“I’m going to adopt Gallus!”
Ok, I think I should backup for a minute and probably start at what led me to say that out loud Ocellus, one of my very best friends, in the first place. And my name is Silverstream by the way! Hi!
It started a few weeks ago, when I found out about a Pony holiday. I always love finding out about new holidays. Hearts and Hooves day was amazing! Even if everycreature said I wasn’t celebrating it right and that the way I was celebrating it was making everypony feel very awkward. Nightmare Night was great too! Well, the parts where I got candy were. The rest, not as great, but still great! And even though I love the Three Days of Freedom Celebration more, Hearths Warming was so sweet!
None of those were the holiday I’m talking about though. The holiday I’m talking about was called Family Appreciation Day. It’s a whole day where, get this, you appreciate your family! You give them gifts and tell them how much they mean to you. And in school, we bring our parents into class and have them tell everycreature about themselves!
That was the first day I got to meet all of my friends’ families! Yona and her family talked about smashing! Her brothers were so adorable I just wanted to cuddle them forever! But not as cute as Sandbar’s sister! She laughed when I hugged her! Did I mention I like hugging and cuddling?
Smolder actually managed to bring her brother, Garble, to Ponyville. When he first got here, I heard him muttering and complaining about coming to a stupid pony town for stupid a stupid pony holiday. Those weren’t very nice words. Which made it all the more surprising when he recited some of the best poetry I had ever heard. Those words were so much nicer! And when everycreature started enjoying it, Smolder said she had never seen him smile like that. I asked about her parents, but she said that they wouldn’t even fit inside the school.
When Ocellus brought her family, they started their presentation by explaining that they weren’t family in the rest of the families were. Back when Changelings were these evil, black, hole filled monsters, only Queen Chrysalis laid eggs for The Hive. But when they reformed, they wanted to live more like ponies. So they all started to make families of their own. But they still loved each other all the same!
And all my friends even got to meet my dad and Terramar! Not my mom, sadly, because she is a Seapony full time. We all talked about what being the family to the Queen is like. Which in hindsight, probably wasn’t impressive to all the ponies who had the new Princess as their head mare just last year. But I still loved it!
The only creature whose family I didn’t get to meet was Gallus’s. And that was when I realized that Gallus didn’t have a family. And I felt so stupid for not realizing it sooner! He flat out told us all that before the Three Days of Freedom Celebration last year. I guess I just didn’t want to believe that something so terrible could happen to someone I cared so much about! But when I saw him so sad during all of the presentations, it finally clicked for me.
And I hated that! I’m sorry, I don’t like that word. Hate is a word reserved for how you feel about the Storm King. But that was exactly how I felt about it. I hated the fact that Gallus never had anycreature in his life to love him. The only creature that took care of him was Grandpa Gruff. But I know just how he felt about Gallus when Head Mare Starlight used our parent-teacher conferences for her vice head mare. And let me tell you, I came SO close to using the h-word for him after that.
I know it’s selfish to say this, but this hurt me too! I shouldn’t feel hurt, but I was. It just made me so sad to think about what it would be like to not have a family. Gallus, someone who I cared about more than nearly anycreature else in the whole world, didn’t have any of the love I have. It hurt my heart trying to imagine not having my mom and dad and Terramar in my life. But that’s what it’s like for Gallus! I just wanted to give him that!
Then I had the single greatest idea in history. It was so simple! I wanted to give him the love of a family. So, why didn’t I just do that?
That is the series of events that led me up to where I am now. Now being rushing into the library after school hours when only Ocellus was in it and saying those words to her.
“I’m going to adopt Gallus!”
Ocellus was speechless. She literally dropped the book she was reading flat onto the table. Her jaw was agape. A couple times she held up her hoof and looked like she was about to say something, but put it back down.
“Um, excuse me?” Ocellus finally said. I don’t think that’s what she wanted to say. Though to be fair, I don’t think she actually knew what she wanted to say to that.
Now that I think about it, I probably should have given her the context that I had just given you before I said that. But I couldn’t help myself. I was just so excited. It was the perfect solution to Gallus’s problems! I just had to share it right away! Not to Gallus of course. I wanted it to be a surprise to him.
Explaining everything to Ocellus didn’t actually change the look on her face. Did I leave anything out? She still didn’t seem like she understood where I was coming from. Or, did she not think it was a good idea?
“Do you not think it’s a good idea?” I asked Ocellus. She was the smartest creature I knew. It’s part of the reason I went straight to her to tell her my idea. I wanted to ask on how to adopt somecreature.
“I um, really don’t…” Ocellus started to sheepishly scrunch into herself in the same adorable way she did whenever she was being shy. “There’s, a number of problems with that actually.”
“Like what?”
“Well um, for starters, you’re only fifteen. Gallus is actually a year older than you. I’m fairly certain that you have to be an adult to adopt somecreature.”
“But that just means I can love him even more!” I protested. “I know him better than any adult ever could!”
“I’m not doubting you on that! But, there’s a lot more to adopting a creature than just loving them. You have to also show that you’re capable of providing for him. That means you have to have a stable job and a sound home. You’re still in school and live with your parents. Creatures like them would be better suited to adopting Gallus than you would.”
“OH. MY. GOSH. OCELLUS, YOU’RE A GENIUS!” I sprang across the table and gave Ocellus the biggest hug I could give her. That was the greatest idea I had ever heard!
“I-I…what?!” Ocellus was surprised by me again. I let go of her and sat back down, struggling to contain myself.
“I wanted to adopt Gallus because I couldn’t imagine what it must have felt like to not have somecreature like my mom and dad and Terramar growing up. But why not just give him all of that! I’ll just get my parents to adopt him!”
“That…that’s not what I meant!” I think I was overwhelming Ocellus again. Smolder had been telling me that I needed to calm down when it was just me and her. “That’s a big thing to spring on somecreature, Silverstream. They’ve never even met Gallus.”
“My dad and Terramar got to meet you all on Family Appreciation Day. And I’ve written about Gallus to them all the time.”
“But that’s still not enough. I don’t think you’re quite grasping how big a thing adoption is. You’d be asking them to accept Gallus as a part of their family and raise him like he was actually their child. You can’t expect your parents to agree to that sort of thing with a creature they only have a passing knowledge of.”
“But…”
“Look, Silverstream, I’m not saying you don’t have a really sweet and well-intentioned idea. But you have to understand that it isn’t as simple a solution as you think. It requires mutual understanding from both parties involved.”
“I understand…” I felt my spirits being crushed as I left the library. Ocellus tried to cheer me up, but I shrugged her off. I wasn’t upset with her or anything, she had just told me the truth. She was right, I had let my excitement make me think that it would be easy. It wasn’t.
But I can’t let that stop me! I’m positive Gallus needs the love of my family in his life! He looked so depressed on Family Appreciation Day. He wanted a family of his own like we all had. I have that, I just have to find a way to give it to him. If Gallus and my family don’t know each other well enough for that yet, then I’ll just have to fix that.
~~~
“So, Gallus, fall break is coming up soon.” I asked Gallus after class the next day. I tried to make approaching him seem as natural as possible. That was a little hard to do since our last classes were on the opposite sides of the school. But I don’t think he thought hard about how fast I traveled that distance in order to meet up with him so soon. “Do you have any plans?”
“Well I’m probably going to do what I normally do when school’s out.” Gallus told me as we walked together towards the doors of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s School of Friendship. “Stay here in Ponyville and crash at Sandbar’s house. You?”
“Wait you do that every break?” I know Gallus just asked me a question, but what he just said triggered a red flag for my plan. What if he was already attached to Sandbar’s family? What if I needed to convince them to adopt him instead? I already thought convincing my own family was going to be hard enough, but another creature’s? “How long have you been doing that?”
“Since Blue Moon Festival last year,” Gallus spoke nonchalantly. He didn’t notice me ignoring his question. Or just chose to ignore it. Good for me, it means he wasn’t catching on. “Or, should I say Hearth’s Warming since we’re in Equestria? Eh, doesn’t matter. When you all did finally go home, Sandbar let me come to his place and stay there. And then he invited me over for spring break, and then for all summer too. He already let me know I’m welcome to do the same for fall break.”
“Do you like going over there?” Do I need to adjust my plan? Do I need to throw it out the window? No! I won’t do that. Even if it isn’t with my family, Gallus is going to get adopted if it’s the last thing I do!
“Eh, it’s better than going back to Griffonstone. I get to be with Sandbar, so that’s a plus. And his family is all nice. That means they’re infinitely better than most other Griffons. His parents are really lax, I don’t hear from them much until dinner. But I’m still in Ponyville, so it doesn’t feel like much of a break from school, if you get what I’m saying.”
So Gallus hadn’t formed that much of a relationship with Sandbar’s family. That means that he was still free to form a bond with my family! Now to proceed!
“Would you possibly be open to going somewhere else this fall break?”
“Hmm, I don’t know. I mean, Sandbar’s sister just learned to realize that I’m not a Cat Pegasus. Don’t wanna ruin that progress.” Gallus snorted. “I’m just kidding. What did you have in mind?”
“Well I was wondering if you would like to come to Mount Aris with me and stay with my family instead?”
“Sure, but why?”
Oh no, oh no, oh no! I hadn’t thought about a reason. I mean, I have a reason, but I can’t tell him that. If I tell him that I want him to know my family better and like them, then he won’t do it as much because he knows he has to! Also, it would ruin his surprise adoption! I needed to think of another reason that didn’t involve those other two.
“Because I want to have a friend back home at Mount Aris over the break?” Nailed it. Totally nailed it.
“And, you want, me?” Gallus was raising an eyebrow at me.
“Of course I do!” I couldn’t read Gallus’s look. He was clearly suspicious, but not at what I’m worried about. Something else was making him suspicious of something I didn’t know about. But he had agreed to come with me!
“I already got my parents to sign a permission slip saying it was ok for you to come home with me.” We had gotten back to the dorms and were going into my room. I pulled out the form that I was talking about and another blank one. “You just need to get Grandpa Gruff to sign this one. After that all we have to do is hand them into Head Mare Starlight.”
“Got a pen?” Gallus casually asked.
“Um yeah, right here on my desk. Why?”
“Just give me a second,” Gallus picked up the pen and started writing on the spot that Grandpa Gruff was supposed to sign. He stuck his tongue out and concentrated, taking his time when making the strokes. “And there we go, signed.”
“But, Grandpa Gruff is supposed to sign that.”
“And as far Head Mare Starlight knows, he did.” I looked at Gallus really confused. “Look, after the fifth form he had to sign, Grandpa Gruff wouldn’t even let me come back here until I could convincingly forge his signature. This is only the second time I’ve done this, but she bought it the first time.”
“Well I guess that settles things then. We’re on for Mount Aris!” Wow, he needed a family more than I thought! Grandpa Gruff didn’t even want to see him to sign a paper. Well that wouldn’t be a problem for much longer.
I rubbed my talons together. Oh yes, my little Griffin. Soon you will be so loved!
My name is Gallus. I’m a sixteen year old Griffon. I’m from Griffonstone, and I don’t know who my parents are. Or were. The extremely pessimistic side of me tells me that they’re still alive, but just want nothing to do with me. I have been described as a pessimist by mostly everyone who knew me. But when you grow up in Griffonstone, that’s called a different thing: not being an easily swindled seed brain. Regardless of what you call it though, that’s still a good way to describe me.
Which makes why I’m on this train with Silverstream, the physical embodiment of optimism, all the more confusing to me. I’m going with her to her home country of Mount Aris because she invited me to come and spend fall break with her. I’m probably her polar opposite and yet she chose me.
It’s not like I don’t know why she chose me though. She couldn’t have been more obvious with how secretive she’s being about it. She keeps talking about how I’m going to love her family and Mount Aris. She keeps putting extra emphasis on how great it all is and how well I’ll get along with everycreature. It was near impossible for me to not figure out what her motives were here.
And I think she’s making a huge mistake. I’m not worth loving. She could do so much better than me. But now she’s bringing me back home so she can get her family’s approval for us to date.
Do I love her back? I never really thought of that. I mean, if I had to choose a favorite out of my friends, then yeah, it would totally be her. Smolder and I see eye to eye the most, but she ends up reminding me of myself sometimes. Sandbar is chill and has always been there for me, but I find his innocence to be too much sometimes. I don’t think he really understands what it's like outside of Equestria. Ocellus I feel an overwhelming urge to protect. And Yona, I like her, but sometimes she’s a little too headstrong and blunt for me.
But Silverstream, her happiness is infectious. I thought she would get on my nerves with her optimism and positivity, but I can’t help but smile whenever I’m around her. And I want to be around her all the time. She sees so much in me that I can’t help but start to believe in what she sees myself.
I don’t ever believe it for long, though. There’s nothing to see in me. All Griffons suck. Save for Spike’s girlfriend Gabby, who is the exception that proves the rule, there is not a single good Griffon in the world. They’re all selfish, backstabbing, lowlife, worthless jerks. Me included. I know there’s nothing good about me. I don’t know what Silverstream sees in me, but it would be better if she didn’t. That way she’ll be less crushed when she finds out the truth.
“Gallus?” Silverstream snapped me out of my thoughts. Oh right, I’m still not used to the fact that creatures actually want to talk to me now. “Are you listening?”
“Huh? Oh sorry, I was um, busy looking out the window? What were you saying again?”
“I was asking if you were excited to go to Mount Aris.” Even though I clearly wasn’t listening to her, Silverstream seemed to instantly understand I wasn't doing it on purpose and not be mad. Why did she have to be so perfect?
“Well, I mean it’s not Griffonstone, so that’s a huge plus already. I’d rather go to anywhere than Griffonstone. But it and Seaquestria are a whole nother country. The only other country I’ve been to is Equestria. And out of the all the surrounding countries, I think I’d rather go to Mount Aris than anywhere else.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well let’s see. The Dragonlands are nothing but molton rock and lava. Not appealing unless you’re a dragon.” That wasn’t my only problem with the Dragonlands. Smolder made it clear that most Dragons were bigger assholes than even Griffons. Of course I didn’t say that to Silverstream.
“The Changeling Hive sounds overcrowed enough already.” It also just sounded gross. Ocellus is one of my best friends, but the idea of a place that is designed by insect like creatures makes me shutter just thinking about it. Of course, I didn’t tell to Silverstream either.
“And I don’t like cold places either. So Yakyakistan doesn’t appeal to me much either.” It’s also a country full of Yaks. I have a Yak best friend, and even I know that sounds terrible. See what I mean here? I’m just a pessimist. I don’t know what Silverstream sees in me.
“But Mount Aris sounds pretty nice actually,” I looked more directly at Silverstream as I spoke. “I mean, sure it’s got that whole, previously conquered and ruined thing going on for it, but it sounds like you all got that pretty fixed up. It’s on a mountain, which is nice for fliers like us. And it’s right on the ocean. I don’t think I’ve actually ever been to a beach before. I mean, a real beach. Not just the shore of a lake or river or something like that.”
“Oh my gosh,” Silverstream gasped. “You’ve never been to the beach before?! Well I have to fix that as soon as you get there! Or, not as soon as you get there, because I want to show you the mountain first. But when I go to show you Seaquestria, you bet your feathery tush I’m going to let you have all the fun you want at the beach first.”
“You’re going to show me Seaquestria?” I raised an eyebrow as an amused smirk. I wonder how long it’ll take for her to realize what was wrong with that sentence.
“Of course! It’s my home just as much as Mount Aris is!”
“Don’t you maybe see a problem with that?” Come on Silverstream, I know you’re not dumb.
“Nope! I mean, unless you’re scared of the ocean or something?”
Gah why did her naivety have to be so adorable?! “I mean, I’ve never been so I don’t know. But sure, I’ll come see it with you.” I didn’t have the heart to remind her that not everycreature can change into a Seapony like her.
When we arrived at Mount Aries, Silverstream didn’t even wait for the train to stop. She couldn’t contain her excitement at being home. She flew up and snatched our bags from the luggage compartments before flying towards the door so fast that they weren’t even open yet. I was much calmer, but still had to push my way through the crowd of mainly Hippogriffs that had actually waited for the train to come to a complete stop before they got up.
I thought that Silverstream was literally going to pry the doors as they were opening. Remind me never to get between her and her family. The second there was enough space for her and the bags to squeeze through, Silverstream was out the door. I was half scared that I would get lost. But then I remembered that if I did, she would likely just tear through the entire crowds looking for me.
By the time I did find Silverstream, she was already with her family. I recognized them from the Family Appreciation Day thing a few months ago. She was giving her dad a huge hug. He was tall. I already thought that Silverstream was tall, but her dad was even bigger than her! Or maybe I’m just short? To make me even more insecure about my height her brother was also slightly taller than her, and thus, still taller than me.
She let go of her father and immediately went to hugging her brother. The look on their faces told me that they were used to this and liked it. You had to develop that mentality if you were around Silverstream for any extended period of time. All of our friends had, including me.
If you would have told me a few years ago that I would not only be hugged daily by somecreature, but also look forward to those daily hugs, I would have called you a seed brain. But now Silverstream embracing me is probably one of the highlights of my days. She was just so warm. It makes me feel like, for once in my life, someone actually cares about me. I’m glad she’s my friend, more than anycreature else.
Which is why I know for a fact that letting her love me will be a mistake. I don’t even know if I could love her back with everything my life has been. But I do know one thing: I’d just end up hurting her if she put in that effort.
After she got done giving her family their mandatory greeting hugs, Silverstream looked over her shoulders and instantly spotted me in the crowd. In seconds, she parted the sea of Hippogriffs to get to me and pull me back to them.
“Gallus, this is my dad,” She brought me up close so that I felt like I had no choice but to shake his claw.
“Nice to meet you, sir, I’m Gallus,” Normally when I met a new adult, I tried to make it clear that I’m not going to instantly submit to their authority. But, since this was the parent of someone I cared about, I showed him respect. Besides, he seemed like a nice bird.
“Nice to meet you too. You can just call me Sky Beak,” The warm smile on his beak went against the really firm clawshake he was giving me. I found it hard not to look intimidated.
“And this is my brother Terramar!” Silverstream grabbed my claw and moved it over to Terramar’s. She grabbed her brother’s and made us both shake talons.
“Heh, Silverstream’s told me a lot about you,” He had a nervous sort of smile to him. Probably because his sister was rushing us into introductions. He was slightly taller than Silverstream, and about an inch taller than me. And, he kind of looked handsome too.
“I’ve heard a lot about you from Silverstream too.”
“Gallus is just the best!” Silverstream began to talk about me as soon as I finished my sentence. “He is one of my most loyal and dependable friends! He has the highest grades out of any of us in Loyalty Classes! So we all were ever close, you would know he’d always be there for us!”
“Is that right?” Sky Beak raised his eyebrow. Terramar let go of my talon and eyed me a little funny. Then he cast that look at Silverstream. Oh Grover, could she have been any more obvious about it? But, hearing that she loved me because of those reasons made my heart jump.
~~~
I’m not sure what I expected a Hippogriff’s house to look like, but I was sort of disappointed when it turned out to be, rather normal. Just a normal house like you’d see in Equestria or Griffonstone. Ok, in Griffonstone the houses were a lot more run down and trashy because nobody bothered to pay anybody else to fix them. But this is what they would have looked should any have.
“Well this is where I live when I’m not at school,” Silverstream excitedly said as she brought both of our bags inside. “I wish I could say I grew up here, but I didn’t, of course! I’ve only lived here for about three years now. You’ll see where I grew up when we go to my mom’s house in Seaquestria tomorrow.”
I gave a small grin. “Sure I will. Wait…” I paused. “Your mom’s house? This isn’t where your mom lives?”
“Nope! She lives back in Seaquestria. I guess I live there sometimes. Terramar goes back and forth all the time.” Silverstream looked around, made sure no one was within ear shot, and then leaned in. “But between you and me, I like living on Mount Aris and being a Hippogriff better.”
Her parents don’t live with each other, and she goes back and forth between their houses? This is just that thing that was the plot of that book we needed to read for class. What was it called? Being divorced? When parents aren’t married anymore. I really hope her parents aren’t divorced. The character in that book didn’t seem to like it.
“Are you um, ok with that?” I nervously asked.
“Yep! I mean I totally get it. I was so scared to come on land the first time. I almost didn’t! So I understand why some griffs don’t want to leave the ocean.” Silverstream started taking me upstairs while we talked. “Do I wish I could see her more often? Like at school? Of course! But if I want to see her, I can always just go to Seaquestria.”
Ok, if her parents are that divorced thing, then she isn’t letting it get to her. Or if she is, she isn’t showing it. Either way, that was her positive attitude showing again. And she’s so strong for that. I don’t think I could handle that. I’d probably blame myself for it happening.
“And this is my room,” Silverstream said as we got to the room at the end of the hallway. She opened the door to show me a room that was painted with entirely pinks and bright blues. Her bed matched, with a whole assortment of fluffy looking pillows. A lot of plush stuffed animals littered the bed and floor around the room.
“I don’t think I’ve seen anywhere so, bright.” That was all I could really think to say. It really was so bright and colorful.
“I know, isn’t it great?!” Bright and colorful seemed to be Silverstream’s favorite thing. “I love my room! It’s one of the things I miss the most whenever I’m away from home. Well that and fish. Oh and my family! But my room is up there too!”
“Must be nice having a room of your own,” I say bluntly.
This made Silverstream stop dead and her tracks and drop both of our bags to the floor. “What?! You’ve never had a bedroom before?!”
“Well, no. I just kind of bummed the attic of off whoever I could pay in Griffonstead.” My life has not ever been a pleasant one. I don’t think I ever slept outside, but earning bits was something I did need to do constantly if I wanted to keep somebird’s roof over my head. “And my dorm at school isn’t really mine either so…WHOAAAAH!”
I was grabbed right out of my sentence by the talons of Silverstream. She plopped me right down on her fluffy bead and looked me straight in the eye. I couldn’t tell what emotion she had on her face. Which was a far departure from her normally making her emotions crystal clear.
“Well that’s not going to fly anymore,” She told me. “From now on, my room is your room! So you just get comfy and enjoy it. I promise you you’re going to love sleeping in my room with me!”
I honestly had no idea what she meant by it. How could I could enjoy a room? What could there be to love about sleeping…with…
No. No no no no no no no no no no no no no! Too fast! This is going too fast for me! I’m not ready for this yet! I did not expect this to happen today and am not prepared for anything that entails! Abandon ship!
“That um, sounds great!” I nervously sweat. I grabbed my bag as fast as I could from the floor. I needed to get out of there. I quickly backed up towards the door. “But well um, there’s just one problem. The uh,” My eyes darted all over the room. Come on you seed brain, say something. Say something that won’t hurt her feelings. “The window! Yeah the window! It’s a problem!”
“The window?” Silverstream cocked her head to her side.
“Yeah the window, heheh. It’s uh…on the right wall! And I can’t do it while there’s a window on the right wall. SLEEPING! I mean I can’t do sleeping while there’s a window on the right wall. Cause uh, the moonlight. The moonlight always comes in from the right side and gets on my eyes. So I think I’ll be better off sleeping in the room across the hall. Goodnight!”
I shut the door as fast as I could and went to the room across the hall before Silverstream had two seconds to see from my lies. That could have gone better in so many different ways. Hopefully I didn’t sound like a total jerk there and hurt her feelings.
“Well good evening.” I turned around when I heard the voice of the owner of the room I just entered from behind me. I saw Terramar, sitting on his bed, casually reading a book. His room was much tamer and much more dully colored compared to his sister’s.
“Oh uh, hey Terramar,” I nervously rubbed the back of my head. I had just barged into his room. “Do you mind if I sleep here tonight? If not, it’s cool, I’ll go down to the couch.”
“Let me guess,” Terramar smirked slightly. “My sister was a bit too much to handle.?”
“Yeah,” I sigh. “She was coming on way too strong for me.” Of course I wasn’t going to tell him just how his sister had made me flee her room. I wasn’t sure about family, but I was sure that’s not the kind of thing you wanted to hear about another member.
“Knock yourself out,” Terramar raised an eyebrow. “Though I can’t help but feel like this was intentional on her part.”
“Oh you have no idea,” I sighed as I pulled my bed roll out from my bag and started making it out. This was turning out to be one of the most awkward and confusing situations I had ever found myself in. It was clear that Silverstream loved me. And at the moment, I wasn’t sure whether or not I loved her back or was ever ready for that.
But one thing was for certain. Silverstream was going to make sure that I felt so loved.
