//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty-Five: The Rehearsal Dinner // Story: Brushed Away 3: Hearts Entwined // by TheVClaw //------------------------------// The sun was just starting to set while Lyra and Bon-Bon waited outside the restaurant, causing both of them to look worried in wait. It was less than twenty minutes before the rehearsal was supposed to begin, and Troy and Canvas were still nowhere to be found. Even though neither of them were still in jail anymore, it was still a risk to keep the dinner on schedule like planned. One of Lyra’s rear hooves tapped at the ground impatiently as she looked up at the skies. After hearing the unicorn groan in growing frustration and nervousness, Bon-Bon sighed and turned her attention towards her wife. “Lyra, come on,” she said assuredly, “Jonas said himself that they got out of the courthouse pretty quickly. I’m sure that they’re fine.” “Well, maybe,” said Lyra meekly before glancing back at her wife, “but don’t you think it’s a little odd that they haven’t shown up yet? I mean, Troy’s family is already here!” “Not the triplets! Besides, Troy and Canvas still have a while before they need to be here.” Thinking it over, the mare smirked with a huff and added, “Heck, even Twilight hasn’t shown up yet! I think that should say something, right?” After a brief exhale, Lyra nodded with a meager shrug. “Yeah, I suppose…” Of course, given how the unicorn’s head hung low, Bon-Bon didn’t need to see her wife’s face to notice the look of guilt. She placed a hoof on Lyra’s shoulder and said sympathetically, “Honey, it isn’t your fault that they got arrested. It wasn’t like you forced Canvas to smoke that stuff.” “Yeah, but still…” The mare pouted while trying to keep herself from sulking any further. “I still gave him a lot. Especially for a first-timer.” “You were just trying to help him relax. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Lyra’s bottom lip trembled a little, and she looked up at Bon-Bon to ask meekly, “R… really?” Bon-Bon nodded with a warm smile before bending in to nuzzle her. “Absolutely. Despite what happened, I know you only had the best intentions in mind. And I can never blame you for that.” Lyra’s muzzle shakily grew a faint smile from that statement, and she thanked her wife by returning a nuzzle of her own. “Awww, thanks,” she said sweetly as a small blush appeared on her cheeks. She sighed after pulling back, hoping that Bon-Bon wasn’t the only pony who felt that way. Nevertheless, both of them noticed the sight of Twilight Sparkle as she walked up the road towards the venue. Behind the Princess were the engaged couple and Tenor; apparently, Troy and Canvas were able to get their matching suit jackets from home, as well as the one specially fitted for the Saint Bernard. Bon-Bon and Lyra’s hearts practically melted at the sight of Tenor’s outfit as they gave a unified “Awwww.” The puppy excitedly ran up towards the couple, and Bon-Bon was the first to start petting him. Lyra quickly turned her attention towards Twilight and the engaged couple as she asked, “So… How did everything go?” The unicorn was clearly nervous to learn the outcome, but Twilight was the first to answer assuredly. “It’s alright, Lyra,” she said while motioning towards Troy and Canvas. “The club had enough security footage and witness accounts to make sure neither of them got in much trouble for what happened.” Troy nodded hesitantly, but still seemed upset while rubbing the back of his head. “Yeah…” He huffed with discomfort with his eyes pointed away from Twilight. “I didn’t get any charges pressed against me since I acted in defense, but I still had to pay for the guy’s medical bills.” Canvas didn’t look that happy as well, but he still shrugged indifferently and added. “Well, you did break a couple of his ribs.” “I still think he was playing it up for the judge to get a bigger payoff,” retorted Troy insistently. Lyra turned her attention towards Canvas and asked nervously. “So, Canvas… are you alright?” Canvas looked back at the mare and nodded his head. “Yeah, I guess…” Canvas winced uncomfortably as he avoided giving Lyra eye contact out of guilt. Tenor noticed and walked back to him, nuzzling the stallion’s chest and prompting himself to be petted. Canvas exhaled and began scratching the Saint Bernard while explaining, “Well, since it was proven that he hit me first, I was able to avoid any major assault charges. However, I still had to pay a pretty big fine for damages. Plus, the two of us apparently no longer allowed at that club.” Lyra’s eyes widened in surprise, not expecting that their punishments would be so light given what occurred. Bon-Bon seemed to feel the same way as she paused petting Tenor. “Wow,” said the mare with a smirk as she turned to Twilight and asked in disbelief, “What did you do, Princess? Get your Dad to reside over the case?” “No,” retorted the Princess with a roll of her eyes, “it was really just a simple case. The unicorn who attacked Canvas had a warrant out anyway, so--” Catching what Bon-Bon said, Twilight turned curious and asked, “Wait, how did you know my Dad was a judge?” Bon-Bon momentarily froze with a nervous look, unsure what answer she could give with her muzzle open. Luckily, Lyra stepped in for her wife before her identity could be compromised. “Oh, we overheard your friends talking about your parents once. They seem like really nice ponies.” “Oh!” Twilight sighed with a smile, obviously believing that excuse with a wave of her hoof. “That makes sense. And yeah, they really are.” Bon-Bon made a quick nudge against her wife with a thankful smile while Twilight wasn’t looking. “So, what happened while Canvas and I were in jail?” asked Troy towards the mares. “Like, is Rainbow Dash okay?” Twilight looked over at the mares with a concerned look too. “I think so,” answered Lyra in a less-than-confident voice as she shrugged her shoulders. “Although it was kinda hard to tell what was going on after all that craziness last night. I do remember your older brothers flying her back to her house, so they might be better to ask than me.” “Also,” added Bon-Bon with a small cringe, “I’m pretty sure that Lyle is dealing with a hangover right now. The last I checked, he was half asleep and leaning against the walls in the restaurant.” While Twilight’s eyes shot wide open with a shocked glance back at the gryphon, Troy just groaned painfully. “Ugh, I should’ve known.” Canvas turned to Troy and asked worriedly, “Wait, how much did they give him last night?!” “It was only one shot of Black Death, okay? I mean, it was a potent shot, but I--” “You gave an underaged gryphon alcohol?!” Twilight quickly turned angry while narrowing her eyes on Troy. “Hey!” returned Troy with a talon pointed at the Princess, “I said it was only one shot! It’s not like we gave him a beer bong or anything! Besides, it’s not like his hangover will last longer than a day! He’ll most likely be alright by tomorrow before the wedding.” Canvas didn’t want to think about his future brother-in-law being ill, so he exhaled and nodded faintly to Troy’s claim. “Alright then…” With Tenor sitting beside him, the pony looked back at Lyra and Bon-Bon and asked, “Are the triplets checking up on him, at least?” “We have no idea,” answered Bon-Bon with her hooves raised. “We haven’t heard from any of them after the cops showed up.” Twilight winced worriedly. “Well, let’s hope that they’re not in too bad of shape. That goes for Rainbow Dash too.” Coincidentally enough, that was when the pegasus herself came into view from the skies above. Rainbow Dash made a quick landing away from the five, and brushed some dust from her blue cocktail dress while keeping her face away from them. Twilight rushed up towards her with a relieved smile. “Oh, thank goodness!” said the Princess with a sigh. “We were just talking about you and…” Twilight’s words quickly trailed off as soon as she noticed something off with the mare’s face. Even though Dash tried to keep her head pointed away from the Princess, the smallest glance was enough to make Twilight gasp in shock with her hooves covering her mouth. “Sweet Celestia!” “Shut. Up.” Even though she muttered that response, it was clear that Rainbow Dash was beyond pissed. When Troy made a quick swoop overhead to catch a peek, he almost crashed to the ground while struggling to keep himself from laughing. “Rainbow, what happened?!” shouted Twilight in shock, ignoring Dash’s efforts to avoid looking at her. “Is it able to come off?” That question set the pegasus off, and she whipped back around to glare at Twilight and yell, “What do YOU think?!” Rainbow pointed at her face angrily, not caring that now the others could see what happened after she passed out the previous night. Even though the cyan mare’s nostrils were flared and panting like an enraged bull, it was nearly impossible for the other ponies to keep from giggling at the sight. It may have not been a surprise that Troy’s brothers would mess with her while she was unconscious, but it was surprising how much detail the gryphons gave when it came to drawing on her face with a black marker. Even though Canvas didn’t say anything, he was clearly impressed that they did so much in such a small amount of space on Rainbow Dash’s face. Along with the basic mustache and unibrow, Blaze and Blade were also able to include a matching goatee, crossed eyes drawn on the mare’s eyelids, a large tongue hanging from the side of her mouth, their signatures on each of her fuming cheeks… And even underneath Dash’s thick technicolor mane, the word ‘POOP’ was clear as day on her forehead in large, bold letters. Rainbow’s stare was pointed straight at the shocked Princess, but her ears still twitched when she heard the others start cracking up. It was clear that they were trying their hardest not to laugh, but Troy and the other three ponies were practically crying at the sight of Dash’s vandalized face. “Alright!” shouted Twilight before lighting up her horn, placing both herself and her friend in a sound bubble so the laughter could be muted. As she walked Rainbow Dash toward the front doors, she tried to be supportive when she said, “It’s going to be okay, Dash. Rarity probably has enough makeup to cover all of that.” Rainbow sighed bitterly, but she still nodded without looking back at her friend. “Okay, fine…” As the two mares disappeared into the venue, Lyra and Bon-Bon were the first to stop their laughter long enough to breathe. “Oh my gosh!” exhaled Lyra as she shook her head in shock. “I can’t believe they would do that!” Troy was still giggling while landed on the ground, but was still able to reply with, “Honestly, I’m just surprised they didn’t draw any dicks on her face!” Bon-Bon winced at that thought, and looked back at the doors worriedly. “Eurgh… I hope that doesn’t make things awkward tonight.” “Eh, I wouldn’t worry about it,” assured the gryphon. He walked up to his fiancè while saying towards the mares, “If I know Rainbow Dash, and I do, chances are good she already got them back somehow.” Both Lyra and Bon-Bon turned back at Troy with curious glances. “Like how?” asked Lyra with a raised brow. Before Troy could answer, one look up at the skies was enough for Canvas to provide a response when he saw the three gryphons slowly soar in. “I think I have an idea…” Since the actual wedding was planned to be an outside venue, a quick rundown on the ceremony’s seating and organization were done in the private room at the back of the restaurant. The party itself only had most of the local attendees for the wedding, including the catering and the Elements. The rehearsal had to be done in a fairly short amount of time, since the space itself was rather cramped after everyone showed up. Fortunately, it seemed that Twilight Sparkle was relieved that no major issues or fights interrupted the proceedings this time. Although, it wouldn’t have been much of a shock if Twilight wasn’t the only one surprised by that fact. Lyle could barely stand while in position for his placement, and it was nothing short of a miracle that he didn’t throw up in his groggy state. Rarity did happen to have some concealer on hoof that matched Rainbow Dash’s coat, so all the markings were temporarily covered on her face; however, the pegasus still looked nothing short of upset because of her predicament. Nevertheless, Dash didn’t say anything about it, especially after seeing how the triplets came in. In fact, she had a rather subtle smirk pointed at the three, which was much less obvious than the gawked stares everyone else gave them. During the entire rehearsal process, two of Troy’s older brothers looked like they wanted to murder Rainbow Dash while standing in their spots. Unfortunately, from the way Blaze and Blane’s fur and feathers were dyed a bright shade of pink, they just ended up looking like a couple of peeved flamingoes in matching black suits. Meanwhile, Blade just had a chipper smile on his beak the entire time, not getting any dye on him like his brothers had. Angela would’ve given Dash a brash chewing-out for what she did, but it was hard for the gryphoness to blame her when she found out about her two sons’ antics. Luckily, the two pissed-off gryphons kept themselves from making any scenes during the rehearsal process, and just stayed quiet by the time everything was completed. Of course, Twilight still had to intervene afterward to make sure any disputes between them and Dash would be resolved away from dinner and without any violence. So while a “colorful” discussion was held outside the restaurant (and within a sound barrier courtesy of Twilight), the rest of the party were just getting their appetizers. Troy and Canvas were seated at the main table alongside the gryphon’s family (with Tenor seated at the side beside Angela protectively), and Troy was enjoying a decently-sized order of cocktail shrimp. Canvas wanted to enjoy his mozzerella sticks, but he was rather distracted by the sight of Lyle trying to soothe his headache while sipping a cup of ginger ale. Jonas and Angela were seated next to the youngest gryphon, but neither of them gave much sympathy to his hangover. In an effort to try and ignore his future brother-in-law’s sickly groaning, Canvas turned his attention to Troy and asked, “So... how’s your cocktail?” Troy popped another couple pieces of shrimp into his beak before giving a smile to the stallion. “It’s way better than that Prench place we went to! Of course, I think Mom's and Twilight’s connections may have helped a little.” Canvas shrugged and looked past Troy to see Blade at the far end of their table. Since Blaze and Blane were still outside, their seats were occupied by Gilda and Greta, who were being increasingly flirty around the skinny gryphon. And judging by their smirks, it was obvious that whatever they did the previous night was more than satisfactory. Canvas looked back at Troy and replied, “Yeah, I suppose. I’m kinda surprised that those two got out of the kitchen so quickly to be with your brother.” Troy playfully scoffed with a smirk. “Are you kidding? I’ve seen girls do everything they can to be next to Blade. I don’t know how he does it, but he’s a natural.” Canvas giggled, and then bent in to nuzzle his fiancè’s neck. “Well, I guess being a magnet for admirers runs in the family then.” “Yeah, I suppose,” replied Troy with a chuckle of his own as he nuzzled him back. By the time most of the appetizers were finished, Blaze and Blane returned to their seats, prompting Gilda and Greta to go back to their own table disappointedly. Of course, considering that neither of the pink-dyed gryphons had any black eyes from their chat with Rainbow Dash (or the other way around), nobody tried to ask what happened. Jonas lifted himself from his seat, and tried to get the attention of the room by tapping at his wine glass with a talon. “GAH!!!” Lyle covered his ears with his claws and winced at the faint ringing from his Dad’s glass. “Dad, come on!” Jonas just rolled his eyes with a sigh and began his statement to the attendees. “Well, considering the fact that my son Troy is getting married tomorrow, it seems only fair that I say a few things before the ceremony.” Blaze looked away with an uncomfortable look and muttered, “Ho boy…” Jonas’ expression flattened briefly at overhearing that, but he paused for only a second before continuing. “I… guess I shouldn’t be surprised if a few of you weren’t expecting me to say any encouraging statements first. After all, I didn’t exactly react to Troy’s partner in the most appropriate way when I first met him.” That sentence gartered a few uneasy glances, both from the ponies listening and from his own table. Mister and Missus Cake, who were seated nearby beside Twilight’s table, couldn’t help shrugging silently in agreement. “However,” Jonas continued in an effort to avoid any awkwardness, “I suppose that’s just how life goes, doesn’t it? You can never predict what’s going to happen, and things will always change to keep you on your toes. You can either try to adjust and roll along with those changes, or you can stay where you are and likely get your ass run over like a steamroller.” Jonas was glad that he got a few chuckles out of that, which gave him the motivation to keep going with a small smile on his beak. “In fact, if I were to see their relationship just a year ago, I probably would’ve described it like… Well, I’m not going to say any specific words, but I will say that it would most likely get me punched in the mouth again.” Angela was the one to laugh hardest at that description, prompting Jonas to roll his eyes away from her. “Anyway, that’s all in the past, and I wanted to talk about the present. And with that being said, how I’d describe Troy and Canvas’ relationship now would be a lot different than what I would’ve said a while back…” After sighing with a hint of guilt from that admission, the gryphon looked towards Troy and Canvas as he kept speaking. “Even though it took me a bit longer than I’d like to admit, I really do see what kind of relationship the two of you have for each other. It’s completely different from what I would’ve expected, but at the same time, it’s… it’s something I can understand and kinda relate to with my own life. “You two see each other as equals, and there isn’t any obvious ‘one does this and the other does that’ dynamic between you two. I don’t know if that’s just a same-gender thing or whatever, but you guys really do work together like a team. Neither of you acts dominant over the other, and you actually talk things out like Angela and I do. Even though I hate to admit it, it took me a while to figure that out after I got married.” Jonas never considered himself to be a gryphon to make others laugh (unless he drank a lot first), but he was happy that he was able to get ponies smiling from his speech. Nevertheless, the General kept his attention on the engaged couple while they listened. “Anyway, my point is that it wasn’t what I expected to see from you two. And not because of the whole interspecies or homosexual thing either! What I mean is, it’s rare to see a couple that much in sync with one another in such a short amount of time. Heck, Angela and I both know couples who have been together just as long as we have, but don’t have nearly the same levels of symmetry that you two have.” Both Troy and Canvas’ eyes widened, not expecting to hear such a profound statement from the gryphon. Jonas continued with tone staying as sincere as it was at the beginning. “I know that I wasn’t the most accepting of this whole thing at first, and it’s still something that’s hard to process with a clear head, but I can still say that I understand it now…” Jonas smiled as he turned his focus to Troy solely. “Son, I… when I thought about who you would be marrying when you were younger, this was not what I had in mind at all. However, I…. I can clearly see how dedicated you are to him. And I’ve also seen how devoted Canvas is to you. You treat each other with equal amounts of love and respect, and your Mother and I know that no gryphoness we could’ve imagined would make you as happy as you are with him.” Troy smiled gratefully as his eyes began welling up, but he didn’t try to hide them from his Dad. Angela was looking at Troy as well with a smile as warm as her husband’s as she nodded in agreement with him. “So,” said Jonas in conclusion with a deep breath, “I think I can say for both Angela and myself that when it comes to who you’re marrying, you… you really picked the best possible choice.” A heartfelt round of applause swept around the room, and Troy was the first to lunge forward and give his Dad a strong hug. Jonas hugged his son back, and didn’t even mind when he felt Canvas hugging him from the side with an equally thankful and teary smile. After they let go, Angela came in to hug the duo as well. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was desperately trying to cover her eyes with a napkin while looking away from the Clawston table. Rarity was seated beside her as she smirked and whispered, “Do you need more concealer, darling?”  After Canvas and Troy got back in their seats, the gryphon raised his own glass to say something as well. “Ummm…” Since the ponies in attendance were still looking towards their table, Troy didn’t need to tap his glass with a talon before beginning to speak. “I… I kinda wanted to say a few things too…” The silver gryphon stood back up from his seat, and cleared his throat as he looked between the ponies listening and the pony beside him. “First off, it… really means a lot to hear that,” he said with his voice cracking a little at first. “A-And… Dad is absolutely right. I really did pick somepony great for me. And we make an amazing team when we put our minds together.” Blane couldn’t resist muttering loudly enough for Troy to overhear, “Along with other body parts.” Troy shot his fuschia brother a quick glare before continuing. “Anyway… Like I was saying, Canvas and I do work really well together. I honestly can’t say we fight that much, and when we do, it’s not anything major…” Troy’s tone then started to sound more apprehensive as he shrugged one of his shoulders uncomfortably. “But… that has lead us to worrying a little bit recently.” Canvas tilted his head to the side with a hint of nervousness on his face while listening. “Like, just today we were talking about why we don’t get into any major fights, and… whether or not that was a good thing for the long run. And after we talked about it, I started thinking about something my brother Blade told me a long time ago. I asked him once why he didn’t believe in traditional romance for himself, and he told me that once someone falls in love, they end up in a situation where it’s like wearing rose-tinted glasses. And once those are on, any red flags that come along just end up looking like flags.” Blade scratched the back of his head uncomfortably and tried to clarify, “Well, to be fair, I got that advice from this owl chick I met once at a club. I’m not sure if it fits now.” “No, it does,” assured Troy towards his brother. He then took a breath before returning his attention to the rest of the ponies listening. “I mean… After he told me that, I always assumed he meant that once you fall in love, you end up choosing to ignore any negative traits about your mate, and keep yourself in denial about how happy you really are…” Canvas was now starting to look legitimately worried. Fortunately, Troy then looked back at his fiancè with a reassuring smile as he added, “But after being with you, I realized that wasn’t what Blade meant at all.” Blade grew a puzzled look, but chose not to say anything in response. “After I fell in love with Canvas, I never felt like I ignored anything negative I saw with him. I just continued to love him despite it.” The gryphon then huffed as he looked around and admitted guiltily, “Like, we both do things that bug each other a little, and sometimes it’s hard to realize at first. For example, I sometimes got peeved when Canvas would let the trash pile up in the kitchen without taking it out. Or when he eats in his studio for days on end, but leaves his plates in there without taking them to the sink.” “Hey!” shouted Canvas in an offended tone. “But at the same time,” continued Troy insistently back at his fiancè, “I know that I do those little things too. Like, sometimes I put groceries up on the top shelves of the cupboards, forgetting that you can’t reach those that easily. Or, I end up closing jar lids really tight by accident, and you end up not being able to open them when you want pickles or something.” Canvas reluctantly nodded with a shrug. “Yeah, that’s true,” he admitted faintly. He then glanced up at the gryphon and added while pointing at him, “And you also drink straight from the carton instead of just getting a glass to pour it in.” “Oh, so I have to dirty up a glass for one drink?” retorted Troy annoyedly. “I still don’t get why that’s a huge deal for you.” “Because it’s unsanitary! Drinking straight from the carton can spread germs!” Troy just shot his stallion a flat stare and replied, “Dude. The lid of a juice or milk carton is not the grossest thing we’ve put our mouths on.” “Alright, alright!” shouted Jonas while waving his claws to stop the two. Many of the ponies listening were giggling while the General said, “We get it, you two bicker like any other couple, get on with it!” “Okay!” After taking another breath, Troy returned his attention towards Canvas and said, “All that I’m trying to say is that even if we were wearing rose-tinted glasses, I don’t think they held us back as a couple by any means. We still saw each other as real beings, with flaws and with differences as varied as we could get. But it didn’t change how we felt about each other at all.” Canvas cracked a small smile at the corners of his muzzle as he nodded faintly. Troy turned back to the rest of the room as he finished his speech. “All I’m saying is that I know things could get hard for us. There could be bigger fights in the future, and there are things coming up that could really test us as a couple. But at the same time, I still think about what can happen despite those worries… “We have our whole future ahead of us, with nearly limitless possibilities on what we could do. We’re both achieving our dreams, and there’s barely anything that can stop us from doing so much more. And the more I think about it, I… I just can’t help thinking how lucky I am to get the chance to do those things with someone as amazing as the stallion I’m going to marry…” Troy was starting to tear up again as he looked at his fiancè with a warm smile. “Canvas, you… you’re the greatest friend I could’ve ever asked for. For every time I helped you out, you returned the favor for me without hesitation. We’ve been dependable for each other since day one, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. And no matter what happens, whether bad or good, I know that having you by my side will make anything we face worth doing together.” Canvas smiled widely back at the gryphon, not seeming to be phased by all the “Awwws” coming from the other tables. He got out of his seat to give Troy a tight hug, his eyes clenched shut to keep any more tears from coming out. “Troy, I love you so much!” creaked Canvas in a squeaky tone due to his emotional state. Troy hugged back enthusiastically and said with the utmost devotion, “I love you too, Canvas.” While the sounds of applause rang around the two, it wasn’t long before Troy and Canvas shared a deep and loving kiss at their table. In fact, the only one who wasn’t applauding was Lyle, who had his claws firmly cupped over his ears as he groaned to himself miserably. “Ugh… Never. Again.”