• Published 17th May 2013
  • 11,082 Views, 780 Comments

Brushed Away - TheVClaw



For Troy the Gryphon, life in Equestria wasn't exactly as fulfilling as he imagined on his own. However, after volunteering to help out with a storm prepping project, he discovers a pony who helps to change everything.

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Chapter Seventeen: Promise of a Princess

Twilight Sparkle found it peculiar to have a pony visit the library at this time of night. While Spike wasn't too happy having to answer the door so late in the evening, the alicorn was glad to let her assistant go back to bed when she saw who was at the door.

Twilight remembered Canvas from a couple days ago, and was pleasantly surprised to see him no longer wearing any bandages (though the pirate look did concern her somewhat). He seemed a little hesitant at first as he stood in the doorway, but his mood quickly changed to something more determined. Out of respect, Canvas bowed his head to her.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle, I… I wanted to talk to you about something."

Twilight may have been confused as to why Canvas wanted to talk to her this late, but she could see from the worry in his eye that whatever he had to say was important. She let Canvas into the library, and he looked around the space as if searching for anyone else.

"Is there something wrong, Canvas? I've been meaning to talk with you, but I knew you were busy around town recently."

Canvas only nodded as he continued to look around. Though it was inside of a tree, the library looked surprisingly spacious, the walls lined with huge shelves of countless books. Among the familiar smells of pages and ink, the entire place felt perfectly still. He could tell why the Princess liked living here; it seemed like a more peaceful place than any castle.

"It's just that…” Looking back at Twilight, Canvas’ tongue turned to lead. He knew both Troy and Stable were right, but doing this was still a huge step for him. "I talked with Doctor Stable about… about how I got hurt. And he told me that I should talk with somepony who could help me."

"Oh. I see…” Twilight started to feel concerned.

Like Troy and Stable, Twilight was also worried about what happened to Canvas before the storm, but her busy schedule made it difficult for her to make any time to ask him. Seeing how much the stallion was fidgeting on his hooves in front of her, the Princess realized that this might be more serious than she’d thought.

She levitated two throw pillows for the both of them, and let Canvas sit down on one before sitting on the other. Even as she gave him a warm smile, Twilight could still see worry in the pony's face when he looked up toward the upstairs balcony. Thinking quickly, a purple glow came from Twilight's horn. It spread out, creating a large sphere of magic around them.

"It's a soundproofing spell. Nopony can hear us outside this space." Twilight kept a reassuring smile while Canvas looked at the purple forcefield around them.

Canvas finally felt more comfortable, and took a deep breath.

"Alright. It… It happened back in Gallop Creek…”

Twilight grew more worried as Canvas recounted his story, talking about how scared he was about coming out to the ponies in his hometown. She knew that some ponies had some objections to same-sex relationships or attraction, but she was shocked that it could've gotten this bad in Equestria.

As soon as he mentioned how he was abused because of it, Twilight hugged him, more for her own sake than his. Twilight may have been a princess for a while, and she knew that it meant greater duties, but none of Celestia's lessons truly prepared her for how to deal with something like this. Usually it was just ‘go out to the next aspiring villain, use the Elements, and, bang, that’s a wrap. Everypony pack up and go home until the next existential threat crawls out of the shadows.’ But what was she supposed to do about the shadows within the hearts of ponies? The shadows ingrained into the bedrock of society? Gallop Creek had an ugly face that was hidden from the world by virtue of it being out of the limelight; and that’s where shadows are able to expand, where nopony bothered to look. She couldn’t just blast this away with a spell and call it a day, no matter how badly she wanted that to be the solution.

Surprisingly enough, Canvas didn’t cry as he told his story to Twilight. While it did still hurt to talk about it, the Princess’ forcefield made him feel safer. Canvas did keep his head pointed downward as he talked, mostly so he couldn’t see the alicorn’s stunned look. It wasn't until she hugged him again that she finally said something.

"Canvas, I promise I'm going to do everything I can to help you."

Canvas hugged her back, and savored the Princess’ tight yet caring grasp. He was breathing hard, but the stallion was able to hold back his tears. He finally had somepony who could help him.

Twilight took her time to comfort the stallion before letting him go, and stood up to levitate several different books from different sections of the library. Canvas wasn't able to catch most of the book titles as they flew past his head, but certain keywords like “Law” and “Crime” caught his eye from within their titles. It became clear what she was planning.

"You said that this occurred in Gallop Creek, right?" Twilight’s voice held a grim determination as she started looking through her books of Equestrian law. "I'll make sure that Celestia knows about everything that happened first thing tomorrow, alright?"

Canvas nodded, seeing how focused the Princess was while she looked through the books, now scattered across her large desk. Her purple magic levitated multiple stacks at the same time, and Canvas was enthralled by how flawlessly she let the books and their pages fly around without difficulty or error. After picking up a quill and blank sheet of paper with her magic, Twilight turned her focus back to Canvas.

"Now, Canvas,” she said with a look of concern on her face, hoping Canvas could give her more answers, "I need to know... who attacked you that night?"

Canvas paled, for this was the first time anypony asked him that question. "I…” His lips quivered. He tried to give an answer, but he soon closed his eyes in emotional pain. Canvas wanted nothing more than to tell her, but as he felt his gut tying up in a knot, he knew he wasn't ready to go any deeper.

“...I wish I knew…”

Canvas waited until Twilight went back to writing on her sheet, hoping that she wouldn't dwell on that question. Seeing how flustered Canvas appeared, Twilight put her sheet and quill down and walked up to him. "Canvas, if you want me to help you, you have to tell me as much as you can."

"Don’t say that. Don’t. Say. That.” He looked up at the concerned alicorn with a shamefully conflicted expression. "Do you know what it’s like?! To cry for help and be spat on for it? To be hated just for existing!?" Canvas slammed his eyes shut, and tried his hardest to contain himself so he wouldn't be full-on shouting. But alas, his words still came out rather loud between his whimpering breaths. "They… They saw me.. They all saw what was happening, and… a-and they just watched! Like it was just some street performance!"

Canvas plopped down on the floor. His head hung low in front of the Princess. His eyes teared up.

"I… I just felt so alone."

Canvas heard the sound of Twilight's hooves approaching him. The hoofsteps soon stopped, and he then felt a gentle warmth as Twilight laid her neck over the top of his head. One of her hooves graced his back, and Canvas’ breathing hitched. He heard Twilight Sparkle's gentle voice speaking to him with a tranquil whisper.

"You're not alone anymore."

Canvas dug his head into her chest, and whimpered pitifully through choked-up sobs. He’d shed so many tears that he was drained dry. Now, he just felt a wave of numb exhaustion. He comforted himself in her presence, as though to assure himself she was truly there. Twilight hugged him back, and didn’t say anything else. She knew this was no force the Elements could destroy, but one thing she did know was that wherever shadows fester, her duty was to burn them away with light. And this stallion had gone so long thinking there was nothing in the world but darkness.

As Canvas began to settle down in her embrace, Twilight quietly lifted her quill with her magic, and wrote on her parchment.

Dear Princess Celestia…

Author's Note:

Just so any newer readers are aware, I've recently been undergoing a big project to turn the Brushed Away series into physical books for individual sale. Because of that, I just wanted to make a quick note for which chapters have been revised so far, including this one.

I want to give my deepest thanks, as well as some well-deserved credit to the editors helping me out with this process: SirReal, and Double R. Forrest. And if anyone is interested in helping out with making this project a reality, I highly recommend checking out my Official Ko-Fi page dedicated to it.

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