//------------------------------//
// Chapter Three: Sweets and Suites 
// Story: Brushed Away 3: Hearts Entwined 
// by TheVClaw 
//------------------------------//

By the time Celestia’s sun peaked at Noon, the train from Canterlot was only a few minutes away from the Ponyville station. Inside one of the private cars, the four Gryphons were seated rather comfortably. While Jonas and Angela sat next to one another on one of the bench seats, Lyle and Troy were seated on the bench opposite of them. Of course, all of them were just gawking at Troy, who was finishing the final taco from Angela’s bag like a starved mutt who found a discarded sandwich. 

After Troy finished the final “taco” (even though it’s highly debated even in the Gryphon Kingdom what kind of meat is used for them), the Gryphon slumped back in his seat with a satisfied grin while licking the heavy coating of grease from his talons. Lyle seemed the most unnerved as he said, “Jeeze, dude! How can you eat all thirty of those things?!”

Not caring one bit, Troy patted his swollen belly with his freshly-cleaned claw and muttered, “Cause they’re good…”

Despite looking uncomfortable with her son’s eating habits as well, Angela couldn’t help chuckling towards her husband. “I gotta say, that was fifteen bits well spent.”

Jonas made a cackle of his own, which included a smile on his jagged beak which was wider than expected from the General. Since Jonas barely ever cracked a smile during most of Troy’s childhood, the silver Gryphon paused for a second in surprise when he noticed it. Of course, Troy able to move again when Jonas asked him, “So, how have things been going since we left?”

Even though Troy didn’t expect his Father to be the one asking him that, he figured it was just one of Jonas’s small attempts to get on good terms with him again. So, the younger Gryphon shrugged and answered, “Well, things have been going pretty good. Aside from getting a dog and doing the Winter Wrap-Up this year, not that much happened over the winter…”

After balling up the last taco wrapper, and tossing it in the already overfilled wastebin at the corner, Troy put up a talon and added, “Oh! Actually, there is one thing to bring up: Rarity’s been putting a lot of work into her second boutique in Canterlot, so Canvas and I let her put most of her focus on that. Twilight agreed to look over some of the wedding plans, and there’s this tailor in town who can get our suits finalized.”

“Wait, really?!” Asked Angela in wide-eyed shock. “Twilight herself?!”

“Well, she does have experience,” replied Troy in a more casual tone than expected. “She was actually the main organizer for Shining Armor and Cadance’s wedding, and that was all done within a couple days. She assured me herself that it wouldn’t be an issue to look over a couple details when it was months in advance.”

Angela may have looked slightly less worried after hearing that, but she still pointed a talon at Troy to state sternly, “Well, I hope you’re not taking advantage of that kind of offer. Who knows what could happen if you try to use a Princess for your own personal gain?”

Troy, Lyle, and even Jonas gave equally dead-panned stares at the Gryphoness. Noticing how they were all staring at her, Angela looked around and shouted annoyedly, “What?!”

“Honey,” stated Jonas rather bluntly, “do I need to bring up how you rebranded the company after we got back?”

Angela froze, her eyes widening while her cheeks grew a slight shade of pink. After a couple seconds, she made a quick, albeit shaky scoff as she turned away from her husband’s gaze. “Well, ummm… this isn’t about us. This is about Troy.”

Troy rolled his eyes with a scoff in disbelief. But before he could bring up how quickly his Mom tried to veer the subject elsewhere, she peered back at him to ask, “Speaking of which, are you seriously telling us that nothing else happened over the four months we were gone? Because I highly believe that when you had so many things to plan out!”

Troy wanted to simply say no, but he only blinked when he realized that would mostly be a lie. As the train began to slow its descent on its way into the Ponyville station, the Gryphon smirked with a shrug before saying, “Well… I might have something big to tell you guys, but I think it’ll be better when we’re all together before saying anything.”

“Oh?” Asked Angela inquisitively. After Troy nodded with a knowing grin, which just made Lyle and Jonas look confused, Angela made a low chuckle with a smirk of her own as she replied, “Well… I suppose that makes two of us, then.”

Troy raised a brow, but it wasn’t as evident as the way Jonas turned his head to give a narrowed stare and smirk at his wife. The Gryphoness made a quick glance back at her husband, and Troy could’ve sworn he saw her wink at him. However, the train’s vibrations became stronger, stopping Troy’s thoughts as the station came into view from the windows. But before he could get out of his seat, he heard his Dad ask him, “So, should we just leave our luggage at your place? You never said how the sleeping arrangements were going to go.”

Troy’s eyes widened in a sudden, unsettling realization. When the train came to a complete stop, and the steam from the engines started to creep past the window, the Gryphon gave a worried smile as he lifted a talon. “Uhhh… about that…”





It was now the middle of the day in Ponyville, when the town was the most active with ponies going to the various shops or the marketplace for their daily errands. However, over at the small shop which was painted mint green and pink, with the sign Bon-Bon & Lyra’s Confectionaries on top, it didn’t seem like a single pony was inside. In a very rare gap in customers during the lunch rush, all the brightly colored isles of sweets were void of ponies while the mint-colored unicorn Lyra sat behind the counter. Of course, when the other mare popped out from the back room with a fresh tray of lemon drops on her back, she seemed more relieved than upset that the store was empty for the moment. 

“Whoo!” The cream-colored mare known as BonBon sighed heavily as she placed the tray in the display shelf underneath the glass counter. She wiped the sweat from her brow with a hoof so her poofy blue and pink mane wouldn’t be caught in it. “I gotta say, it’s nice to have a little down-time between sales to restock.”

“Yeah, I agree.” Even with her smile, Lyra seemed a bit tired while resting her head against her foreleg propped on the counter. “Although I think we have to get some up-time before we can say we have down-time.”

“What? We got some customers today.” Bon-Bon was a bit more optimistic, and kept her chipper tone of voice as she began to wipe the top of the counter with a rag and some glass cleaner. “Besides, we’ve gotten way more sales than expected for the last two days alone! I think we both deserve a little time to ourselves while on the clock.”

That statement seemed to perk Lyra up more than expected. One of her brows raised towards her wife with a light smile. “Oh? Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”

When Bon-Bon turned her attention back to the unicorn, she stopped wiping the glass when she saw how her wife was perking her brows repeatedly with a toothy grin. Of course, all that Lyra got from that was an unamused stare from the other. “Lyra, I already told you a dozen times. We are not having sex in the store while it’s open!”

“Why not? It’ll be fun!” Even with the way Bon-Bon was glaring at her, Lyra’s smirk only became more lustrous as she leaned back against the counter. “C’mon… We’ve been talking about doing something more exciting, haven’t we?”

“Yeah, I said exciting! Like hoofcuffs or a saddle or something! Not breaking at least twenty health code violations with some exhibitionist fantasy of yours.”

“We’d only be breaking those codes if we got caught,” responded her wife with a more determined tone to go alongside her smirk. While Bon-Bon groaned and turned away from the unicorn, she tried not to react when Lyra got out of her stool to nuzzle up beside her. The mint mare’s voice turned to a whisper as she put her muzzle close to Bon-Bon’s ear. “C’mon, think about it… Wouldn’t the risk of getting caught make you a little excited? Maybe it’ll get your heart racing more tha--”

Before she could continue trying to turn her wife on, Lyra’s ears perked up at almost the exact same time as Bon-Bon’s. The two of them heard voices coming closer to the shop, and Lyra instantly pulled back to sit on her stool like a school-filly trying not to get caught staring at her classmate’s paper. While Bon-Bon went back to wiping the glass like nothing happened (and to also hide the heavy blush on her cheeks that Lyra gave her), the voices became clearer outside the door.

“I already told you I’m sorry, okay?! How was I supposed to know that letter was supposed to be sent express?!”

“Because I specifically told you to send it express! I made that very clear when I emphasized how important it was!”

“Guys, guys!” Both the mares recognized that third voice as being Troy’s. “Can we please stop arguing about this? What happened happened, and it’s not the end of the world.”

The door then opened with a “Ding!” from the bell above the frame. Troy was the first to walk in with an annoyed look on his face, which he was able to extinguish with a deep sigh before giving a smile to the couple. “Hey girls!”

“Oh, hey there Troy!” said Bon-Bon cheerfully as she placed the rag and cleaner behind the counter again. “What brings you here today?”

Angela was next to walk into the shop and answer before Troy could open his beak. “Oh,  he was just showing his loving parents around town.”

At the sight of the Gryphoness and her cheeky smirk, both mares gasped in pleasant surprise. “Oh my gosh!” Bon-Bon looked especially happy as she trotted up to Angela first. "What are you guys doing here?! I thought you had a few more days!”

Bon-Bon went in to give Angela a friendly, but still reserved hug. Fortunately, unlike her past visit to Equestria, the Gryphoness was now comfortable enough to return the hug without acting weird about it. “Well, we originally planned that,” answered Angela after pulling back from the mare, “but our schedules opened up a bit, so we wrote to Troy about coming a little earlier than expected.”

“Yeah…” Jonas walked into the shop behind his wife, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably with a claw. “I forgot to send the letter express, so he apparently didn't get it until today.”

“Ooh,” replied Lyra with a wince while behind the counter. “I've done that before.” After a shake of her head, she tried to change the subject and ask the couple, “So, did you guys see Twilight's new castle yet?”

Jonas stared at the unicorn like she just asked a kindergarten-level question to him. “Are you kidding?! How could we NOT see that thing?! You could actually see it from the airship station!”

Lyra shrugged her shoulders at the realization of how that question sounded. “Yeah, I suppose that's true. It really is nice, though. Twilight gave me a tour inside, and it's amazing!”

The last Gryphon to enter the store heard enough of that comment to respond with, “Well, that's not surprising at all! I mean, it is a castle!”

Lyra tilted her head in slight confusion as she stared at Lyle, and her eyes narrowed on him with a smile. “Ummm... hello there! Are you a friend of-HUUUUUHHH!!!”

As soon as she realized who it was, Lyra gasped in shock just as loudly as her wife. “LYLE?!” they both shouted in unison.

“I know, right?!” said Troy as he pointed towards his now blushing younger brother. “He grew like bamboo!”

“No I didn't!” snapped Lyle back in a flustered tone. 

Not caring about his attitude, Lyra leaped over the counter like it was nothing to go over and hug the Gryphon first. “C'mere, you!” Despite his size, Lyle still made a squawked-sounding wheeze when the mint mare lifted him up with an especially tight squeeze of a hug. After she put him down, Lyra peered up at the panting Gryphon for a second and said, “Man, puberty hit you like a shovel!”

That comment made everyone else laugh, except for Lyle who pouted away from them. “Oh, shut up.”

“Hey, I’m just having a little fun.” Lyra tried to alleviate Lyle’s mood by mussing the black feathers on top of his head with a hoof. “Sorry if I got under your skin a little. You want anything?”

“Nah, I’m fine,” answered Lyle in a low tone, but Lyra was able to see that the Gryphon had a small smile on his beak when she put her hoof back down.

Angela added while peering at the display counter, “We were actually just wanting to catch up with some ponies around here before getting settled in.” She then shot a glance back at her husband while including in an aggravated tone, “Of course, we also need to figure out lodging since we can’t go back to that hotel in Cloudsdale.”

Jonas thought she was going to bring up the letter again, but that reminder was enough to make him turn his head away to hide his cringe. Lyle also tried to avoid being seen with his smile deflating to a bitter scowl. Troy tried to save the mood as he walked up to the counter, “But, we still have plenty of time to get you guys somewhere for the night. I’m sure the hotel here in town has some rooms.”

“Oh, no…”

Bon-Bon’s involuntary mutter was audible enough to catch everyone’s attention. All eyes were peered at her as Jonas asked, “Umm… what?”

The mare bit her lip worriedly, and she looked out the window while explaining, “Well, I think there’s a big bowling tournament going on…”

Lyra groaned and slapped her own forehead with a hoof in recollection. “Ugh, that’s right! A lot of out-of-town ponies have been around lately! That hotel is probably packed solid!”

“Oh, great…” Angela rubbed her temples with her talons as she tried to control her breathing. When she put her claw back down, her eyes narrowed as she looked down the ground and thought analytically. “Well… I suppose we could get some clouds together if--”

The bell ringed once more as the door opened again. But this time, a purple and green drake walked in while wearing a matching backpack. “Oh, hey Spike!” said Bon-Bon cheerfully, obviously going back into retail mode as she trotted back behind the counter with a smile. “You here for that ghost pepper candy I was working on?”

Spike readjusted the straps of his backpack while answering, “Well, that and some licorice for Twilight. She was craving them, so I figured why not?” Before he could go up to the counter to make his purchase, the baby dragon paused when he saw the four Gryphons also in the shop. “Oh! Well, ummm… I guess the wedding is sooner than I thought.”

Troy turned quizzical while Spike walked past him to the counter. “What, like you forgot or something? I’m surprised Twilight hasn’t filled an entire wall with notes about the planning!”

Spike scoffed with a smirk and put his bits on the counter for Bon-Bon. “Are you kidding?! She filled up two!” After getting his items and giving a quick “Thank you” to Bon-Bon, the drake began putting his candies in his backpack when he admitted, “But to be fair, I kinda tone out when it comes to that stuff. It’s sorta hard to make weddings interesting, you know?”

Lyra narrowed his eyes on him skeptically. “... You mean aside from the one in Canterlot, right?”

“Well, duh!” Spike threw his backpack over his back while glancing back at the unicorn. “After that happened, it kinda makes any other wedding seem a bit dull.”

Troy and Lyle both shrugged as they looked back at each other in agreement. “He’s not wrong,” admitted the younger.

“Of course, it’s not like I’m not happy about you an--” When Spike turned his head to Troy to finish his statement, he paused when he caught a glance at Lyle. His head tilted for a second before his eyes widened.

“Yeah, I know,” said Lyle with rolled eyes. “I grew a little.”

Spike looked the Gryphon up and down, clearly having a different word to say than “a little,” but he just shrugged before muttering to himself, “Lucky…”

Lyra’s eyes instantly shot wide open as she got an idea. “OOH!! OOH, OOH!!”

With both her forelegs raised and waving to get everyone’s attention, the unicorn waited only a second for the group to look towards her before pointing at Troy’s parents. “I just got an idea! You two were looking for a place to stay, right?”

Angela and Jonas looked over at each other with confused looks and nodded. “Well… yeah…” Angela turned back to Lyra to say, “I think we made that fairly clear.”

Lyra’s smile was wide enough to look like something Pinkie Pie would have as she exclaimed, “Well, why not the castle?!”

Both of the older Gryphons stood in shock at the unicorn’s suggestion. Lyle was the first to respond with a skeptical, “Ummm… are you serious?”

“Of course!” Feeling giddy about her idea, Lyra hopped up on the counter that Bon-Bon just cleaned, seemingly not caring that she was walking on glass as she paced up and down while speaking. “I mean, think about it! You guys need a place to sleep, and you can’t all just hang around Troy and Canvas’s place. Like, the studio’s big, but definitely not that big…”

“Lyra, please get off the counter!” Shouted Bon-Bon in a scared tone of voice. “I really don’t think the weight limit--”

“Plus,” interrupted Lyra as she continued pacing, “Twilight is helping you guys with the festivities anyway, so I’m sure she wouldn’t mind! Especially when she’s living in that giant castle now! Seriously, there are like, a million rooms in that place! There has to be at least a few guest rooms that aren’t being used, right?!”

She looked down at Spike with that last question with a huge grin, hoping to get the answer she was looking for. The drake pondered her idea for a second with a claw to his chin, and his brows raised at the realization that she wasn’t wrong. “Well… There actually are some rooms on the second floor…”

Lyra was becoming giddy enough to start bobbing up and down on the counter with a wide grin. Meanwhile, Bon-Bon waved a hoof up at her to grab her attention. “Umm, Lyra?”

“So it’s settled!” chirped the unicorn cheerfully. “Spike will see if Twilight can let the Clawstons stay with them for the week--”

“Lyra?”

“And I suppose the triplets can stay there too, unless they already have something set up.”

“Lyra!”

“OOH! And they can see what Twilight’s friends did the remains of the old library--”

“LYRA!”

“Alright, alright!” Not wanting to her her wife’s voice raise any higher, Lyra hopped off the counter before the glass could risk breaking. “The glass didn’t break, see?! I’ll just wipe it off and we’ll be fine.”

“No, it’s not about that!” With her aggravated tone pointed at her wife, Bon-Bon took a calming breath and spoke up before Lyra could get the rag and cleaner. “I was just trying to say…”

Bon-Bon paused momentarily, looking back at Jonas and Angela in contemplation of how to word her point correctly. With a slightly uncomfortable look on her face, she peered back at Lyra and asked, “Don’t you think that… maybe things could be awkward between them and Twilight?”

Lyra looked back at her quizzically. “What do you mea…” The mint mare stopped her words briefly, and was silent for a couple seconds before her eyes widened. “... Oh.”

Jonas and Angela both cringed, turning their faces away from the other married couple in the shop. While it was clear that Lyra actually had a good idea, they also knew that the Clawstons’ last encounter with Princess Twilight Sparkle wasn’t exactly proper. Even though they already did a lot to make amends with her since then, they both knew that asking for a favor like that may have been pushing it.

Fortunately, Troy spoke up before anyone else could. “Well…” Despite looking uncomfortable himself, the Gryphon maintained his composure while rubbing the back of his head to say, “I know that they were planning to talk with some ponies today and make apologies.”

“Mostly him,” stated Angela with a quick nudge toward her husband. Jonas returned the gesture with a narrowed stare on the Gryphoness.

“Well, yeah,” admitted Troy with a shrug of his shoulders before continuing, “but I think they were already planning on talking with her today anyway. I don’t see why she wouldn’t help them out after everything they’ve been doing.”

Even though both of the Clawstons seemed surprised at their son’s optimistic answer, Angela was able to grow a faint smile on her beak while looking back at him. “Thank you, Troy.”

While Troy looked away with a smile of his own, Spike shrugged and said, “Honestly, she probably would be cool with it. I mean, the castle is huge, so I doubt a few Gryphons would make it feel cramped or anything. Plus, I know Twi better than anypony else! She’s forgiven ponies for a LOT worse than an argument, believe me.”

Even though Jonas still seemed unconvinced with the way his beak was skewed, Lyle asked Spike in curiosity, “Really? Like what?”

Spike bit his lip and winced a little. “Uhhh… I’d rather not go there.”

“Still, it wouldn’t hurt,” said Lyra while wiping her hoofprints off the glass counter with a rag. “I bet she’d like an excuse to have some more faces in that castle anyway.”

“Oh, definitely!” piped Spike in agreement. He rolled his eyes and added, “I mean, I’m not a hundred percent used to it either, but I swear she’s getting cabin fever in that place! Or… castle fever? What would you call that?”

Bon-Bon giggled and raised her hooves. “Beats us.”

“Eh, whatever.” Spike said with a wave of his claw to disregard his thoughts. He looked back to the Gryphons to say assuredly, “I’m just saying, I’ll go back to the castle and ask Twi if it’s alright to let you guys stay. Although I’m about ninety-nine percent sure she will.”

“Well, that’s good to hear.”With a gracious smile, Angela extended a claw down to Spike for him to shake. “Thank you very much, Spike.”

Spike shook Angela’s claw with his own and replied, “Hey, it’s no problem. And who knows? Knowing her, she’ll most likely get you two a VIP suite for all those crates of free quills you sent us!” 

Even though she still had her smile, Angela’s eyes shot open in apparent worry. Jonas’s glance toward her narrowed in suspicion. “Crates?” He asked in a befuddled tone. “As in… more than one?”

After pulling her claw back, Angela took a deep breath while meshing her talons together. She looked back to her husband with a more professional tone to say, “Our sales raised by forty percent this quarter alone, and I wanted to give her our thanks for that. Besides, it was only right to help out after what happened to their old home.”

Angela’s beak then skewed a tiny bit, just enough for Jonas to notice and narrow his eyes on her even more. His wife averted her eyes from as she added meekly, “Aaaaannnnd… I may have offered her some extra crates after she wrote to us about the new logo.”

Spike turned away to hide a chortle that broke out. “Mmmph! Oh yeah! I think that’s the only time I saw her get bought out by someone.”

“How many crates was it?!” asked Jonas in a more aggravated tone.

Angela stayed silent for exactly four seconds, like she was preparing herself for the number. After another breath, her eyes widened as she looked past Jonas’s shoulder at the corner of the shop. “P-Princess Celestia?!”

“What?!” As soon as Jonas turned his head to see an empty corner, Angela bolted from the shop with the kind of speed expected from Rainbow Dash. “HEY!!!” Screamed her husband before he ran out as well, intent on getting those details. 

Looking out the window worriedly, Spike cringed a bit and turned back to the others. “Uhhh, I better try to stop anything bad from happening. I have a feeling he won’t be as happy as Twilight is about the ‘Quill Room’ at the castle.”

The drake then left as well, leaving only Troy and Lyle present while Lyra and Bon-Bon stood in awkward silence. The two Gryphons turned to each other, neither of them able to think of much to say. Behind the counter, Lyra turned to her wife with a cocky smirk. “Told you Twilight would have a Quill Room.”

“Oh, whatever,” muttered Bon-Bon in an annoyed tone. Without looking over at her wife, she handed her a small bag of bits. “It was a stupid bet anyway.”