(Based on a deleted song from Disney's Aladdin, takes place prior to "School Daze".)
Gallus has always lived with the fact that he's an orphan, and that in Griffonstone you can't rely on others to help you out. Even orphans must fend for themselves.
But as the young griffon prepares to live another day of scraping by, his thoughts start to turn to his parents. He begins to wonder what they must think of him.
So Gallus sets out to become a griffon his parents can look down on with pride. And if he has to resort to methods that even Griffonstone frowns upon, so be it.
Chapters (1)
This was really sweet and beautiful, a great story
He only steals what he can't afford.
Which is everything.
He steals everything.
All I can say is great job on this one-shot. The exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up are all well done in all the right places. Excellent showing of Gallus's life in Griffonstone before he arrived at the Friendship School. And, yeah, I can see where his parents might have been driven to at least TRY to inspire Griffonstone to greatness, even at the cost of their lives (though it IS extremely unfortunate they ended up making an orphan out of their only son). The stuff with Gilda frequently sticking up for Gallus makes pretty good sense too. Yeah, Gallus relying primarily on his wits but showing that softer side DOES remind me quite a bit of the Disney version of Aladdin, so I can definitely understand where you would get the idea to use that song. Of course, "Go The Distance" from the Disney version of Hercules would work too, though maybe not as well.
And here is a possible idea for a later re-write of "Growing Up Is Hard To Do": It's actually Spike who is seeking the age up, and it's for a much nobler reason than the Crusaders' desire for one. You see, he is quite aware that there is very likely a showdown with the "Legion" coming up and that Tirek and Chrysalis are probably going to be two of them (he and Twilight found out about the existence of the Legion from Garble and semi-regular check-ups on Tartarus have revealed that Tirek and Chrysalis have BOTH escaped). He just wants to age himself up two decades so he can be big and strong enough to be much more of a help to Twilight and her friends in that upcoming battle (though unlike his greed-induced growth spurt from many years ago, still retaining his normal intelligence). Spike gets the age up (greatly resembling his canon older self from "the Last Problem"), but has a hard time controlling his increased physical strength and flame breath.
Though, if you already have another/better idea for it (which is not only possible, but likely), I will completely understand and apologize for wasting your time.
But, at any rate, certainly looking forward to more of your work.
Awesome! I had to learn this song for school choir and it’s by far one of my favorites. Glad someone made a story about it!
10378069 It's probably one of the best deleted songs in all of Disney history, and it's a shame that most people if they do know it think it's from the Broadway adaptation without knowing the history behind it.
Aww poor gallus i feel really bad for this kid And don't worry kid you did the right thing And I'm sure your parents will be proud of you Just be patient Your future will be very bright And your parents were even be more proud of you And you never be alone
Good story. As you stated, it is nice to see a warmer side of Grandpa Gruff. The bittersweet ending fit nicely. Well done. :)
I'm glad that you made time for this story. It certainly does give Grandpa Gruff more depth than being a big grump. We also see more of how Gallus got to be raised... if you can call it being 'raised' / 'taken care of'.
What is nice is knowing that, given the finale of the MLP: FiM, we know that Gallus does rise to a position of prominence. So he does keep his word on achieving that goal he set forth for himself.