Four years have passed since Princess Twilight Sparkle opened her School of Friendship with the mission of expanding her knowledge of friendship to not only ponies, but also to other creatures. She has faced challenges big and small, but nonetheless, her school was and is a big success and was even endorsed by Princess Celestia and Starswirl the Bearded.

And now, her very first class will be graduating from the school and will be given the opportunity to present their knowledge of friendship to their families and friends back home in order to make their communities a better place to live in. However, at the end of the ceremony, one graduate was very devastated to have graduated from the School of Friendship. That student was Gallus the Griffon, who has grown to adore the school and the subject matter that he has been taught. He enjoyed the company of his peers and he knew that when he graduated, he would have to leave his peers and go back to Griffonstone and relive his tragic childhood. It was because of what he has experienced as a child that he vowed to never return to Griffonstone under any circumstances. He has been physically and mentally abused by virtually every griffon, including Griffonstone’s infamous dictator, Grampa Gruff. The only griffon who wasn’t cruel to him was Gabby, who encouraged Gallus to enroll at the School of Friendship.

Back at the School of Friendship, Gallus’ five friends, along with Twilight Sparkle, surrounded him as he was crying.

“I don’t wanna go back to Griffonstone! I wanna stay here!” cried Gallus.

“But you can’t stay here. There is a time for everycreature to leave the nest and move on. And I’m afraid that this is the time for you to leave the School of Friendship and share your knowledge of friendship back home.” said Twilight Sparkle.

“But I don’t wanna go home! Everygriff’s mean to me and they’re gonna hurt me! Besides, I can’t tell them what I learned here. Grampa Gruff banned friendship in Griffonstone.” said Gallus.

“That is so not cool!” Sandbar commented.

“But now that you graduated from the School of Friendship, you can run for office and make Griffonstone better!” said Silverstream in an attempt to cheer up the depressed griffon.

“What’s the point? Nogriff wants anything to do with a dirty animal like me! I think it’s best if you leave me be! I wanna be alone!” cried Gallus.

Twilight and the five other students walked away from Gallus and made their way out of the building. Sandbar made his home, still thinking about Gallus’ situation.

“Welcome home, Sandbar!” Sandbar’s parents gleefully said as he entered his house.

Sandbar let out a sigh and said “Hey. It’s great to see you too.”

“Is anything wrong, sweetie? You seem upset.” Sandbar’s mother asked.

“Well, there’s a friend of mine who goes to the same friendship school I do. His name is Gallus and he’s a homeless orphan from Griffonstone. He was always being abused by other griffons and I feel really bad for him. Four Hearth’s Warmings ago, he ran away from the School of Friendship trying to escape the memories of not being able to celebrate the Blue Moon Festival with the other griffons. I just wish I could get him out of that situation.” Sandbar explained to his parents.

“That’s terrible! Poor guy!” Sandbar’s mother commented.

“We have a spare room that once we take everything out of, Gallus can stay there.” Sandbar’s father.

“So Gallus can stay with us?!” Sandbar said as his face lit up with glee.

“Of course he can!” said Sandbar’s mother.

“Wow! Thanks, Mom and Dad! I can’t wait to tell him the good news!” said Sandbar, hugging his parents.

The next morning, Sandbar and his parents went to the School of Friendship to surprise Gallus with their graduation gift for him. Twilight was begging Gallus to leave the building.

“Come on, Gallus! I gotta lock up the school!” begged Twilight.

“No! For the last time, I’m not leaving!” Gallus protested.

“Gallus, I’m not playing around! Leave the building right now!” Twilight said, becoming irritated.

“Oh, Gallus! We got something for you!” Sandbar called out for Gallus.

“Sandbar, thank goodness! I’ve spent all night trying to get Gallus to leave the School of Friendship! Could you try and get him out?” asked Twilight.

“But you do know why Gallus is hesitant to leave, right?” asked Sandbar’s father.

“I am aware of Gallus’ situation and I feel extreme sympathy for him, but he already graduated from this school and he needs to leave.” replied Twilight.

“Well, maybe this will make him leave.” Sandbar’s mother added, showing Twilight a document showing that they have adopted Gallus.

“You’re adopting Gallus? Sandbar, that’s so sweet of you!” Twilight said as she knocked on Gallus’ door.

“Gallus, Sandbar has a very nice surprise for you!”

Gallus finally got out of his dorm room. “What is it?” he asked, still feeling depressed.

“Gallus, when you told me that you were being abused by almost the entire population of Griffonstone and that you were too scared to come back, it was really hard to hear. I couldn’t believe that a whole town would be okay with hurting a homeless orphan! But now, you won’t have to deal with that anymore. I told my parents about your situation, and they too felt bad.” Sandbar explained to his friend.

“I think I know where this is going.” Gallus thought to himself.

Sandbar showed Gallus the adoption certificate and said “Welcome home!”

Gallus couldn’t believe his eyes and ears. It was at this moment that he knew he would finally belong in a family who would love and care for him. Gallus smiled and his eyes started to water.

“I- I don’t know what to say. Thank you! Thank you very much!” cried Gallus as he was hugging his new family members.

“Oh, Gallus! I’m so happy for you!” cried Twilight as she was hugging Gallus.

“I want you to have this. You have been an outstanding student these past four years and I really enjoyed having you as a student here. Congratulations, Gallus!” Twilight added, giving Gallus a plaque that read “Outstanding Friendship Student”.

“Wow, thank you everyone! This is the greatest day of my life!” Gallus gleefully said.

Author's Notes:

This was meant to be published earlier. However, due to personal commitments (such as graduating high school and getting ready to go to college in the fall) I was unable to do anything. I wrote this story because Gallus is my favorite out of the Young Six and even though griffons aren't rotten to the point where they would abuse a homeless orphan, I am always worried about Gallus as if he's a very close of mine. Seeing as how this is the final season of MLP, I just hope Gallus gets a happy ending.