Silverstream hadn’t always been deaf, but she'd always had a loving family who were willing to support her every step of the way. Gallus had always been deaf, and wasn’t so lucky.
Silverstream hadn’t always been deaf, but she’d always had a loving family who were willing to support her every step of the way. Gallus had always been deaf, and wasn’t so lucky.
He couldn’t remember anything about his parents. As far as he knew, they’d abandoned him at a young age as soon as they’d realised this. Growing up on the streets alone was hard - not only because he was deaf, but also because his bright blue colouration made him stick out like a sore claw. Back then, he hadn’t understood why other griffons sometimes rapidly opened and closed their beaks, but the looks on their faces said enough. At best, he received quick, dismissive glances. At worst, they glared in scorn if he got in their way.
One day, when he was old enough to run but too young to fly, he’d been chasing a mouse through the streets. Not looking where he was going, he’d bumped into a lean, eagle-faced griffon - he later learned that her name was Gilda - and tripped over. By the time he stood up again, his prey had vanished out of sight. His stomach had rumbled, aching with hunger, and Gilda had given him an expression he’d never seen before: a curious glance with both eyebrows furrowed, somewhere between contempt and pity. Then, she’d thrown one of her home-made griffonscones in front of him and pointed at it furiously, as if instructing him to eat it. It was as hard as a rock and tasted like dust, but the thought had been there.
So Gilda had introduced Gallus to Grandpa Gruff, who reluctantly took him in. He’d borrowed a dusty old book from the library, and used it to teach himself and Gallus a sign language called “Arisign”. It was invented by creatures called “hippogriffs”, who had introduced it to griffonkind during Gruff's lifetime.
Gallus would never forget when he’d learned the word [family]. It was signed by positioning his talon sideways, pointing the thumb towards his chest, similar to the sign for [myself] - but instead of bunching the other digits into a fist, they were spread out. Confused, he’d asked Grandpa Gruff what it meant. He’d explained that family were the ones who were dearest to you, the ones who looked after you and were always there for you, even if they weren’t physically there.
[Are you part of my family?] Gallus had signed.
Gruff had shaken his head in response. [Griffons don’t do families.]
[Why?]
Gruff had hesitated, then refused to elaborate.
Grandpa Gruff had also taught Gallus how to read. Gallus’ favourite place was the library, where he’d spend hours upon hours reading the books there; he couldn’t afford to borrow them. The librarian, Glenda, didn’t seem to mind. Books were like doorways to other worlds - where ponies used science instead of magic, or dragons became queens, or orphans overthrew evil overlords. It made him imagine that he was destined for greatness, too, that he was a long-lost prince who would reunite with his family and live happily ever after. He avoided reading non-fiction, though; it sounded boring. Why would he want to read about his own world, when he could go on a guided tour of another?
[Can you tell me more about hippogriffs?] asked Gallus with his free talon, as he shoveled the green mush that passed for dinner into his mouth with a spoon. He had no idea what it was - mashed potatoes? Mushy peas? Guacamole? Hay? Whatever it was, it was definitely made of plants. Meat was a luxury in Griffonstone, and the orphans were lucky that Grandpa Gruff was generous enough to give them something to eat. If they were lucky, they’d have one of Gilda’s thankfully-improved griffonscones, but she was busy today. (Gallus had no idea if she was related to Grandpa Gruff or not. He’d never found the right time to ask.)
Grandpa Gruff shook his head. [Hippogriffs haven’t visited Griffonstone for years, and they never stuck around for long.] Gallus noticed him talking as he signed this; the other orphans didn’t understand Gallus, but they’d gotten used to this. He was the only one who lived with Gruff, but currently seated at the dinner table were Gabby, the enthusiastic mail carrier, and Gavin, who was as short as his temper.
The conversation didn’t go any further, but it had ignited a spark of curiosity within Gallus. As soon as dinner was over, he headed to the library, and - for the first time - entered the non-fiction section. He spotted a book on a top shelf called All You Need to Know About Hippogriffs. Since he wasn’t old enough to fly yet, he climbed a ladder and struggled to pull out the thick tome. Eventually, it came free... and it sent both him and ladder tumbling backwards. The impact of the book landing on the floor felt like a minature earthquake.
The sepia-tinted pages and colourful illustrations captured his imagination and interest far more than any story ever had. He learned that the hippogriffs were ruled by a king and a queen, that their kingdom spread throughout most of the southern lands, that their army had won many wars. He learned that their music was played on bongoes and trumpets, that their architecture made use of stained glass arches that spread out like petals, that their diet mainly consisted of fish. Most importantly of all, he learned that their culture placed family above all else. A picture of a pair of proud parents showing their new baby to dozens of other hippogriffs made his heart clench.
Gallus wished he could meet a hippogriff. They seemed much nicer than griffons.
Years later, a particularly boring day in Griffonstone was interrupted by a rainbow-coloured streak speeding through the sky. The youngest griffons were scared, while the oldest griffons - including Grandpa Gruff - shook their fists in annoyance, but Gallus’ eyes widened in awe. As soon as the blur shot out of sight, though, everygriff went back to their daily routines.
A few minutes later, Grandpa Gruff answered the door to see a cyan, winged pony with rainbow hair. Gallus had never seen a pony up close before, and they looked even more cutesy than he expected. Gruff was about to slam the door in her face, when he noticed that Gilda was standing next to her. It turned out that the pony’s name was Rainbow Dash, and she’d arrived to spread the word of a school that some “Princess of Friendship” was founding in Equestria. Since Grandpa Gruff was the closest thing to an authority figure in Griffonstone, Rainbow Dash asked him to find the most suitable teenage griffon to become a student.
[What’s Equestria like?] Gallus asked Gruff once Rainbow Dash had left.
Gruff glared at him in response. [Don’t get your hopes up. Ponies don’t understand griffons, especially a deaf one like you.]
Gallus looked down sadly. [I was only wondering...]
Soon enough, however, he became curious about Equestria too - and unlike hippogriffs, there were lots of books about ponies in the library. He learned that they shaped the world around them to make it as pleasant as possible, that their magic was powered by smiles or something, that they had introduced baking soda to griffonkind. It seemed so sugary-sweet that Gallus felt like throwing up, but at the same time... anywhere would be better than Griffonstone.
A few weeks later, the cold winds of autumn arrived, and it was time for Grandpa Gruff to decide which lucky griffon would get to go to Equestria. Gallus knew that his first choice had been Gabby, until he’d realised that nogriff else would be willing to deliver mail. All the other griffons hadn’t wanted to go for some reason or another - Graff was too young, Gavin was too grumpy, Grace was too shy. This had left Grandpa Gruff with only one option...
[Make sure not to lose that journal,] Gruff signed to Gallus as they waited at the train station, a stern look on his face. Gallus gulped and nodded, and made sure the strap on the worn, brown, leather bag slung across his neck was secure. He didn’t think it was necessary - even though he’d never learned to beak-read, he could communicate with other griffons pretty well just by pointing at things - but he didn’t want to argue.
Gallus had never been on a train before, so the rapid, bumpy movement had startled him at first. He and Grandpa Gruff were the carriage’s only occupants at first, but at each stop, more and more ponies boarded. Some of them were teenagers - such as a mint flying one, a yellow horned one, and a pink normal one - who he assumed would become students at whatever this school was called, but the majority of the passengers were adults who gave him odd looks. After a while, the repetitive clattering of the train lulled him to sleep.
The next thing Gallus knew, he was rudely awakened by a shove on his shoulder from Grandpa Gruff. He looked out of the window as the train was slowing down to see that it was the early morning, and that they were arriving in a small town full of thatched houses, dirt paths, and green fields. It was surprisingly dull; he’d expected ponies to live in a world full of pastel colours and heart shapes.
When he stepped off the train, Grandpa Gruff fumbled around with a map, then pointed him in the direction of a large, purple building in the distance, built in front of a waterfall. Just like him, it stood out - but unlike him, it stood out in a good way. He bounded forwards and eagerly flew towards it, not even waiting for Grandpa Gruff to catch up.
It had all began early one morning, shortly after the hippogriffs had returned to the surface. Silverstream, rambunctious and eager to explore, had ventured into the Harmonising Heights alone - Dad said she was old enough to take care of herself. Being too young to remember the surface, she had been awed by all of the sounds - the whistling of the wind as it rustled the leaves, the chirps of the songbirds that stood in the trees’ branches, the rushing of the stream that wound its way through the hills - and the way they combined to form one continuous song, played by Mother Nature’s orchestra. It was all so beautiful! When she'd come home, she'd had a splitting headache, but that hadn't stopped her from describing what she'd heard in vivid detail.
Dad had told her not to worry about the headache. “You'll be fine in the morning,” was the last thing he'd said.
It only got worse. The next day, the headache had turned into a fever, and so Silverstream had been forced to spend most of the day in her hammock. The day after that, a rash had turned her talons bright red. A few nights later, she had woken up screaming, clutching the sides of her head in pain.
Silverstream's memories of the day that followed were a blur. It turned out she'd caught a disease that only existed on land, which in her particularly unlucky case, had caused her eardrums to burst. The other symptoms would heal after about a week - but she’d never be able to hear again.
So Auntie Novo had recruited a tutor to teach Silverstream the Mt. Aris Sign Language - Arisign for short - which hadn't been used since the Storm King invaded. Not just her, but her entire family as well - even Mom, who preferred to spend most of her time as a seapony, assumed hippogriff form whenever she wanted to talk to Silverstream. There was a version of Arisign for seaponies called Seasign that used both forelimbs and wide, flowing gestures, but learning one sign language was hard enough.
[Please can you pass me the water?] signed Silverstream a few weeks later at the dinner table, after shoving an entire roll of sushi into her mouth. That was the great thing about sign language: you could talk with your mouth full. Terramar passed her a stained-glass jug filled with water. She refilled her cup and gulped her drink in one go, washing down her sushi without choking on it. Seated next to her, Terramar had barely touched his own sushi; he’d cut it into tiny pieces with his talons, and was slowly eating them one at a time. Silverstream knew exactly what was troubling him.
[Go and visit Mom,] she signed.
Terramar looked offended. [But who else will interpret for you?]
Silverstream sighed. Of all of her family members, Terramar had picked up Arisign the quickest; he was the only one she could hold full conversations with so far. She frowned and tapped her claws on the table as she deliberated over what would change his mind.
[I’ll be fine! Dad is learning,] she insisted.
“What are you talking about, son?” asked Sky Beak; Silverstream could beak-read, but only up close, and it always took her a few seconds to process. At the same time, he signed, [What?]
“Nothing important,” Terramar said quickly. [See what I mean?]
[Don’t worry about it! I’ll be fine!] Silverstream frantically waved her talon in his face as she signed this. Terramar looked confused, and Silverstream realised she’d signed too fast, so she repeated herself slower. [You could at least stay at Mom’s for the night. Go on. I’ll see you off!]
Terramar sighed. [I guess...] He absent-mindedly skewered another piece of sushi with a claw and tossed it into his mouth.
One Glad to be a Hippogriff Weekend, while most of the festivities took place at the top of the mountain, Silverstream lay in a secluded corner of the beach and breathed a long, deep, sigh. She could see the orange glow of the setting sun as it touched the ocean's horizon, she could feel its warmth against her downy feathers, and she could smell the refreshing, salty air, but it felt incomplete. Where were the squawks of the seagulls? Where was the gentle splashing of the waves as they licked the shoreline at low tide? Where was the laughter of the fledgelings who ran across the sand without a care in the world?
Terramar fluttered down and landed in front of her. [We’re going to smash a Storm King piñata,] he signed; “we” referred to the other hippogriffs their age. [Want to join us?]
Silverstream shook her head.
Terramar placed a foreleg on her withers. [What's wrong?] he signed with his other talon.
Silverstream looked down at the sand as she deliberated over what to say. [Remind me what it sounds like.]
[You mean the festival?] asked Terramar, and Silverstream nodded. [It's noisy. The soldiers play the trumpets before each event, same as always. There was a screeching competition earlier. I entered, but I hurt my throat.] Silverstream couldn't help but chuckle. Terramar looked unamused. [There was also a band playing the bongoes. Later, everygriff will fall silent to listen to a windsong.]
The last part caught Silverstream’s interest. [When?]
[As soon as twilight falls.]
She looked at the horizon half-heartedly; the purple smudge of twilight had only just begun to appear at the edge of the orange sky. [I’ll come then.]
The following summer - not that the passing of seasons was apparent on the tropical Mt. Aris - a stocky, orange pony arrived via airship. The hippogriffs were wary of her at first and kept their distance, until Auntie Novo herself gave her a warm welcome. Skystar explained to Silverstream that the pony's name was Applejack, and that she was part of the group of ponies who had defated the Storm King. Apparently, they were national heroes, despite a certain... incident.
It turned out that Applejack had returned to Mt. Aris as an ambassador on behalf of Princess Twilight Sparkle. They were building a “School of Friendship” in Equestria in order to educate the world about the values of harmony, and she was looking for a teenage hippogriff to be sent there as a student. Since Skystar was too old, Auntie Novo decided that one of her niblings should go.
A month later, it was time for Terramar to depart, with General Seaspray as his chaperone. They would arrive in the capital of Equestria via airship, then take the train to the town the School of Friendship was in. Silverstream, Dad, Skystar, Auntie Novo, some of their other relatives, and even Mom, had all waved him goodbye at the airdocks early in the morning. [Going to the School of Friendship isn’t just about learning. It’s also about representing your country,] Dad explained.
[Why me?] Terramar asked. [Why not Silverstream?]
[The most important skill for an ambassador is communication. Silverstream would have a difficult time making herself understood.] Mom’s signs flowed like a gentle current. [In addition, her illness has weakened her immune system. It wouldn’t be safe for her to mix with all sorts of creatures in an unfamiliar environment.]
Silverstream scrunched her face in annoyance at that last part, but she didn’t complain. She didn’t want to discourage Terramar! [Think about it - you’ll be the first hippogriff of our generation to go to Equestria!] she signed, hovering as she gestured widely with her other foreleg.
[It feels like you’re expecting too much from me.] It surprised Silverstream how quickly Terramar signed this. If he were speaking, he would’ve stuttered this out.
[You’ll be fine!] Mom signed and said at the same time, placing her other foreleg over Terramar’s withers. [Everyone will be new there.]
“You're a child of sea and land, and a scion of the Royal house. Go make us proud!” exclaimed dad, so loudly that Silverstream could feel his voice.
[Promise to write back to me!] signed Silverstream. [Tell me EVERYTHING you learn about ponies!] Terramar raised an eyebrow. [Not literally,] she quickly added. [But really, tell me.]
At first, he had written back to Silverstream every evening, telling her things he’d learned about ponies - that they had stairs everywhere, that he’d received weird looks when he ate a whole fish he’d caught in the moat, and that ponies were tiny. The headmare was the tallest pony at the school, and even she was slightly shorter than him. Only a few of the stallions he’d seen around town came close to matching an adult hippogriff in height. Eventually, he’d ran out of things to write about, and his letters became less and less frequent.
After spending a few weeks at the School of Friendship, Terramar became used to the repetitive, repetitious rhythm that kept repeating itself. He’d wake up in his top bunk every morning at 7, eat breakfast at 7:30, lessons would begin at 8, then there’d be a half-hour break starting at 10, more lessons, lunch at 12, afternoon lessons until 15, and then he had time to himself until it was time to go back to his dorm room at 21. Even the instruments were always the same - the the gossip of the students in the corridors by day, the chirps of crickets and hoots of owls by night, and the constant running of the waterfalls. The only break from this metronome of monotony was the weekends. Sometimes there’d be sports, sometimes there’d be pony festivals in the town, and sometimes there’d be monster attacks.
That was, until this routine was shattered by the worst single class of his life.
It started out as a normal generosity lesson, nothing more. Professor Rarity was going on and on and on about a rainbow-coloured spool of string or something; he’d stopped paying attention halfway through. Instead, his head leaned on his desk as he idly doodled Silverstream in the margin of his book. He only looked up when the teacher coughed to catch his attention, and said --
“Terramar, darling, I understand that this lesson may not be the most exciting, but your aunt - the queen - has gone a great expense to send you here, and she would no doubt prefer that you would pay attention.”
In an instant, the entire room fell silent.
A mint-green pegasus named Peppermint Goldylinks gasped, shattering the silence. “Whoa! I didn’t know you were royalty!” she exclaimed.
“Shush!” Citrine Sparks - a yellow unicorn - hissed from the desk next to her.
Terramar found himself at the centre of a dozen-or-so stares.
“Can I have your autograph?” one student asked. “I need it for, uh... a research project on hippogriffs.”
“Will you be my best friend?” pleaded another.
“Psh, what’s the big deal?” asked Smolder, hovering with her arms folded. “Listen up, whelp. I’m not gonna give you special treatment just ‘cause you’re a prince.” Berry Blend - a pink Earth pony - looked up at Smolder with a stern frown on her face, and Smolder hastily landed on her chair.
“QUIET!” snapped Professor Rarity, but she was too late. Terramar ran towards his dorm room, locked the door, closed the curtains, and lay on his top bunk.
It had been a few days since that incident. Since then, Terramar had stayed out of sight as much as possible in order to avoid getting odd looks, and students gossiped about him when they thought the teachers weren’t listening. While he waited in line to get his lunch, he overheard the conversations of other creatures in the cafeteria who were currently eating theirs. Their voices blended together into a medley of murmurs, but some were louder than others.
“Do dragons really only eat gems?” asked Peppermint Goldylinks.
“Yeah,” replied Smolder, reclining in her chair with her arms behind her head. “There’s not much else to eat in the Dragonlands.”
“Wow! That’s so... weird!” gasped Goldylinks. Berry Blend shot her a concerned glance from the opposite side of the table. Citrine Sparks took a huge bite out of her sandwich.
Once Terramar reached the end of the queue, he placed an omelette - the closest thing to meat on the menu - on his tray. Usually, he shared a table with his roommate, but today he noticed a griffon in the corner, alone. He’d seen him around a few times, usually in the library, but he wasn’t in any of his classes.
Curiously, Terramar approached the griffon, who was eating an omelette by tearing it into strips and throwing them into his mouth one at a time. The only other things on his tray were crusts and a few breadcrumbs. Terramar's tray clattered as he placed it on an adjacent side of the table, but the griffon didn't seem to notice.
“Uh... hi?” Terramar said awkwardly, but that didn’t catch his attention either. He gently tapped the griffon on the shoulder, causing him to drop the piece of omelette he was currently eating onto his tray in surprise. Then, he pulled out a thick, worn journal and a quill from under the table, and wrote:
What was that for?
Terramar glanced at the rest of the page spread. It was packed with alternating styles of writing; upon closer inspection, they were entire conversations. The griffon nudged the quill towards Terramar, who wrote:
You looked lonely.
The griffon snatched the quill back. He hastily wrote:
I’m fine on my own.
With that, the griffon shut the journal, pushed it to the side, and continued eating his omelette. Once he finished, he glared grumpily at Terramar. He signed something very rude - Wait, what?
[Are you deaf?] Terramar asked.
The griffon perked up; he sat up straight, and his eyes widened. After a few seconds, he nodded with his beak hanging open.
[My name’s Gallus,] he signed with one talon, leaning his other foreleg on the table. [You’re the first student here I’ve been able to talk to. In lessons, that baby dragon has to write everything down for me. It’s embarrassing.] He sighed. [Are you deaf, too?]
Terramar shook his head. [But my sister is.] He noticed Gallus frown slightly at this. [She lost her hearing a while ago. It’s a long story...] He glanced down, his eyelids half-closed and his ear-feathers drooping downwards.
[What’s hearing like?]
That simple question stumped Terramar. How could he explain something he’d taken for granted his entire life, and something that Gallus would never understand? He tapped his claws against the table as he tried to think of a response.
[It’s like... certain things create vibrations, and you can feel them in the sides of your head,] was the best he could come up with.
[Weird,] Gallus replied. He sat up straight. [I’ve always wanted to meet a hippogriff.] He emphasised the sign for hippogriff - tucking his thumb in and half-folding the rest of his claws - by shaking his talon side-to-side. [Could you tell more?]
[More about what?]
[How you live, what you do, stuff like that. Is it true that your nation covers most of the southern lands?]
“Oh...” Terramar sighed softly, looking down at his half-eaten omelette.
Gallus waved in Terramar’s face to catch his attention. [What’s the matter?]
Terramar spent a good minute deliberating over what to say. He explained that before he was even born, the Storm Army had been conquering the hippogriff kingdom and selling its inhabitants into slavery. When Terramar was too young to remember, there had been an attack on Mount Aris - the last remaining hippogriff city - wherein the hippogriff king had been killed (Terramar deliberately left out that they were related), and the survivors had been forced to flee underwater for a generation.
Gallus’ shoulders slumped. [I didn’t think you had it that bad...] he replied.
[How come?]
[It’s nothing,] Gallus quickly signed, but eyes looked wet; he squeezed them shut and shook his head. Terramar considered prodding further, but he didn’t want to be rude.
A few weeks later, Terramar went swimming in the moat in his seapony form. He glanced up at the orange glow of the setting sun through the murky water. When he’d returned to the land earlier that year, he’d seen the unobscured sky for the first time he could remember, and the sun had been so bright that he’d reflexively closed his eyes. It had taken him a week to be brave enough to look up again, but by now, the sun was a familiar sight.
It had taken longer for him to get used to the way sounds carried through air. Underwater, all the sounds blended together into a constantly-moving symphony that carried for miles. On land, every sound was clear, distinct, and solitary... it had frightened him at first.
His thoughts were interrupted when heard a gentle splash, and looked up to see a yellow talon poking into the water. He dragged himself onto land, transformed back into a hippogriff, and saw Gallus standing on the grass in front of him.
[I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while: what does transforming feel like?] he asked.
[Painless,] replied Terramar, shaking himself dry.
[I meant, how does it make you feel?] asked Gallus. [Being able to transform whenever you want.]
Terramar thought that was an odd question. [Why don’t you ask the changeling student?]
Gallus raised an eyebrow. [I can’t.]
Terramar resisted the urge to facepalm. “Oh,” he said to himself.
[Do you ever have trouble choosing which one you want to be?] Gallus asked. After a few long seconds, Terramar reluctantly nodded, looking down.
[I was born as a hippogriff, but I lived most of my life as a seapony,] he explained as the two of them lay down on the grass. The warm rays of the setting sun cut through the chilly air. [When it was time to return to the surface, I wanted to see all there was to see, but Mom wanted to stay in Seaquestria. At first, I went back and forth between my parents every other day, but when my sistter became deaf, I started spending most of my time as a hippogriff so I could be with her more often.] As he signed this, he let out a deep sigh. [I feel like I’m living a double life. My seapony form is who I am, and my hippogriff form is a mask I wear when I need to communicate with others.]
Gallus stared at the purple-fringed, western horizon for a few seconds, before looking back at Terramar and signing, [At least you have a family.]
Terramar’s eyes widened. [What?]
[I grew up on the streets in a world where I didn’t understand, until Grandpa Gruff took me in and taught me Arisign. He was the only griffon in Griffonstone who wanted anything to do with me, and even he left me alone a lot. You’re the first friend I’ve ever had.
[I became obsessed with hippogriffs. I thought that you lived in some perfect paradise, and would be willing to take me in so I could escape from my miserable life... For the same reason, I begged Grandpa Gruff to let me come here.] Gallus’ breath started to catch, and he started crying before he even finished his sentence. In response, Terramar sympathetically draped a foreleg across Gallus’ shoulders and gently hugged him.
A few minutes later, after Gallus had calmed down, Terramar signed, [I was forced to come here. Auntie decided that I was the perfect hippogriff of my generation to be sent as an ambassador, far away from everyone and everything I know and love.] He sighed, then stood up. “I’m TIRED of all this pressure!” he yelled, punching the grass. “’You’re making the royal family proud’ this, ‘you’re representing your nation’ that; why won’t they just leave me ALONE?!” There was no-one around to hear him, but gosh, ranting felt good.
Gallus looked up at him with wide eyes, tilting his head. [What did you say?]
[I’m being held to unreasonably high standards,] Terramar replied tactfully.
[Why?]
[The queen sent me here.]
[You just said it was your auntie’s choice.]
Terramar felt mildly ashamed of himself once he realised what he’d said. [My auntie is the queen,] he signed quickly.
[Then that would make you... a prince?] asked Gallus, raising an eyebrow in uncertainty.
Terramar nodded. ”It’s not exactly a secret...” he muttered to himself. [That reminds me. Yesterday, Silverstream sent me a letter asking if I was coming from for the first ever Three Days of Freedom celebration next month.]
[What’s that?] asked Gallus.
[It’s to celebrate the defeat of the Storm King. Did you learn about him?]
Gallus shrugged. [Probably. I’ll check through my journal later.]
[Anyway, since you don’t have a family to go to, do you want to come with me?]
In an instant, Gallus sprung onto all fours and nodded enthusiastically.
Silverstream could no longer remember what Terramar’s voice sounded like.
On some nights, she would re-read his letters over and over again under the light of stained-glass lanterns in her bedroom, and try to imagine him reading them aloud. On some days, she would shut her eyes and try to relive childhood memories of the two of them together. She could remember the details of their conversations, and she could remember what spoken words were, but she could no longer match them together. After a while, she’d given up on beak-reading. Her memories of sound had faded into silence, and now it was nothing more than an abstract concept.
She’d stopped receiving letters from Terramar after a while, and she couldn’t help but wonder why. Had a ferocious monster eaten all of the paper? Were the mailponies busy saving the world? Or had he run out of things to talk about?
...Nah. That last one was impossible! If she were around ponies all day every day, she’d never run out of things to observe about them!
So she was absolutely ecstatic when, a few months later, she finally received another letter from Terramar. She opened the envelope so quickly that she almost tore the paper in half. Surely, he’d have months worth of stories to share! This would be the longest letter ever!
Dear Silverstream,
I made a friend called Gallus. He’s a griffon. Can you ask our parents if he can come over for the three days of freedom? I think you'll like him.
- Terramar
...Oh. Was that all?
Gallus had never been on an airship before.
By the time he and Terramar departed from the train in Canterlot and boarded the airship, it was late in the evening. While the clattering of the train had startled him all those months ago, the gentle vibrations of the engine were barely tangible. He spent the first hour or so of the trip holding onto the railing at the edge of the deck, staring in awe at the Equestrian landscapes and orange-tinted clouds rushing below. He wanted to stay up until he saw Mt. Aris - no matter how long that would take - but eventually, he fell asleep. The bed wasn’t as comfortable as his bed at the School of Friendship - the mattress was thinner, and the blandly-coloured duvet was slightly cold - but it was still a million times better than sleeping on the streets.
By the time morning came, they were beyond Equestria. It took a few hours for the airship to cross the desert, and Gallus stopped being interested in looking below. There was nothing to see but empty stretches of sand with the occasional grey rock. In the meantime, Terramar told him the legend of Mt. Aris. It had once been a dragon’s territory, until the first army of hippogriffs banded together and slaughtered it.
As midday came, the airship’s altitude lowered, and a quill-shaped mountain finally came into view. Gallus had only ever seen illustrations of Mt. Aris before, so seeing the real deal was a dream come true. His eyes were fixed on it; he forced himself to not blink as it came closer and closer, until the wind caused his eyes to water.
At the airdocks, two hippogriffs were waiting for them: a pink one around their age, and an older blue one. As soon as Gallus and Terramar stepped off the airship, the pink one rushed towards Terramar and squeezed him in a tight hug. She let go of him when she noticed Gallus, and her enthusiastic expression changed to a frown.
Gallus froze. Was she mad at him?
[Gallus, this is my sister, Silverstream,] Terramar signed, and she waved. He pointed at the blue hippogriff. [And this is my dad, Sky Beak.]
Silverstream approached Gallus and looked him up and down. Then, she signed something. He couldn’t make out what it was; it felt like she was waving her talon in front of his face.
[What?] Gallus asked.
[Sorry!] replied Silverstream. This time, her signs were slower. [What I said was that Terramar told me all about you!]
Gallus tilted his head in confusion. In response, Silverstream simply signed, [A letter!]
Terramar motioned for his sister to step back, then signed to Gallus, [Do you want to have lunch with us?]
Terramar and Sky Beak guided Gallus towards their house, while Silverstream flew ahead. The hippogriff settlement consisted of hollowed-out trees, with stained-glass panels installed as circular windows across the bending trunks, and between the topmost branches... it was beautiful, but Gallus had to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun. It was much warmer here than Ponyville, and to make matters worse, the air was still.
Sky Beak’s house was built into one of the largest trees, and its glass was aquamarine. The inside was surprisingly spacious; there was a living room at the base, and the other “rooms” were semicircular, wooden platforms on either side of the inner trunk, at various levels of elevation. There were no stairs.
The dining “room” was on the lowest platform, and they flew up to it one at a time; Gallus went last. In the middle was a large, rectangular table; seashell-shaped kitchen utensils hung on the wall. The teenagers sat around the table, and a few minutes later, Sky Beak plated all four of their lunches: a large, smoked fish each, with rice and seaweed on the side. Gallus had never seen so much meat in one place in his life. He stared blankly at his plate for a few seconds; how was he supposed to eat it?
He looked around the room, and saw Silverstream happily tilt her head back, open her beak wide, and swallow the fish whole. He took a deep breath, and then cautiously did the same. The fish tasted delicious! Its texture was smooth, and it was just the right combination of savoury, salty, and tangy...
And then he started spluttering.
[Water! Water!] he signed frantically. Terramar quickly picked up the blue and purple stained-glass jug and poured some water into Gallus’ cup. He drank its entire contents in one go - then immediately spat it out. [Saltwater?]
[Sorry,] Terramar signed. [You see, we hippogriffs can drink saltwater without a problem. We didn’t realise that you wouldn’t.]
Gallus raised an eyebrow. Terramar shrugged sheepishly.
[Thanks, all of you,] signed Gallus, once they had finished their lunches. [We didn’t have food like this back home.]
Silverstream looked puzzled; she tilted her head. [What did you eat?]
[Mush,] was the only way Gallus could describe it.
[Really? That’s so interesting!] Silverstream’s enthusiasm made Gallus feel mildly concerned. He was about to ask what they were going to do next, but she turned to Terramar. [Why didn’t you tell me about griffons?] she asked, tilting her head in curiosity.
Terramar scratched the back of his neck. [By the time I met Gallus, I’d already run out of things to write about.]
[So you forgot about me?] Silverstream glared at Terramar.
[It’s not like that!] Terramar spread his wings defensively. [I just got so wrapped up in what I was doing that it slipped my mind.]
Silverstream strode forwards, leaning into Terramar’s face. [You broke your promise! You go off to the school I wanted to go to, and then you IGNORE me in favour of someone else!] Terramar stepped back, his eyes wide with shock and his beak hanging open. He didn’t reply. At this point, Sky Beak stepped forwards with a stern expression.
Gallus couldn’t watch any more. He leaped down to the ground floor, curled up against the wall, and closed his eyes. By the time he opened them again, Terramar was gone.
Terramar wanted to be alone.
He’d bolted out of the house - ignoring Dad's calls - flown down to the beach, and lay on a tree growing out of the side of a cliff. He lost track of how much time he’d spent staring at the calm sea below, until he was alerted to the sound of a seagull’s wings flapping as it landed in front of him.
“Go away,” he snapped. His gaze followed the seagull as it flew away as quickly as it came, joining its brethren in the clear, mid-afternoon sky. Their constant squawking got on his nerves; sometimes, he wished he was the deaf one.
...No. He shouldn’t think things like that.
Instead, he looked up. The seagulls glided around in circles, and occasionally swooped down to skim the surface of the ocean for fish. Back when he was small, the ocean’s surface had been the boundary between the safety of Seaquestria and the distant, mysterious, and dangerous surface, but now he lived there. It felt surreal.
He sighed as he thought about Mom.
“TERRAMAR!” a raspy voice shouted, startling him. It was accompanied by the heavy flapping of two pairs of wings, and he turned around to see Silverstream descending towards him, followed closely by Gallus.
Silverstream gracefully landed on the tree trunk, closer to the cliff than he was. [There you are!] she signed. Gallus landed soon after, laying on a sturdy branch on the opposite end. [I’m so sorry for what I said earlier to both of you. I just wanted to know more about griffons, and then I got jealous, and then I started worrying that Gallus had replaced me...]
Gallus gave Silverstream a guilty glance. [Is this what a family does? You fight, and then you make up?]
Silverstream nodded furiously. [Why do you ask?]
[I used to wish hippogriffs would become the family I never had,] Gallus explained, glancing up at the sky absent-mindedly. [I built up the idea that they were so much nicer than griffons, so to see you fighting like that...]
Silverstream flew over to the other end of the trunk and bent down to Gallus’ level. [No-one is perfect, Gallus. But that’s what makes us interesting!]
[Thanks, but it’s not that,] Gallus replied, slouching. [How come you get to have a loving family, good food, and more than one person to communicate with for most of your life, but I didn’t have any of those? It’s not fair.] He punched a branch, causing a few leaves to fall onto the ocean’s surface.
Terramar had no idea how to respond. He and Silverstream simply looked at each other, deliberating about what to say.
[I’m sorry,] he signed.
[Don’t pity me!] replied Gallus, frowning. [I’m just being jealous, too...]
[Don’t put yourself down like that!] Silverstream practically shook her talon in Gallus’ face again. [You’re lucky that you got to go to that school. You’re lucky that you got to meet Terramar. You’re lucky that we shared all of this with you!] She emphasised the sign for “all of this” - holding her talon straight up and moving it in a horizontal circle. [If you’ve never had a family, then we could be the best brother and sister you never had! You might not be able to stay with us for long, but you can still be part of our family.]
Gallus’ posture perked up, and his eyes widened in surprise. He turned his head around, but Terramar clearly saw him wipe a tear out of his eye.
[Thanks,] Gallus signed. [Anyway, what happens on the Three Days of Freedom?]
[It begins tomorrow,] replied Silverstream. [The first day will be in Seaquestria, and we were planning to go there early this evening to visit Mom. You see, she lives-]
[I’ve already told him about that,] Terramar interrupted, gently pushing Silverstream’s foreleg down. She briefly scrunched her face.
[Anyway, the first night is what we’ve always done. We’ll thank the ocean for protecting us from the Storm King, and there’ll be sea-dancing and whale-singing!] After she finished signing this, she threw her forelegs up in enthusiasm... but her expression quickly turned into a frown, and Terramar heard her sigh softly. [I don’t know Seasign. Do you, Gallus?]
Gallus shrugged. [What’s that?]
[It’s Arisign for seaponies,] Terramar explained.
Silverstream lay down. [Not to mention, I’ve never transformed anygriff other than myself, and I don’t know what it would do to a griffon.] She clutched her necklace. [I guess I’ll have to miss the first day...]
Terramar felt torn. He tapped his claws on the tree’s smooth bark, lost in thought. Mom would surely be glad to see him again after all this time - but he couldn’t leave his friends behind...
[I don’t want to let Mom down,] he signed. [Should I go?]
[I’m sure Mom will be fine,] Silverstream reassured him. [Besides, she’ll be coming here the day after. I could use this as an opportunity to get to know Gallus!]
The three of them flew down to a secluded corner of the beach and lay in a circle on the sand, conversing with each other until the sun sank beneath the ocean’s horizon. Terramar would never be able to share the sound of the waves lapping against the shore with his friends, but as long as they were together, that didn’t matter.
