Soon, Silverstream will depart for the holidays, leaving Gallus alone at the Academy. Despite her pleas, Gallus refuses to follow. That is, until a special pony arrives that night and poses one question: why did they come to the Friendship Academy?
Gallus arrives for his first day as a member of the Royal Guard, but before he can begin work, an old griffon from his home makes an unexpected visit, much to his dismay.
For all his life, Gallus had been alone, an outcast ignored by his people, and left to fend for himself out in the cold Griffonstone streets. All he ever dreamed of was a place he could belong, somewhere he could finally call home.
After Twilight Sparkle reopens her School of Friendship she decides, as an act of diplomacy, to hold another Friends and Family Day to prove her school is different this time. Sadly, not everything goes according to plan with the attendees.
Smolder doesn't know how beaks work. Like, when they're not being used to peck worms out of the ground. Gallus, Silverstream and Sandbar try to explain. There's a lot of kissing involved.
Ocellus wakes Gallus up, claiming to have solved the secret to painful Hearth's Warming Eve get-togethers. He just needs to follow her back to the hive and drink a goblet of magic and his own blood, and relive his worst memory of the holidays.
To fulfill his ambitions as a military officer, and to live closer to his friends at school, Gallus goes to the Royal Guard Academy. Things should go well for him, although he's the only griffon among his fellow cadets and superiors.
(Takes place after "What Lies Beneath".) Gallus finds him in love with Silverstream, but he doesn't know how to tell her. Meanwhile, Silverstream is having her own problems, though they have little to do with Gallus.
Gallus didn't grow up with friends or family, let alone anything more. When a bubbly pink hippogriff wants to spend more time with him, will their friendship crash and burn, or will a heart iced over by years of neglect thaw and want something more?