It was on a late summer day that many of Ponyville’s residents were going about their business. The clear weather put most in a productive mood to get things done. Some chose to fill their respective stalls in the market while others simply went for a walk around town. Colts and fillies played games trying to squeeze as much fun as they could. With school starting up in a little over two weeks, they sought to make the most of their remaining summer vacation.
A certain griffon could relate to that feeling… If only his schedule was actually free, but no, he was assigned something called a summer project. Gallus had thought soon-to-be Ex-Headmare Twilight would let him and his friends just hang out until the school year started. That wasn’t the case after they had finished touring the new Treehouse of Harmony two hours ago. The assignment was going to be in the next semester, yet the alicorn was unsure whether to assign it individually or in a group.
Luckily for her—the Young Six were staying for the rest of the break. They got to test how difficult it was to complete in a group. He was stuck getting supplies for them to use on the assignment. While he liked being prepared, a habit picked up in School, Ocellus’s list was going kinda overboard on supplies. Maybe she expected them to be assigned another project or something.
’I swear if we have to do more projects after this…’ Gallus thought as he walked out of a store called Quills and Sofas. His beak held a bag containing twenty newly purchased quills with an inkwell. Both wings had more bags decorating them and his right claw was out holding the heavier bags. While a bit unused to the additional weight being a griffon meant his wings had to be strong enough to lift his body.
Before heading back to the School of Friendship, he checked Ocellus’s list one last time to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. Missing another item sounded less than ideal when he had to walk halfway back across town to get the quills. A small relieved sigh escaped his beak seeing that this was the final item needed for the project, he went over the list a second time just to be sure then tucked it back into a bag.
One thing that did brighten his mood was that Twilight promised they wouldn’t need to do the assignment again after giving their feedback. The dirt road was slightly disturbed under his talons as he made his way back to the school. His path took him toward the market drawing slight attention to himself due to his wings being out. Some ponies spared the griffon a curious glance, but otherwise minded their own business.
He had to stop a few times because the bags started moving too close to his feather tips for comfort. During one of these stops, a pony called out his name making him turn toward a stall.
”Woah there, Gallus, looks like you’ve been busy shoppin’. If ah had to take a guess… you must’ve been all round Ponyville, ” guessed a female voice with a strong southern twang. Gallus looked to his left to see Professor Applejack at the Sweet Apple Acres stand. Her eyes briefly scanned over his bags before meeting his gaze.
It was kinda obvious to tell where he shopped when each had a picture or the name of the store on them. The bag in his beak was moved to his already full claw to answer his teacher. ”That’s because I have, ” he stated nonchalantly.
”If yah don’t mind me askin’, fer what exactly? I figured you’d be relaxing with yer friends on a nice day like this, ” Applejack inquired. A confused look graced her face as the young griff sighed somberly.
His wings shifted out of habit and he had to adjust the bags again, ”Headmare Twilight assigned us a summer project to test how hard completing it is in a group. I’m just getting the materials.”
That did not clear up Applejack’s confusion; it only added to it. There were just a few days of summer left… why would they be doing a project in such little time?
”Anyway, good luck with whatever Twilight assigned y'all, ” she said. The blue griffon continues on his way carrying two of the lighter bags in his beak after giving a brief wave.
Honestly, he wasn’t exactly rushing since they still had two whole weeks to complete the project. Ocellus was just eager to get started as soon as possible—like usual when they helped each other with assignments. She helped the group to keep up studying during the previous school year. And the sooner they completed it, Gallus could actually relax.
Now that he thought about it. The extra time he was taking could give his friends more of a cushion to decide on the project’s subject.
His path took him on Ponyville’s backroads due to a surprise crowd almost causing him to drop the heavier bags. Several houses passed by him as he lazily glanced over the similar structure designs. Neat thatched roofs, no chipping wood, clean front yards, trimmed green grass, etc... It became a little boring looking at the same scenery for ten whole minutes.
The griffon’s thoughts drifted back to the project assigned to him and his friends. They were to ask a question then investigate the answer to that question. A slight catch being it had to be something no one in their group could answer easily. So asking Sandbar something along the lines of ’what does a cutie mark mean?’ or Smolder ’why do dragons breathe fire?’ was out.
At least he was getting a non-breezy dorm room to sleep in for the rest of the summer. Even summers in Griffonstone were a bit chilly because the city was built on a mountain. Cheerful music from ahead interrupted his current train of thoughts. He deters from the path curious as to why some creature was playing music.
This led him to a two-story house on his right with a small fenced-off backyard. A nervous tenor voice could be heard singing in the small area, ”...those wings flapping, and stop your napping~ Come on now give it a try, don’t ya wanna fly?”
Gallus spotted two ponies standing next to a slightly tired looking pegasus filly in the backyard. Given the situation, he guessed that they were her parents or at the very least relatives.
”But, I don’t wanna practice flying today~ My wings are tired so just go away!” she shouted trotting angrily to the backdoor. The filly didn’t make it far as a unicorn mare took her in a magical aura. She was set on a small platform elevated foot off the ground and scowled a bit.
”Don’t be like that my silly filly~ All we want is a few flaps really~” sang the mare in a joyful mood. Her singing was accompanied by upbeat guitar strumming coming from somewhere.
The griffon just stared at the scene taking place before him. Their back and forth singing told him that these two were encouraging their daughter to fly. She grew increasingly stubborn repeatedly saying that it was too early for this. Something he was curious about was where the upbeat strumming came from.
As far as he could see, there was no creature playing a guitar anywhere near the family’s backyard. He continued wondering where it was coming from when the filly drew attention to him. ”All you want is for me to carry stuff, like that ball of feathers and fluff~” she accused, pointing directly at him.
When her parents turned to see the surprised griffon, this gave her enough of a distraction to dart into the house. Both quickly turned back around upon hearing the door slam shut. Gallus backed away from the house having to pick up some bags that fell off his wings. He hurriedly walked down the road to avoid the confused stares of the parents.
Unsure whether he felt confused, curious, slightly embarrassed, or all three, Gallus just continued walking. One thing he was sure about was that he could count a number of times ponies broke into song on his talons. The professors sang several times in class to make lessons easier to remember. He even joined in on a musical number during the School of Friendship’s reopening.
A question came to him as he recalled those times, where did the music that played during their singing come from?
Many knew not to ask how Professor Pie did things most chalking it up to magic. But, what about when their other teachers sang in the classroom. For that matter how had they known what words to rhyme with during the number. That day had gone by quickly when they were unpacking the school’s furniture.
Gallus had been walking the entire during this eye-opening think session. It was his free claw touching water that snapped him out of it. He almost fell into the lake that the school was built on, but managed to save himself by flapping his wings. What he didn’t think about was the bags on his wings being flung into the water. His free claw hastily tries to grab the bags only for the heavy items in them to cause them to sink.
”Seriously?!” he shouted in exasperation.
At that moment Silverstream exited the school to check out the splash she heard. She got excited seeing Gallus near the stepping stones and flew over to see him. Landing next to him a moment later, she noticed a few bags next to him.
”Hey, Gallus, I’m so glad you got everything! Ocellus has been buzzing around everywhere trying to think of a question and... why are you high-fiving the pond?” she asked, confused.