//------------------------------// // Hearth's Warming at a Friends - Part 1 // Story: Bluebird // by Hammerhead //------------------------------// Hey Gally! Just writing to say congrats on passing your first term of the Royal Guard Academy, sure we all know you would do it, but we’re all happy for you! Bet you’re glad to have a break after all the hard work, the school is also starting their break away for Hearth's Warming and New Year’s, so the rest of us have got time off to celebrate the holidays back at home too! Since you asked about having a place to stay in Ponyville, I had a word with the others and both Ocellus and Smolder have said they’d be more than happy to wait for you to arrive so you can spend a few days at the house. We cannot guarantee you a bed, but our sofa is super comfy. I know these winter holidays aren’t the best times for you, but trust me when I say you’ll really enjoy it this year~ Looking forward to seeing you! Silverstream It felt strange, even as Gallus was reading the letter for the fifth time that week, realizing the fact that that he passed his first term of the Royal Guard Academy. Even stranger was thinking that he would now take a week break back home in Ponyville, beginning on the Equestrian holiday of Hearth's Warming Eve. If he needed any proof of such an occasion, all he needed to do was look up and around, as snow-covered all the buildings and the ground, and he and his platoon cadets were carrying their belongings, making their journeys home. Most of the cadets were picked up by family members, with some bringing wagons to help carry the belongings. The noticeably wealthier ponies had more luxurious transports home, as Coalstone and Commandant Arthurdox were carried in a gold brimmed chariot that required two pegasus ponies to move. It was a sight that brought awe to most, but revolt to a few at the snootiness and class. One by one, ponies of Gallus’ platoon departed once they recognised their parents had flown in. Pound Sterling was the first to say “Tarah” as departed with her overly cheerful dad, followed by Nickname with his mother who was not so much. Lightning Dust was of the few who left by herself, capable of carrying her bags on her own as she made her way to Cloudsdale. The last ones staying by were Gallus and Scythe, watching the other ponies wait or make their own way home. “So, you got any plans for the next week?” asked Gallus, starting the dialogue as Scythe checked through his bags. The pegasus looked up to recall his plans for an answer, his eyes flashed when they emerged in his mind. “Oh yeah, after Hearth's Warming I go out to the Galloping Gorge with my family” he answered. “We do a lot of camping, sightseeing, cross-country…” Gallus nodded and simpered as Scythe listed the outdoor activities as if his family were continuing some of the training, they did but for fun. “Cool, guess you don’t have to worry about what the sarge said right?” He then placed his claws behind his straightened back and broadened his shoulders, imagining Staff Sergeant Razorwing giving a stern look and a firm brief towards the cadets. “You better not spend the next week lounging around, make the most of your break to work on your military skills, we can’t help you if you get rusty”. The impression garnered humour from Scythe, who held his mouth shut in a desperate attempt to conceal his laughter. “Yeah, that is true. What about you?” It was Scythe’s turn to ask Gallus about his winter break plans. “Well after I see my friends in Ponyville” answered Gallus, having relaxed from his impersonation, “I’m going with the Rockwall and Mountaineering Club on a planned expedition for a few days, so yeah, I’m not worried either” he confidently answered in succinct detail. “After that, I can see my friends some more before the next term starts.” As casual as Gallus was, Scythe tightened his lips as he noticed something missing about his friend’s plan in contrast with his own. “Hm, so you won’t be home that much?” he calmly pointed out. He could tell that Gallus recognised he was referring to Griffonstone, his confident demeanour faded as he sighed. What felt more concerning was when Gallus stared eastward, despite any mountain or inking of Griffonstone being impossible through the clouds and fog that filled the sky. “Is your family…?” Scythe was interrupted, “Oh… yeah… they understand” Gallus tentatively answered, looking at the carpet of snow inches from his feet. “They know I’m not a fan of going back home for long…” Inside he felt a mix of anger and sorrow as memories of past winters in Griffonstone started to bleed into his thoughts. He needed something to distract him, and a good one would not come sooner. He looked past Scythe as the figure of a pegasus pony flew low towards their direction at a moderate speed. No other pony seemed to be paying attention to it, so under his assumptions. “Well, I better get a move on” he urgently excused himself, quickly thrusting his claws into his bag to rummage from it. Despite Scythe’s concerns, he nodded. “Yeah, I should get moving too”, he agreed as he picked his own bag up with his hooves. “It’s gonna take me a while to get back to Cloudsdale with all this stuff on my own.” Gallus had just finished digging through his bag, an item held firmly in his claws as Scythe made his comment. “Before I… Wait,” he paused, turning to raise an eyebrow towards Scythe. “You’re not being picked up by somepony?” Scythe shared his own raised eyebrow in confusion. “No, why?” “Because somepony is flying towards us.” Gallus lowered his head, gesturing towards the pony that was approaching them, its figure had become much clearer to be a mare whose wings were flapping quicker to pick up speed. Scythe did not have enough time to turn around to see who it was before he was pounced on. His cheeks were puffed up and he felt winded, as a pair of forehooves wrapped around and clasped his body. “There’s my stallion!” the pegasus mare gleefully exclaimed. The mare was roughly the same height and amber coat as the stallion tight in her grasp, and yet her slightly faded brunette mane and subtle creases around her eyes indicated she was older. “I’m so glad you waited for me ‘cause I couldn’t spare one minute without seeing you!” “Mum!” Scythe cried out whilst kicking the ground, desperately shuffling his arms and wings out of her grasp. “Other ponies can see us!” “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m your mother. Am I not allowed to love my own son?” The smothered stallion begging for mercy and freedom from the affection would have had relief that the ponies waiting around paid no mind, giving no more of a grin at the site. Unfortunately, Gallus saw more of the humour much to his chagrin. Even though he used his talons to clamp his beak shut and hide the wide smirk on his face, Gallus was unable to cover up the snorting from his snickering. The mother had finally loosened her grip when she caught a glance at the blue griffon. The site was questioning for her. “Oh... hello… Can I help you?” She then lowered her glance, and noticed both Scythe’s bag and his own, and then looked down at her son. “Scythe, you shouldn’t make somecreature carry your bags for you” she calmly accused, finally releasing him dig into her pockets and pull out a small number of gold coins. “Here you go, griffon. This should make up for your troubles.” The griffon looked at the coins, aware that his own kind often had a tendency of asking for money first before providing services of any kind, except he furrowed his brow. He knew he wasn’t a servant, or providing a service, and yet a mare was giving money for apparently carrying Scythe’s bags. Scythe’s eyes widened in panic, “Uh, mum!” he hastily called out, turning around, and trying in vain to push the coins towards her mother. “This is OFFICER CADET GALLUS,” he introduced with a hoof over the griffon’s shoulder with an uncomfortably wide grin. “He’s my friend in my PLATOON at the Academy.” The mother tilted her head, initially uncertain why her son was showing anxiety, assuming she was being courteous. She then finally caught on that the griffon wasn’t a servant, but a cadet like him. Her face when pale, and the gold coins were hurriedly returned to her pocket. “Oh dear Twilight, I’m so so so sorry!” she frantically apologised. “First time meeting one of Scythe’s friends and I’m already making false assumptions.” “It’s fine.” Gallus tried to reassure her, accepting a misunderstanding felt much easier to deal with than witnessing her beg for forgiveness.  “No no, please, let me start over” she relented, grabbing one of Gallus’ arms to shake it with both hooves, presenting a calm and friendly smile. “My name’s Cherry Bomb, Scythe’s mother, but friends call me Cherry.” “It’s good to meet you, ma’am” responded Gallus in relief. “Aw, so formal! I should have believed those rumours about a griffon at the academy sooner, must be lucky to be friends with my little clever clogs” Cherry cheerfully remarked, ruffling her son’s mane. “Still though, you’re probably looking forward to a break as much as Scythe is. Are you heading back to see your family for Hearth's Warming?” “Actually, I- “ “Sorry! Sorry! Assuming things again” she quickly apologised, holding a hoof to her face, before taking a deep breath and restarting. “Are you heading back to see your family for the holidays?” “…Actually, I’m spending the holidays in Ponyville, it’s what I did last year.” Cherry’s smile began to fade. “Oh, so you’re not seeing your family?” she asked with concern, Gallus’ silence didn’t give much assurance and Scythe didn’t want to answer himself. “I mean, you must have friends in Ponyville, right? You’ve got to be seeing your friends, right?” “Well yeah, I have friends in Ponyville, but it might be a little while since I’ll see them since they’ll be away… with their families… for the holidays…” his voice trailed off as he turned his head away from the group, downcast with the fact about the issue of having friends of different countries. Every year since the School of Friendship, every creature would go home for the holidays. Sandbar could stay in Ponyville, but Yona would go to Yakyakistan near the Frozen North, Ocellus to the Changeling Hive south of Equestria, Smolder to the Dragon Lands, Silverstream to Mount Aris, and himself to Griffonstone. All far away from each other, and it made him miserable. Despite being used to it, he still felt dejected at the reality, even after once setting off a prank to prevent any of them from going home during his first year at the school. “So… you’re gonna be on your own for the holidays?” asked Cherry, yet the question felt rhetorical as her eyes began to well up, keeping a hoof over her mouth. “You poor thing…” Even Scythe was feeling sympathy over the admission. “It’ll be alright,” he attempted to reassure both. “I’ve got a place to stay tonight, and I know where I can go...” But before he could finish, Cherry’s face lit up, she had gotten an idea. “Why don’t you spend some holiday time with us?” “What?” both Gallus and Scythe exclaimed in unison, their faces darted towards the mare as their eyes widened. “You can spend Hearth's Warming Eve with us, some of the family will be over, we’re having a big, cooked lunch together.” As Gallus was stunned by the eager offer, Scythe panicked again. “Mum! Wait!” he called out, getting close to her to whisper with caution. "Gallus already has plans, this might not be a good idea." Cherry chuckled, “Nonsense, we make plenty of food and have a big enough table for one more” she happily brushed off the concerns. “And it’d be nice to spend a bit more time with your friend, right?” “Yeah, but- “ “And Gallus, it’d be nice to have at least one day to celebrate the holidays with friends, right?” “Well, yeah, but- “ “Then it’s settled!” Cherry proudly declared. “You are coming with us for Hearth's Warming Eve. Now let’s go!” As Cherry made a smooth about-face turn with a bright smile on her face and arched brows, Gallus and Scythe were standing with jaws agape. With both too afraid to object, one at the fact her idea was too kind and insisted upon, and the other contending with a doting mother, the two grabbed their bags and followed. The three made their short flight over to the sky city of Cloudsdale, and although Cherry Bomb was cheerfully humming as she led the trip, her two companions. Scythe’s eyes were darting and had his own hum, which was shaky as his anxiety would grow the further, they got to their destination. It was confusing and awkward to Gallus seeing Scythe worrying, presumably over Gallus coming along to his house. Talking to him was out of the question, therefore Gallus flapped his wings harder to move closer to his mother. “So, Mrs Bomb?” he called out to get her attention, hoping to have some small talk, to acquire some detail to prepare for this family gathering. “Please, call me Cherry!” she called back with friendly glee. “Okay… Cherry… Your family… Scythe said it was a military family? As in, you’re all in the military?” Cherry looked back with a smirk, “I see he told you all about us, huh?” she remarked slyly towards Scythe, whose sole response was a nervous grin. “Yes, we’ve all served or are serving in the E.U.P. Guard to some capacity” she acknowledged towards Gallus, confirming what Scythe told him and the others during the self-reliance exercise. “For instance, my sister and I were captains serving as army doctors” she added, “we treated injured officers and soldiers, it was how we met our husbands.” It took a while for Gallus to process the example given, it confirmed not only that Scythe’s mother and aunt were in the army, his dad and uncle as well, and they all met on the job. Either that was one hell of a romantic situation they were in or an incredible coincidence. Either way, if they were all military, Gallus suspected they might act similarly to cadets in the academy, albeit with more experience. The three finally made their way over the city of Cloudsdale, Gallus had only properly visited the place on one field trip, although it was the day that magic started to fail in Equestria. Apart from the cushioned feel of walking on the clouds and the long height below, the memory of school ponies falling through said clouds that lead to their field trip ending abruptly was what he remembered most. Seeing it again, he was impressed with how bright the city shone, even in the winter. The city’s main export, apart from the Wonderbolts, was the weather, with factories for each kind making up the largest of the buildings and rainbows streaming out like waterfalls. Eventually, Cherry Bomb finally started to descend, as the three landed on the padded ground in front of the family home. At least, one would assume was home, but the building felt much grander than that. Like other houses in Cloudsdale, it was marble grey and bright cyan in tone and structured with pillars three stories high, with large windows and numerous styled engravings. It was nowhere near as big as a palace, but the scale, cleanliness, and antiqueness were immense. “Woah, this place is huge,” he remarked in awe, “I had no idea you can make houses this big up here.” Cherry Bomb gave a humble smile, “Yep, it’s had several dozen repairs and additions here and there over the years, but officially it’s still the original Magnus estate.” Gallus’ entire body froze with wide eyes at that exact moment, eyes locked at the front door as Cherry Bomb made her way to open it, his beak hung open unhinged in shock. He wanted to be sure he heard her correctly, but he felt the air trapped, unable to emerge from his throat to speak. It was only when he caught Scythe in the corner of his eye, that he could finally clear his throat. The pegasus stallion had his head held low in defeat, it was visibly apparent that he was facing exactly what he was worried about on the journey. “Did… your mom say Magnus?” whispered Gallus, his eyes remained fixed but could visibly witness Scythe nodding his head to confirm. “As in… Flash Magnus…?” “Mm-hmm…” All at once, small moments he could recall from the past several weeks. The older brother previously attending the Academy, the military family, the outspoken interrupt at the mention of a descendent over one lunch, his near verbal slip when he excitedly gave his name to the language teacher, Major Babel, all lead to one answer. “That means you’re…” “My name is Scythe Magnus; Flash Magnus is my ancestor.” “Come on in!” called out Cherry Bomb, having opened the front door, oblivious to the revelation that occurred outside. “You two don’t want to get cold, do you?” When Gallus and Scythe eventually made their way through the front door and into a long hallway, it wasn’t long before another family member made their presence. “Cherry! Good, you’re back!” a pegasus mare called out from a kitchen on the other side of the hallway, similar in appearance outside of a more reddish mane. All current information pointed towards this being Cherry Bomb’s sister “Current update on the lunch situation, we have shepherd’s pies in the oven, red cabbages have been cut with the rest of the vegetables needed to be stir-fried, and the dining table is laid out with drinks ready. Most of the family are in the living room, yet Birch is still upstairs in his study, if there is anything else, let me know.” “Ariel Bomb, you’re amazing!” complimented Cherry, satisfied with the thorough list. “Just make sure to set out another chair at the table and I can take over, we have a friend of Scythe’s spending lunch with us.” As the sisters saluted each other, along with a quiet giggle, Cherry turned around to face Scythe and Gallus. Wanted to give simple orders, she first looked to Gallus. “Make yourself at home, Gallus.” She then turned to Scythe. “Be sure to say hello to everypony while I find your father, ‘kay?” As Cherry briskly went upstairs, and Ariel moved out of view in the kitchen, Gallus and Scythe dropped their bags to the side of the hallway, underneath a rack filled with coats. The two made a slow walk down the hallway, for what could better be described as a narrow history museum. Space was covered wall to wall with framed photos, drawings, and medals. Some of the photos were of family holidays, a familiar sight even to Gallus from his visits to Sandbar’s home in Ponyville, but others had ponies in military uniform, whether it jackets with medals or suits of armour. The same would be found with the framed drawings, all figures of stoical pegasi in uniform, each feature an artist’s signature and the year it was drawn, all more than a century old at least. Yet it was a group photo of a large family reunion that caught Gallus’ attention for him to stop in place to inspect closely. It featured several ponies in the shot, all looking happy with grins and smiles throughout, with the backdrop of a vibrant green garden. As he scanned through, the central figure was significantly recognisable, Flash Magnus sat with a wide grin and both his hooves resting on the shoulders of two elderly ponies. Bizarrely, he wasn’t wearing any armour, revealing his short dark and scruffy looking amaranth mane that would have been hidden under his helmet. As Gallus scanned further, he recognised Scythe, smiling at the far end of the photo beside Cherry with a hoof wrapped around his shoulder. He looked to be in his mid-teens, young enough to be a first-year student at the School of Friendship, he assumed the group photo was taken at least a year after the legendary pegasus returned from the limbo created to imprison the pony of shadows. There was no doubt that the connection between Scythe and Flash were true, which made Gallus question why Scythe would hide that fact. “Why Rosewood?” he asked Scythe, who stopped to turn around, his head remained pointing towards the floor with no answer. “You said Rosewood was your family name.” he pointed out, attempting once more to get the pony to explain. “Yeah, I did” Scythe confessed shamefully, “you’re mad at me, right?” There was a pause to consider, he would be mad since Scythe lied to him. However, Gallus quickly shook his head. “Not really, I just want to know why.” Although there was a breath of relief, Scythe kept his head low. “I don’t like the way ponies would treat me if they knew my real name.” “What’s wrong with being called Scythe Magnus?” he questioned, raising an eyebrow at the reasoning. “I mean, I’d think being a twentieth generation- “ “Thirtieth…” “-thirtieth generational descendent of one of the Pillars of Equestria would be an awesome thing to brag about, right?” While Scythe wanted to disagree, there was a more urging matter facing him. From behind, another stallion jumped onto him and pulled him into a headlock, “Ack! Help!” he called out for help, but Gallus stood by, accepting that this kind of behaviour seemed to be a common thing in this family at this point. “There's my little brother with the big brain!” the other stallion jovially exclaimed before ruffling Scythe’s mane. The older brother was slightly bigger in stature, and a voice slightly deeper. He continued to sport a wide teasing grin while Scythe was trying in vain to pull himself out of the hoof locked around his neck. “Did you miss me, Scythe?” he asked, but there was no answer. Then the older brother started to push and prod into Scythe’s ribs and abdomen, evoking a fidgeted laughter. “Come on! Admit it!” Scythe tried his best to fight out of the tickling that he was being subjugated to. “Stop! Haha!” he exclaimed with laughter as his kicking, twisting, and squirming did nothing to break himself out of it. “Yes! Yes, I missed you!” he called out, finally surrendering. “Knew you did!” the older brother claimed victory, finally releasing the headlock before pulling Scythe in for a hug from behind. “Missed you too, little bro.” With the rough reunion finally over, and Scythe remaining trapped with nothing to do but pout, the older brother caught his attention to Gallus. “So, who is the blue falcon?” he asked with a sardonic stare. Finally, a cool nickname is what Gallus initially thought, and yet he was left jaded. Something about the name didn’t sit right, as if it was a sneaky jab of some kind. “Officer Cadet Gallus” he answered, making sure to reduce the ambiguity in comparison to the interaction with his mother earlier that afternoon, “one of Scythe’s friends at the academy.” The older brother caught on quick, his face lit up. “No way! That's awesome!” Whether his excitement was over Gallus being a griffon or being a friend of Scythe’s was up to debate. Noting the stallion hadn’t given his name yet, Gallus was quickly reminded that there was a familiar Magnus name back at the academy. “You’re Tomcat Magnus, right?” Gallus decided to guess. The brother gave a short nod and smirked, “Guess Scythe told you about me?” “Yeah, you can say that. Also saw your name on the records board at the Winstone’s Trial obstacle course.” “Oh really, that’s still there? Guess it’s waiting for somepony will beat it, eh?” He slyly remarked, looking down towards his little brother, who had no answer. Leaving no time to prepare, Tomcat decided to force the moment to introduce them both to the rest of the family, by pulling Scythe along into the living room. “Hey! Look who I found! Scythe even brought a friend with him from the academy!” Gallus casually made his way into the living room, although he was quick to regret it. It turned out the family photo didn’t exaggerate how large the family was, there was only a fraction of them in the room, and yet that still consisted of a few aunts, uncles, and cousins all packed in a single room. The ambience of the room was of a pleasant conference until the grown-ups caught sight of him. There were oohs and aahs of curiosity. Both Tomcat or Scythe were unable to defend Gallus from their relatives, as they gathered around the griffon and tried to strike conversations, giving little time to respond to one. It didn’t help that, for all their polite intrigue, their comments felt invasive and narrow-minded. “Hello, Corporal Lance Magnus. Must say, a griffon at the Royal Guard Academy? That must be incredibly challenging for you.” “Nice to meet you, I'm Lieutenant Ida Magnus. How does it feel to soon become the first griffon in the pony's military? “Hi, my name is Harpe Magnus. So, is it true what they say about griffons and socks?” “What's up? Name's Blue Angel, Major of the Wonderbolts. We could do with a griffon flyer, so if you wanna join us after graduation, let me know.” "Oh, hello again, I'm Ariel Bomb, excuse my husband, he works for the Wonderbolts like he's their biggest fan sometimes." Fortunately, their rescue finally arrived. “Everypony, lunch is about to be served,” Gallus could breathe a sigh of relief as, the crowd no longer focusing their attention onto him, as Cherry Bomb called out from the kitchen. “Make your way into the dining hall to be seated!” The family members happily continued their discussions and remarks, as they slowly vacated the living room to make their way into the dining room. Tomcat pulled Scythe along with him, despite the younger brother being tired of being carried around. Gallus followed behind, but as he made his way out of the living room and back into the hallway, he was once again distracted by a framed item on the wall. Instead of a photo, it was a medal, consisting of a bright pink gemstone shaped like a heart, surrounded by a gold brim and tiny pegasus wings. Compared with the other ribbons and medals, it was large and vibrant, its appearance felt oddly familiar. The frame was professionally tailored to fit the medal, casing it with an inscription below. As Gallus inspected the inscription, he found it included the pony who had received it. Oddly, the word Magnus was not featured, instead, the only word featured in the name was “Rosewood”, so that must have been where Scythe got the name from. “Impressive, isn’t it?” His feathers puffed out, Gallus felt his heart skip a beat and turned as an older gamboge pony he had yet to meet was standing beside him. His tall, straightened, posture with his arms crossed behind his back and stoic downward stare made himself intimidating, but he quickly smiled in amusement at making Gallus jump in surprise. “Forgive me, I thought it would be fair to properly introduce myself.” The pony then reached out his hoof to introduce himself, “Colonel Birch Magnus, Cherry told me you’re a friend of my youngest son at the academy.” Quick to recognise he was talking to Scythe’s dad, Gallus firmly shook the strong hoof. “I am, it’s good to meet you, sir.” He felt his muscles relax as he saw Birch silently appreciate the formality. The colonel turned their attention back to the wall of framed photos. “Like I was saying, it’s impressive, isn’t it?” he reiterated. “One name, carried for over a thousand years, protecting this country. No matter how big this house is, we can’t fit every semblance of the family history on the walls, most of it has been loaned or donated to many regiments and museums over the years.” He looked heavenward, calmly basking with pride over being part of the history he was talking about. “Are you part of a military family, Gallus?” “Uh, I don’t know, sir” answered Gallus, taken aback by such a question, knowing he couldn’t compare to the family estate he was standing in. Yet Birch furrowed his brow, he observed Gallus’ straightened stance, his claws and paws parallel to the floor, his upright posture. "Hm, you come off being raised by one.” He quietly muttered to himself in thought, Gallus might have been in the academy for a few months, but to the colonel, his behaviour gave the impression of something more. Birch shook the thought off as he noticed Gallus set his eyes back to the pink heart-shaped gem. “The medal you’re looking at is unique amongst the collection,” he boastfully remarked. “The Pink Heart of Courage, awarded by the Ruler of Equestria to citizens and non-military personnel for demonstrating great acts of bravery and heroism.” Recognition dawned on Gallus’ face, “I’ve seen it before…” he quickly glanced at Birch and saw him return a curious glance in return, “at the School of Friendship, I’ve seen it in the Headmare’s office, the Guidance Counsellor had one too.” Birch twisted his lip, he figured whoever those two ponies were, must have been awarded for an exceptional act of bravery, much more recently. “The one you’re looking at happens to be mine,” he spoke with a sense of pride. “What did you do to earn it?” His pride faded as he recalled moments from his past, his ears lowered, and he wrapped his arms around himself. “I was on a hiking trip with friends in the Frozen North, during my days at the Royal Guard Academy, and there was an avalanche” he explained briefly, his voice gradually going sombre. “I was the only one to avoid being buried deep in the snow.” Gallus’ shoulders slumped, realizing it might have been a bad idea to ask. “Sorry to hear that…” he uttered. The colonel drew a deep breath and sighed, before regaining his smile. “I continued to trek along the mountains alone until I found the help needed to provide rescue, so the good news was my friends survived and received that very medal for my bravery.” The contemplative silence was ended as the sound of chattering in the dining hall caught the pair’s attention. “I think we’re better off joining the rest of the family, wouldn’t you agree?” “Yes, sir.” The dining was long, able to fit more than a dozen ponies. The table was draped with a silk white cloth, with plates, cutlery and crystal glasses laid out, with most of the family sat around it. The room also had a fancy chandelier hanging overhead and a large window looking over a cloud-covered garden. Colonel Birch didn’t take long to make his way around the table, making himself friendly towards the other guests with pats on the back and shaking hooves as he travelled to the open seat at the end of the table. The other family members would give calm smiles back and polite nods, showing the mutual respect he had. The only pony who was oddly showing anything but happy to be at the table was Scythe, he sat with his head low, staring at the empty white plate in front of him. He had a vacant chair next to him, to which Gallus slowly approached to take his seat.  There was a sense of suspicion with what was bothering Scythe at that time, as all things considered so far, the meal arrangements were going fine. The one pony confident of the situation was Scythe’s mother, as she quietly went through an internal checklist. “Okay, so food is ready, table laid out, drinks being served, Ariel and Blue Angel seated over here, Gallus sitting with Scythe and Tomcat over there, what am I missing?” she asked herself. Coincidentally, her answer would emerge from the entryway. “Cherry, Ariel, I can smell that this feast is the finest you’ve ever made,” an uplifting yet gravelly voice emerged from the entryway. “You girls make food just as good as your mother…” as an amber coated bald-headed elderly pony made his way through the entryway, his voice trailed off once his sharp eyes noticed Gallus sitting at the table. His thick dark grey eyebrows levelled as he questioned the sight, “Girls, there’s a griffon at the table”, he remarked. “Oh, Dad!” Cherry called in surprise, rushing towards the elderly pony. “This is Gallus, he’s one of Scythe’s friends from the Academy.” She openly pointed with an outreached hoof towards Gallus and Scythe, her cheerful glee contrasted heavily with her father. “Is he now…” the older pony uttered in a deepened voice; his eyes narrowed as he glared at the griffon. Both Gallus and Scythe looked back with wide-open eyes, the judging stare shifted the tone for the pair of them. Scythe was the only one to respond, drawing a nervously wide grin, slowly waving one of his hooves from side to side. “Hey… Grandpa Patton…”