped forward and hugged the blue griffon tightly in support. Then Ocellus followed suit, then Yona, Smolder and finally Sandbar. … The next day, Gallus boarded the train and soon found himself back in Griffonstone. Upon arrival all were directed to the grave where Gallus' parents were buried next to each other, side by side. Taking a deep breath, Gallus carried a bouquet of flowers up to the graves with the attention focused on his father's grave. Part of him didn't want to be there, but there was no turning back. "Dad," Gallus whispered as storm clouds began to form over the cemetery. "I don't know if you can hear me, but…I will never forgive you for what you did to me. Taking the easy way out because you just couldn't accept what was changing in Griffonstone after the war. But, I…I want to make peace with you, even though I will never forgive you for what you did. May the maker have his mercy on you. Maybe someday I'll learn to put what you did behind me. But it'll be in spite of you, not because of you." Placing the flowers on his mother's grave, Gallus got up and went back towards Luna and his group of friends. "You won't forgive him?" Ocellus asked as a light rain began to fall. "No," Gallus replied as Silverstream placed a claw on Gallus' shoulder. "But, I want to make peace with him because he did one good thing for me." "What's that?" Luna questioned. "He brought me to all of you," Gallus answered. "My friends." Touched, the six friends embraced for a group hug as Luna looked on. … ….