The Ties That Bind

by Scyphi

Little Robin

Gallus’s anger must’ve sapped him of the last of his strength, because he apparently nodded off not long thereafter and, like Spike, remained asleep for the remainder of the night. Fortunately, they stayed completely undisturbed by anything through that whole time, with nobody finding them in their hiding spot. Indeed, by the time dawn eventually came and went, those searching for them had long left the area, thinking their targets had kept traveling deeper into the forest and unaware they’d instead stayed relatively close to the remains of the crash site.

Morning actually settled upon the area rather peacefully, so much so that Gallus probably would’ve preferred to sleep in, given the late night and stressful day preceding it. Unfortunately he was lulled awake again by nature calling, and it swiftly got to the point that, as much as he wanted to, he wouldn’t be able to ignore it for much longer. So upon confirming they were no longer in imminent danger, he checked to see how Spike was doing. He was still asleep, though starting to stir enough that Gallus figured he’d soon be waking up too. Nevertheless, Gallus carefully tried not to disturb him as he extracted himself from the hollow they’d hidden in. Then, that done, he stopped to do some full body stretches, realizing just how cramped he had gotten spending the night in that tight space. He was glad it was over as he wasn’t at all eager to return to it now that he didn’t have someone chasing him.

Actually, now that a warm morning light was filtering through the forest canopy, yesterday’s storm clouds having cleared up, the area looked a lot prettier than it’d seemed the night previous. But his bladder reminded him now wasn’t the time to stop and savor it, so Gallus turned his focus back to why he’d gotten up in the first place. He opted to move somewhere a little further away from their hiding spot to do it and figured that, while he was at it, he might as well see if he could figure out how close that griffon trooper had gotten last night, if just to see how narrow an escape that had been. It took a second because it turned out he’d been further away from their hiding spot than it seemed—closer to four or five trees away than the one or two Gallus had been sure it was. But there was no mistaking it once he found it because the distinct and relatively fresh paw print of an adult male griffon had been left near the base of a tree. Out of spite, Gallus decided to wash it away with a bit leg-lifting.

That need out of the way, Gallus’s stomach decided to nominate itself as the next priority since the fish he and Spike had eaten for dinner now seemed like ancient history. In fact, he realized he had scant little to eat yesterday once all was said and done, and felt well overdue for putting a proper meal into his belly. Unfortunately, he feared there was no chance of getting such a meal, especially as he realized that, in their haste to escape, they’d left the bag of salvaged supplies back at the airship which had surely burned to a crisp. He wasn’t going to risk going back to double check either way, in case guards had been left there for that very reason. But it meant all they had left in terms of belongings was whatever was in Spike’s bag, as Gallus realized he’d left his own bag behind too (not that he really had anything in it that couldn’t be easily replaced but he noted the loss nonetheless).

Thankfully, Gallus was no stranger to scavenging for food, a fact he technically demonstrated the previous night with the fish. However, he wasn’t inclined to do the fish again as he wasn’t certain where the river was in relation to where they were now, and he didn’t want to fly high enough to find it again for fear that’d make him easily visible to pursuers if they were still in the area. But they shouldn’t risk making another fire to cook them over when they were trying to lay low anyway. He instead decided on a food that they both could eat and enjoy fully raw without fear of consequence.

So when Spike got up for the day in time to see Gallus returning to their hiding spot, the griffon returned with his arms full of small magenta colored berries. “What’s this?” Spike asked as Gallus rejoined him.

“Breakfast,” Gallus explained optimistically as he dumped the cherry-sized berries onto a relatively clear spot on the ground. “They’re called hobo fruit, and they’re everywhere in this part of the Griffon Kingdom. I’ve eaten them loads of times. They’re tasty and nutritious enough when in pinches like now.” He took the liberty of popping one into his mouth as he sat down next to the small pile.

Spike joined him, picking up one of the berries to skeptically look over. He then took a cautious bite out of it, only to be surprised when doing so squirted its juices and small seeds over his snout.

Gallus chuckled. “Yeah, they’ll do that, so just pop them into your mouth whole,” he advised.

Wiping off his face, Spike did so when he trying again with the next berry. He chewed thoughtfully for a moment. “Huh!” he remarked, surprised. “It’s sorta like a cherry tomato except sweet, almost tangy.”

“Yeah, they grow on you quick,” Gallus agreed, continuing to help himself, particularly with his stomach clamoring for more to fill it with.

Spike’s stomach apparently had similar thoughts because he started eating just as liberally. “But why are they called hobo fruit?” he asked, puzzled as they ate.

“Because they’re an easy food source for…less fortunate…griffons, hence the name,” Gallus explained. But he shrugged, indifferent about the stereotype. “But like I said, you can find them everywhere in these parts, so they’re super convenient for scavengers.”

“Well, it’s a good start to my morning regardless,” Spike remarked with a warm grin.

Gallus nodded, returning the grin for a second before sighing heavily, the moment of cheer vanishing as quickly as it came. “I almost hate getting back to the serious stuff then, but…Spike, you should know what I found last night.”

And with that, he pulled out the photo album and explained what he’d discovered, showing Spike the photograph with Grandpa Gruff in the background.

Brow furrowed, Spike studied it for a long moment. “That does look awfully like Gruff all right,” he admitted.

“It is Gruff,” Gallus insisted, his mood darkening now that he was focused on the subject again. “I’d know that face anywhere.”

Spike studied him for a moment. “Do you think he’s behind all of this?” he asked.

Gallus hesitated. “He’s at least involved. He has to be.”

“But then I don’t understand,” Spike went on, looking at it logically. “If that’s true, then why is all of this happening now? It could’ve happened years ago if he’s really been involved for that long, so why wait until now to act?”

“…I don’t know,” Gallus admitted, who conceded it was a fair point. He realized he had at some point gotten up to start fitfully pacing without realizing it. “But he still knew, Spike. He knew and he never told me! So if nothing else, he darn well owes me a good explanation for it!”

“Okay,” Spike concluded, closing the album and returning it to his bag. “So what do we do about it?”

Gallus kept pacing for a second longer. “I guess the same thing we already decided to do last night,” he replied. He pointed towards the mountains visible in the distance. “Griffonstone should be on the closest of those mountains. We go there and find Gruff, try and get answers out of him, and get word back to Princess Twilight so we can finally go home.”

“But if that griffon patrol ship was hunting us,” Spike pointed out, “then the authorities at Griffonstone will probably be looking for us as well.”

“I’ve got some ideas about how we can get around that,” Gallus assured, who was thinking he’d probably have to call in a favor or two to do it, but it should be doable if he played his cards right. “But we gotta get there first, which means since we probably shouldn’t fly there, we’re going to want to start hiking now so to maximize as much daylight we’d have left by the time we get there. We might even be able to get there by this afternoon.”

Spike took a deep breath and Gallus sensed he had his doubts. But he also still seemed to trust Gallus at his word. “Well, you know the land better than I do,” he admitted. He grabbed at his advisor’s medallion that had managed to stay around his neck this whole time, despite everything. “And my authority is pretty much worthless out here, so…I guess you’ll have to call the shots for now anyway.”

Gallus, feeling guilty, stepped forward and placed a paw on the dragon’s shoulder. “Hey, you’re just as much in this as I am,” he assured.

“I know,” Spike replied. “But I’m also dragon enough to admit that I’m a little out of my league, and I don’t have a better plan anyway.” He shrugged. “You seem to know what you’re doing, so…you can take the lead.”

Gallus took a deep breath then nodded. “All right, if you’re okay with it,” he reasoned, and handed him Spike’s bag. “But if you think of any suggestions along the way, I want to hear them. Just because I have the best plan at the moment doesn’t mean we can’t try to make it better as we go. Besides, we’re going to have plenty of time to think about it on the way.”

Spike nodded, accepting the bag. “Agreed.”

They stopped long enough to take what hobo fruit they hadn’t eaten and transferred them into a pocket on Spike’s bag so to have something to munch along the way, but once that was done they set off without further delay. At that point there really wasn’t much reason for them to stick in the area anyway. As they went, Gallus plotted out their path in his head, distractedly explaining to Spike that this was somewhat difficult due to how he’d normally make the journey either by air or by following one of the roads he knew would eventually run to Griffonstone. But as both routes would be monitored by those hunting them, it was smarter to avoid them and hike through the middle of the wilderness instead, despite it being the more difficult—and for him, more unfamiliar—route.

Spike listened patiently to him rambling on about this for several minutes, but finally Gallus ran out of idle talk and the dragon used to chance to bring up something Gallus had been wondering why he hadn’t mentioned it sooner. “So I’m sort of surprised you were going through the photo album,” he remarked gently.

Gallus sighed, not really wanting to talk about it. “It was late and I needed something to keep my mind awake and busy,” he explained simply. He shrugged. “I was kinda short on alternatives.”

Spike nodded to himself. “It’s just I know the whole subject is…uncomfortable.”

“Yes, but hiding from it isn’t going to make it go away either,” Gallus confessed reluctantly. “And…if it really is the reality I’m going to have to face…then I might as well learn to live with it now.”

Now Spike hesitated. “You know, I don’t blame you at all for still wanting to deny it,” he assured. “I’m…still not totally sure how much I believe it myself. Because the photos help but…they still don’t tell the whole story, meaning there’s still things we just don’t know about what happened.” He rolled his eyes. “For all we know, that’s not actually either of us in those photos but just some lookalikes…”

“No,” Gallus rejected suddenly, surprising himself by how readily it spilled from his beak. “That’s definitely me in those photos. And if that’s true for me, then…” he trailed off, not really wanting to speak on Spike’s behalf. To his surprise though, Spike didn’t react much more than give him a thoughtful look. So he continued. “At the very least, I’d still want Princess Twilight to try and verify it first with…more testing I guess.”

Spike was silent for a moment. “Testing Gene Type may have already done,” he couldn’t help but point out.

A thought Gallus already had himself, and it was obvious what answer Gene Type and those affiliated with him suspected. But it wasn’t the only point. “And there’s also that bloodline stone to consider.”

Spike reached around to place a paw on his pack holding the tablet. “Among other things,” he added, telling Gallus he wasn’t convinced things weren’t as they seemed either…even if they both weren’t ready to accept that.

An awkward silence fell as they continued hiking through the forested wilderness.

“How do you think Gruff knew…them…anyway?” Spike posed finally. “Do you think he might be…a relation?”

Gallus snorted. “No. Gruff’s not got any relatives, at least none younger than him let alone alive.”

“Then…why is he called Grandpa Gruff?”

“Because he’s older than dirt, old enough to be just about anyone’s grandpa, so everyone calls him that. But in reality, his name is just Gruff.” Gallus rolled his eyes. “In both name and spirit.”

Spike groaned. “Yeah, that much was obvious from the moment I first met him,” he was forced to agree.

“How did you meet Gruff?” Gallus asked. “I mean obviously you would have at some point, but…”

“Back when Twilight was still setting up the School of Friendship,” Spike replied. “She met with him so to try and sell him, and in turn the lords he worked for, on the idea of sending a griffon to the school.” He made a small smile, glancing at Gallus. “Obviously, we succeeded. Or rather Twilight did, because she did most of the talking. I was…in the room. Gruff didn’t really talk to me during that.” Spike shrugged. “After that, I typically saw him whenever he came to discuss school business but that was usually pretty brief. Most I think he’s ever said to me was to ask me what my name was.”

“Yeah, that sounds like Gruff,” Gallus said. “He tends to dismiss anyone he doesn’t think important to whatever he’s doing.”

“I suppose you’d know, being the one who knows him best,” Spike reasoned.

Gallus’s gaze turned distant. “Not as much as you’d think. I didn’t actually meet Gruff until about a few months before getting enrolled in the School of Friendship.”

“Really?” Spike asked, shocked. “I’d figured you’d have known him for, like, decades or something.”

“Okay, first of all, I’m not that much older than you, so drop the plural—I’m not old enough to know anyone for longer than that,” Gallus retorted. “Second, I’d of course heard of Gruff plenty before then. The guy’s got a reputation after all. But never actually came face to face with him until Gilda basically ensured it happened.”

Spike’s brow furrowed. “Wait…Gilda? Oh, that’s right, I’d forgotten you know Gilda. But how does she fit into this?”

“Business for her scone stand was booming and she needed extra talons to meet the increasing demand,” Gallus explained, before going on to tell the whole story. “By that time I knew how to follow a recipe and old enough to work jobs cooking for bits. When she offered me an actual fair wage, which was oodles better than what any other griffon would’ve paid me at the time, I naturally jumped at the chance. Met Gruff literally my first day on the job. Apparently he’s a regular to Gilda’s stand.”

“He must like scones then.”

“I think it’s more because he and her are neighbors and thus have…a history.” Gallus waved that matter aside. “But yeah, I hear Gilda cynically say ‘here comes Gruff’ and look up in time for him to trot up to the stand.” His gaze turned distant as the memory replayed in his mind. “At first he didn’t notice me, focusing his attention all on Gilda, but then he spots me working behind her and demands to know who I was. I tell him my name and Gilda explains she’d hired me to cook. Gruff grumbled about how I’d probably do it wrong, but he made his order nonetheless.” He shrugged. “He didn’t really say much else to me except to ask if I was a local—which I confirmed—and to observe that we’d probably see a lot of each other in the future now. He sounded disdainful, so I got the impression he didn’t like me much.”

Spike’s brow had furrowed, processing this new information. “And he didn’t react to you any more than that? Didn’t appear to recognize you in any way?”

“Not really, no. When he visited the stand after that, he usually didn’t talk to me except to occasionally ask if I was keeping out of trouble. And that never gave me much sense that he cared, just that he didn’t want me to be a problem and didn’t trust I would stay that way.”

“Well, if he does know about this mess we’re in, then it would make sense he thought trouble might find you eventually.”

“Except you’d think that’d make him want to keep a close eye on me, but he didn’t seem to pay much attention to me. In fact, that I was surprised when he came and announced he’d enrolled me at the school a few months later.” Gallus had to chuckle at the memory though. “Gilda was furious when she heard that, because he hadn’t discussed it at all with her, what with it robbing her of her cook. But in Gruff’s mind, the decision had already been made.”

“So it sounds like you didn’t have much say in it either.”

“I didn’t. But while I wasn’t totally sold on the concept, it did guarantee me meals and a roof over my head, a massive plus, so I decided to live with it.” Gallus’s gaze turned wistful. “And I’m glad I did, because to be honest…the school’s the best thing to have ever happened to me.”

Spike nodded distractedly in agreement, but otherwise still seemed befuddled. “But then…why send you?”

“Honestly? I figured it was just Gruff’s way of getting me off the streets and out from underpaw,” Gallus admitted.

“But then Neighsay happened, and then Cozy,” Spike reminded, “and both times I remember him suddenly being adamant that you go back to Griffonstone with him, not stay at the school.”

Gallus paused, seeing the point. “I took it as him being uncooperative at the time, but yeah, it is weird he reversed course on that so suddenly. He’s since complained a lot about me staying at the school, in fact.”

“And Gabby told me once that he insists on constant updates while you’re at the school,” Spike added, recalling the conversation with the griffoness mail carrier.

“But it’s not like he cared what happened to me, right?” Gallus asked with a snort. “I mean, you heard what happened between him and Trixie that one parent/teacher conference, right?”

“Everybody heard about that,” Spike assured with a wince. “Gruff didn’t exactly win a lot of fans that day.” His face screwed up even more at this though. “But that just means I’m getting a lot of mixed signals over this.”

“You see why I want answers from him then?” Gallus stressed. “The best way to get this straight is to hear it from his beak.”

“But if he is in some way involved with Gene Type and whoever else is behind this mess…” Spike began to warn.

“All the more reason to confront him about it,” Gallus reasoned back undeterred, “and besides, why would he act like he’s actually concerned what happens to me on one side but also act like he just wants me out of his way on the other?”

Spike gave him a concerned look. “Just…what are you expecting to get out of him then, Gallus?”

Gallus mulled it over for a long moment as they hiked along. “The truth,” he finally concluded.

---

The hike was long and weary, but it fortunately all transpired without much event. Never once did they encounter or even come close to anyone who might be looking for them. For that matter, they never encountered any other creatures except for some of the local wildlife, and even that made a point of keeping its distance. Gallus joked about how it must be because they were marked targets, but Spike didn’t find it very funny. Nevertheless, they spent the long hours of the hike to themselves, sporadically chatting about nothing in particular, but it still helped take their minds off of their stressful circumstances. Gallus actually had to be impressed by how much he and Spike had bonded through all of this.

But he supposed fighting for your lives together tended to do that.

It wasn’t until nearly noon that Griffonstone finally came into view, hidden as it was behind its mountain, and it was some time after that before they actually neared its borders. Gallus viewed the city built into an ancient tree with mixed feelings, because on one side, it was familiar, since it had effectively served as home for so much of his life…but it also hadn’t left him with very fond memories, and it only made him long for the frankly better life he had been living in Equestria lately.

And he hoped he would be back there soon. But for now he knew that, regardless of his thoughts on the matter, their best hopes lay within this den of griffons. Naturally that was easier said than done, because as they drew nearer, it became abundantly clear there were indeed guards stationed about the city’s perimeter, no doubt keeping an eye out for them as feared. The city’s main entrance, in fact, was rather heavily guarded, checking every creature that passed through.

“Well, we’re not getting in that way,” Spike concluded with a heavy sigh, looking on at the sight from afar as they cautiously peeked around a large boulder to survey the situation.

But Gallus wasn’t perturbed. “Didn’t plan to yet,” he replied and urged Spike to quietly follow him down a different, lesser used, path leading further away from the city. This path wrapped down around the edge of the peak Griffonstone sat upon, out of the main entrance’s line of sight, and ran precariously around the stony cliff faces of the mountain. It left enough space to safely hike up and down it and still give the edge a respectable distance, but not much more than that.

It’s more haphazardous appearance and the fact it seemed to lead away from the city they planned to enter confused Spike. “Where are we going?” he asked as he uncertainly continued to follow Gallus’s lead.

“To go call in a favor,” Gallus assured, still confidently hiking down the, to him, very familiar path. He eyed the sun’s position in the sky, still close to its peak but visibly starting its downward descent again as they entered the latter half of the day. “I’ll explain more later, but we’ve arrived at literally the best time to do this so I don’t want to dawdle any longer than we have to. For now stay close to me.”

He motioned for Spike to stay by his mountain-facing side, where he’d be partly blocked from view by any onlookers—as a dragon, he would stand out more than Gallus in a city populated by griffons after all. Spike fortunately had no objections and obediently did so. He seemed to trust that Gallus had a plan and knew what he was doing, trust Gallus appreciated because he knew that even if he had the luxury of briefing Spike in full on what to expect, there would still have to be an element of him just following Gallus’s lead on this. They were about to enter a world he figured Spike had very little past experience with.

A couple more minutes of hiking later and the winding path led them to a cluster of warehouse-like buildings on a ledge partly enclosed within a large rocky alcove. Unlike up at the city above them, there seemed to be considerably fewer creatures here, making it easy for them to slip in and wander through unnoticed. They probably didn’t even need to sneak along doing so, but they did so anyway out of an abundance of caution.

“What is this place?” Spike whispered as they moved discreetly through the rows of warehouses, looking at the boxes of cargo that were stacked both inside and around them.

“The airship docks,” Gallus replied and couldn’t help but smirk a little. “The authorities almost never come down here—too many crooked griffons have bribed them to keep looking the other way. That makes it easier to go unnoticed when you want to be here.”

“Oh,” Spike mumbled, perking up a little. “I assume there’s a way to sneak into the city through here then?”

“Kind of…basically we need to meet with this guy I know first.”

“Is…he a friend?”

Gallus hesitated. “…more of a former co-worker,” he admitted. “But like I said, he owes me enough of a favor that I’m positive he’s our best bet.”

Spike glanced around. “Will we be reaching him soon?”

“Not for a few more blocks still, but we’re getting there.”

Spike shifted uncomfortably. “Well, no offense, but I’ll be glad when we do, because something about these docks is making me feel kinda leery…”

Gallus opted not to reply to that, understanding. Admittedly, he didn’t want to linger here too long either. He hadn’t been lying about how the Griffonstone authorities rarely came down here, but he was more worried about the other civilian griffons residing down here too because the downside to the scant authorities was the docks tending to be home to the area’s criminal underground as well.

But then again, that was part of why Gallus had brought them down here. He planned to turn that downside into their advantage. They just had to speak to the right griffon first.

Eventually, keeping their distance from any of the scant few other griffons wandering the dirt streets, their weaving around warehouses brought them to a secluded and clearly underused airship dock, built so it jutted out from the far edge of the ledge it all hugged. It didn’t seem like it had any warehouses associated with it until walking down a mild incline sloping towards it. There two small bunker-like warehouses became visible, built directly into the side of the hill with a platform running in front of them so to artificially extend the area of flat and level ground to work on.

There did not seem to be too much activity taking place at these docks currently, so few were around it. But they weren’t totally vacant, for a couple of griffons were still out doing various minor tasks. One of the closest to Gallus and Spike as they approached was an adult griffon old enough to start having both wrinkles and a greying pelt. This mixed with his scruffy-looking exterior, fraying trench coat and flat cap, and smoking some kind of cigarette or joint with the physique of a chronic smoker, did not give him the most flattering of appearances. However, as it happened, he was also precisely the griffon Gallus was looking for.

“You know, one of these days, you being so consistently in the same spot every day is going to bite you in the rump,” he sassed the griffon as they approached.

The griffon started when he spoke, but upon seeing who it was, he broke out into a friendly grin. “Well now, there’s a face I wasn’t expecting to see today!” he remarked as he turned to greet them. “How ya doing, Gallus?”

“Honestly, could be better at the moment, Gus,” Gallus admitted frankly as the two briefly shook paws.

The griffon, Gus, made a skeptical snort as he looked Gallus over. “Dunno, lad, ya seem to be doing pretty well for yourself,” he said with some mild teasing in his tone. “After all, I heard you’ve been staying in Equestria lately, and I can say ya certainly look like a griffon who’s been living the cushy life.”

Gallus looked himself over for a second and was forced to inwardly admit he’d developed a healthier and better-fed body than most lower class griffons typically got to. He had mixed thoughts about that, feeling a little guilty he could be now so blessed when others weren’t, but swiftly shook the matter from his mind so to focus on more pressing issues. “Yeah, well, still gotten into some trouble and I need your help,” he assured.

“Hmm,” Gus hummed to himself before inquiring innocently, “I assume that’s why you’re here with the lizard then?” He pointed a talon at Spike standing beside Gallus.

“Lizard?” Spike mumbled grumpily, speaking for the first time as he’d been letting Gallus do the talking.

Gallus nonetheless motioned for him to remain quiet. “Q-blu, Gus,” he answered instead before pressing on. “Besides, as I see it, you still owe me a favor.”

Gus raised an eyebrow as he took a puff on his cigarette. “I do now, do I?”

Gallus nodded. “Remember that mess with the floor wax, the peanut butter, and the jackalope?”

Gus frowned. “That was an accident and ya know it.”

“And I’ve been keeping it to myself as a courtesy to you,” Gallus reminded before putting on a smug look, “Because you wouldn’t want word of that just getting around…particularly not to the authors.”

Gus gave Gallus a long and hard look, but finally broke out chuckling. “All right, all right, I get your point,” he conceded and motioned for Gallus to continue. “What do ya need?”

Gallus smiled. “Cloths and headlines,” he listed. He was somewhat surprised at how quickly he’d slipped back into the street slang. “Maybe some bites too if you can spare some.”

Gus nodded, rubbing his chin. “A crabback like ya would probably also want some inks then,” he suggested thoughtfully.

“Probably, but if you need to charge extra for it, we’ll do without.”

“We’ll also have to come up with something extra for the lizard since he’ll stand out the most to the authors…I assume it’s the authors you’re avoiding?”

“Yes—you’ve noticed the extra patrols going around, right?”

“Wait, that’s been all because of you two? Ya big wanted or something?”

“More like double big wanted, Gus.”

Gus’s eyes widened. “Good Grover, boy, what did ya do? You’re normally pretty good about avoiding trouble!”

“Again, q-blu, Gus.” Gallus leaned closer. “But for both our sakes, if anyone asks, ghosts for answers.”

Gus gaped at him for a second. “You’re really not pulling my tail, are ya?” he asked, before solemnly nodding. “Yeah, okay then, we can do that. We’d best get ya all set up now.” He motioned for them to follow. “Keep the lizard close to ya, Gallus. The fewer who see him the better it’ll be for the both of ya.”

Gallus nodded and gently pulled Spike closer to him, wrapping his wing around him as they followed Gus into the closest of the underground warehouses. “What was all of that?” Spike whispered to him as they went.

“I’ll explain later,” Gallus promised, knowing it’d take too long to do right now, “but things are looking up a little.” He glanced around as they entered the mostly empty warehouse, containing just a handful of crates of varying sizes and even less griffons. Most of them were older and scruffy-looking like Gus, but one griffon with black and white plumage timidly speaking with another stood out to him for being a couple of years younger than himself. “A little robin?” he noted aloud to Gus.

Gus followed his gaze and nodded. “Came in earlier today looking for bites, so we’re setting him up,” he explained. “Actually kind of like how you first appeared on my doorstep, Gallus.”

Gallus shook his head, recalling the memory. “That was a lot of years ago now, Gus.”

Gus laughed. “Yeah, and look at ya now,” he said before taking another drag on his mostly finished cigarette. Chucking the spent butt aside, he proceeded to pull out another from a case in his pocket. “Ya want one?” he offered upon noticing Gallus watching.

Gallus immediately shook his head. “You know I gave up sweetsticks after what happened to Gunther,” he reminded.

Gus rolled his eyes as he lit the cigarette with a lighter. “Oh c’mon, the lung trouble that got him wasn’t because of sweetsticks. And look at me! I’ve been doing these things for most of my life and it hasn’t affected me any.” He took a puff from the lit cigarette and immediately starting hacking heavily.

“Sure it hasn’t,” Gallus replied sarcastically.

Gus eventually led them to the back of the warehouse and through a door into a run-down locker room. There he told them to wait a second and left again, closing the door and leaving them alone.

Spike used the moment of solitude to speak up again. “So what exactly are we doing?” he asked, visibly confused and intimidated by the seedy environment he’d been led into.

“Getting cloths and headlines,” Gallus replied. Then, realizing Spike wouldn’t understand, he proceeded to translate. “That’s slang for disguises and any news about the recent happenings in Griffonstone.”

“Oh,” Spike replied. His eyes glazed over for a second as he recalled the rest of Gallus and Gus’s conversation and used that new information to try and translate it into terms he understood. “Is that why he kept calling me a lizard? Some kind of griffon slang?”

Gallus nodded, taking a seat on a nearby bench and silently invited Spike to do the same. “For a dragon, yes—Gus was surprised to see you with me, since that’s not something that happens often around here.”

“I can imagine,” Spike said, sitting beside Gallus after a moment’s hesitation. “You wanna explain some of the rest you talked about too?”

Gallus replayed the conversation in his head. “Well, let’s see…authors was just short for the authorities, and I told him q-blu, short for ‘questions best left unanswered,’ because I figured he was better off knowing as few details about our situation as possible in case any of our pursuers came looking for him too. I also told him to give ghosts for answers, which means to deny we were ever here in case anyone does come asking for us, again for his protection just as much as ours.”

“So you trust this Gus guy then,” Spike surmised, working to piece things together.

“Well, we go way back at least,” Gallus said and made a small and weary smirk. “Gus is in the business of getting griffons that are in trouble back out of trouble, usually by putting them to work here at these docks he legitimately owns.”

“Were you like that one griffon you two were talking about on the way here, then?” Spike asked, pointing a claw back in the direction where the black and white griffon had been seen. “What did you call him? A little bird?”

“A little robin,” Gallus corrected and averted his gaze slightly. “It’s slang for an amateur thief.” The unsaid implications of this were allowed to hang heavily in the room for a second before Gallus continued, eager to move past that. “But that’s why that kid’s here, so he can get his bites through other better means.”

“Bites?”

“Means bits for food or other essentials. Poor kid looks like he needs it too.”

“…what do you mean?”

Gallus leaned closer, turning somber. “Spike, his plumage hides it well, but I can still tell—that kid’s pretty much just skin and bones under those feathers.” As he watched Spike mull that thought over, stunned, he continued. “Why do you think he was a little robin? He’s hungry, and that’d been the only way he could get those essentials before.” He took a deep breath before looking at the positives. “But hopefully working a job or two with Gus will earn him enough bits to get some food in his belly.”

Spike swallowed uncomfortably, but it also raised another, related, concern. “But what if Gus is just exploiting that desperation for his own gain?” he asked, worried.

“Oh he absolutely is, make no mistake,” Gallus confirmed without hesitation, though he opted not to talk about the sometimes shadier side of Gus’s work. “But it’s the best option these kinds of griffons have, the best way they can get out of the holes they find themselves in. They aren’t going to get it from other griffons because they don’t care, nor find it on their own through more ethical means because Griffonstone is too corrupt, and train tickets out of the Griffon Kingdom altogether are too costly when those bits could be spent for more immediate concerns like your next meal. To say nothing of the fact that no griffon has the guarantee that getting out of town would even improve their circumstances anyway. So quite honestly, Spike…if it wasn’t for the likes of Gus…there’s a lot of griffons who would’ve starved to death long before now.”

“How do you know that?” Spike asked, horrified.

“Because I’ve been there before, Spike,” Gallus assured heavily, bowing his head as he remembered darker times. “How do you think I met Gus in the first place? I was that kid out there once.”

A long and sobering silence fell between them for a moment.

“…did you also steal things out of desperation, then?” Spike finally asked upfront.

Gallus hung his head. It was a valid question, and looking back, he was sort of surprised Spike hadn’t asked it sooner. “Kinda, yeah,” he admitted with a quiet sigh, in an attempt to downplay it. “Never bits, though, just food from marketplace stalls, and only until I was about six or seven, when I finally realized working to earn the bits to buy food was better in the long run. So I started doing whatever odd jobs for whatever bits I could get. When that wasn’t quite enough, that was about when I met up with Gus for the first time.”

“Weren’t you ever caught stealing?”

“Only a couple of times by the stall owners, who’d at most paddle my butt good before sending me on my way. I was, after all, just a young squab who didn’t know better at the time, so…they treated me like one.”

“But it still didn’t stop you from trying again.”

Gallus could only shrug helplessly. “I did it to survive, Spike,” he reminded simply. “I’m not proud of it, but…sometimes that’s the best you get from life.”

Spike fell silent once more, pondering this information. Gallus wished he could do more to reassure the dragon, but was at a loss as to what so he went silent too. It only ended when Gus abruptly returned, a cardboard box carried on his back. “Not got a great selection here, but here’s some cloths you two can work with,” he explained as he set the box down before them.

Gallus quickly sifted through its contents. He frowned. “Gus, these are all griffoness clothes,” he observed flatly.

“Best I can give ya at the moment,” Gus affirmed with a helpless shrug before pointing a talon in the box. “But there should also be enough inks for ya to cover your crabback, maybe even for the both of ya, but there’re a few other things ya can try for your lizard friend too just in case.” He then straightened. “As for the headlines, there’s unfortunately not much. Apparently what the authors are up to is being kept extra shush-shush and in-house. Word is they’re on the lookout for two crooks that I’m guessing are supposed to be you two, but there’s nothing on the whys or hows. They don’t want any civvies getting involved though, and they only do that when they’re serious. But there’s not much more to say than that, so I don’t know how much it helps.”

“Its way more than we had when we first arrived,” Gallus assured, before offering his paw to the other griffon. “We’ll make it work, thanks.”

Gus shook the offered paw. “You’re welcome. Though the way I see it, now ya owe me.”

Gallus smirked. “Of course,” he deadpanned, amused.

Gus snickered to himself before turning serious. “Look…I don’t know what you’ve done to get so big trouble, but…I hope whatever it is, ya get back out of it.”

“Yeah, me too,” Gallus replied, sharing in the serious tone. “Thanks again.”

Gus nodded, before shifting his composure and turning to leave. “I’ll let you two do what ya need to then,” he said. “Good luck, both of ya.”

He exited, leaving the two alone once more. Gallus turned his attention back to the box and started to pull out all of its contents. “Okay, let’s not beat about here,” he said as he went.

Spike quietly watched him for a moment. “Is…‘big trouble’ slang for something too?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah,” Gallus replied. “It means you’re wanted dead or alive by someone. We’re what we’d call ‘double big wanted’ though…which means we’re just wanted…well…”

“…dead,” Spike concluded with a heavy nod. “I get it.”

“Yeah, but Gus has given us a fighting chance with these,” Gallus assured, organizing what he’d pulled from the box. “Disguises enough to help us blend in, including inks.” He held up a couple of small glass jars filled with colored substances. “These are colored powers to rub into our coats so to make them a different color.” He motioned to his own blue-colored pelt. “Those authors are going to be looking for a crabback-colored griffon like me, but they can’t find one if I’m not colored like one. If we play it smart, this should give us a fighting chance.”

“…yeah.” Spike didn’t seem very enthused by that.

Gallus paused and took a seat beside him. “Look, I know this has all been a lot to take in, and I’m sorry I had to introduce this…harsher world to you.” He gave Spike a sympathetic look. “I think you get why I don’t like talking about my past experiences with this sort of thing. But we can’t change that now. What we can do is think about how we can move on and make whatever comes next in our lives better than what it was before. Focus on that instead.” He grinned comfortingly. “We’re going this route because it’s our best way to a better tomorrow, and that’s what’s important here.”

Spike mulled it over for a second longer then weakly attempted to share the grin. He wasn’t super convincing to Gallus, but it was good he was trying. “Okay,” he said, getting up and moving towards the box. “I just…never realized how hard you had it out here in Griffonstone.”

Gallus didn’t reply right away, mulling how he should respond—if he should respond. “Is…that what’s really been bothering you about all of this?” he asked aloud finally, the deduction suddenly coming to him as if inspired. “Finding out what living on the streets had been like?”

Spike hesitated. “It’s just…stealing to survive, shady deals with shadier griffons, criminal undergrounds, drug use…”

“Wait, you mean the sweetsticks? I only did that for a month, and only because Gus and the others…” Gallus stopped himself, realizing how he sounded. “…Not helping. Look, I get what it all sounds like, but the important thing here is that I survived and got out of that life, first for more legitimate work once back on my own, then even more when I came to the school in Equestria not long after that.”

“Still…it must’ve been awful for you.”

Gallus snorted. It had been awful, and truthfully he’d hated almost every moment of it, especially now that he knew what it was like to live a better life. But he didn’t want to tell Spike that when clearly he was already feeling guilty about it. “It’s in the past either way,” he pointed out, trying to keep Spike from dwelling on it. “It’s not like there was anything either of us could’ve done to change it anyway.”

“It just…doesn’t seem fair, when…when I was the one who escaped having to face that same kind of life.”

Gallus couldn’t help but shoot Spike a look for that comment. “Don’t you go blaming yourself for any of this. You deserve every bit of that life you got.”

“And you didn’t, Gallus?”

“That’s my problem,” Gallus persisted, “A problem that isn’t even a problem anymore. It’s sorted itself out now, and even then, it doesn’t concern you.”

“…it does now.”

Suddenly, Gallus understood what Spike was getting at. He halted everything as his thoughts swung back to a matter meeting with Gus had pushed to the back of his mind…the one that had gotten them into these circumstances in the first place. He couldn’t help but think about the bloodline stone and photo album Spike still carried in his satchel and all both had revealed to them. He averted his gaze. “Look, I appreciate the concern,” he assured. “Seriously, I do. But it’s not necessary, so please don’t. I don’t want you blaming yourself for what were my problems, Spike.”

“But—”

“No. It wasn’t your fault, no more than it was my own. That’s just the way the scone crumbled. It stinks, but we can’t change it now. There was simply no way you could’ve known anyway. And I don’t blame you for that. So neither should you.”

He watched Spike shift uncomfortably. “It’s just…if what we’ve learned is actually true, then…what sort of family would I be, if I didn’t at least show some concern anyway?” he asked rhetorically.

Gallus breathed a sigh. “And what sort of family would I be…if I didn’t show the same back for you?” he challenged back.

Spike had no reply for that. “…what even brought us to this point, Gallus?” he posed instead. “What was so important that someone went to such lengths to do all of this to us?”

Gallus resolutely turned his attention back to the supplies Gus had provided. “Hopefully, that’s what we’re going to find out.”

Author's Note:

I've noticed a trend lately where most fans assume that Gallus still spent his childhood in the (begrudging) care (more or less) of Gruff all throughout. Which, in fairness, isn't an invalid assumption given how Gruff is presented as Gallus's legal guardian upon arriving at the School of Friendship. But the show was still rather vague on the details of that relationship, enough to realize it might also not be a guarantee.

For example, with the exception of Sandbar, all of the Young 6 were brought to the school by someone of authority for their species--if not the leader themselves then the next best thing to that--and not their actual parental figures. To that end, Gruff is often presented as that authority figure for the griffons, meaning his association with Gallus is less "legal guardian" and more "political representative in charge." It's also worth noting that in the flashback while learning Gallus is an orphan, Gruff's the one who's inside the house and Gallus is the one left to fend for himself on the streets...implying that was the usual state of his existence up to that point.

Point is, assuming Gallus was just a street urchin up until arriving at the school is also not an invalid explanation but one that gets overlooked more. Probably because it is the sadder of the two outcomes...but there is still some worthwhile storytelling to be had there too.

Plus, it worked out well for my purposes in this fic. But more on that later.

Comments

[Scyphi]

11835408
To be fair, up until about that point in time, they didn't have any reason to think it'd really gone up that far the chain of command, or that the griffons as a species were even directly involved (because, keep in mind, the only other conspirator they've knowingly had contact with was a pony, and while he did work jobs for the Royal Guard, he was still a civilian technically).

Further, given their current location in relation to where they should be, any actual rescue coming for them would likely be arriving in an airship anyway.

That said, it was kind of my point to spin the whole scene as the characters not foreseeing what was about to happen, but letting the readers do so, and thus generate dread feeling certain a shoe was about to drop.

[Matthais Unidostres]

I hope Gruff doesn't end up dying. That would be just the kind of twist to add drama and keep our heroes from getting answers. But killing Gruff and framing Spike and Gallus would be a galaxy brained move by the villain of this story.

[LtMajorDude]

Mmm, sweetsticks

Wait, I prefer drinking alcohol instead. Hate smoking.

Oh man I want a glass of Jameson now...

[Frazikar]

Hmmm, there could be another reason for Gruff, getting them out ... (sent in by whom is another question) ...

[Scyphi]

11835850
They'll have to find him first.

[fluffytailmofu]

Oof. As much as Gallus' childhood and criminal contacts were uncomfortable to read, the whole thing was very well-written. You created a believable street slang and culture that I have a feeling we'll be seeing plenty more of.

[SpikeSmolder fan]

Dang quite the info dump on Gallus childhood there, also good way of showing how big of a heart our fave little dragon has!

[Soaring]

Author, just wanted to say: this is shaping up to be a very good side-by-side with Grief is the Price We Pay, and I'm so down to see where this goes. I should've been commenting on this more but I find myself usually being rendered speechless and then forgetting to return to comment my thoughts. Thank you for writing this one thus far. Cheers to many more updates!