Troy grimaced with a low, gurgling groan as his eyes clenched tightly shut, not wanting any sunlight to risk coming in to blind him. His head was throbbing, but he wasn’t sure if the headache was from last night’s drinking or this morning’s bad sleeping position. The gryphon wanted to move his head up, but he knew that any slight movement could affect the crippling nausea he felt in his gut. Although, given how strong the taste of vomit was in his beak, he wasn’t sure how much he could throw up right now.
Since he couldn’t turn to his side, Troy had no choice but to remain on his back while keeping himself balanced on the small wooden plank that was supposed to be a “bed.” Even though he knew he could’ve just rested on the concrete floor of his cell, the gryphon heard enough stories from his older brothers about jail to know that even the strongest bleach couldn’t clean what was most likely spewed or splattered down there. So, Troy just sighed and stayed put in wait, hoping that his and Canvas’ stint wasn’t going to last longer than one night.
In the cell next to Troy’s, Canvas was completely sober while seated on his bench quietly. He had a small bandage over the bridge of his snout, along with two small bruises at the corners of his eyes, but he honestly couldn’t say he felt much discomfort. While he was glad that he and his fiancè were placed in individual cells instead of some group setup full of thugs or junkies, the stallion really wished there weren’t a row of metal bars between himself and his gryphon. He also really wanted his sketchbook and pencil, but the guard refused even after being asked politely. The stallion huffed and leaned his head back against one of the bars, unable to even think of sleeping right now.
In retrospect, Canvas knew that hitting that guy with a beer bottle was a huge mistake. Yes, the stallion punched him first. Yes, he was also just about to tear apart one of the most sentimental items Canvas owned. And yes, that pony probably had anger issues long before coming to the club wasted. However, Canvas was still aware that he was probably going to be in deep water over this.
Canvas wasn’t sure how long he was sitting completely silent in a mix of boredom and worry, but his looming thoughts were thankfully skewed when he heard Troy groan deeply. The gryphon struggled while gripping the bars with one claw, hoisting himself to a seated position on his board opposite of Canvas’. His eyes stayed shut while keeping his head lurched forward, taking deep breaths to keep himself from vomiting again. After taking a few minutes to pull himself together, Troy swallowed some excess bile in his beak and tried to groan out, “C… Canvas?”
“Yeah?” asked the pony as he turned his head around. “You okay, honey?”
Troy lifted his head up slowly, but his compulsory attempt to nod quickly changed to a faint shake instead. “Ugh, no,” he muttered sickly while leaning his face into one of his claws. “I feel like shit.”
Canvas sighed and nodded in agreement. “Well, I don’t exactly feel like a ray of sunshine either.” As the pony turned back around to glance down at the floor, he exhaled while thinking over last night’s events in regret. “Why the buck did I let Lyra give me pot?”
“... You smoked pot?” Troy, despite his hungover tone, still sounded fairly surprised.
Canvas nodded with his lips pursed shut in cringe. “Y-yeah,” he admitted while rubbing the back of his head. “She thought it would help me calm down, so I figured it was better than nothing.”
“Yeah, well…” Troy rubbed his eyes with his claws and yawned deeply. When he was finally able to open his eyes, they were deeply red and bloodshot behind his strained eyelids. “I guess I shouldn’t judge,” said the gryphon in a tired grunt. “I ate a quarter of a pig and drank enough alcohol to kill a pony.”
“And yet, I’m still going to marry you tomorrow.”
Troy managed to chuckle briefly at that, happy that his fiancè still had a sense of humor despite their situation. “Yeah, maybe,” he replied with a twinge of worry lingering in the back of his mind. He sighed as he added, “That is, if we’re able to.”
“Mmhmm.” Canvas was just as worried as his fiancè and he looked around the bare jail cell he was in with that troubling realization sinking in. It was literally the day before their wedding, and they were stuck in a Canterlot jail awaiting possible criminal charges. Even with their connections with the Princess of Friendship, the pony knew that last night was most likely going to badly affect both of their futures. Canvas hunched in his bench and groaned sadly. “Goddess… Why did this have to happen?”
“Hey, it’s not your fault,” stated Troy in a firmer-sounding tone while turning his head around to see his fiancè. “It was self defense.”
“Yeah, but still!” Canvas huffed in anxiety while his voice started to sound more strained. “I shouldn’t have gotten stoned last night! I was always told my whole life to not do any drugs, and I just went and did it because I was too freaked out to--”
Despite the pony’s panicked ranting, his words trailed off when he heard Troy making some weird groan. Canvas rolled his eyes and said, “Troy, come on, this is serious!” However, that was when Troy ran to the toilet in his cell. Canvas quickly stopped as soon as he heard Troy hurl loudly with his face inside of the metal bowl. While the gryphon expelled himself of the previous night’s consumables, Canvas covered his face with his hooves in growing shame. “Oh…”
Even though he knew he shouldn’t feel this guilty, he couldn’t help it when he looked back at everything that happened.
If only I insisted on talking with Troy before his brothers made him leave.
If only I didn’t freak out so much to make Lyra resort to calming me down with that stuff.
If only I didn’t run away from Troy on the dance floor like that.
If only I didn’t pick up that bucking bottle!
So many other ‘If Onlys’ ran through Canvas’ mind in constant succession, leaving the stallion to cringe and try not to cry. He couldn’t stop thinking about this being his own fault, even though he knew that Troy would strongly disagree. The growing feeling of dread was continuing to dig into Canvas’ psyche, leaving him too preoccupied with his own thoughts to realize that his fiancè was finished vomiting. When Troy lumbered back to his bench and sat down, he glanced back at Canvas and frowned strongly.
“Canvas, please,” said the gryphon as he leaned in against the bars and spoke sympathetically. “I don’t want to see you act like this. It wasn’t your fault.”
“Yes it is!” Canvas couldn’t take it anymore as he sank his face into his hooves and sobbed. As his sniffles echoed in his cell, the pony’s voice came out strained and hurt as he started babbling. “I… I-I wanted to talk to you last night b-because… Because I got a letter the same time you got yours…”
Troy’s brows raised in surprise, clearly unaware of that detail.
“A-And,” continued Canvas as tears started to shed, “it said that I w-was asked to make a painting for Princess Cadance and Sh-Shining Armor up in the Crystal Empire! And… And if I take the job, then… th-then I wouldn’t be able to help you out in Manehattan during your rehearsals!”
Canvas winced before covering his muzzle with his hooves, hoping to muffle his sobs enough to not warrant too much attention from anypony who could hear them. “But… but now I bucked everything up! Because I didn’t know how to handle it, I got high like an idiot and got us both in jail! You could lose your Bridleway job, and I could lose my painting offer, and then all the worries I had will be for nothing because I ruined both our lives!”
While Canvas continued to cry in overwhelming guilt, Troy just sat frozen as he tried to process everything he just heard. His mind was still a bit frayed, so it took a considerable amount of time for him to let his fiancè’s words sink in. After almost a minute or so, Troy shook his head clear and blinked a couple times. “I, uhhh… huh.”
Canvas was able to stop crying long enough to pull his face away from his hooves, showing his face with his cheeks matted in tears. “I know,” croaked the stallion in a weak voice. “I ruined us.”
“N-No you didn’t!” said Troy quickly while looking back at him. “Canvas, do NOT blame yourself for this!”
“Then WHO am I supposed to blame, huh?! Who!? Should I blame Lyra?! That guy at the club? I was the one who screwed up the most last night, so who else could there be?!”
The gryphon paused momentarily, unsure how he could answer that question. He huffed before replying, “Well… I don’t think there really is any specific one to blame here. It was just a bunch of bad luck and stuff.”
Canvas groaned in an angered tone and kept his face away from Troy. Tears were still rolling down his face, but the stallion now just seemed irritated as he sat with an annoyed scowl on his muzzle. Troy wasn’t able to see his fiancè’s face, but he could still tell that something was wrong. “Canvas, come on,” said the gryphon in a caring tone of voice, “you know I’m not mad at you.”
“Well, why aren’t you?!”
Troy reeled back a little in surprise from that outburst. Canvas turned back around to peer at his future husband with an upset look on his face, not bothering to wipe any of his tears away. “Seriously, what would it take for you to get mad at me?! I got both of us arrested, and you could very well lose your Bridleway job because of me! Most guys wouldn’t be this bucking calm about that sort of thing!”
Troy was now feeling legitimately confused, and blinked a couple times while thinking of a suitable reply. “W-Well…” After a brief moment, the gryphon shrugged and said, “I think I made it clear I’m not like most guys.”
“But this is still a big thing, Troy! We’re in a really bad situation, and you’re treating it like you just stubbed a bucking toe!” After exhaling in exasperation, the stallion lurched back forward in his bench and groaned again. “Urgh! Why is it so damn hard for you to get mad at me?! I swear, it makes me feel like I’m the only one to start fights between us! And I already have an anger problem, so the fact that you’re so bucking passive doesn’t help!”
Even though he was beginning to understand Canvas’ point, Troy was still on the fence about knowing how to resolve this issue. He was still looking through the bars at his upset fiancè, and thought it over before trying to say, “I mean… It’s not like we get in many arguments in the first place. I think the last time we actually got in a fight was when I almost lost your bag that one time.”
Canvas sighed and sunk his head into one of his hooves. While he knew that Troy wasn’t technically wrong, that point wasn’t what the stallion wanted to hear. “I just… it just worries me, okay?”
“Why?” asked Troy in a puzzled tone. “I mean, isn’t it good that we don’t fight that much? Unless you count those little arguments every now and then.”
Canvas slumped back against the bars of his cell, biting his lip as he struggled to think of a way to explain his issues more clearly. He knew that Troy was trying, but it didn’t feel like the gryphon really understood. The pony leaned his head back and huffed briefly. “It just scares me, you know? Like… Lyra and Bon-Bon get in arguments a lot, and I’ve overheard a few from the Cakes when I visited their shop. And it just… it makes me wonder if we’re not experienced enough to handle that sort of thing, you know?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean…” While Troy listened intently through the bars, Canvas sunk his head forward and sighed. “I just worry that somewhere down the line, we’re going to end up having a huge fight that both of us will regret. And when that happens, neither of us will know how to react because we never dealt with that sort of thing before. Everything has been going along so fine, and now I’m just terrified that something could come along that’ll ruin all of that.”
As the pony lowered his head even more, keeping his eyes closed to stop himself from crying any more than he already has, Troy just sat in reflection while thinking over his fianceè’s point. After a few seconds, the gryphon remembered a detail from earlier that made him ask, “You mean like… that painting offer you got?”
Canvas sniffed and nodded his head. “Yeah,” he croaked while wiping his face with a hoof. “I mean, it could be a great job for me to do, and could get us a lot of money for a good place in Manehattan, but it would also mean leaving you alone for at least a month right after our honeymoon.”
Troy blinked a couple times before lowering his head as well. “Oh…” Realizing Canvas’ reason for being so worried, the gryphon’s ear tufts lowered while thinking about the consequences of that option. “So… that would mean I’d have to look for a place on my own, unless I just blew all my cash on a crappy hotel room the whole time I was there.”
“Exactly,” stated Canvas in equal uncertainty. “And I also wouldn’t be there to help you after your rehearsals. As soon as we come back from our honeymoon, we’d both be on our own in completely different places.”
Troy was staring down at the bare wood on his own bench as he added, “Plus, it would probably worry Tenor a bit if one of us was gone for a whole month.”
“Oh, I didn’t even think about that!” Canvas grabbed the sides of his head as he groaned with added worry from Troy’s point. When he put his hooves back down, Canvas couldn’t bear looking back at his fiancè as he said, “I… I could never forgive myself if I tried to keep you from your passion, and I’m not going to even consider it. You deserve Manehattan more than anything, but… but it’s really hard for me to think of a good outcome with my own job offer. If I take it, it would be really hard for both of us right as our marriage begins. But if I turn the offer down, we could have problems down the line when it comes to keeping a place in Manehattan as our second home.”
Troy and Canvas were both silent after that, thinking over their options with a looming uncertainty over their heads. Of course, the silence was broken when a pony from a few cells away shouted out, “Yeesh, talk about a first world problem!”
Troy stood up and shouted out, “Hey, shut up!”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” said the voice back at him, “am I interrupting your little therapy session?! I’m stuck in this cell for another week, AND have to be on a list because I peed too close to a playground! But go ahead, talk about how troubling YOUR lives are! ‘Ooh, I’m worried about getting a second home!’ ‘What’s our dog going to do while we make shit-tons of money?’ ‘Why don’t we fight enough?’ Do you guys REALLY hear yourselves right now?!”
A couple of loud clangs interrupted the voice’s ramblings as a guard shouted out, “HEY! Keep it down, you guys!” A unicorn guard came into view with a nightstick in his aura as he walked past Troy and Canvas’ cells. “Than means you guys too! Save it for couple’s therapy.”
As the guard walked away and out of sight, about a minute of silence passed while Troy and Canvas sat against the bars that stood between them. Canvas was the first to say something after exhaling faintly. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but that guy kinda has a point.”
Troy sighed and rolled his eyes. “No he doesn’t,” he stated bluntly. “Your reasons to be worried are perfectly valid, Canvas.”
“No they’re not, Mister Yuppie!”
“I SAID SHUT UP!”
“HEY!” shouted the guard’s voice again. “I’m NOT going to warn you guys again!”
Troy groaned as he tried to calm himself down, not wanting to rattle any more cages than he has already. He eventually turned back around and said in a more hushed tone towards his fiancè, “Listen, I… I get what you’re trying to say, alright? I mean… yeah. We really don’t seem to fight that much, do we?”
Canvas shook his head faintly before turning around to face him. He looked scared as he asked, “Is… is that a bad thing for us?”
Troy’s beak was clamped shut as he pondered that question, and his answer came after a small exhale. “Honestly,” he said while trying to rub any stray feathers back with his claw, “it’s kinda hard to feel that way after all that we’ve went though. I mean, I literally met you when you were beaten and exhausted. It’s kinda hard to think about fighting with somepony who already fought so much before.”
That response made Canvas' expression change to a more offended look. "So... so what, you don't fight with me because you pity me?"
"No!" shouted Troy in sincerity. "No, I didn't mean it like that! I just mean... That last thing I would ever want to do is hurt you. Even in something as small as an argument."
Canvas lowered his head away from Troy’s gaze as he thought about that. The gryphon continued while rubbing his feathers down some more. “And it’s not like we have many reasons to fight either. We were already good friends before we became a couple, right? We already knew a lot about each other, and we used that to make sure we didn’t have that many conflicts. I know that having those sorts of fights can help strengthen a relationship, but I don’t think it’s necessary either.”
Troy waited until Canvas looked up at him, seeing the gryphon’s sincere (and still fairly bloodshot) eyes as he said, “Canvas, I… I’ve already seen you at your lowest points before. Heck, that was how I first met you. It was also how I realized I was falling in love with you. And… and you’ve seen me at my lowest points too.”
Canvas nodded as he started to tear up again, knowing exactly the moment that the gryphon was referring to. And just like that night he hugged him after his parents left the sweet shop, all that Canvas wanted to do was hug Troy as tightly as he could.
“I know I don’t get angry that easily,” said Troy in an honest tone as he stared back at his love with growing admiration, “but that’s just because you’ve done so much to make me happy. Even when we were just friends, you went out of your way to be there for me, even though I was supposed to be helping you. After everything we went though, I can’t even begin to think of hurting you. I just… I can’t be mad at somepony who I know would never stop making me happy.”
That made Canvas grow a small, grateful smile at the corners of his muzzle for a brief moment. However, his saddened expression slowly returned as he asked in uncertainty. “S-So… what if things don’t go well today? Like… what if you lose your job over this?”
“Canvas,” said Troy with a loving smile as he looked through the bars at him, “there is nothing that would make me hate you, even for a moment.” His head peered in closer to the bars until his beak poked through them into Canvas’ cell. “And even if things go bad today, I already know you’d do everything you could to try and make things better. Just like I would for you.”
Tears were streaming down Canvas’ face again, but he was also smiling back at his gryphon. His face moved in closer to Troy’s as he said, “Troy… I love you so much…”
With Canvas’ lips only a couple inches from his beak, Troy had just enough time to say sincerely in response, “I love you too, Canvas…”
Canvas kissed Troy on the beak, although it was only a small peck due to the bars between their faces (not to mention that Troy’s breath wasn’t exactly something he wanted to be near). Still, the limited range didn’t phase the gryphon that much as he kissed his fiancè back as best as he could. However, he was upset when the guard banged at their bars with his night stick and made them jolt back. “Alright, alright!” said the guard in an annoyed tone towards the two. “None of that until your hearings!”
Canvas and Troy both groaned as they sat back in their benches with glares pointed at the guard. Of course, the unicorn didn’t seem to care and just walked away to inspect the rest of the cells. Troy sat in thought for a while before turning towards Canvas to say, “So… about that painting job you were gonna do?”
Canvas looked back at him with a nervous expression.
“You said that you would never forgive yourself if you made me give up my passion, and…” Troy’s beak clenched shut for a couple seconds before he exhaled to finish. “And I know I’d feel the same way if you turned down that job for my sake. I know it’ll be hard, but my Grandparents always told me that the hardest things are usually the ones worth the most.”
Canvas’ eyes widened in surprise, not expecting the gryphon to have an answer so quickly. “So… you mean that…”
Troy nodded his head while smiling at the pony. “Y-Yeah. I mean, if this’ll help us financially, then I don’t see why not. We’ve already dealt with a lot, and we’re still going strong, aren’t we? Besides, it’s not like we couldn’t ask for help getting a place in Manehattan.”
As Canvas let his fiancè’s assuring statement sink in, all he could think about was whether or not this was a good idea. Despite Troy’s confidence, there was always a chance that it could be a mistake for the two. Of course, almost anything could be seen as a risk if put in the right perspective.
“Are…” Canvas took a breath before asking, “Are you sure about this?”
“Well…” A hint of apprehension appeared in Troy’s face as she shrugged. “I mean, not a hundred percent, but… Hey, you know what they say: the bigger the risk the bigger the reward, right?”
Canvas was just as hesitant as the gryphon, but he was still able to nod timidly while forcing a smile on his muzzle. “I-I… I guess so…”
Troy sighed briefly before sliding his claw between the bars. “So, what do you say? If we’re getting married, we might as well make our first big decision. If we still have our jobs after this, we both take them?”
Canvas stared down at the claw for a moment, pondering how big of a choice this really was. Even though he really didn’t want to make such a huge decision within a jail cell, the pony still thought about it seriously before deciding on an answer. “Well…”
After a millisecond of hesitation, Canvas looked up at Troy with a confident nod and shook his claw. “O-Okay,” he said as the two shook on it. “If you’re on board, then… so am I.”
As soon as the two finished their shake, they heard the sound of a large metal door opening. This was followed by multiple steps coming towards their cells. Troy pulled his claw back in time to see his Father come into view in the hall, with the Guard standing beside him to make sure nothing happened. The older gryphon stared at the two with disappointed looks, and spoke towards Troy first with a shake of his head.
“You know, I figured that at least one of my sons would end up in jail during your bachelor party. But I never would’ve bet my money that it’d be you.”
Troy sighed and lowered his head. “Yeah, I know,” he said in a low tone of his own. “I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t be like that,” replied his father insistently. “I heard it was because of Canvas, so I’m not judging you completely.” Jonas then looked over at Canvas and asked in a more befuddled voice, “But you! Exactly how many times have you gotten in fights since meeting my son?! You’re like a friggin’ magnet!”
Canvas looked over at Jonas to say something in defense, but paused before anything could come out of his muzzle. A couple seconds passed before he looked away with a pout. “I-It’s just coincidence, okay?”
“Yeah, sure,” Jonas said with a roll of his eyes. “Listen, I just wanted to check up on you two before your hearing. From what I heard, I might not be so bad, but I wouldn’t count on it.”
His focus went towards Canvas as he added, “So, did you get a chance to talk with Troy yet? You know, about why you did what you did?”
The stallion nodded. “Yeah,” he answered while motioning over towards Troy. “I told him about it, and we just finished talking it over.”
The pony from earlier yelled out, “First world problem!”
Jonas ignored the unneeded commentary and said, “Well, that’s good to hear. I’ll let Angela and the others know you two are okay.”
"Alright." Troy nodded with a thankful smile. “Thanks, Dad.”
Jonas took one last look at both of them before sighing and making his leave. While following Jonas, the Guard looked back at the incarcerated couple and said, “Your trials are in fifteen minutes.”
The Guard then left after Troy and Canvas nodded their heads in understanding. After he and Jonas left, Troy sighed and glanced over at his stallion. “So, what do you think?”
Canvas shrugged his shoulders and said with a huff. “Well… right now all I’m thinking about is whether or not we’ll be able to get a refund if we can’t make it to our rehearsal dinner.”