It was late in the evening, with the Sun just about to go down. Most of the students at the School of Friendship were getting ready to turn in for the night. However, one student was currently not on the school grounds. He had snuck away some time after dinner and made his way into the Everfree Forest in search of a place where he felt he could not just concentrate, but also calm down.
And so, within the Treehouse of Harmony, Gallus the Griffon laid on his stomach atop some pillows as he studied a book laid open in front of him. He glared at the words on the paper for a while, then let out a frustrated growl before rolling over on his back and slapping the palms of his talons over his eyes.
A flash of light took him out of his stress induced misery, and he uncovered his eyes to a shimmering figure which resembled Princess Twilight standing before him.
"You are troubled, Gallus," the image said, a look of genuine concern on her face, "Please, tell me what upsets you, so."
Gallus sighed as he sat up on his haunches and said, "Hey, the Tree of Harmony. Cool." Then he turned away awkwardly and said, "Well, sorry for bothering you, Tree. This isn't anything serious or important. I was just leaving anyway."
The spirit shook its head vehemently and said, "No, Gallus. If you are troubled, I insist on helping you. You are very important to me, as are the rest of your friends. No matter how trivial it seems to you, I still have a strong desire to help you and make you smile." It emphasized this remark with a warm smile that looked and felt like a mix between Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. "Now, tell me, what seems to be the trouble?"
Unable to say no to the spirits warmth and kindness, Gallus fidgeted nervously and said, "Well, we got a test coming up in Professor Fluttershy's class and. . .and. . .well . . .it's stupid. . ."
"None of that," the spirit said firmly, "You are very clever, and far from stupid. Needing help with something does not equal incompetence. It is the refusal to ask for help that is the mark of foolishness."
Gallus blinked, and he stared at the spirit as it smiled supportively at him. Feeling a bit more confident, Gallus continued, "It's just that. . .I keep getting empathy and sympathy confused. It's just really hard for me to tell the difference. I mean, I know what they both mean! I just can't remember which word goes with which definition."
The spirit nodded in understanding and said, "Ah yes, the two terms are quite similar. However, there is a very simple way to tell them apart. Sympathy is when you feel similar feelings in regards to somecreature else's pain. Empathy is when you have the experience of somecreature else's pain. Sympathy. . .Similar. Empathy. . .Experience. Now do you see?"
Gallus mulled it over in his head for a moment, then he smiled and said, "Aw yeah. . .I get it now. The way the words go together like that. Heh, nice. Thanks Tree."
The spirit bowed graciously and said, "You are more than welcome."
Gallus nodded and said, "Yeah, sure, but I kinda wish I could do something for ya."
The spirit chuckled and said, "Oh, you needn't worry about that."
"But I really do. Seriously," Gallus persisted, "Listen Tree of Harmony. . .okay, first off, would you mind if I just called you Harmony?"
The spirit nodded and smiled, "That's fine by me."
Gallus nodded, "Right, good. Now look, I know it sounds kinda weird, with me being a griffon and all. We've always been kinda greedy and stuff, but since coming her, I kinda wanna change that. I've been learning a lot from Professor Rarity, but I really wanna do. . .more. My friends have already done a lot for me, and so have the teachers. And you've done a lot for everycreature, Tree. You and your Elements have helped save the world tons of times. So, I just figured that somecreature so do something to repay you, or at least show that you're appreciated."
Gallus ruffled his feathers a bit, then smiled cockily and said, "Sooooo, yeah. If you can think of anything I could do for you, just let me know? We cool?"
Harmony's face showed surprise and near disbelief in response to the griffon's words. It opened its mouth to speak, only to close it, open it again, and close it yet again. It stared off into space for a moment, deeply lost in its own thoughts. Then it blinked its eyes and looked into Gallus', and asked, "Can I borrow your body?"
Gallus stared blankly at the spirit, then he carefully stuck a claw into one of his ears and said ,"Say what?"
Harmony's eyes widened, and it stumbled back a bit and stammered, "Oh, I am so, so sorry for that. That was awfully forward of me. But please, if you could find it in your heart to hear what I have to say."
Gallus pulled his claw out of his ear and said, "Alright. . . I'm listening. I kinda gotta hear this." Gallus sat back down and nodded, "Okay, shoot."
Harmony calmed down a bit, then nodded and said, "Thank you. As you know, I have existed in some form for over one thousand years, back when I was first created by the Pillars of Equestria. But for most of that time, I was merely an observer. An abstract presence. A force. However, thanks to the strong friendship of Twilight Sparkle and her friends, I was able to internalize my observations and become full sentient and conscious like the creatures I have watched over for so long."
Harmony then raised her left forehoof and stared at in longingly, "But still. . . I long for something more. . . I do not feel as though I am truly alive. I am a mere spirit. Not a creature like you or your friends. I want to know what it feels like. . .to really live. Unless I can have that experience, I fear that I will never truly understand friendship between living things."
Harmony then looked back up at Gallus and said, "All I ask is for 24 hours. Just one single day. That is all I desire. One day to eat, drink, play, and live in fellowship with other living creatures. So that I might not feel so alone."
Gallus sat silence, looking at the misty eyed spirit as he sorted through a myriad of confusing thoughts. However, one thing that was strongest amongst these thoughts was, ironically, sympathy.
"Alone. . ." Gallus muttered to himself, directing his vision downwards at the crystalline floor. Then he looked back up at Harmony and asked, "So. . .what, we'd be sharing a body or. . ."
Harmony corrected Gallus, "No. Your soul would be transferred into the Tree I currently inhabit while I took control of your body. We would quite literally change places."
Gallus raised an eyebrow and said, "Huh. So I'd be the sparkly spirit. . . Okay. . ." Gallus then held out his right talon and wiggled his claws, saying, "But you do realize I'm a griffon, not a pony, right."
"It doesn't matter to me," Harmony said, "All living creatures are precious things with souls and intrinsic value. It matters not what they look like. The only reason I take the form of Twilight Sparkle is because she is the Spark, and bearer of the Element of Magic. I would not mind taking the form of a griffon, or any creature for that matter."
Gallus stroked his chin a bit, then he asked, "So. . .you just wanna be a griffon for 24 hours. There's nothing else to it?"
Harmony smiled nervously and said, "Well. . .there is one other thing. I would prefer that my true identity remain a secret, so that I might be treated as Gallus, and not as the Spirit of the Tree of Harmony."
Gallus appeared slightly surprised by this, and he asked, "A secret? From everyone? Even my friends?"
Harmony frowned a bit, and replied, "You friends have already formed their own opinions of me, I'm sure. They are bound to treat me differently, and not as a true, true friend they are comfortable around. But if I masquerade as you, I would more easily be able to experience the one thing I have yearned for above all else for so long: true friendship. Make no mistake, we will reveal the truth to them after 24 hours are over, but for this plan to work, I must maintain the illusion that I am you."
Gallus was actually smiling at this, and he remarked, "Yeah, I gotcha. You just wanna be one of the gang. I understand."
Harmony had hope sparkling in her eyes as it asked, "Are you considering doing this thing for me?"
Gallus shrugged and said, "Eh, why not? It'll be fun being a ghost for a while."
"Wait," Harmony said urgently, "You must understand that as a spirit, you will be unable to leave the general area of this Treehouse. Also, I doubt you will have the experience needed to remain visible to others for very long. Although this plan does necessitate you not being scene while I am within your body, so perhaps it is not much of an issue. At any rate, you should be aware of that fact."
Gallus deflated a bit at this. "Huh. Sounds like a boring day," he remarked.
"Not at all!" Harmony said with an eager look and gleeful glint in her eye, "When your soul is transferred into the Tree, you will have access to all the knowledge and stories imbued into me not only by the Pillars of Equestria when they planted me, but also by Celestia, Luna, Twilight Sparkle and their friends for when they used my Elements. You should be able to view them in a way similar to those movie theater places those clever ponies had built. Simply close your eyes and focus, and you should be able to view them effortlessly."
Gallus immediately perked back up at this. "Hey, so I could see Flash Magnus fighting dragons? I'm sold! It's a deal! When do you wanna do the switch?"
Harmony nodded eagerly and said, "Right now would be fine. That way my first experience could be how organic creatures undergo the phenomena of sleep, and I will have had a full day of experiences once the 24 hours are up."
Gallus nodded and said, "Alright. That sounds fair. So, how does this thing work." Gallus then looked around nervously and said, "Uh, this won't hurt, will it?"
Harmony smiled and held out her right forehoof. "Not at all, I promise. Simply take my hoof when you are ready."
Gallus took a moment to stare at the spirit's hoof. He blinked a couple of times, then he took a deep breath and jumped up. He briskly walked over to the spirit and grabbed the shimmering forehoof with his right talon.
"Are you ready?" Harmony said seriously.
"Yeah."
"Are you absolutely sure?"
"Just do it, I really wanna do this for ya, but I'm afraid I'm gonna lose my nerve any second now, so just-!"
Gallus was suddenly jerked forward and flung head over tail, squawking out in surprise as he tumbled through the air. He flapped his wings desperately as he fought to right himself. Once he was hovering in midair, he looked down and beheld a rather unnerving sight. He saw his own body, slumped forward on three bent legs, with the front right talon sticking out. The eyes were closed as the head hung low, but then they opened wide as the blue griffon let out a loud gasping breath.
Gallus looked on in amazement as he watched his body shakily stand up. The eyes then looked down at the talons, and then the griffon hugged itself tightly as it whispered out, "I can touch. . .I can actually touch. . ."
Gallus cocked his head and remarked, "Hey. How come your voice sounds like mine?"
Harmony looked up at Gallus and said, "I still have your vocal chords, after all."
"Oh."
Harmony stopped hugging its new body and held the talons out to look at them. "Fascinating," Harmony mused, then rolled over onto its back and lifted up the furry hind legs. Wiggling her toes, she remarked, "More than one toe per foot. Remarkable. Much more complex than hooves. . .but for what purpose?"
Gallus folded his arms and said, "Okay, this is getting awkward."
Harmony didn't seem to hear him, as it rolled over onto its stomach and slowly stood up on all fours. Harmony took a few wobbly steps forward, her knees shaking as tried to maintain her balance. "Woah. . .woah. . . Oh my goodness, gravity feels so strange. . . The way it pulls me down. . .and what's this? Something else is weighing on this body. A sort of heaviness in the limbs. . .and in the mind. . .and in the eyes?"
Gallus saw how his body's eyelids were beginning to droop, and he said, "Uh, yeah. It's called being tired. I had kind of a exhausting day today. I was real glad tomorrow is Friday. Anyway, you said you wanted to know what sleep was like, so. . .got get'em tiger."
Gallus gave Harmony a thumbs up, which caused him to notice the sparkling of his current form. Gallus twisted and turned in midair, looking at his shimmering spirit form in amazement. "Woah, this feels weird. . .in a cool sort of way. Wait, I'm not even flapping my wings? Grover's Treasure, this is crazy."
Harmony let out a yawn, and it said, "Well, well, it seems we both have big days ahead of us. I had best get a good night's sleep right away. But before I go, allow me to make a suggestion. I am unsure if you still require sleep, as although you are a spirit, you might still be too used to your corporeal form. So, I suggest you make use of my ability to become dormant to. . .shall we say, 'rest' until the morning. Simply concentrate on resting until the sunrise, and you should drift off and phase back into the trunk of the Tree."
"Yeaaaah, I kinda do still feel weirdly tired," Gallus admitted, "I'll give it a go."
Gallus then shut his eyes and lowered his head. Slowly but surely, Gallus' spirit form began to become more and more transparent. Then, with a sudden flash, Gallus disappeared.
"Sleep well, Gallus," Harmony said warmly, then it turned towards the door and said, "And I shall do the same."
Harmony flapped its griffon wings and jumped forward, only to face plant onto the ground a few meters away.
Harmony sighed and said, "Well, at least I'll certainly be good and tired by the time I get back to the dorms."