Despite the rushed introduction with the fellow judges, Canvas felt more than prepared to give his artistic critiques as the art gallery began. While it certainly felt weird to be reviewing artwork instead of displaying his own, he had to admit that it was a pleasant change. After all the strenuous nights he had spent in front of blank pieces, the stallion figured that this would be an enjoyable change for him.
Of course, when Canvas got acquainted with the other judges, as well as all the artists, it was clear that some things hadn't changed much. Much like the last art show he attended back in Canterlot, Canvas was slightly disappointed to see that he was one of the only Earth ponies present. While he figured that would be the case, he really would've liked to see at least one other Earth pony there. Instead, the only Earth ponies here besides him were just spectators, glancing at the works of unicorns like they were accomplishments that they couldn’t hope to achieve.
Canvas sighed as he looked around, knowing that he shouldn't be cynical. If anything, the fact that he was here should have been enough of an indicator that Earth ponies could gain a bigger presence in art in the future. With his biggest accomplishment sitting proudly in Canterlot Castle, the stallion knew that, in due time, other Earth ponies could very well be inspired to try painting. So, instead of thinking negatively, Canvas decided to focus on something more positive, starting with his fiancé.
As soon as he broke away from the sea of high-class ponies in the main room, it wasn't long before Canvas heard the two Gryphons bickering from the restrooms.
"Lyle! Quit taking pictures of me, you turd!"
"Hey, I gotta have proof that you're wearing something that stupid!"
"Lyle, I friggin' swear, if you don't put down that camera RIGHT NOW—"
Before Troy and Lyle's argument could escalate to something inappropriate for an art exhibit, Canvas turned the corner to find the two standing outside the men’s room. While Lyle held Glimmer Heart's camera in his claws, a huge grin on his beak, Troy looked like he was about to mutilate him.
Since Troy was wearing the green Pony Tones sweater vest, along with a matching blue and yellow bow tie, the sight of the Gryphon fuming was enough to make Canvas laugh.
"Oh, wow!" Canvas leaned against the wall and clenched his eyes shut, barely able to keep himself upright. "Troy! You… you look…"
"I know!" Troy grumbled, avoiding eye contact with Canvas and Lyle and crossing his forelegs bitterly. "I look like a total dweeb."
"Oh, no you don't…" After settling down enough to speak, Canvas was quick to trot over and give his fiancé a reassuring hug. "Troy, you look really cute. I'm being serious."
A muffled snicker could be heard from Lyle, which Canvas ignored as he nuzzled Troy lovingly.
"I'm sorry that you have to wear that, and I wish you didn't have to, but…" Canvas looked up into the disgruntled Gryphon's golden eyes and added with a smile, "It really does look good on you. You just gotta stop looking so grumpy in it, that's all."
Another low groan escaped Troy, who felt like that sort of request would be impossible in his dorky attire. However, despite feeling like a complete doofus, Troy decided not to say much against wearing the sweater for one night. Plus, after almost losing Canvas's prized art bag, he figured that this would make up for it.
After a deep sigh, Troy softened his expression as he looked over at him. "Oh… fine…"
With a satisfied smile, Canvas gave his fiancé a tender kiss on the beak. Just when Troy closed his eyes to kiss him back, a flash of light interrupted them as Lyle took another picture.
"DAMMIT, LYLE!" Troy yelled.
Lyle scurried away, cackling as he ran out of sight. Growling through his clenched teeth, Troy felt Canvas pull him back.
"Come on, Troy," said the stallion in a more stern tone, staring him down. "Stop getting so worked up about it. It's just a few pictures."
"But Canvas! I don—"
Canvas put a hoof up to Troy's beak, waiting until he stopped speaking to reply, "If Lyle was the one wearing that sweater, you would probably be taking pictures of him, wouldn’t you?"
Troy wanted to reply, but wasn't able to open his beak to do so. Despite wanting to say otherwise, he knew that he couldn't lie to his stallion. Heck, if Lyle was the one wearing this stupid thing, it would take a while before he'd let him live it down.Though he hated Lyle taking those photos, he supposed that Canvas had a fair point.
Seeing Troy slump back down, Canvas gave him a quick nuzzle before motioning him to come along. "Come on," he said, leading the way back to the main room of the gallery, "I still gotta judge those pieces, you know."
A low groan escaped Troy's beak. "Oh, come on! I can’t be seen out there in this!"
"You'll be fine, Troy!" Canvas looked at the Gryphon insistently as he tried to calm his nerves. "There are a lot of ponies out there in sweater vests and bow ties. You'd fit right in."
"Uh-huh." Troy's words came out in a low, bitter tone as he looked away and said sarcastically, "Sure, I'd totally blend in. Maybe you'd lose sight of me because I'd look so much like the ponies around here."
Canvas furrowed his brow as he sighed "Alright, Mister Cynical. You made your point." Canvas made sure the coast was clear before looking back up to him sensually. "How about this…"
Canvas lifted himself up onto his hind legs, leaning against Troy so his muzzle met up with his ear. "If you can stop acting so uptight about the outfit tonight, then when we get back to our hotel room, I'll…"
Canvas bent in close to Troy's ear, speaking as faintly and lustfully as he could. While the stallion stated what intended to do with him when the night was over, Troy's wings extended as he stood there, wide-eyed. By the time Canvas pulled his muzzle back, a sensual grin on his face, Troy had an extremely heavy blush and a huge smile on his beak.
"So?" Canvas asked as he stepped away, "Will you be good for me tonight?"
"Yep!" Troy smiled eagerly. After the very, very detailed description Canvas went into regarding their plans for later tonight, Troy leaned close to him, narrowed his eyes, and said in a devilish tone, "And you better be good for me when we get back to our room."
"Deal," Canvas said with a smirk before kissing him on the beak. With that, the two walked side-by-side back to the main room of the art exhibition, smiles on their faces.
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"So…" Furrowing his brow, the dark-grey unicorn stared at the abstract piece on the wall. "What's your opinion on this, Mister Canvas? What sort of message does this painting say to you?"
Canvas, also narrowing his eyes on the painting, pouted his lips out a bit and tried to think of what to say. All that Canvas was able to see was a large, blue background for a massive array of orange and yellow splatters. While he honestly thought the piece was rather nice, almost looking like an impressive fireworks display, he knew that the fellow judge was wanting to hear something more professional. After a moment of contemplation, Canvas cleared his throat.
"Well, it's difficult to give a straight answer in regards to pieces like this one, Mister Hoofington. When it comes to abstract art, one of the largest appeals is that everypony sees it differently. There isn't a single pony who will give the same answer as somepony else."
Hoofington raised his eyebrows, seeming impressed by his answer. "I suppose so," he replied, using a hoof to brush back some of his jet-black mane. "It's always just so tedious to make a proper judgment for paintings of this caliber. You can never tell whether a pony really had a proper idea when making them, or if they just threw some paint around and called it complete."
Hearing that rather blunt reply, Canvas winced a little as he looked over at the painting’s artist. The pony, a light-red unicorn mare with a silver mane, bit her bottom lip in contempt and looked away from them. Knowing how hurtful it could be to hear criticism like that, Canvas looked back at Hoofington.
"Honestly, I find abstract pieces to be the most difficult paintings to make. Since they're supposed to be the primal expression of the artist, it's almost impossible to tell when a painting is truly done. You could work on one for months at a time, and still feel like it isn't fully detailed enough if it doesn't fit your artistic vision."
With a smile growing on his face, Canvas looked back over at the artist as he continued, "It's easy to tell that a lot of effort went into this. I find it to be quite impressive."
The mare began to blush a little as she smiled at Canvas, looking quite honored to receive that sort of praise. Hoofington merely gave a light shrug after a brief moment of silence. "Well… I guess you have a point there."
Before much else could be said, Hoofington walked away to inspect some of the other paintings. Canvas, happy to feel like he was making an impact on these judges, looked back at the artist.
She gave him an endearing smile. "Thanks, Mister Canvas."
Canvas chuckled lightly. "It's alright. I know what it's like to be in your position." He put out a hoof out to her. "And please, I'd rather just be called Canvas. And you are?"
The unicorn shook his hoof enthusiastically. "It's Silver Linings. It's a pleasure to meet you!"
"It's okay," Canvas said sincerely, "the pleasure is all mine."
By the time the first hour of the gallery passed, Canvas managed to have pleasant conversations with all six artists who were part of the show. While all the other judges merely talked amongst themselves, barely paying much attention to the artists, Canvas made sure to chat with all of them and make them feel appreciated for their work. Since he knew how nerve-racking galleries like this could be from experience, he wanted to make sure that none of the artists felt overwhelmed or nervous about tonight.
Meanwhile, Troy began to grow more bored with each passing second as he lumbered around the gallery on his own. Since he had no idea where Lyle was (although he could've sworn he heard that friggin' camera go off a few more times), there was nothing much for him to do but look around the exhibit. However, after looking at every painting on the walls, getting a few drinks from the open bar, and trying to avoid the various inane questions asked by some of the more curious ponies around him (including a particularly creepy brown unicorn with thick glasses and sweater vest), Troy was already feeling pretty worn out by the time the first hour passed. Luckily, before he could become bored out of his skull, he was happy to see Canvas standing alone by one of the windows.
Canvas didn't notice his fiancé coming towards him as he looked through the notebook in his hooves. Flipping through the various notes he took on each artist's works, the stallion was starting to look uneasy before he felt Troy poke him with a talon. Canvas jolted in surprise for a second, but quickly smiled when he saw Troy grin back at him.
"So…" Troy leaned against the wall beside Canvas and tried to peer down at his notes. "What's going on?"
Canvas closed his eyes and sighed uncomfortably. "I dunno… It just feels so weird doing this sort of thing."
"Doing what?" Troy looked closer at the notebook. "You mean judging?"
"Yeah…" After another moment, Canvas closed his notebook before leaning back alongside his fiancé. "I mean… Who am I to judge somepony else's work? Why should I be the one to determine which pony is better than the others?"
"Well, just keep it simple, then." Troy kept an optimistic smirk on his beak as he looked around the gallery. "Which one do you think is best?"
"I don’t know!" Canvas groaned in frustration, rubbing his temple with a hoof. "I mean, they're all really good in their own way. And I just know that it's going to suck to say that one of these ponies was the worst, since I really like all of them."
"Well…" Troy shrugged. "It's not like they say which one is last place, do they? Don’t they just say who the winner and runner-up are?"
"Yeah, but…" Canvas looked back down at his notebook, taking a second as he thought it over. "I just really don't want to make anypony feel bad, that's all."
While Canvas slumped down in discomfort, Troy just gave a light smile before bending in to nuzzle him. "You shouldn't feel bad," he assured, brushing his feathers against Canvas's blushing face. "It's only for one night, Canvas. And I saw how much you've been talking with all of them. They probably really appreciate having an artist like you speak with them, regardless of whether or not they win."
Troy’s words, combined with his caring nuzzle, were more than enough to make Canvas slowly start smiling again. Before Troy could pull his head back, the stallion gave a small nuzzle back to him.
"Tell you what." Troy looked down at Canvas with a smile. "How about I get you a soda or something? You think that will help?"
Canvas gave him a happy nod in agreement. "That would be nice. Thanks."
"No prob." Troy headed off, leaving Canvas to stand by his own once more.
After a moment, Canvas decided to place his notebook back inside of his art bag, hoping to get it out of his mind for a while as he thought things over. When he brought his head back up, a particular sight caught the stallion's eyes. He looked around for a moment before walking away from the wall.
Meanwhile, Troy reached the refreshment table, desperately trying to avoid the countless stares he knew he was getting right now. Although he promised he wouldn't act too sullen tonight for his stallion, the fact that he had to dress up like this was more than a bit cringe-worthy. Before he could think any more about the ridiculous sweater he was wearing, a mare’s posh voice caught his attention.
"Troy? Is that you?"
With two bottles of soda in one of his claws, Troy turned around. He smiled as he saw Octavia, who had a pleasantly surprised grin of her own as she walked up to him.
Much like the last time they met back in Canterlot, the mare had a pink bowtie around her neck. She also wore a matching cocktail dress, which looked rather stunning on her. And her jet-black mane, which he had last seen pulled down elegantly, was now bound in a stylish bun at the back of her head.
"I thought you looked familiar." Octavia smirked as she looked the Gryphon up and down. Seeing his outfit, the mare tried to suppress any giggles from escaping. "Although… This is a bit of a surprise."
Troy groaned and tried to look away from her. "Hey, Octavia. I… I didn't really have anything else to wear for this."
"Oh, don't worry about that," Octavia said with a wave of her hoof. "Honestly, it doesn't look that bad on you. The yellow inseams really seem to go well with your beak and claws."
Troy looked down at his sweater, noticing how the yellow seams along the v-neck and sleeves did seem to match his talons.
"And after meeting your partner last time,” Octavia said, smiling, "it seems that teal really goes well with you."
Even though his sweater was a tad darker than Canvas's coat, Troy had to admit that they did look a bit similar. When he looked back up to her with an appreciative smile, he saw her smile skew a little as she tried not to snicker again. "The bowtie might be a bit much, though."
Troy pulled back a little in surprise. He grinned cheekily and pointed a talon at her neck. "Says you!"
Octavia giggled lightly, adjusting the tie around her neck. "Hey, at least mine matches my outfit! Besides…" The mare looked down at the pink bowtie, marveling at it for a second before adding, "It's… it's rather sentimental to me…"
Troy sighed and looked back around the gallery. "I can understand that," he said, trying to spot Canvas within the crowd. "My fiancé's art bag is really important to him, so I can get how somepony can…"
When Troy looked back at Octavia, his voice began to falter when he saw how surprised the mare's reaction was. Wide-eyed, the mare blinked a couple times before slowly reopening her muzzle. "Your… fiancé?"
"Y-yeah…" Realizing that he met her before he proposed to Canvas that night, Troy rubbed the feathers on the back of his neck as he tried to explain. "I… I actually proposed to him during the Gala."
"Really?" Octavia smiled at hearing Troy's good news. "That's great to hear! Congratulations, Troy!"
"Well, thank you," Troy said bashfully, beginning to blush. "Actually, I was planning to do it at the Concert Hall, but… you know…"
Octavia put a hoof over her mouth, remembering how she had accidentally interrupted them. "Oh, I…I'm so sorry about that! I… I didn't—"
"It's alright," Troy assured, raising a claw. "Seriously, it turned out WAY better than if I did it there."
"Oh?" Octavia put her hoof back down and looked at him inquisitively. "How did you do it?"
With a growing, prideful grin on his beak, Troy cleared his throat before he began. "Actually, it was a pretty cool story. I knew that Celestia was planning something big for the end of the Gala, so I wanted to get a place with a good view. That was when I saw the podium that she uses to raise the sun…"
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While Troy went into detail with Octavia about his proposal to Canvas, the stallion kept a smile on his face as he reached one of the benches in an off-part of the main room. Sitting by himself against the wall, Lyle didn’t notice Canvas coming towards him. Instead, he focused on his sketchbook in his claws.
While Lyle drew his latest sketch, Canvas noticed a large serving tray of shrimp next to him on the bench, which was now half-empty. Using the pencil in his claw, Lyle stabbed himself another helping of shrimp on it like a fork before popping it into his beak.
"Huh…" Lyle casually looked up at Canvas as the stallion said with a smirk, "I gotta say, I never thought to use a pencil like that."
Lyle just shrugged before refocusing his attention back on his sketchbook. "Well, why not? I'm hungry, and I don't want to get my talons greasy."
"I suppose…" Canvas glanced at the platter of shrimp next to Lyle, slightly surprised that they had it at this venue. While he knew that some select seafood items were seen as acceptable Equestrian cuisine, shrimp usually wasn't eaten by anypony except the highest-class due to how expensive it was.
"How the heck did you get a whole platter of that, by the way?" Canvas looked at Lyle with a skewed brow. "Did you steal it or something?"
"Nope," said Lyle nonchalantly, keeping his eyes on his sketch. He took another shrimp off the platter with his pencil before continuing, "Apparently, the waiter was getting pissed that I was taking so many, so he just said 'Take it' and left the platter."
Canvas snickered a little at Lyle's response. Lyle grinned as he looked up and put the shrimp out to him. "Want one? They're actually pretty good."
"Eh, I'll pass," Canvas said. "I don't really feel comfortable trying seafood."
After holding out for another couple seconds, Lyle shrugged before popping more shrimp into his beak. "Suit yourself." He chewed as he went back to his sketch.
Canvas, now growing curious at what he was drawing, tried to get a peek. "So, what are you drawing?" he asked, skewing his neck in to catch a glimpse of Lyle's sketch.
Lyle looked around them first, making sure nopony was nearby before turning the sketch over to Canvas. Canvas's eyes widened in surprise at what was on the page.
The sketch showed an image of Troy with an enraged look on his face grabbing that camera-thieving pony from earlier by the hooves as he slammed him to the ground. While Canvas remembered that the would-be robber wasn't that hurt, aside from a black eye (and an extremely shaken demeanor), Lyle made a slightly more graphic interpretation of the encounter. Now, it showed a generous splatter of what looked to be blood shooting out of the pony's mouth as he was slammed to the concrete ground (which seemed to have cracked from the extreme impact), a few teeth flying out from his muzzle as well.
"Eugh…" Canvas grimaced a little, but quickly changed his expression to a more bemused stare as he looked closer. "Wow, that… That's disturbingly well-detailed."
"Thanks." Lyle smiled before bringing the sketchbook back in his own line of sight. "I was getting bored, so I thought it would be a fun thing to draw while waiting around here."
"Huh…" Slightly baffled, Canvas could hardly believe that Lyle was able to draw something that impressive in less than a day, let alone in the time since this gallery began. "Wait a minute, did you seriously do that in less than an hour?!"
"Wait, what?" Lyle looked up to a clock on the wall, seeing that an hour had indeed passed. "Wow… I didn't think I was drawing for that long."
Canvas's eyes widened even more as he now looked legitimately shocked. "Dude! Are you saying that you make stuff like that in LESS time?!"
Lyle just shrugged before getting another shrimp with his pencil. "I guess so… I can usually get a good sketch down in like, thirty minutes… forty if it's something really detailed."
Canvas blinked a couple times, trying to process what Lyle was saying. Although he knew Lyle had a surprisingly large amount of talent when it came to drawing, he didn’t expect him to make something that detailed in such a short amount of time. He was even more surprised by how indifferent he was acting about it.
"Lyle, that's incredible! I mean… I don’t think I can draw something that nice in under an hour!"
"Seriously?" Lyle asked with surprise, looking back up at him.
"Yes! Dude, how could you act like that's not a big deal?! You can probably get a good job with your skills like that."
Lyle rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Yeah right. They're just doodles."
"JUST dood—" Before he could raise his voice loud enough to cause a scene, Canvas stopped himself. Finding it hard to believe that Lyle would put down his own art like that, the stallion took a breath before speaking in a more secure tone of voice.
"Lyle, you are aware I'm here to judge art, right? I've made paintings for Royalty for crying out loud, so I think I know what I'm talking about! Dude…"
Canvas bent his head in closer to Lyle's, making the Gryphon look straight at him as he said sincerely, "You are a really good artist. And I'm not just saying that because you're Troy's brother or anything. You have a legitimately good talent! You… you shouldn't act like it's nothing, Lyle."
Seeing the stallion's insistent look, Lyle was finding it hard to believe that he was being dishonest or exaggerating his claims. However, despite Canvas's encouraging words, he took another glance down at his sketch, skewing his beak as he saw what he had made.
They're just doodles… Stupid, worthless doodles…
Lyle sighed a little before closing his sketchbook, not wanting to look at his drawing right now. Canvas almost wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake some sense into him. Biting his lip in self-contained anger, the stallion looked around for Troy.
"Okay, you know what?" Canvas said in a stern tone, "I'm getting Troy. You really shouldn't act like this about something you're good at!" His eyes narrowed as he tried to look around, but wasn't able to catch sight of his fiancé. "Urgh! Where is he?!"
"By the refreshment table.” Lyle leaned back in his seat and helped himself to more shrimp. "I think he's talking about how he proposed or something."
Canvas's brow rose in surprise as he looked over to the table. Sure enough, Troy was standing there as he spoke with Octavia. Canvas could only see his beak moving, unable to catch a single word amongst the sea of other ponies chatting amongst themselves.
"How can you…" Canvas wanted to ask how the buck Lyle knew that, but stopped himself as he remembered what had happened earlier tonight. Recalling how good Gryphon hearing can be, he sighed before looking back at Lyle. "Never mind. Thanks, Lyle."
"No prob," said Lyle with a wave of his claw while chewing a beakful of shrimp.
Before Canvas could head off towards his fiancé, he stopped for a second. Remembering what happened just before the gallery, Canvas winced a little before looking back at Lyle. "Umm... Lyle? I'm… I'm sorry you overheard that thing I said earlier—"
"Egh…" Lyle looked away from him and tried not to grimace. "Whatever, dude."
Unsure of what else he could say, Canvas just sighed before heading off towards Troy.
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Blushing deeply against his silver feathers, Troy kept a smile on his beak as he finished his story. As he was telling about his engagement, a few other mares overheard what he was saying and stood beside Octavia as they listened as well.
"… And the Aurora Borealis just made everything look so perfect. I just… I couldn't have picked a better place to ask him. And when he said yes… it just made everything feel worth it."
Just as Octavia and the other mares "Awwwed" at Troy's retelling of his proposal, Canvas managed to make his way through the crowd. At the sight of the very stallion he was talking about, Troy's smile grew even wider.
"Hey, Canvas!" said Troy cheerfully, not noticing how the pony still looked a bit irked after his interaction with Lyle. He pointed a talon at the mare beside him. "I was just talking with Octavia here about the proposal."
Canvas wanted to speak with his fiancé right now, but paused as he looked over at Octavia and the other delighted mares staring back at him. Seeing how happy they looked after hearing Troy's story, Canvas sighed before putting up a reluctant smile to them in response. "Um… hello."
Octavia nodded and smiled. "Hello, Canvas. Congratulations, by the way."
"Oh, thank you, Octavia," Canvas said with a more natural smile of his own. Even with Lyle's attitude hanging at the back of his mind, the stallion was still happy enough to appreciate her honest sentiment. After nodding back to her, Canvas turned his attention to Troy.
"Hey Troy, would you mind talking with Lyle? He's over at the back of the room over there."
Even though Canvas couldn't see Lyle through the crowd of ponies between them, Troy was able to catch a glimpse above the shuffling ponies due to his height. He noticed Lyle sitting alone at the bench, finishing off the platter of shrimp while flipping through his sketchbook with a slight grimace on his beak.
"He's really acting weird about his drawings, and it might be good if you try to cheer him up or something." Canvas bit his lip as he looked up to Troy, hoping that his fiancé would see how much this was starting to worry him.
Luckily, Troy carried an understanding expression of his own as he looked back down to the stallion and nodded. "Alright, sure thing. I'll talk with him."
"Thanks." Canvas smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek. While Octavia and the other mares blushed and giggled lightly at the stallion's affection, none of them seemed to notice Glimmer Heart as she shuffled past them towards Canvas.
"Canvas, there you are! The judges are about to converse for collaboration! Come on!"
"Oh!" Canvas quickly pulled out the notebook from his bag. "Alright, I got my notes!"
Before he could follow Glimmer Heart, Canvas gave his fiancé another kiss on the beak. "Okay, I gotta go," said the stallion before he quickly trotted away.
"Wait!" Troy held up the sodas in his claw. "Canvas, I got your so…"
Unfortunately, Canvas was already out of sight, leaving the Gryphon to sigh and slump his shoulders in frustration. "…da."
Even though he hated that he wasn't able to give Canvas his drink, Troy just shrugged before looking back to where Lyle was. He glanced over at Octavia as he prepared to leave. "Listen, I gotta go talk to my brother right now." He smiled lightly as he shook her hoof and added, "But it was nice to see you again."
"Likewise," said Octavia with a grin of her own before putting her hoof back down, "and I hope to see you at that audition I told you about back at the Gala."
"Don’t worry, I'll be there." Troy began to turn away, keeping his smile as he carefully made his way through the crowds of high-class ponies. "See ya!"
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Lyle sighed under his breath as he unenthuastically chewed on the last shrimp from the platter and scanned through his sketches again. Looking through his works, Lyle was surprised at how much praise Canvas gave him for some of these.
While he knew he was a decent artist in some regards, especially compared to some of the idiots back at his school, he really didn't see his stuff as being anything special. With every page he looked through, seeing what he managed to create between classes or whenever he had free time, all that Lyle could think about were those stupid words that kept going through his head.
Stupid doodles… Stupid, worthless doodles…
Lyle groaned before closing his sketchbook again. Before he could think any more about it, he noticed Troy making his way through the crowds. Even though he still felt a little unnerved right now, Lyle still cracked a smirk as soon as he saw that stupid sweater his brother was wearing.
"Hey, Lyle!" Troy tossed a bottle of orange soda towards his brother, which Lyle caught effortlessly. While Lyle got off the bench and stretched out his back, Troy popped the cap off his own bottle with a talon. "You feelin alright, bro? Canvas said you were acting a bit off or something."
"It's nothing, really." Lyle rolled his eyes as he put a talon to the cap of his bottle. "He was saying that one of my drawings was really good, even though I bare—"
PSHHHHHH!!!
The moment Lyle popped off the cap, a violent spray of orange soda and fizz shot out from the top. Caught off-guard by the unexpected spew of carbonation, it took a second before Lyle could try to cover the top with a claw. Surprisingly enough, the spray didn’t seem to hit his jacket or Troy's sweater at all. Though he had it pointed away from them when it went off, that didn't mean that no one got sprayed.
"How DARE you!!!"
Troy and Lyle turned over to the source of the enraged voice, which belonged to a pale pink mare with a now-matted purple mane. While ponies around them turned and stared with a mix of surprise and shock, the mare looked absolutely furious with mascara running down her soaked face. Even though her expensive-looking purple dress didn’t seem to be damaged at all from Lyle's mishap, her plaid, blue scarf was noticeably dampened.
"I… I cannot BELIEVE this!" The mare gasped in horror as he looked down at herself, almost acting like she was covered in sulfuric acid instead of some sugary beverage. "I have NEVER been so insulted in all of my life!!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Lyle put his claws up in defense and tried to calm the soaked mare down. "Lady, I'm sorry! It was an accident, alright? I'll get you a—"
"Do you have ANY idea how much this costs?!" The mare glared at Lyle as she held up the soaked scarf in her hoof and shoved it in his face. "This is Saddle Arabian SILK!! This costs more than what you could make in a decade!"
Lyle tried to keep a sorry look on his face, but it quickly turned to an offended scowl the instant the mare said that to him with such conceit. Troy tried to step in between them. "Listen, it was just an accident! Just calm down an—"
"SHUT IT!" The mare pointed a hoof Troy with a nasty glare. More ponies began to turn and stare as her tone became louder and more disdainful. "Do you even know who you're speaking to, Gryphon?!" She made sure to say that last word in an especially nasty tone, almost as if she considered it a swear. "I'm one of the most prominent designers in Manehattan, so don't you think you can—"
"Alright, alright!" Glimmer Heart stormed her way through the crowd towards them. Canvas was following close behind, looking worried as he saw Troy and Lyle at the source of the debacle.
"Oh, thank goodness you arrived! My name is Suri Polomare." Despite her enraged tone just moments before, the mare now spoke in a distressed tone towards a confused Glimmer Heart. She glared at the two Gryphons and pointed at them. "Madam, I was just minding my own business when these two ingrates attacked me!"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Lyle tried to lunge towards the lying mare, but Troy pulled him back with a claw. Troy still had an enraged look on his own face at what Suri just said.
"It was a bucking accident!" Lyle pointed a talon at her. "I never even touched you!"
"Then how do you explain THIS?!" Suri held up the soaked scarf, acting like it was the ultimate proof as she pointed it at them. "Do you really think you can get away with acting that way towards me without any SEVERE repro—"
"Okay, calm down!" Glimmer Heart stepped in between them and tried to extinguish the heating debate. She looked over to the mare and said in a calm tone of voice, "Suri, I'm sure that this was just an accident, and I don’t think either of them would plan something like that against you."
"I want them removed!" Suri pointed at them with a glare. "Unless those two Gryphons apologize, then they shouldn't even set their dirty paws in here!"
"WHAT?!" Lyle tried even harder to lunge at Suri, despite Troy's tightened grip. "You better shut your bucking mouth!"
"And we have NAMES!" Troy added in an equally angry tone. "Stop talking about us like we're friggin' animals!"
Suri just scoffed, looking the larger Gryphon up and down before saying in an arrogant tone, "Oh really, Mister Bowtie? It isn’t hard to see that you're dressed up like some little showdog."
Troy's eyes widened in pure fury, looking like he was going to slaughter the pompous mare in front of everyone. While Glimmer prelit her horn in worried precaution, she didn’t notice Canvas's growing look of anger. A snide sneer on her muzzle, Suri looked at both Gryphons with narrowing eyes.
"Honestly, it's hard to see how you could be here without wearing leashes."
"YOU LITTLE—”
Before either of them could attack the mare, the Gryphons froze in surprise as they saw Canvas lunge towards her.
With several shocked gasps from the crowd of ponies around them, nopony expected Canvas to grip Suri's dress by the neck and pull her towards his face. While she stood there, petrified with pure fear, Canvas had a livid glare, his eyes mere inches from hers.
"Get out before I throw you out."
Glimmer stared at Canvas with a dropped jaw, never expecting for him to act this way towards a mare. "Canvas?! What are you—"
"HOW DARE YOU!" Suri pulled herself from Canvas's grip, taking a few steps back while glaring at him. "Do you have any idea who I am?!"
"Yes, I do," Canvas said coldly, staring her down without blinking. "You're Suri Polomare, the Manehattan fashion designer and entrepreneur formally from Ponyville, correct?"
Suri blinked a couple times. She took a second before nodding and trying to regain her angry tone. "Um… Yes. That's correct!"
Canvas narrowed his eyes. "You've also been known to steal designs from other ponies to pass off as your own, including at the recent Manehattan Fashion Week that you lost. Right?"
Suri's jaw fell agape. "W-what?!"
"Don’t try to lie to me," Canvas continued in a stern tone of voice, not noticing how stunned Troy and Lyle looked. "I happen to be close friends with one of the very ponies you tried to rip off, so I know all about your 'reputation,’ and how dishonest you can really be."
He then looked back at Troy and Lyle for a second, giving them a quick nod and smile before turning back to her.
"And I also happen to know my fiancé and future brother-in-law well enough to know that they didn't 'assault' you, like you so claimed they did." Canvas pointed a hoof at her chest before adding, "And if you don't apologize to them right now, I won't have any problem with escorting you out of here myself!"
The room fell silent. While everyone just stared in shock and awe at Canvas's defiance, Suri stared at him, wide-eyed. However, after looking the stallion up and down and looking back at Troy and Lyle, the mare scoffed before giving a conceited smirk.
"A fiancé? Really? Is that supposed to be some sort of pathetic joke?"
Canvas just smirked back. "Nope. That would be your career."
Suri gasped, looking absolutely shocked, while Lyle covered his beak to keep himself from laughing. Before anypony could react, Suri's expression quickly turned angry before she threw her hoof out, popping the stallion right in the face.
Canvas only stumbled back a couple steps from her punch, covering his eye with a hoof while Glimmer lit her horn.
"THAT'S IT!" Glimmer Heart grabbed Suri with her magic and lifted her up to carry her out of the gallery. While the mare struggled midair within the pink aura enveloping her, Glimmer looked back to Canvas and the two Gryphons with an angry look on her face.
"You three come with me too!"
Troy, who was checking on his fiancé, carried the same worried expression Lyle did after hearing that.
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Canvas kept a slow and steady pace as he made his way back to the hotel, keeping his eyes glued to the ground underneath his hooves. Honestly, he wasn't that sure which part of him hurt more right now: his right eye, or his pride after Glimmer Heart's stern lecture. Either way, as soon as he entered the hotel lobby, all of his worries seemed to vanish the instant he saw Troy waiting by the front desk.
As soon as he saw Canvas enter, Troy rushed up to him, still wearing the Pony Tones sweater as he hugged him tightly.
"Canvas, are you alright?" While Canvas hugged him back, Troy could only sigh. "Man, I'm so sorry."
"It's fine," said Canvas in a reassuring tone, hugging him for another moment before finally letting go. "I'm fine, really. It doesn’t even hurt that much."
Troy winced a little when he saw the nasty bruise right under Canvas's right eye. While he knew it wasn't nearly the worst injury he ever saw the stallion endure, it was still horrible to see him hurt like that. However, Canvas still kept a light smile on his muzzle as he looked up to him.
"I was honestly more worried if you two were alright! Where's Lyle?"
Troy sighed before rubbing the feathers on the back of his head. "He's upstairs in the room. After you were sent to see the paramedics, Glimmer just told us to go back to the hotel before leaving."
Hearing that, Canvas could only nod, grateful that neither of them got an earful because of what Suri did. After rubbing his eye a little to ease the light stinging, Canvas looked back up to his fiancé with an optimistic look on his face.
"Well, Suri's screwed, and not in the super fun kind of way."
Troy managed to crack a small smile. "Oh, really?"
"Yeah..." Canvas shook his head in slight disbelief. "Since she committed assault, and apparently had priors before the gallery, it might be a while before she could go to any big events again. And since a lot of ponies who were there know who she is, I wouldn't be surprised if she gets blacklisted from a lot of places."
Troy could only chuckle as he kept a bemused smirk of his own. "Well, I guess that's good. But…" Troy slowly regrew a worried look on his face as he looked at Canvas. "But what about you? I doubt Glimmer just let you go after all you said back there."
Canvas sighed, looking down to the floor. "No… She gave me a bit of an earful for how I acted towards Suri in front of everypony."
Troy shrugged, knowing that it was probably expected.
"But…" Canvas looked back up to the Gryphon. "Since Suri has had problems with ponies before, Glimmer wasn't that upset with how I acted, especially since she heard what she said about you and Lyle."
Troy groaned and grimaced slightly. Honestly, he was still surprised he didn’t break his personal code and punch that mare in the face after her little “leash” comment.
"And since it was her who acted physically and caused the end of the gallery to be postponed, I'm still allowed to finish the judging process for the show tomorrow."
"Really?" Troy grew a smile on his beak. "That's great!"
"Yeah," Canvas explained, "I mean, I'm barred from judging at any more events like that in the future, but whatever. I was only meant to judge for tonight anyway. And I'm still able to go to events as a participant."
Troy nodded and kept his smile, happy to see his fiancé wasn't too upset. "Well, that's good. At least you can still paint and stuff, right?"
"Of course!" Canvas kept a chipper tone as his smile grew. "Besides, I still have a bunch of clients for future commissions, so I'm not worried."
"Good…" Before Canvas could react, Troy gave the stallion a soothing kiss on the lips. Though he was slightly surprised and worried since they were still in the middle of the lobby, Canvas only giggled before kissing him back.
"Come on," Canvas said, eying Troy as he headed towards the elevator. "Let's go to our room."
Troy immediately complied, following his fiancé inside the empty elevator. As soon as the doors closed behind them, the stallion quickly wrapped his hooves around Troy's shoulders before speaking in a more sultry tone.
"Just so you know, I heard that this place has an indoor pool, which happens to be open twenty-four hours."
"Oh really?" Troy's eyes narrowed as his grin became more lustful. "What idea are you getting?"
"Well…" Canvas leaned in close to him, narrowing his eyes before saying in a deeper tone, "I'm thinking that maybe Lyle can go down for a little swim, meanwhile…"
Canvas bent his muzzle in against Troy's ear and discretely began to remind him of all the things he said intended to do with him earlier tonight. Once again, Troy's wings shot back out, smacking against the walls of the elevator rather loudly. Troy didn’t seem to care as he grew a grin on his beak that reached Cheshire levels.
By the time the elevator door opened, Troy hoisted the stallion up with his claws and began to carry him as he made a beeline for their hotel room. Fueled by an increasingly growing libido, he could barely hold himself back as he quickly used his key card to open their door.
"Oh…" Troy eyed his fiancé with mad lust as the door opened. "The things I'm gonna do to you—"
"Uuuuhhhhh…"
The sound of Lyle's pained voice immediately stopped the two, making them turn their heads toward the source of the noise.
The hotel room was empty. However, the bathroom door was closed, a faint light coming from the inside while Lyle continued to groan in pain.
"Ugh… Too much shrimp…"
As Troy held the stallion in his forelegs, there was nothing the two could do besides groan in disappointment.
"Crap."