The sun rose in the East at around 7 AM, creating a beautiful glow against the pale stone of Griffonstone that only a few griffons were awake to appreciate, though they weren’t appreciating it. Except for maybe Gabby, and even then it was a bit of a longshot.Even so, she was the one part of this stupid place that stopped Grey from leaving for so long.
But that was still exactly what he intended to do. He intended to leave this Celestia-forsaken place and go somewhere where he’d be able to at least try to accomplish his dream. Years and years of being in the second least friendly place in all of Equestria (first prize went to the dragon lands) had sapped Grey of almost all of his once characteristic optimism.
Ever since Grey was a cub, he was passionate about one thing: magic. He was so absorbed in it that other griffons would joke that he would get his cutie mark in magic, which, of course, griffons don’t get cutie marks. Or have horns, for that matter. But none of that could stop Grey from reading about magic. Every birthday, Grey would receive at least one book on magic, his parents knew they made him happy. Even if they were part of the masses of griffons that thought he was ultimately going to be disappointed. Over time, the words from his peers and mentors chipped away at his chipperness, and he was left with but a few drops of optimism in his heart. So, he gave in. He gave in and decided to take a leap of faith.
The thing he was about to do was crazy, he agreed profusely with everygriff who told him that; he was aware that his pursuit of magic was most likely going to end in him not just being disappointed, but also dead broke. There was no denying that what Grey was about to do was completely stupid. But Grey had been stupid in the eyes of Griffonstone almost his whole life.
“Time to be stupid.” he concluded to himself.
The most important of his belongings were already pre-packed into two suitcases; Grey didn’t own much apart from his books. He grabbed his suitcases and flew straight out of his disgusting, doorless nest that was about equal to the average standard of living in Griffonstone. The train station was south of Griffonstone, but first, Grey headed north to say a couple of goodbyes he thought were necessary. Though he figured he’d probably have to resist a few half-assed attempts to get him to stay. First, he landed next to Gabby, who was perched on a section of cliff.
“Hey.” Grey started, like most griffons, he sucked at this. “Just wanted to, y’know, say bye.” Gabby looked at him, a smile on her face. Not because she was happy he was leaving, but because she was genuinely proud that her friend was taking this leap of faith, though there was still a twinge of concern, since she knew he didn’t have a real plan.
“Visit, okay?” Gabby asked. Easier said than done, there was a high chance Grey would be lacking in funds once he was settled into Ponyville, if he was even able to get someplace to live there.
“Yeah, of course. I’m not just gonna leave my favorite griffon hanging here.” Grey replied, lightly punching Gabby in the arm. Grey spread his wings to leave, but Gabby interrupted.
“Wait.” Gabby started. “Before you go, I have an idea for when you get to Ponyville. Princess Twilight Sparkle is great with magic, you’ll probably want to talk to her.”
Grey smiled. “Thanks, Gabby. I’ll be sure to remember that.” He replied, although he already knew about the Princess, and was planning on talking to her, he still appreciated Gabby’s help. He gave her a slightly awkward wing-hug and flew off to say goodbye to two more griffons. His parents.
Grey’s parents weren’t the worst by griffon standards, but they also weren’t very encouraging of his chosen path. At least, not anymore. They had seen it as childish fascination when he was a cub. But now that Grey is an adult and he hasn’t found something more sensible to pursue, they see it as something he’s wasting time on. And the fact that he’s moving away to study it? They saw such a drastic action the same way all the other griffons in Griffonstone did; as an ignorant and childish choice. But even though they weren’t perfect, they had still raised Grey. And they hadn’t tried to force him to stay. So he felt like he just had to say goodbye to them before he moved away.
Grey’s parents’ nest was a little nicer than the average Griffonstone nest, but all that meant was that the window had tattered curtains instead of just being a hole with a plus shape partially covering it. They usually woke up at around 9am, and today was no different. They had given their word that they’d be awake to see Grey off, but the word of a griffon isn’t exactly worth much. He arrived at their nest, which was a short 5-minute fly from where Gabby was perched, and sighed at the sight of his parents, cozily snuggled together and asleep, probably having had no intention of actually being awake to see him off. He debated amongst himself whether he would wake them, and eventually decided that he cared enough about his parents to say goodbye. From experience, he knew there was only one way to wake them up, though it wasn’t exactly kind.
“Hey!” He half-shouted half-whispered with the same volume he had used all his life to get his parents awake; not too loud, since he didn’t want to bother the neighbors, but not quiet by any means. His parents stirred, but in classic griffon fashion, his dad, Gideon, covered his own face with his wing, as well as the face of his wife and Grey’s mother, Gia. Marriage wasn’t common in Griffonstone, and the fact that his parents were married was a point of pride for Grey. But they still weren’t awake.
Grey looked to his left and his right to ensure that he hadn’t woken anygriff up, then tried again, a little louder this time. “Hey!” Grey’s second attempt was just as successful, and in reply to their stubbornness and lack of ability to keep their promise, he licked his talon and stuck it in his dad’s ear.
Gideon squawked in surprise and discomfort, as he always did when Grey did that; the half-shouting half-whispering never worked, but Grey always wanted to give him a chance to wake up at request, rather than by force. If he had been woken like that by anygriff other than Grey, they’d be walking away with a scratch mark on whatever part of their body was closest to Gideon’s talons.
“Ugh.” Gideon started, it was well before he expected to have to be awake. He opened his eyes halfway, looked at Grey, and blinked twice. “Morning, Grey.” He enunciated his son’s name out of irritation from having been woken up. The noise combined with Gideon moving from his wife’s side woke her up as well, and her gaze immediately shifted to her husband.
“Gideon, why are you-” Gia paused, having remembered her promise to her son as soon as she saw him. Her eyes narrowed, not out of irritation of waking up so early, but from irritation with herself for forgetting. “Fuck. We promised to see Grey off.” Gideon turned to Gia with the same look she had. Grey grinned a little. It wasn’t that big of a deal that they weren’t already awake to see him off, but they were awake now.
“I wasn’t just gonna leave without saying goodbye.” Grey said, giving his parents a big hug, both with his arms and with his wings. They were still groggy, so they only returned the hug about halfway, which Grey could understand. The fact that he probably wouldn’t be able to visit Griffonstone for a while once he moved to Ponyville crossed his mind, and he hugged his parents a little tighter. Gideon inhaled deeply, trying to get himself at least a little bit more alert to give a proper goodbye to his son. Gia was still just enjoying the hug.
Grey’s train to Ponyville was going to arrive at 8:00 am, so maybe he didn’t have to get up so early, but he wanted to spend some time with his folks. It was now 7:10 am; he ended up talking with Gabby for less time than he thought he would. Grey sighed. He regretted waking his parents up so early, but it was too late for that now.
Grey let go of his parents and apologized for the early awakening. “Sorry for waking you two up so early, I thought I had spent more time chatting with Gabby.” He said with a small chuckle. “I guess now we can spend some time together before I leave for Ponyville?” Gideon nodded, too tired to say anything. Grey knew they weren’t going to get up, so he set his suitcases down inside the nest and lay down next to his parents. Gia was the first to say something.
“Grey, sweetie,” she started groggily, though still trying her best not to sound overly discouraging. “You know we support you and all, but I just want to make sure that you have a plan. I wouldn’t be able to bear knowing my son ended up homeless in a town he had never been in before.” Grey’s eyes narrowed a little. This sounded like a transition to an attempt to get him to stay. Gia knew that look and gave up trying to be subtle.
“Please stay, Grey.” Gia pleaded with a tear in her eye, to which Grey’s ears angled themselves level with his head. “Griffons can’t perform magic, and don’t say that you’ll find work as a magic researcher, because you can’t research magic if you can’t do magic!” Grey frowned. He half-expected this, but it still hurt to know that his mother didn’t truly believe in his pursuit. But in all honesty, Grey had started to lose his belief in his pursuit as well.
Grey sighed a long and deep sigh, trying to drive the point home non-verbally that he was upset that his mother was doing this again. “Mom, it’s not like there won’t be any work for me to do in Ponyville outside of magic, and I don’t need to be able to do magic to be a magic researcher. I could help Princess Twilight!” Grey spread his wings out of excitement while he said that last part, but he still wore a slightly nervous look on his face.
The concern on Gia’s face did not leave, but she loosened up a little. Gideon had made a point not to say anything; he knew that trying to get Grey to stay in Griffonstone was pointless. It wasn’t like anygriff particularly enjoyed living there.
The time was now 7:30 am. Grey had wanted to be at the train station at least 15 minutes before the train was scheduled to arrive, and it was a 15 minute flight from Griffonstone proper to the train station, so he got up and hoisted his suitcases. He looked at his parents, then looked away guiltily.
“I love you guys.” Grey started with a sniffle. He was going to miss them, even if they did serve as a good example of what griffons were like. “I gotta get to the train station now.” He awkwardly shifted his gaze from his mom to his dad, then to the ground in front of them, then to both of them.
Gia and Gideon looked at each other. It wasn’t often that griffons verbally expressed love for one another, and even though Grey was the type to do that kind of thing, it still wasn’t common. Gia hesitated for a moment, not making a sound, but she obviously wanted to say something, then broke her own silence.
“We love you too, Grey. Good luck in Ponyville.”
Grey gave his parents one more hug before heading off to the train station, then turned and waved at them once he was in the air. As he flew south towards the station, Grey thought of his memories of Griffonstone. It was a jumbled mix of good and bad, but ultimately, he decided that he hated the place, not the griffons in it. He was lost in thought for long enough that he was already at the train station; he thought he’d only been flying for 5 minutes. He landed at the station and set his suitcases down; he still had a decent amount of time to wait.
Grey looked back at Griffonstone, the place he had lived since he was a cub, his heritage, his family. And he gave it the middle finger.