Brushed Away 2: By Hoof and Claw

by TheVClaw

Chapter Eleven: Measuring Things Out

BRAAAAAK!!!

"Oh, come now!" Rarity barely paid any notice to Lyle's screech as she continued to tighten her measuring tape around his midsection. "You mustn't be overly dramatic, Lyle. I'm not squeezing you that badly."

"S-says you!" Lyle shouted back, glaring at the white unicorn. "What part of taking my measurements requires you to try breaking my ribcage?!”

Rarity huffed and ignored him. "Just stay still for a little longer. I'm almost finished, anyway."

Despite not wanting to be squeezed any more, Lyle just groaned under his breath and stood still.

Troy, who was sitting on a couch nearby with Canvas lying on his chest, smirked in amusement as he stared at his brother. Remembering how similar his first measuring session went, he tried not to chuckle at his brother's discomfort. "I tried warning you, dude. You were the one who wanted to come along with us."

Rarity turned back to Troy with an irritated look on her face. "And what exactly do you mean by 'warning him,’ Troy?"

Not wanting to offend the mare who was helping them organize their wedding, Troy put up a claw and assured, "It's not like that, Rarity. I just meant that this sort of thing takes a lot of time, and Lyle is kinda impatient."

"Hey!" Lyle glared at his brother.

Rarity used her magic to move him back into position. "Honestly, I have to agree with your brother on this one," she muttered under her breath.

As Rarity took the last of her measurements, she began to look more pleased. "Regardless, I must say, it's quite interesting to make clothing for the Gryphon form! It's such a rare occasion that I get to actually measure someone of a different species, let alone someone as unique as you and your brother!"

"Ummm… thank you?" Lyle was a bit unsure of what to think. Though he knew he looked far different than the equines around here, he wasn't as used to being seen so differently.

Still, considering the fact that this mare was being complimentary, and not sarcastic or condescending, Lyle kept his beak shut while the final measurements were taken.

"However, I do wish I was given a little forewarning that I would be taking someone else's measurements on such short notice…" Rarity narrowed her eyes at Troy, looking like a librarian who saw someone coming in with an obviously late book.

"Hey, it wasn't like I planned it!" Troy said sincerely. "He showed up to my place yesterday. I couldn’t have told you sooner if I tried!"

Rarity huffed a little before getting back to work. "Well, I suppose that makes sense. However… that doesn’t explain why Lyra is here as well."

Lyra, who was lying on the floor next to Troy and Canvas, merely groaned in response without opening her eyes. "Bon-Bon said that I needed a time-out."

Rarity looked over at the unicorn on her floor, noticing her downtrodden demeanor. "Oh, goodness, Lyra… Did your wife catch you playing with her dolls again?"

The three guys tried not to giggle. Lyra pouted and looked away from them. "S-shut up! I… I was bored…"

A suppressed smile on her muzzle, Rarity sighed and looked away. "Oh, Lyra, I swear… Who was it this time?"

"Nopony!" Lyra hissed through her teeth. She shot a glare at the three guys, ensuring that her stare was enough to silence them.

"Wait," Troy asked, turning to Rarity, "how long did you know about that?"

Rarity giggled a little while she made sure her measurements were correct. "Well… Let's just say that Lyra forgot to put up the 'Closed' sign on the shop’s window one morning, and I walked in to see her playing out a rather… unusual scenario involving Twilight Sparkle and Princes—"

"Rare, come on!" Lyra sat up and turned to Rarity with a glare. "Don't tell them about that!"

"Oh, Lyra, there's nothing to be ashamed of. Everypony has their little fantasies every now and then, and Princess Luna is obviously very attra—"

"Okay, that's it! I'm leaving!"

Lyra stormed out of the boutique, leaving Troy and Canvas, who were cracking up on the couch. Lyle, who was also laughing quite a bit, was barely able to stand upright when Rarity finally finished.

"Aha! Perfect!" With a pleased smile on her muzzle, Rarity put the measuring tape away before looking back up at Lyle. "Alright, you can get off the stage now."

Lyle sighed in relief and hopped off the overbearingly pink platform. Even though most of the Carousel Boutique was fairly feminine, from the pink and purple walls to the floral décor, the stage Lyle had to stand on was beyond girly. It was made to look like a small carousel itself, including a giant flower on the floor and a coned top. To Lyle, it seemed more like some giant transformation-ray that could turn him into a doll if he was on for too long.

While Rarity finalized her measurements on her notepad, Lyle stretched out before sprawling out on a pink (and surprisingly comfortable) chair.

After confirming her numbers, Rarity turned the notebook to another page before looking back at the older Gryphon. "Alright, Troius! Your turn."

Taking a second, Troy groaned before Canvas pulled himself off him. Troy reluctantly lifted himself off the couch. "Do we seriously have to do this? I thought you had all our measurements when you made your suits for the Gala!"

"Yes I did," Rarity said, motioning for Troy to step on the platform, "but it doesn't hurt to double-check the little details first. When it comes to something as important as a wedding, even the smallest error can lead to utter disaster!"

"Well," Troy said as he stood on the platform and spread out his massive wings, "if you don't mind, I'd rather talk about some of the bigger things for the wedding sometime."

"I actually kinda agree," Canvas added. "I mean, the other day, you had us looking at different calligraphies for over two hours, just to know what kind of font our wedding invitations should be in! Couldn’t we go over something else? Like, the food?"

"Wait, you guys haven't talked about the food yet?" Lyle asked in surprise.

Rarity huffed a little and continued to measure Troy's wings. "Guys, I already told you! If we're going to go over food, we need to talk about the cutlery first! I can't create a menu in good conscience if we don't have a good idea of how the plates would look! And then we'd have to look at the centerpieces, whether or not it would clash with the floral arrangements…"

While Rarity continued to drone on, Troy lifted one of his forelegs to faceclaw himself. "Rare," he mumbled in irritation, "we're just talking about food here! Who cares what kind of plate it's on?!"

Rarity groaned before allowing Troy to put his wings back down. "It’s all about appearances, Troy! I would think you should understand the importance of visual design, especially since you're marrying an artist."

Rarity pointed at Canvas, who gave a less than sympathetic look back to her as she continued, "I mean, if we're going to focus more on taste than making it visually pleasing, then why even bother?! That's why I need to help organize this for the two of you! What would you do if I wasn't here, huh? Just throw a pizza party on paper plates?!"

Canvas, Troy, and Lyle's eyes all widened, staring at her like she said something absolutely brilliant. Realizing how they were looking at her after that suggestion, the mare quickly threw up her hooves in protest. "Ohhhhh no! NO! NO, no, no, no, no! We are absolutely NOT—“

"That's a GREAT idea!" Canvas exclaimed, almost falling out of the couch in excitement. "Why didn’t I think of that before?! I'd totally go for a pizza party for the reception!"

"Me too!" Troy looked down at Rarity with a huge grin, barely noticing how appalled she was. "Hey, maybe we can ask that pizza place by Bon-Bon's Sweet Shop if they can help wit—“

"Are you guys actually SERIOUS?!" Nearly fuming in confused frustration, Rarity's face was starting to turn pink as she stared them down. "This is a wedding we're talking about, remember?! Why are we even suggesting this?!"

"Technically, you were the one who suggested it," Lyle said nonchalantly. Rarity gave him a death glare before Canvas chimed in.

"Seriously, I don’t see what the problem is, Rare! I honestly don't really want to anything super fancy or over-the top for the wedding. I don't really see the purpose of making it too extravagant."

"Me neither," Troy said, looking over at his fiancé with a smile. "I mean, I want it to be special, but I'd like to keep it simple, too. Besides, there's only one thing that really matters to me for the big day. And he's sitting right over there on the couch."

Canvas, now blushing deeply, smiled back at Troy and sighed in agreement. "Yeah… And you're all that I really want, too…"

Canvas and Troy continued to stare at each other lovingly, making Lyle roll his eyes and look away. However, Canvas quickly turned back to Rarity with a grin. "But I also want pizza!"

"Me too!" Troy shouted, looking over to her as well.

Though she wanted to try bringing up an alternative for the dining—ANY alternative—Rarity knew that she couldn’t argue when both of them wanted it. She might have been the organizer, but the grooms had the final say.

"Ugh! Oh… oh alright! FINE!" Rarity slumped her head down in defeat and looked away from them. "If that's what you both want, then… I suppose that… We could arrange to get pizza for the reception…"

"YES!" they shouted in unified victory.

Lyle, seeming happy to hear this as well, put out his clenched claw for Canvas. The stallion got out of his seat and bumped it enthusiastically.

Rarity brought her forehooves to her face and shook her head. "I can't believe this is happening… Why did I agree to do this?"

"Ummm… you didn’t," Troy said flatly. "I was the one who agreed to let you help because you were about to scream like a banshee when you found out I was wanting to propose to him!"

"I wasn't going to 'scream like banshee,' as you would so uncouthly call it," Rarity retorted, glancing back over at him. "I was simply… overwhelmed a smidge at the idea of you professing your love to him in that way."

Troy looked down at her with a deadpan stare. "I had to smother your face with a pillow so Canvas wouldn’t hear you from the bathroom."

Lyle tried not to snicker and put up a claw to grab his brother's attention. "So… You mind telling me about what happened, Troy?"

Looking over at Lyle, Troy sighed before shrugging. "Fine, I guess."

Rarity, happy to go over this as well, went back to taking Troy's measurements as he began.

"Well… before the Gala, Canvas and I needed some suits to wear, so Rarity offered to make a couple for us at a discount."

"Which looked marvelous on you two, by the way," Rarity added as she used her magic to measure his hindlegs.

"Ummm… yeah. Anyways, I already knew that I wanted to pop the question to him, so I figured that would be a good time to figure out his hoof size. So… I waited until he went to the bathroom before trying to peek at his measurements."

"Oh wait, yeah!" Canvas pointed at his fiancé and Rarity, then narrowed his eyes. "I remember that! I thought I heard some shriek from downstairs while I was in there!" Canvas looked down at the floor and shook his head in contemplation. "Honestly, I thought that was just the cat or something."

Troy glanced back to Rarity and replied, "Yeah. That would be when Rarity caught me and figured it out almost instantly."

Rarity giggled before wrapping the measuring tape around his midsection. "Well, you weren't exactly being subtle, Troy. I was about to scold you for peeking at your partner's private information, but it was evident from the clear scrape of your talon what you were looking for."

Troy blushed and looked away from her. Remembering back to that day, it had been almost scary how quickly the mare's attitude had changed. One moment, she looked legitimately angry at him for looking though her notes behind her back. But in less than a second, her expression shifted into a wide-eyed stare on him, along with a huge grin that looked like something even Pinkie Pie would find a bit too much.

"I didn't even get out that I was planning to get a ring before she started screaming and hopping around!"

"Well, I couldn’t help it!" Thinking it over, Rarity sighed in pleasure, smiled, and continued to double-check Troy’s sizes. "Just the fact that you were wanting to propose to him so soon was beyond beautiful! After everything that happened between you two, it all felt like the perfect romance story for the ages!"

No longer able to hold back her overwhelming glee, Rarity stepped back from Troy, holding a hoof up to her forehead as she started speaking more dramatically, adding complementary movements to her posh demeanor.

"It's just so romantic how the two of you got together! The lonely stallion, thrust out into the world alone, becomes saved by a mysterious Gryphon by a mere chance of fate! And after meeting one another, the two stayed side-by-side as friends, while slowly becoming closer with each passing day! It all became too much to bear until they both gave in to their feelings, professing their love for one another and letting their hearts melt with pure desire and devotion! OH! It… it's just… just so enchanting!"

Although Rarity looked rather elated after describing it that way, Canvas and Troy just stared at her with narrowed eyes and skewed brows, unsure of how to respond. Lyle, however, was the first to make a reply.

"Wow. You actually managed to make their relationship sound gayer than it already is."

Rarity gasped in disgust as she looked over at the younger Gryphon. "Why, I never!"

"I dunno, Rare…"

At hearing the new voice, everyone turned to see Rainbow Dash, who entered the room with a skeptical smirk and intervened, "I gotta admit, you made that sound pretty fruity."

Rarity scoffed, almost dropping the measuring tape in her magic as she looked away. "Well, excuse me for appreciating romance, unlike some mares I might be inclined to mention…"

Dash blew a loud raspberry and rolled her eyes. "Ugh! Whatever, Rare! I just came by to talk with Troy about work this week. Also, Glimmer Heart was looking for Canvas."

Canvas's ears perked up as the mention of Glimmer Heart, the art dealer who got him a place at the Canterlot Art Gallery before Celestia noticed him. "Really? Glimmer Heart's here?"

"Yep." Dash pointed over to the doorway. Glimmer Heart, a light-pink unicorn mare with a luscious green mane (which was now cut surprisingly short), was happily chatting with Lyra as they walked in together.

"Oh, Canvas!" Noticing the stallion, Glimmer smiled cheerfully as she waved and walked up to him. "I was hoping to find you on my way through town today!"

"Glimmer!" Canvas trotted up to her before putting out his hoof for her to shake. Instead, she pulled him in for a hug, surprising Canvas for a only second before he returned it. "What a nice surprise! It's great to see you again!"

When he pulled back, Canvas took notice of Glimmer's mane before smiling wider. "And you look amazing, by the way!"

"Oh, thank you, Canvas," Glimmer said with a light blush, looking away from him. "I figured I should try something new. I am a single mare now, you know. It wouldn't hurt me to look more vibrant nowadays."

"Ooh… yeah…" Remembering the circumstances that caused Glimmer Heart to break off her marriage—which might have been partially Canvas's fault—the stallion still felt slightly guilty. "I… I didn’t mean to bring up anything ba—“

"Oh, don’t feel guilty!" Glimmer insisted, looking back at Canvas with a reassuring smile. "Dumping that cheating scumbag was the best thing to ever happen to me! If you never gave him that beat-down, I never would've realized how much he really changed!"

Lyle looked over at them with raised eyebrows. "Wait, you did what?"

Canvas laughed nervously and looked away from Lyle, not wanting to go into detail with him about that right now. Hoping to change the discussion, Canvas looked back at Glimmer Heart. "Ummm, so… What are you doing in Ponyville?"

"Well…" Glimmer Heart gave him an inquisitive smile. "I was actually hoping to talk with you about something."

Noticing Rarity taking Troy’s measurements, Glimmer bit her lip in slight worry before asking, "Umm… I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"You mustn't worry, Miss Glimmer Heart," Rarity said as she continued her work, "I already have Canvas's sizes, so you two can talk if you want."

"Oh, great!" With a satisfied smile, Glimmer looked back at Canvas before motioning to the doorway. "Would you mind if we talked in private, Canvas?"

Canvas glanced at his fiancé before nodding. "Umm… sure. Of course!"

With that, the two made their way out of the Boutique, leaving Rainbow Dash to lean against Lyle's chair and look up at Troy on the stage.

"So, Lyle… I take it you're alright with the whole… your brother marrying a dude thing?” Dash asked.

Lyle gave a light shrug before nodding to her. "Yeah, I am. He told me about it yesterday, and Canvas is pretty cool, so, I figure, why not?"

"Nice!" Rainbow Dash gave Lyle a hoofbump before looking back up at Troy and trying not to giggle. "How long do you think it'll take before Rarity tries to put your brother in a frilly dress?"

Lyle immediately clenched his beak shut to muffle a snicker. Troy shot a menacing stare at Dash, while Rarity got the last of the sizes down. Before Dash could say anything else, Troy narrowed his eyes at her and started to grow a mischievous smirk.

"Oh really? Because I saw some of the pictures of the getups she put YOU in!"

"WHAT?!"

Rainbow Dash turned to Rarity, who hid her face away from her as she levitated the tape away. "Alright, Troy, the measurements are done. You can get off the stage now."

"You took PICTURES of me?!" Dash shouted, her face reddening in anger.

"I only made references, darling," Rarity retorted as Troy hopped off the stage. "I like to have references of all my clients and looks as inspiration for future projects."

"Oh, that is SO not cool!"

"Don't be so dramatic, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity turned back to her as she said professionally from the stage, "I only have them for my clients to look through, in case they like a look somepony else was going for."

Troy struggled not to laugh, looking at Dash with a crooked smile on his beak. "I can’t believe you let her put you in that powdered wig!"

While Rainbow Dash looked between Troy and Rarity, unsure of who to strangle first, Lyra just stood in the corner with a cheeky grin. "Man, this is WAY more entertaining than I thought it was going to be!"

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While tensions inside Carousel Boutique continued to escalate, Canvas stood outside with Glimmer Heart, oblivious. On their way out, she levitated over a scroll for him to look through, detailing a new art show coming up. As he read, Canvas realized that wasn't an invitation for him to enter as an artist.

"Really?" Canvas asked with an unsure brow as he looked up to Glimmer. "You want me to be a judge?"

"Well, why not?" Despite noticing the stallion's slight confusion, Glimmer kept a smile as she continued, "Canvas, you're an absolutely exceptional artist! After making that painting for Celestia, I can’t think of anyone else who would be more qualified for something like this."

While he could tell Glimmer was being sincere, Canvas's brow was still skewed as he looked it over. "Yeah, but… I'm just not sure, Glimmer. I mean, I'd love to visit Manehattan, but… I'm just not sure if I want to try judging other ponies on their work."

Canvas might have proven himself to be skilled in such a short amount of time, but that didn’t mean he wasn't unsure about himself among other artists. Still remembering how the gallery went, all he could think about was how much many of the unicorns there barely took notice to his work. Aside from the novelty a few of them saw at an Earth pony managing to create good paintings, Canvas knew that not many of the buyers or other artists took him that seriously until Celestia asked for a commission.

Plus, after all that he went through in his life, Canvas honestly didn’t want to think of himself as a judge. Even if it was for something as simple as critiquing somepony's artwork, the last thing that he wanted to do was pass judgment onto others.

Seeing the look of unease on Canvas's face, Glimmer sighed before adding, "Just so you know, this is only for one time. One of the judges got the flu, so I figured you would be a good replacement for him. It's not like I'm asking you to take a permanent position or anything."

Canvas looked back up at her, biting his lip before looking back at the scroll. Realizing that he was still looking a little unsure, Glimmer Heart pointed to a portion of the parchment with a smirk. "The trip is all-expenses-paid, you know. And you can bring your fiancé and his brother, if you like."

Canvas’s brow rose in pleasant surprise "Oh, wow! Really? That would be gre—wait…" The stallion's eyes narrowed on Glimmer. "How… how did you know Troy and I were engaged?"

Glimmer giggled before pointing at the ring on Canvas's left hoof. "Well, that's sort of a big clue right there…"

Looking down at the white gold around his hoof, which really did stick out against his aqua fur, Canvas began to blush.

"Also," Glimmer Heart continued with a small smirk, "Lyra mentioned it to me a couple minutes ago. I kinda had a feeling you two were an item back at the gallery, but I didn’t expect an engagement from somepony as young as you."

Canvas stifled a giggle before looking back up at her. "Yeah, I admit that it was unexpected, but I wouldn't change it for the world." Catching what Glimmer Heart had said, the stallion tried not to laugh as he added, "And, just so you know, Troy and I didn’t get together until after that gallery."

"Really?!" Glimmer stared at Canvas for a second in silence. "I… I could've sworn that you two were…"

Canvas chuckled a little before putting up a hoof. "Don’t worry about it, Glimmer. You're not the only one. Actually, after we got together, we found out that half the town had a betting po—“

BOOM!

A large explosion interrupted the two of them. A massive array of confetti and streamers shot out from every open space in Carousel Boutique. The front doors were thrown open by the blast, and a very loud musical tune could be heard from inside.

"What on Earth is that?!" Glimmer asked while she tried to cover her ears.

Canvas, who was also covering his ears, grinned as he looked around, knowing full well who could've caused this. "I think I have an idea…"

Canvas and Glimmer Heart trotted back into the Carousel Boutique, wincing as the music became louder with each step.

When they reached the showroom, several different party cannons were going off in unison to the music, which was coming from a large party wagon in the middle of the room. Pinkie Pie, who was hopping off the walls and various furniture like… well, Pinkie Pie… carried a huge grin on her face as she sang the last part of her welcome song.

"… It's super duper duper, and I hope I made you smile!
So happy, happy, happy, welcome to Ponyville, Lyle!"

BOOM!

Pinkie picked up one of her trademark party cannons and used it to shoot her confetti straight up to the ceiling. Looking up, Canvas and Glimmer saw why she aimed it up there, as that was where Lyle was right now.

Lyle, with all his fur and feathers sticking out like a terrified housecat (and a couple pieces of confetti stuck to them), had his talons gripped to the ceiling as he clung for dear life away from the mare below him.

Oblivious to how Lyle was shaking in petrified fear, Pinkie just hopped up and down underneath him. "So what’dya think, Lyle? You like it? You like it? You like it? You like it? You like it? You like it? You like it? You like it? You like it? You lik—“

"WHAT THE BUCK WAS THAT?!?"

Troy, who was sitting on the couch the entire time Pinkie Pie had been freaking-out his brother, just kept a cheeky grin on his face as he looked up. "Lyle, meet Pinkie Pie! She likes to throw parties!"

"Yep!" Pinkie said gleefully, "I heard you were coming into town today, so I wanted throw you a Super-Duper-Welcome-To-Equestria-For-The-Very-First-Time-PARTYYYY!!!"

Looking down at Pinkie, Lyle shuddered, choosing instead to cling tighter to the ceiling like the floor was made of lava.

"I was actually going to throw it for you later today, but while I was walking through town I felt a tail twitch, ear shudder, shaky leg, and cold hoof, which only meant that two friends were about to get in a big fight!"

Rarity and Rainbow Dash, who were huddled together behind the stage during Pinkie's Welcome Party Assault, looked over at each other for a moment.

"And I didn’t want to see anypony get unhappy, so I got my emergency party wagon and party cannons to cheer everypony up! And when I saw that you were here too, I knew exactly how to save the day, so WELCOOOMMMEEE!!!"

FWEEEEE!!!

The moment Pinkie Pie jumped up to blow her party blower, Lyle scurried away from her across the ceiling like he was part spider. Crawling across the ceiling and down the wall with surprisingly quick ease, the Gryphon scurried down to the ground before backing away from Pinkie as much as he could.

"T-T-Troy!" Lyle shouted as he crawled backwards towards the doorway, "I'm really freaked-out right now!"

"Why?" Pinkie Pie asked with a smile as she reappeared right behind him, "Would you feel better if I gave you a hug?"

"AAHHHH!!!"

Lyle immediately shot to the other side of the room. Before Pinkie Pie could appear behind him again, Lyra, who was standing by the doorway the whole time, decided to intervene.

"Pinkie," Lyra said, raising a hoof, "maybe you should let Lyle calm down for a moment? It looks like you're making him uncomfortable."

Pinkie glanced over at Lyra with a confused look on her face. "What do you mean?"

"Pinkie, do you remember when you tried to throw that surprise party for Cranky Doodle on his birthday?"

Pinkie sucked some air through her teeth and winced at that unfortunate memory. Even though surprise birthday parties are supposed to be super great, almost giving that donkey a heart attack was a pretty big downer.

"I'm just saying," Lyra added, "that maybe you should let him settle down for a second. Okay?"

Pinkie glanced over at Lyle, who was standing against the wall with his eyes wide and feathers still ruffled out. Seeing that he was looking more scared than happy, she finally took the hint.

Pinkie turned back over to Lyra before nodding slowly. "Oh… okay…"

Relieved to see that the crazy mare wasn't going to rush after him again, Lyle sighed lightly in relief while his feathers began to settle back down.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash, who now seemed slightly guilty as they looked at each other, slowly stepped out from behind the stage.

"Ummm… Rainbow Dash?" Rarity bit her lip as she looked over at her friend. "For the sake of the integrity of my Boutique, it… might not be best for us to argue like that again, so… If you want, I… could remove those references of you from my book. They're not really that popular, anyways…"

At hearing that, Rainbow Dash mustered a smile and nodded back. "S-sure. Thanks, Rare."

"YAAAYYY!!!" Pinkie threw up her hooves in victory and looked over at her friends. "I helped stop a fight! HOORAYYY!!!"

FWEEEEEEE!!!

Lyle covered his ears at the sound of Pinkie's party blower, but looked a lot less flustered as he drew closer to his brother.

"So, Lyle," Troy asked, smirking, "you wanna have a party with Pinkie Pie? You can hang out with her all day…”

Troy made sure to place a lot of emphasis on those last two words as he widened his eyes. At the idea of spending more time with the crazy mare, along with his brother's obvious means of freaking him out even more, Lyle just shuddered and turned away.

"Ooh!" Pinkie Pie hopped and put her hoof up to catch their attention. "I have an even BETTER idea! Are you and Canvas doing anything big tomorrow?"

Before Troy could say anything, he turned to Rainbow Dash, remembering that he was supposed to have work the next day.

"Actually," Dash began, leaning against the stage with a small smirk on her muzzle, "Flitter and Cloudchaser came back early from their trip to Las Pegasus and said they can start work earlier than planned. If you want, Troy, you can take a couple days off to spend with Lyle before the Running of the Leaves."

"Really?" Troy looked rather surprised as he glanced over at Rainbow Dash. Nevertheless, her grin didn’t falter, proving that she was being honest. "That… that's awesome, Dash! Thanks!"

Dash nodded. Happy to get that info, Troy looked back at Pinkie with a smile. "Well, it looks like my schedule opened up!"

"GREAT!" Pinkie exclaimed with gusto. "Because I just realized that you two haven't picked out a wedding cake yet, and since your brother is here, now you can pick one out with your family!"

Troy's eyes widened in a mix of surprise and anticipation, happy to hear anything with the word "cake" in it. He looked over to his fiancé, who was standing by the doorway with Glimmer Heart, looking around like a pair of perplexed spectators.

Canvas blinked a couple times before shaking his head clear and putting up a smile similar to Troy's. "That sounds great! We actually haven't picked out a cake yet, so that would be pretty fun!"

"Yeah!" Troy agreed, looking back over at Pinkie. "And we just agreed what the food will be for the reception, so this would be perfect timing!"

Rarity groaned and facehoofed, still hating what the grooms wanted for their wedding. Lyra noticed Rarity's reaction before turning her attention to Troy. "Umm, what exactly did you agree to have?"

Troy, Lyle, and Canvas shouted at the same time: "PIZZA!"

Rarity sunk her head in embarrassment, groaning louder under her breath. However, all the other mares in the room didn’t look nearly as surprised. In fact, the only one who seemed negative about it was Lyra, who just looked down to the ground as she muttered under her breath, "Why didn't I think of that?!"

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie shared a smile before looking back at Rarity. "Why are you looking like that?" Dash asked. "That sounds awesome!"

"This is a wedding!" Rarity shouted in frustration. "What kind of a wedding has PIZZA as the main course?! It's like they don’t want any feminine touch to this occasion!"

Everyone looked over at Rarity with confused expressions and skewed eyebrows. Noticing how everyone was looking at her, Rarity gritted her teeth and groaned in anger. "What?!”

Glimmer Heart, who tried to stay out of this discussion until now, decided to intervene. "No offense, Rarity, but… Do you really expect something feminine from two guys?"

Rarity quickly turned over to Glimmer to make a retort. However, as soon as she raised her hoof and opened her muzzle, she only blinked a couple times and stayed silent.

Realizing Glimmer’s point, Rarity slowly closed her muzzle and lowered her hoof. She took a moment before sighing and shrugging. "Hmmm… touché."

Canvas and Troy looked over at each other and chuckled, happy to see somepony silence their wedding planner at last.

Remembering what he wanted to double-check, Canvas's ears perked up as he picked up the scroll in his hoof. "Wait a minute! Pinkie, what time do you think we could do that cake thing tomorrow?"

"Why?" Pinkie hopped over to Canvas to look at his scroll. "Is something happening tomorrow?"

"Maybe…" Canvas's eyes narrowed on the scroll as he looked at the fine print. "I was just hoping we could do it before the train leaves at five.”

Glimmer Heart's smile widened in excitement. "Ooh! Does that mean you'll do it?"

"Hmmm…" Scanning Canvas's scroll like a bloodhound, Pinkie looked serious for a couple seconds before returning to her usual, bubbly state. "Oh yeah! We can TOTALLY make this work tomorrow!" She looked between Troy and Canvas as she added, "You two have any suggestions on what kind of cakes to try? We got chocolate, vanilla, fruit cake, upside-down cake, ice-cream cake, pudding cake, cupcake cake, cupcake-cupcake cake, triple cupcake—“

"Uhhhh…" Canvas raised a hoof and glanced at Troy. "What do you think, Troy? You were saying chocolate cake would be good, right?"

"Yeah.” Troy nodded. However, that scroll held back his enthusiasm a bit. He kept his eyes on the stallion. "What exactly is that scroll about?"

Canvas gave a quick glance back at Glimmer Heart. The mare nodded with a smile, already knowing what he was wanting to ask Troy and his brother.

"Well… I was just asked by Glimmer Heart to help judge some pieces for an art show coming up. And you just said you got a couple extra days off, so…"

With a happy smirk on his muzzle Canvas looked back at Troy and Lyle and held up the scroll.

"What do you two think about a trip to Manehattan?"

Comments

[BronyofMeddlers]

This made me lol. Good to see your still alive. It's rare to see a same sex relationship story, I mean the guy part, Im sure there some fem on fem somewhere on here. Getting off track, this is a good story and I know you won't disappoint, have fun!

[kamachakta]

I enjoyed this immensely, do more... Please?

[Guy_Incognito]

I've said this before, and I'd be happy to say it again; I love the way you write. Not 'Prose' wise, but the world crafting, giving depth and dimensions, sordid backstories, goals, interests, and, I guess, a 'lore' to your world is phenomenal. Lots of people on this site fly that 'O.C's are shit' flag, and most times, stories without a focus on pre-established characters go under-appreciated. I think that's half the case here. You've made Troy, Canvas, and their families, really fun to read about because you don't make them 'Super Cool' or 'Super Edgy' but, relatable.

If that sounded preachy or contrived, or was one of those 'TL:DR' type reviews, let me just say I love this. I want a million more stories about Canvas, and Troy, and Lyle, and Canvas's dad.

Also, just in terms of this chapter, bringing back the bit with Lyra's totally not at all weird doll/shipping obsession was cute. I had a really good chuckle reading this.

Keep up the great work.

[kingtiger666]

4075214 It's really not that rare. Like, 60% of the site is gay fics of various types.

[BronyofMeddlers]

4075447 huh, guess you learn something new each day.

[Bast]

This chapter was awesome <3, And Pizza! for a wedding reception sounds awesome Lol. Also loved how glimmer totally called rarity out on what did she expect from 2 guys getting married x3

[AryaLunara]

BronyofMedlers you should probably read part one first if you haven't already

[Bad_Seed_72]

Oooh, I can't wait to see what happens in Manehatten. I bet they'll have so much fun getting some authentic Hooflyn-style pizza!

I wonder if a certain filly will show up.

[AryaLunara]

why can't I just travel to the future to when this story is finished so I can read it all at once this waiting is unbearable

[Lady Froey]

I'd have pizza at my wedding too.

[Twilight Best Pony]

finally caught up!
still loving this.
pizza is awesome for a wedding.

[Dragonslayer Ornstein]

If I ever get married, Im ordering pizza... Also, another fantastic chapter!

[OBSIDI4N_DR4G0N]

finally caught up only to be tortured by time!

[The Accursed One]

4075423
I say stories about OCs are sometimes better than ones that stick to canon characters. You have more freedom with your OC: you know its personality fully instead of just a few things about a canon character. Nobody can call you out on the OC being out of character as well!

[lockheed]

What kind of a wedding has PIZZA as the main course?!

This made me laugh because that's exactly what my dad and stepmom did for their wedding.

[Geeknerd]

If I was marrying a guy, I don't know if I'd go with pizza, but I know it wouldn't be all frizzy and stuff

[Violet Sky]

Dominos themed wedding.

[Twistedpath]

Pinkie Pie is the Bubba Balgamidades of cake.

[Perpetually Confused]

Do you really expect something feminine from two guys?

Nope... cause some guy sucked up all the girly from the rest of us

I guess you have no choice Claw... you must be manly now

[Acadians6545]

At hearing the new voice, everyone turned to see Rainbow Dash, who entered the room with a skeptical smirk and intervened, "I gotta admit, you made that sound pretty fruity."

As gay JoJo's Bizarre Adventures
And that is a VERY high standard to meet.

[Acadians6545]

9666305
God I love JoJo's Bizarre Adventures.