//------------------------------//
// Old Problems 
// Story: Guardians of Friendship 
// by James Pwyll 
//------------------------------//

"...No," Gallus declared flatly.

His friends, having gathered back together after their hour-long search through the city, looked to him with concern. Currently, they were all sitting around the rim of a rather pleasant-looking water fountain in the centre of town, and though many other Griffons passed them by, none actually paid them much attention. But that was okay with the kids, since they had far bigger issues to worry about. Specifically, the fact that their friend might actually be one half of the friendship problem they came here to deal with. Silverstream especially seemed worried about it. "But, and I mean no offence here, Gallus...you and Gruff kinda have a bad thing going on."

Gallus snorted. "Understatement of the century, Silver." He sighed, turning to look at all of his friends. "Look, since none of you are willing to let this go, let me be as plain as I possibly can. Yes, Gruff is my guardian, and no, I don't like him." He frowned. "And I promise you, he doesn't like me either."

Ocellus pointed to him. "Well there you go then! We've been all over this city and the only thing that even comes close to a friendship problem is you and Gruff."

Gallus looked away from her. "There is no friendship problem because we were never friends to begin with!"

Sandbar suddenly seemed confused. "But...if Gruff really didn't care about you...why did he become your guardian?"

Gallus shrugged. "Best guess? Nocreature else wanted to." He looked to their surroundings, and though they were undoubtedly better-looking than the last time he was here, they still held no joy for him. "My time in Griffonstone was...bad. No family, no real home, and the only person I had in my life was a grouchy old-timer who only ever talked about me like I was an annoyance. First chance I got, I left. And believe me, if I were to go back to Equestria right now and never lay eyes on this place again, that'd suit me just fine."

Yona looked to him sadly. "Nocreature should hate their home."

"Well..I do," Gallus replied, his voice almost sounding unhappy about his decision on that matter.

Smolder folded her arms, arching an eyebrow to her blue companion. "Look, I'm not gonna say that this is something you should do. Heck, if anycreature told me I needed to talk to somecreature I didn't like, I'd probably tell em to get lost." A moment passed, and she sighed. "But it's pretty obvious you and Gruff have some things to say to each other, and...well...you never have said it."

Gallus chuckled drily. "What, you want me to just vent at that guy? Because I can definitely get behind that idea."

Ocellus shook her head. "No, we're not. We're saying...this is unfinished business. It's something that you've been avoiding. And nocreature can ever really move on with their lives if there's something they just spend the rest of their days wishing they'd done when they had the chance."

Silence fell, and for a time it looked as though Gallus was just going to stick to his choice and not listen to the others. Then, after a time, Silverstream stepped forward, gently placing her claw upon his shoulder. Gallus turned, looking her in the eye, seeing the soft way she was looking at him. It was a face that could melt even the stoniest of hearts, so naturally it was mere moments later when Gallus unleashed another long sigh, giving a slow nod afterwards. "Alright...alright, I'll talk to him." He hopped off the edge of the fountain. "But I make no promises, okay? An old coot like him probably doesn't want to talk to me any more than I want to talk to him."

The others didn't say anything, instead just following their friend as he began to make his way forward. They followed for some time, going past street after street, until they were in one of the less cleaned-up parts of town. Now whether this was just due to the fact that the Griffons just hadn't gotten round to this part yet, or if the locals just didn't care for how it looked, they couldn't say. All they could say though was that Gallus still didn't look very happy to be here, and some of them wondered if these unpleasant-looking streets were where he had to grow up back in the day. Eventually, they stopped, with Gallus having halted outside the doors of an especially busted-looking house. He took a few calming breaths, then balled his claw into a first, before giving a few knocks onto the door of said house. About a full minute passed before anycreature heard anything, and when they did it was hardly a pleasant voice. "For the last time, no sales! I'm not interested!"

Gallus grimaced. "Okay...here we go." Again, he knocked, this time taking a step back, just in case.

Immediately the door opened, and just as Gallus instincts had predicted, Gruff had emerged, waving a cane about like a lunatic. "I told you I don't want any...!" But then he stopped, and with his one good eye he squinted, letting him truly see who was here. And of course, as had so often been the case with him, he frowned. "Oh...you."

Gallus frowned right back. "Yeah, nice to see you too."

Gruff looked past him, to all of Gallus' friends, some of whom nervously waved to him, before again focusing on the blue youth before him. "What do ya want, Gallus?"

Here, Gallus faltered, standing in utter silence before this adult who had supposed to have been responsible for him. He took several deep breaths, and then, after a good long wait, finally spoke. "I want to know...why you're unhappy. And more than that..." He took a single step forward. "I want to know why you're always unhappy...with me."

Though looking somewhat surprised by the question, it wasn't long before Gruff resumed his natural state of sourness. "What, ya come here for a wishy-washy feelings forum like some Changeling?"

Ocellus, unsurprisingly, took offence to that. "Hey! Don't knock the feelings forums! They're a perfectly healthy way to voice grievances and troubles!"

Gallus watched as their other friends held her back from what was undoubtedly going to be a long rant on her part, leading to him shaking his head before looking again to Gruff. "Look...I don't like talking with you. And you don't like me being around either. You've made that clear in all the time I knew you."

Gruff rolled his eyes. "And yet, here ya are!"

Gallus resumed his earlier frown. "Yeah...here I am." He stepped forward again. "But I want to know...why? Why do you have such a problem with me? Why do you have such a problem with everyone and everything around you? Why...why are you always just...gruff?!"

Gruff stayed quiet for a long time, as did everycreature else, but eventually, the older Griffon looked Gallus right in the eye. "Ya wanna know why, boy? Ya wanna know why I got no joy in my life? For decades, I've watched this great city fall further and further, until it was nothing but a dump. I'm the only one who's old enough to remember how things were when they were at least a little bit good, and whenever I talked about it, to you, to Gilda or anycreature else, all they heard was a tied old-timer who was just rambling about the good old days." He looked around. "And now things are getting good again, and it's all anycreature can talk about. Nocreature cared when I talked about Griffonstone being good way back when, and they just see me as a relic when I do. Some dusty trinket on a shelf they'd just want to forget about."

Gallus paused, looking to the side briefly. "That explains why you're grouch to everyone else, but what about me? What problem did you have with me?"

Gruff snorted. "I never hated ya, kid. I was harsh on ya, I insulted ya, and yer friends too...but I never hated ya."

This, of course, came as a surprise to Gallus, who looked to him sceptically. "Well you sure as heck made me feel like you hated me."

Gruff held onto his cane, making sure he was properly stable, before continuing. "I was angry...but not at you. I was angry at everything. You had no parents, no family, no home. Your life...it was everything that was wrong with Griffonstone all wrapped up into a single kid. Ignored, unwanted, going down a bad slope."

Gallus chuckled drily. "Gee, way to make a Griffon feel wanted."

Gruff frowned to that, but continued all the same. "Point stands, boy. I looked at you, and all I saw was just how bad things were here. Griffons were supposed to take care of Griffons back in the day, but when you were younger...they didn't. All there was ta look after ya was...well..."

Gallus, if only a little, softened. "...You."

The elder Griffon leaned against the side of his door, as if simply standing was tiring for him. "I'm no parent. Never wanted ta be. But Griffons shouldn't leave other Griffons, so...I took ya in."

"It...wasn't a great time," Gallus said quietly.

Gruff looked to him, and though his face remained as unpleasant as ever, his voice, for the first time, sounded less harsh than what people usually heard from him. "I'm, not asking ya to forgive me. I didn't do good with ya. And I won't ask ya to come back. Your happy now. Happier than you ever were here. If your choice is to go to Equestria or wherever else and have that be your home...then that's probably for the best."

Gallus thought long and hard over those words, then nodded slowly. "Equestria...is my home now. I never had any love for Griffonstone, and I probably never will." After a quick pause, he looked to his guardian again. "And believe me, I have no intention of forgiving you for treating me like I was unwanted...even if that wasn't how you really felt. My time with you was bad, and I'll never think differently of it." Though reluctantly, his expression became less stern after a moment or two. "But...you sent me to Princess Twilight's school. That was...the best thing anycreature had ever done for me. So..." He stepped forward. "For that...and that alone...thank you."

Gruff didn't look happy, or relieved, and simply shrugged. "Well...good to know I did something right with you."

Slowly, Gallus took a few steps backwards, turning to walk towards his friends. Then, he halted himself, looking deep in thought, before giving one final glance back to Gruff. "Take care, old coot. We'll probably never see each other again."

Gruff, for perhaps the first time in many years, gave a laugh, albeit a dry and cough-inducing one. "If there's one thing we Griffons are actually good at, boy...it's looking out for ourselves."

Gallus too chuckled, watching as the older Griffon closed the door. Now there was only the silence of the neighbourhood, and as Gallus walked back to his friends, he watched as Ocellus stepped forward, looking unhappy. "I'm so sorry, Gallus. This was a terrible idea. You and Gruff didn't resolve things, you didn't make amends, you..."

But she was stopped when Gallus raised a claw, and he gave her a smile. "Not everycreature can be friends, Ocellus. Friendship is good, but...sometimes too much bad has happened for it to all just be swept under the rug. I understand him, he understand me, and we both know that we're fine without the other. It's not the happiest thing, but...it's something we can live with." He saw Ocellus open her mouth to speak, but he again interrupted her by moving forward and embracing her in a hug. His Changeling friend was of course taken aback by this, but soon reciprocated, and before long all six of them were joining in on the hug, creating a very heart-warming image. When it was all over, and the the youths finally parted, Gallus gave a firm nod to them all, smiling to those he considered his true family. "Come on...let's go home."