"SHHHH!!! SHHHH!!!"
Pinkie threw a hoof over her lips and quickly tried to quiet everypony down. Troy, who was standing at the light switch by the door, waited until everypony was hidden before turning the lights off. After lining up against the wall, Troy waited along with everypony else as they stood in the darkness in silence. Outside, Troy could faintly hear the voices of Canvas and Lyle as they got closer to the barn.
"Oh, come on! How would that EVER be a good superpower?!"
"Well, why not? I think it would be useful."
"Refilling things would be a good superpower? Seriously, Canvas, how would that EVER be useful?"
"Well… If you're out of money, you could refill your bank account. If you’re stuck in the desert, you can refill your stomach with water. Your arsenal runs out of ammo, you can refill it to save the day!"
"Oh yeah? And what if a mugger stops you in the alley with a knife?"
"Well… Then you can refill his bladder!"
"… I… Ugh, nevermind."
The sound of Canvas giggling was all that Troy could overhear before he heard the doorknob begin to turn. Waiting in position, Troy and everypony else stayed silent as the door opened. And as soon as Canvas walked in, they waited until the light was turned on before jumping towards him.
"SURPRISE!!!"
Canvas jolted back right as the streamers shot out from various parts of the room. Since he was already in a pretty heavy conversation with Lyle, the stallion was legitimately surprised when he walked into his house. Before he could react, Troy came from behind him and hugged him tightly, standing on his hindpaws as he lifted his fiancé.
"Happy Birthday, big boy!"
Canvas giggled loudly at Troy's strong embrace, blushing deeply before giving a faux-angry smile to Lyle.
"I KNEW you were hiding something!" Canvas exclaimed as he tried to give a convincing glare to Lyle. "I just knew it!"
"Oh, whatever." Smiling, Lyle rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Happy Birthday, dude."
"Thanks, Lyle." Canvas tilted his head back to meet Troy's loving gaze from above. "And thank you, Troy."
"No problem…" Crooking his neck downward, Troy kissed his muzzle, despite his position making it so their kiss was technically upside down.
Nevertheless, Troy's affection was still sweet enough to receive a large wave of giggles and "Awww's" from the ponies watching.
"AaallllllllllRIGHTY then!" Pinkie Pie hopped up seemingly out of nowhere and propped herself on top of Troy's head. Before Troy could realize what she was doing, the mare pumped out her hooves and shouted out in glee, "Let's get this party STARTED!!!"
While Troy squeezed Canvas even tighter, everypony else cheered, anxious for Canvas’s birthday party to begin.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chewing on a piece of chocolate brownie cake, Lyle stood in one of the corners of the room and tried to watch the birthday party from an outside view. Since Gryphons didn’t find it necessary to celebrate the day someone was born, the idea of ponies doing it each time somepony grows a year older seemed a bit alien. Did EVERY pony get a party like this every year? Where did they find the time to do this? How much money do ponies go through to get other ponies gifts for this sort of thing? Heck, how have they not become giant orbs of fat from all the cake they eat?!
"HEY, LYLE!!"
"GAH!!!" Lyle jumped back in shock at Pinkie Pie popping out in front of him, causing him to drop his plate of cake in the process. Luckily, Pinkie caught it effortlessly and held it up for him.
"Oops! Hehehe… sorry." She gave an apologetic smile to Lyle, remembering how frazzled she had made him the first time they met. "What'cha doing here by yourself, Lyle? You should be out there partying with the other ponies!"
Despite Pinkie's enthusiastic smile and her pointing to the ponies dancing to a Sapphire Shores song playing on the record player, Lyle put out a claw to politely decline. "Nah, that's okay. I'm still getting used to the whole 'Birthday Party' thing you guys have."
Pinkie's eyes widened in surprise before she gave a disbelieving giggle. "Oh, you kidder, you! Troy tried telling me that same joke at HIS birthday party!"
She then began to walk away while laughing, confusing Lyle as he heard her talk to herself. "Oh, please! 'We don't celebrate birthdays!' What a riot! Ha ha haaaaa!!!"
Though he wanted to say something in response to that, Lyle ended up just chuckling under his breath. As he looked out at all the ponies dancing around and enjoying refreshments, Lyle's eyes narrowed in bewilderment as he realized something was missing.
"Wait a minute… Where's Canvas?"
Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Canvas winced a little as the stinging over his right eye became slightly more intense. Despite the stallion's squirming, Twilight Sparkle kept her focus as she used her magic to heal the bruise under his eye.
"Sorry about this," Twilight said, hearing him wince in discomfort. "I know it stings, but I'm almost finished."
"Th-thanks, Twi.” Canvas mustered a weak smile. "Honestly, I didn’t even know you can do that sort of thing."
"Well…" Twilight shrugged and tried to stay humble. "I'm only able to treat minor injuries like bruises and small lacerations. I'm not able to mend together broken bones or anything! Although…"
Keeping her magic on Canvas's eye, Twilight smirked as she glanced at the dragon currently rummaging through Canvas and Troy's fridge. "I can certainly say that Spike helped me hone my abilities quite a bit over the years."
Spike just sighed before closing the fridge. "Whatever, Twi. It's not like I hurt myself THAT often!"
"Oh really?" Twilight asked, a sly smirk on her muzzle. "How about the time you tried to learn how to juggle?"
"Hey!" Spike groaned and rolled his eyes. "It was an honest mistake! I only saw one pony juggling before, so I thought I was supposed to do it with barbells!"
Canvas giggled a little, which prompted Spike to turn away with a small scowl. Rarity then walked into the kitchen with a package on her back and a makeup kit in her magical aura.
"Canvas, are you sure you don't need any makeup for your eye? It looked absolutely horr—"
Noticing how much smaller the bruise looked after only a couple minutes of Twilight's magic, Rarity cut herself off and gave an impressed smile.
"Why, Twilight! Your healing skills are really improving! I remember when it took you over half an hour when Applejack had that black eye."
Twilight merely smiled as she recalled that day. While she knew apples could be painful, she didn’t expect Rainbow Dash to cause that much damage during one of their playful fights. Nevertheless, she kept her smile before replying, "Oh, come on, Rarity. That was a really bad injury! This one is just a small bruise."
"But still…" Rarity took a closer glance at Canvas's eye, sucking some air through her teeth when she saw the still-darkened spot right under his eye. "Oh, Canvas! I still cannot believe that Suri Polomare would actually resort to something that low!" She quickly stopped herself, taking a second to think it over before shaking her head in retraction. "Actually, scratch that. I would believe she would do that, but still!"
"It's fine, Rare," Canvas assured, feeling the stinging lessen much more. "Honestly, I did insult her pretty bad, so I guess I had it coming."
"Oh, nonsense!" Rarity put her makeup kit down on the counter and picked up the package sitting on her back with her magic. "Suri insulted your fiancé AND his brother! She should be lucky I wasn't around to set her straight!"
"I kinda agree," Spike added in a similar tone to Rarity's as he stood against the fridge with his arms crossed. "It kinda sounds like the was asking for you to throw the first punch!"
"Spike!" Twilight turned to him, dropping her magic to give the dragon a glare. "You really shouldn't say something like that!"
"Eh, it's alright." Canvas rubbed his freshly healed eye. "Honestly, I'm surprised I kept my cool when she said all that stuff! Of course…"
Feeling satisfied at the lack of pain where his bruise used to be, Canvas dropped his hoof before continuing in a more perceptive tone, "Of course, considering the last time I fought with a pony, it's probably good that I didn’t repeat any past mistakes. Especially in regards to a mare!"
Thinking it over, Spike shrugged a bit before leaving the kitchen. "Yeah, that's probably true. I'm gonna get some more cake."
"Alright, Spike." After looking over Canvas's eye, Twilight grinned when she saw no more signs of a bruise. "Well, I think my spell is done! How do you feel?"
"Pretty good," Canvas said with a smile as he rubbed his eye again, no longer feeling anything even close to a bruise. "Thanks a lot, Twilight!"
"No problem."
Rarity, who waited until after Twilight's impromptu procedure was complete, floated over a pink package with a yellow bow to Canvas. "Fluttershy said that she had to leave early for something, so she wanted me to give this to you. Happy Birthday."
"Oooohhh…" With a large smile on his muzzle, Canvas enthusiastically unwrapped the packaging, squealing in glee when he saw what was inside.
"Awesome!" Canvas pulled out the gift inside, which surprised Twilight and Rarity when they saw what he was so excited about.
"Wait, is… is that a Discord lamp?"
"Yep!" Holding it in his hooves, Canvas grinned wildly as he marveled at the small, mosaic-like statue of Discord holding a light bulb in his extended claw. "I can’t believe she got me one of these! I never even mentioned to her that I wanted one!"
Spike, who was looking in from the kitchen doorway, had a slightly disgusted look on his face. "Why would you want one?! Those are ugly!"
"Oh, whatever," Canvas said gleefully, trotting out of the kitchen with his gift. "I'm putting this right in the bedroom!"
Spike, along with Rarity and Twilight, just looked on in silent awe at Canvas's reaction to the Discord lamp. Before either of the mares could say anything, Spike was the first one to break the silence.
"Man, artists are weird."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After eating several pieces of cake, being forced to play several rounds of Pin the Tail on the Pony with Pinkie Pie, and being thrown onto a giant sheet trampoline (and almost hitting the ceiling), Lyle was pretty wiped out after only a couple of hours.
Once Canvas had opened all his presents, Lyle took a moment to sneak out onto the roof. After being cooped up in a crowded barn with Pinkie Pie and almost half the town, the cool autumn air felt absolutely incredible against his feathers.
Savoring the brief silence of the night, Lyle sighed as he laid back on the roof, his eyes closed. Before he could truly unwind, Lyle heard the nearby roof hatch open. Luckily though, instead of seeing Pinkie Pie hop out to get him, he was happy to see that it was only Troy.
"Hey Lyle," Troy said, coming out from the opening with a tired smile on his beak. He groaned as he sat beside his brother. "You feeling okay, bro?"
"Yeah." Lyle nodded. "I'm fine. I just needed a break, that's all."
"That's fine." Troy leaned back on his claws and sat next to Lyle, breathing in as he savored the chilly air. "Believe me, I get it. Pinkie Pie's parties take a while to get used to."
Lyle chuckled, unsure of how to respond to that. While he could certainly agree, it was difficult to consider Pinkie Pie's celebrations as just being "parties". If anything, what Pinkie managed to do was an entity all of its own.
"Yeah, I guess. But still…" Readjusting himself so he was sitting on the roof, Lyle's smile grew as he sighed and looked outward. "I gotta admit, I can see why you like living in Equestria."
"I know, right?" Sitting next to his brother, Troy kept a light smirk on his beak as he looked up to the stars. "I mean, there's a lot of things I miss from back home, but I really do like living here."
"Yeah… I can see that."
For a while, neither of them said anything else. They simply appreciated the small bit of serenity outside of the party happening underneath them.
After letting the silence take over for a long moment, Troy looked over to his brother. "Hey, Lyle. Just so you know, I saw what you got for Canvas." Keeping an appreciative smile, he patted him on the back before adding, "That was a really great thing you did for him. I can tell how much he appreciates that, so, thanks."
Lyle returned the smile and shrugged. "Hey, it was no problem. I saw the frame at the shop, so I thought it would be a nice gift."
Troy, knowing that his brother was trying to act falsely nonchalant, smirked and narrowed his eyes on him. "Don’t give me that. You know you really did a nice thing, right?"
After exhaling deeply, Lyle reluctantly nodded before turning away from him. "Yeah, I guess. I mean… It just felt like the right thing to do, you know?"
Troy pulled his brother in with a claw, hugging him from the side. "It really was, dude."
Troy kept him close to his side for another moment, squeezing him tight before asking, "So… You really think of Canvas as a brother?"
"Well… yeah." Lyle kept a confident smile on his beak as he said sincerely, "I mean, he's going to be a brother-in-law anyway. I just wanted it to be more official, I guess."
With a growing smile on his beak, Troy pulled his other claw in to give Lyle a proper hug, which was quickly returned. However, the sounds of ponies inside the house could be heard getting louder from the open hatch, making Troy pull back and stretch.
"Welp," Troy began, standing up, "I guess we should head back down."
Lyle groaned before nodding in agreement. "Oh, alright."
After stretching as well, Lyle began to follow his brother to the open hatch. Troy stopped for a second and looked back at his brother.
"Oh, one more thing. You’re sleeping at Lyra and Bon-Bon's tonight."
"WHAT?!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After the party came to a close, Canvas felt a bit overwhelmed. Having received more gifts than he could have ever imagined and chatting with enough ponies to make his throat feel slightly raw, all the stallion wanted to do now was get some well-deserved rest. Nevertheless, as soon as Troy talked with him in private, it only took one mention of the Gryphon wanting to spend some "alone-time" with him to make Canvas perk up pretty quick.
Of course, in order for anything to happen, Lyle had to spend the night at Lyra and Bon-Bon's.
"Are you sure this is alright?" Canvas asked worriedly. Despite Troy's insistence, Canvas wasn't sure whether or not his friends would be fine with looking after Lyle for the night. "I mean, I don't want to impose or anything."
"Don’t worry," Lyra assured, smiling as she and her wife stood at the doorway of the barn. "We have a guest bedroom, and it won't be a problem at all." She turned over to Bon-Bon. Lyle stood by her side with an obvious scowl on his beak. "Right?"
Although he didn’t like the idea of staying with two mares he barely knew, Lyle already knew that he couldn't get out of this one. Lyra and Bon-Bon both looked alright with letting him stay for the night, and Troy certainly wasn't going to let him stay here tonight. Considering it was Canvas’s birthday, Lyle had a fairly good idea what his brother was wanting to do, which made him reluctantly nod. He wanted to avoid Troy’s plan at all costs.
"Ummm… yeah," Lyle muttered, looking away from him."No prob."
After some quick hugs and goodbyes, Lyle took his overnight bag and headed back to Ponyville with Lyra and Bon-Bon. Along the way, Lyra was quick try to pick up Lyle's spirits.
"Don’t be so upset," Lyra said with a smirk. "Bon-Bon and I are happy to have you stay for the night. You're not imposing at all."
Lyle, who was feeling a mix of fatigue and frustration, could only sigh and groan. "I'm not upset about that. It's just…"
"Just what?" Bon-Bon asked.
Looking back to Canvas and Troy’s house, Lyle shuddered a little and desperately tried to keep his mind clear.
"It's just… I REALLY don’t wanna think what those two are doing!"
Meanwhile, back at the house, Canvas was in their bedroom, sitting in the nest anxiously. As soon as Lyle left with the mares, all Troy told him was to wait upstairs. While he still felt tired, the stallion was curious and excited about what his fiancé had planned.
Still downstairs, Troy called up to Canvas in an especially sensual tone of voice. "You comfortable, birthday boy?"
Blushing heavily, Canvas giggled a little before replying nervously, "Y-yeah… I am…"
A low chuckle could be heard, which slowly changed to the sound of Troy’s steps as he made his way up the stairs. Since the only light was coming from the Discord lamp beside the nest, Canvas was only able to see the outlines of shadows at the stairwell.
As soon as Troy stepped out of the darkness, Canvas's jaw fell agape as he stared at his fiancé, wide-eyed.
Troy, a lustful grin on his beak, narrowed his eyes on his lover and stood at the base of the nest proudly. Covering nearly every inch of his body—except for his claws and beak—a tight layer of bright blue latex hugged against every curve and crevice of the Gryphon's muscular body. Along his chest, where the outlines of every feather was visible, the lightning-pattern of yellow moved downward toward his waist. On top of his head, also covered with the glossy material, a pair of golden flying goggles sat above his eyes.
Canvas, unable to even blink, could only stare in astonishment. As he marveled at every inch of his glorious body, Canvas tried to move his muzzle, but no words were able to come out. Right now, all that Canvas could think was one thing.
Troy was dressed as a Wonderbolt.
"Happy Birthday."
Canvas tried to breathe, but his breath came in an extremely shaky gasp. Happy to see how speechless he made the blushing stallion, Troy licked his beak and slowly began to walk closer to him.
"Remember when you mentioned you had a crush on Soarin back in high school?"
Canvas slowly nodded and tried to clear his throat. "Y-you… you look… you look way, WAY hotter…"
Troy chuckled again as he continued in a seductive tone, "Good… I asked Rarity for a little favor, and she agreed to make this for me… I paid good money for this, and you can do whatever you want with it…"
With a loud "whoosh,” Troy's wings shot out, further emphasizing the Gryphon's massive size and strength as he grinned down at Canvas.
"I decided to give you something you'd really… really like…" While his claws pressed down against the various blankets that made up the nest, Troy kept his golden eyes on Canvas as he kept speaking in an increasingly sultry tone. "So… You get to be with a Wonderbolt for the night… And no one is going to bother us all night…"
Crawling towards Canvas in a lustful prowl, Troy licked his beak as he brought his head in towards the shaking stallion. With every word he spoke, he brought his head in even closer as he eyed him down like a fierce beast stalking its prey.
"It's all for you, Canvas… And you can do…
"Whatever…
"You…
"Want."
Canvas gulped and tried to breathe normally. His thundering heartbeat and blushing cheeks were more than enough to show that he was beyond turned on right now. Sweating heavily, Canvas shakily opened his muzzle and tried to speak in a faint and meager tone.
"This… is the hottest thing you've ever done…"
Grinning widely, Troy leaned down so his beak was against Canvas's ear.
"So… What do you want to do first, birthday boy?"
With a huge grin on his muzzle as well, Canvas looked up at Troy, almost feeling like a helpless piece of prey under the Gryphon's powerful grasp.
Of course, that was how he liked it.
"Put those goggles on," Canvas said with a growing smile on his flushed face.
Troy happily obliged, covering his eyes with the thick, round lenses as they shone within the bedroom. Canvas giggled in delight as he looked up at him, no longer feeling tired at all.
Troy bent down as he began to give his stallion the best gift he can possibly give. However, before his beak could press against Canvas's lips, he paused.
"Ummm… Canvas?"
"Yeah?" Canvas asked in nearly a moan, not wanting to stop when he was this close.
"Could you… maybe cover that lamp or something?"
Canvas looked over, seeing that the Discord lamp caught Troy’s eye. "W-why?"
"Just… please? It looks like he's staring at us."
Noticing how uneasy Troy was looking, Canvas sighed before putting a hoof out and turning off the lamp. After covering the lamp with a pillow case, Canvas regrew his sensual grin as he looked up to the Gryphon illuminated in the moonlight. Seeing how his goggles shone against the darkness, Canvas was quick to pull him in, anxious for their night to begin.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lyle looked over at the clock laying on the nightstand by his bed, showing that it was almost 2:30 in the morning. Groaning under his breath, he slumped back against the bedding, hating that he couldn’t get to sleep right now. Despite feeling extremely tired, Lyra and Bon-Bon's guest bed didn’t feel comfortable at all. Heck, even the couch back at Troy and Canvas's place was more comfortable than this.
Lyle tried to move his pillows around some more, though he knew that would probably be pointless. As he laid back down, he heard a faint voice coming through the wall behind him.
"…Psst! Hey… Hey, Bon-Bon…"
"… Hrmm? Wha… What? What is it?"
"…I think Lyle's asleep…"
Lyle immediately shot up as he sat upright in the bed, wide-eyed. While this felt disturbingly similar to his first night at his brother's place, the idea of mare-on-mare made him keep his mind and beak shut.
"Ugh! Lyra, come on! Just go back to bed…"
"Come on… I know you want to…"
Lyle's wings shot outward quick enough to make a loud “pomf.” He turned to the wall behind his headboard.
"Lyra, no!" Bon-Bon moaned as she sunk her head in against her pillow. "Not tonight! What if Lyle wakes up?"
"Oh, don’t worry about it…" Scooting in closer to her wife, Lyra kept a hopeful grin and nuzzled her neck softly. "I'll be sure to really, really quiet…"
"Nnnnnn… Come on…" Despite how pleasing Lyra's lips felt as she softly began to kiss her neck, Bon-Bon tried to move away from her wife's advances and get some much-needed sleep. "I got that Running of the Leaves tomorrow!"
"Hmmm…" Licking her lips, Lyra bent in towards Bon-Bon's ear and whispered faintly, "I guess I'll have to make it a quickie, won't I?"
"Ergh… No…" Although she was starting to feel less opposed to the idea, Bon-Bon was still worried enough to look back at Lyra insistently. "Honey," she whispered, "you can at least check before trying anything tonight. Okay?"
Bon-Bon slumped back into her pillow, prompting Lyra to groan and roll her eyes. "Oh, fine! I'll check…"
With a disgruntled look on her face, Lyra lit her horn so the room grew a green glow. Turning to the wall behind their headboard, Lyra used her magic to make the wall turn transparent, hoping to just see Lyle asleep in the guest room before they could have some fun.
As soon as she looked into the other room, Lyra saw Lyle looking back at her with his ear on a glass against the wall.
"AHH!"
Lyle dropped the glass and threw himself back into bed. Lyra, mostly surprised herself that Lyle was still awake to hear them, dropped her spell just as quickly and settled back into bed.
As he laid against the pillow, hoping that Lyra wasn't going to barge in angrily, Lyle was still able to overhear Bon-Bon's voice through the wall.
"What happened?"
"Uh, n-nothing! Never mind, let’s go back to sleep."
"Wha… Why? What happened?"
"Nothing, I just changed my mind. Goodnight!"
…
"He was still awake, wasn't he?"
"Er—no! I… I'm just tired now. Night, honey!"
"… Ugh… I can’t believe you…"
Hoping to just ignore what had just happened, Lyle tried to lie still and get a proper night's rest, despite how much his wings were shaking from stiffness. While he shut his eyes in an attempt to get some sleep, a million different thoughts flowed through his mind. All he could think about was how awkward tomorrow morning was going to be.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Alright, guys!" Bon-Bon happily called out as she stood by the stove, "Breakfast is ready!"
Lyle, who was already in the bathroom cleaning himself up, made his way to the hallway with an eager smile on his beak. As soon as he saw Lyra a few feet away, the Gryphon's smile quickly dropped when he saw her worried look.
Before Lyle could say anything, Lyra put a hoof up and said in calm and direct tone of voice, "Let's just get one thing clear, alright? You never heard me last night, and I never saw you through the wall. Deal?"
Lyle blinked a couple times in bewilderment before quickly nodding. "Uhhh… yeah. That's right. I was asleep."
"Good." A chipper smile quickly spread across Lyra’s face. "Come on! Bon-Bon makes the best pancakes!"
As Lyra made her way to the kitchen, Lyle followed with a smirk of his own. "I dunno. Canvas makes some pretty good waffles."
"Well, we'll see about that!"
Happily enough, Bon-Bon's pancakes really were fantastic. Since the mare's special talent lay with making delicious sweets, it wasn't much of a stretch that she was also able to make absolutely delectable strawberry pancakes. And since she never cooked for a Gryphon before (besides having Troy test out some of her more experimental candies), she was quite pleased when Lyle helped himself to a third serving of her pastries.
"Geez, Lyle!" After getting her own fill of her wife's food, Lyra was fairly surprised to see Lyle still going without much resistance. "Do Gryphons have, like, a second stomach or something?!"
"Oh, leave him alone," Bon-Bon said. "He's a growing boy! Besides, I still remember when YOU first tried my fried zucchini."
Immediately frowning at that memory, Lyra grumbled under her breath and looked away from her wife. While her fried zucchini really was amazing, the constipation she got the next day after eating so much of it wasn't fun at all.
"Man," Lyle muttered before swallowing his last bite, "these are great pancakes, Mrs. Bon!"
Bon-Bon covered her mouth and tried to keep herself from giggling. "It—it's fine, Lyle… Hehehe… But you can just call me Bon-Bon."
Lyle, seeing how much both Bon-Bon and Lyra were snickering, blushed a little and looked away sheepishly. "Um… sorry."
"Oh, don’t be!" Bon-Bon eyed the Gryphon curiously. "Actually… Would you mind helping me out with something?"
Lyle shrugged before replying, "Uh, sure. What is it?"
"Well…" Smiling, Bon-Bon put the dirty pans in the sink before looking back at him. "I was planning on giving out some free samples of my newest candies before the Running of the Leaves today, and I wouldn't mind having some extra help while Lyra stays here to tend the shop."
After glancing at Lyra, who nodded, Lyle shrugged again as he looked back at Bon-Bon. "Alright. I was planning on going there anyway to check up on Troy, so why not?"
"Great!"
Once breakfast was finished, Bon-Bon grabbed two large saddlebags of candy for herself and Lyle to carry on their way to Whitetail Woods. Fortunately enough, the saddle didn’t seem to cause any discomfort to Lyle, despite it being meant for a mare instead of a Gryphon. After giving Lyra a quick peck, Bon-Bon began her trek towards the Running of the Leaves, Lyle in tow.
Lyra, who was keeping her eyes narrowed on them as they left, waited until they were out of sight. After flipping the sign at the window over to indicate the shop was closed, Lyra kept a devilish grin on her muzzle and happily trotted over to Bon-Bon's figurine room.
Though she promised her wife that she would stop, Lyra only said that she wouldn't do it while the store was open. Right now, the shop was closed. She had no regrets as she floated a bobby pin out of her mane and began to jimmy the lock open while whistling a little tune.
After getting the door open with ease, Lyra's smile grew to a creepy grin as she looked at she various shelves inside. Looking at the figures displayed proudly of each shelf, each made with precision by her wife of almost everyone in town, Lyra stepped inside and spoke in a mischievous tone.
"Hello, my pretties…"
Giggling to herself, Lyra walked around the room and scanned each shelf. She freely spoke to herself as she looked around.
"Oh, Lyra… Who, oh who, should I ship today?"
Still giggling like a schoolfilly, Lyra lit her horn as she began to make her choice. She first floated down the figures of Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle, taking a second before shaking her head and putting them back.
"Nah… That's too overdone."
She then grabbed the figure of Rarity with her magic, and thought about it for a moment before also grabbing the figure of Zecora. After looking at them together, Lyra shook her head again before putting them both in their proper places.
"Nuh-uh… What weirdo would think THAT up?"
Lyra continued to look around the room, wanting to try something new while her wife was out. "Come on… Who would be a good pairing to try out…"
Lyra's eyes widened as she noticed two particular figures, making her grow a wicked grin as she got a particularly fun idea.
"Ooh… Lyra, you naughty mare."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Though he wasn't as used to walking as he was flying, Lyle was barely breaking a sweat as he chatted with Bon-Bon on their way to Whitetail Woods. If he hadn’t noticed the foliage starting to change around them, he wouldn't have realized how far they had already walked. Along the way, the mare was happy to talk about Ponyville's various traditions, including the Running of the Leaves.
"… Since we mostly had Earth ponies when Ponyville was first formed, running was one of the most effective methods to get all the leaves off the trees." Bon-Bon pointed up to the trees above them, which looked absolutely beautiful at this time of day. With the skies shining a flawless, clear blue (courtesy of the Weather Team), all the various autumn colors of red, yellow, and other hot shades just stood out even brighter for today. Honestly, Lyle was kinda disappointed that they had to be removed today.
Bon-Bon finished cheerfully, "It's one of the longest-running traditions in Ponyville, so it's always a big deal around here. We like to think of as sort of a big farewell party for Autumn, like we're celebrating its beauty before bringing in Winter!"
"Huh…" Looking up at the trees and their vibrant foliage, Lyle thought about if for a second before nodding in agreement. "You know, that's not a bad way to think of it."
"Yeah." Bon-Bon smiled. "Honestly, I think it was Pinkie Pie who came up with tha—"
WHOOSH!!!
A heavy gust of wind blew above them, nearly knocking the two over at the sudden force. While a large array of leaves blew around them, leaving a large amount of trees almost bare in its path, Lyle managed to look up and see the source. Even though Bon-Bon was only able to catch a glimpse of brown and tan before disappearing off in the skies, she didn’t seem to notice Lyle's worried look when she got up with an angry look on her face.
"Just who the heck was that?!" Looking back and seeing how many trees got blown bare from that disrespectful flyer's actions, Bon-Bon huffed, scowling. "I can’t believe that somepony would just fly past like that and nearly mess up everything!"
"Uh-oh…"
"Hmm?" Bon-Bon saw that Lyle was looking up at the skies with wide-eyed concern. After blinking a couple times, Lyle slowly turned over to Bon-Bon before speaking in a worried tone of voice.
"I… I think…
"I think I just saw the triplets."