Chapter Seven
By the time mid-morning arrived in Baltimare the following day, Troy’s train was just arriving at the station with steam bellowing from its engines. The silver gryphon was one of the first passengers to exit the train, nearly toppling over other ponies impatiently to burst out and start his search for his spouse. Troy didn’t want to do anything stupid, and planned to be as non-intervening as possible for the sake of Canvas completing his Friendship Mission solo. But even then, Troy’s feathers were already ruffled out of worry as he made a beeline to the station’s front doors.
“Nnnnghhhh…” Despite the pleasant evening he spent with Rarity back in Manehattan, Troy still felt anxious about what may have happened to his husband since his summoning. He trusted that Canvas was perfectly fine wherever he was, but that didn’t change the hallowing fact that Troy had no idea where he actually was. When he reached the glass doors of the station, revealing the sheer scale of the city of Baltimare. The gryphon’s face scrunched inward with trepidation, but he only needed a quick breath before muttering, “Alright, Troy… If Canvas can do this by himself, so can you…”
Troy exited the train station, not even having a plan on where to go like his husband previously had. But also unlike Canvas, Troy had the distinct advantage of soaring up into the skies the moment he was outside. The gryphon flew up several stories to see Baltimare from a higher vantage, which he hoped would be enough to better scan his surroundings. Fortunately, it was a beautiful clear day over the seaside city, and Troy smiled when he realized just how far he could see.
“Well then, now all I have to do is see where an artistic pony like Canvas could’ve trotted off to.”
“Here you go, Flamingo!”
Back at the Baltimare Tattoo Convention, Canvas trotted back to Flamingo’s booth with a smile on his face and a fresh cup of coffee in his hoof. Since the mare was scheduled to compete in less than a couple hours, she was keeping herself from doing any additional art for walk-in clients. Instead, Cherry Bomb was taking the reins as she went to work tattooing a simplistic piece across a mare’s inner foreleg. After hoofing Flamingo her coffee, Canvas leaned in to get a glimpse of Cherry’s design. “Ooh, nice outline!”
Down the length of the writhing mare’s foreleg, Cherry Bomb had drawn an intricate outline that resembled a line of pine trees to mimic a forest backdrop. She was already finished with the outer lines, so now she could color it in with a deep shade of black. The mag tip of her tattoo machine swirled tediously across the pony’s skin, and Canvas winced from the intensity of the client’s straining moans. “Mnnnghhhh!!”
“Hey, you already got the linework nailed-down,” said Cherry Bomb assuredly, still slowing down her technique the tiniest bit to ease the mare. “As soon as I pull away from the inner elbow, I promise it’ll feel way less intense.”
Canvas had no idea how painful the experience must’ve felt, but his muzzle was still skewed in sympathy. Since Cherry Bomb was occupied with her client, Canvas looked back at Flamingo to see her furiously scribbling in her notepad. Her horn glowed brightly as she held the paper and marker in her aura firmly, while her hooves carefully held the cup of coffee she was sipping. When Canvas got a look at what she was drawing, he was impressed by the sight of a multicolored Phoenix flying through rainbow flames.
“Oh, wow!” he exclaimed. “That looks really cool! Is that something for a client?”
“No, it’s just something I’m doodling to keep my head clear.” By the time she put down her half-empty cup, Flamingo Fire looked a bit frazzled, her eyes narrowing on the notepad in her magic. Though the piece itself looked really good from Canvas’ perspective, his attention was focused more on Flamingo. “Sometimes when I get nervous, I try to keep my head occupied with art. As long as I’m doing this, I’m not overthinking the rose I have ready.”
“Hmmm… Okay, that makes sense. I will say though, that design could probably sell as a tattoo around here if you’re lucky.”
“Heh~ You know, some of my best designs were actually done through sessions like this, so you’re not wrong there.”
“She’s also made some wicked pieces while drunk off her butt~” added Cherry Bomb without looking away from her work; though she was still sporting a jeering grin that made Flamingo’s muzzle clench tightly. “I remember one time on her birthday, she got absolutely blasted before drawing out this massive pirate-themed backdrop piece. I don’t think she was planning to use it on anypony, but it managed to catch someone’s attention when she put it in her portfolio.”
“Oh yeah, I remember that!” Flamingo Fire smiled more naturally, and she used her magic to pull out a thick binder from underneath her stool. She floated it over towards Canvas and pre-opened the book to the correct page. “It’s the one on the bottom right.”
“Holy crap!” Canvas usually wasn’t one to make such an expletive outburst, but he couldn’t hold back his surprise upon seeing the chest tattoo Flamingo was able to pull off. The polaroid in the binder showed a well-lit photograph of a stallion’s muscular body from neck to waist, with a detailed portrait of a pirate-themed pinup girl proudly etched across it. The pictured mare was dressed in full pirate attire, and carried a surprising amount of detail amongst the black and grey shading. “Wait, you seriously drew this design while drunk?!”
“Well, not on the pony himself,” she clarified with a brief chuckle. “But yeah, I had one too many shots one night and just started drawing on paper. And when I woke up the next day, I saw what I made and thought to myself, ‘You know what? I should polish that up for my portfolio and see if it sells.’”
Her smirk grew more confident as she pointed at the picture. “I managed to sell that less than a month afterward. It took me twelve hours total to finish over two sessions, but it also paid off my last mortgage payment for the house.”
“Jeeze, only two sessions?!” Canvas huffed in astonishment, his eyes glued to the picture. Eventually, the other photographs nestled in the binder took his attention. He already looked through Flamingo Fire’s tattoo portfolio before, which included a multitude of talented pieces that ranged from original designs to expertly-done cover ups. The sheer range of the mare’s art was astounding to say the least, and Canvas could recognize some of the styles he learned about the previous day. He especially liked the tattoo of an eagle pictured on a stallion’s bicep, its thick black lines and deep composed colors emphasizing Equestrian Traditional style perfectly. “Wow… some of these pieces would take half a day for me to paint out on canvas. I can’t even imagine what it’s like trying it on some pony screaming in pain throughout the entire thing.”
Flamingo and Cherry Bomb both giggled. “Yeah, sometimes it can be a nightmare dealing with ponies fidgeting the whole time.” said Cherry Bomb. She then turned her attention back to the mare on her table. “You’re doing great though.”
“Th-Thanks,” she muttered, her teeth remained tightly gritted. Though Cherry wasn’t stopping her tattooing process anytime soon, her client seemed to bear the pain a little better as those needles dragged further away from the crook of her elbow.
“Uhhh… Flamingo Fire?”
Canvas and the mare glanced back at the front of the booth, where a large white stallion was standing. The bulky Earth Pony was smiling wide while holding a couple sheets of paper in his hoof. Canvas could see that the stallion already had several tattoos on his body, including an impressive changeling-themed design that went down the bottom half of his left foreleg. Whereas his right foreleg was completely bare of anything but his natural fur. “I was told to come to you about the tattoo competition?”
“Oh! You’re my guy!” Flamingo Fire smiled excitedly as she got up from her seat, greeting the stallion with a hoofshake. “Pleasure to meet you, Mister…”
“Home Grown,” answered the stallion with a motion of his head towards his backside. Canvas leaned over to see the pony’s cutie mark, which happened to be a couple tomato plants connected by a green vine. Considering what Flamingo had planned for a tattoo design, Canvas could see him sporting it quite naturally. After he whipped back his blonde mane, Home Grown asked, “So, did you have any questions to ask me before we get prepared, or should I just have you read through my papers?”
Flamingo lit up her horn to put down her sketchbook, and picked up Home Grown’s application papers to scan through studiously. Meanwhile, Canvas turned his attention back to Cherry Bomb, not wanting to interrupt Flamingo’s talk with her subject before the competition. By that point, the mare was getting about a third of the way through filling in the trees with her black shading. But even with how focused she looked, Cherry tried to speak up. “Hey, ummm… Just so you know… I ended up having a chat with Flamingo while you made that coffee run.”
“Uhh, you did?” asked Canvas, his eyes narrowing confusedly. “What about?”
“Well…” Cherry Bomb squirmed with a slight look of discomfort. The whirring of her machine temporarily stopped as she pulled away from the mare’s foreleg to give the needles a couple dips in her ink with accompanying buzzes. “I just wanted to say that I… I really wasn’t trying to insult you last night with that Twilight comment, Canvas. She told me about the conversation you two had last night, and… I’m sorry if I made things uncomfortable for you guys before that. I wasn’t trying to paint her as some petty bitch or something, I swear.”
Despite how hesitant the unicorn sounded, Canvas could catch the sincerity in her apology. “Hey, it’s not a big deal,” he assured. “Flamingo told me how you two originally met, so it’s not like I don’t understand. You helped her out a lot after the Canterlot show, and… hopefully you don’t see me the same way now as you may have back then.”
“Oh, absolutely!” she said without hesitation. She looked up at Canvas with an impressed smirk. “The fact that you were able to hang with all of us yesterday without any judgement is something I can respect. Like, you didn’t even freak out at seeing High Flier, which makes you cooler than ninety percent of the ponies who usually talk with him.”
Canvas smiled wider, unable to find any fault in Cherry Bomb’s reasonings. “Well, I wasn’t wanting to dismiss any options when it came to my Cutie Mark mission. Not to mention, he’s a really talented tattoo artist! I’m really impressed by how much confidence he has in his work.”
“Yeah, High Flier does have a bit of an ego.” She giggled while her machine continued to buzz against the mare’s foreleg. “In a way though, he and Flamingo are pretty alike. Both of them found a lot of self-confidence in their appearances after getting into tattooing, and learned how important it can be for others to experience the same thing.”
Canvas hadn’t considered that comparison before, and he rubbed his chin in thought. When he glanced back at Flamingo Fire, she was smiling wide and shaking Home Grown’s hoof again. “Alright then! It seems like we’re on the same page.”
She used her magic to sign the bottom line of his form for verification, and then hoofed it back to him. “Just send that to the staff ponies waiting by the main stage, and I’ll be by later on.”
Home Grown nodded with a smile and left the booth. Meanwhile, the mare was practically prancing with glee as she turned her attention back to Canvas. “Ohmigosh, he loved my rose design! He didn’t even ask for any alterations!”
“Hey, I’m not surprised there,” noted Canvas confidently. “You really think he’s going to alter a winning piece?~”
“Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet…” Even with her thankful smile, Flamingo tried to keep herself focused. “We need to get ready as well. Since Home Grown is good with the design, all we have to do is get to our station and make sure all the paperwork is complete.”
“Sounds good!” While Cherry Bomb was left alone with her writhing client, Canvas picked up his art bag to hang over his shoulder. He also took the handle of Flamingo’s toolbox with his muzzle, while the mare used her magic to get the rest of her equipment. In an attempt to hype her up a bit, Canvas placed her kit on his back before asking, “So Flamingo, what’re you planning to do when you get that ten thousand bit prize? Add some more renovations to your shop?”
“Nope,” she said without hesitation while exiting the booth and waving Cherry Bomb goodbye. “I already have plans for what to do the instant I get that check, and it’s the best incentive I can think of.”
“Oh, really now?” Canvas followed her as they trotted back down the packed aisle of the convention center. With his smile growing more curious, Canvas perked a brow. “And what might that be?”
Flamingo Fire continued to look ahead as she spoke with a smile. “Finishing what I started all those years ago…”
It was now just past eleven AM, the sun now pounding down surprisingly hard on Baltimare. Troy had stopped flying around an hour ago, needing to rest his wings after soaring around the cityscape multiple times. He wasn’t sure what he was thinking when he tried to get an aerial search of the city for his husband, but he was still upset that it didn’t give him any results. Instead, all that he was left with was a pair of burning lungs, and a very strong possibility of sporting some nasty sunburn by the time he went to his next dress rehearsal.
“Jeeze, how hard can it be to find an artist in this city?” Troy sighed to himself as he walked alone down the Baltimare walkway bordering the sealine. He wanted to hunch his head low in tiredness, but the gryphon tried his hardest to keep note of his surroundings in case anything stuck out. “Seriously, I know that summoning wasn’t for me, but could I at least get a friggin’ break after--”
“Wait a minute, are you Troy?”
The gryphon’s head perked up upon hearing an unknown voice call out for his name. By that point, Troy was fairly close to the Baltimare Convention Center, and was within sight of a particular zebra who had gone out for a donut run. “I thought that was you!” said Marzo with a smile, not minding Troy’s weirded-out expression from seeing a tattooed zebra trotting up to him with a box of donuts on his back. As he looked the gryphon up and down, Marzo smirked to himself and nodded his head in approval. “Wow… I’m not gonna lie, your husband’s photos did not do you justice~”
“Wait, what?” Troy grew wide-eyed, and he walked up to him without hesitance. “You mean you saw Canvas?”
“Yeah, of course!” Marzo was smiling wide as he pointed a hoof towards the large convention center behind him. “He showed up to the tattoo convention yesterday and met up with Flamingo Fire. He explained everything to me and our friends, and we’ve been helping him try to get his Friendship Mission solved. And I gotta say, you have a really sweet husband, Mister Clawston.”
“Oh, thank you so much!” That compliment was more than enough to make Troy blush with a bashful smile. However, Troy was quick to shake his head in an attempt to keep his focus. “Wait, wait! So… are you telling me that Canvas has been at a convention this whole time!? I flew past that thing like, five times in a row!”
Marzo chuckled with a head-shake of his own, then motioned for the gryphon to follow. “C’mon, man. I’ll see if we can find him before the big competition starts.”
“Wait, a competition?!” Though grateful for such a coincidental break in regards to his search, Troy looked pretty alarmed considering where they were headed. “Okay, what actually happened yesterday?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll explain on the way.” As the two walked in tandem to the convention center, Marzo took a moment to smile up at the gryphon. “By the way, would it be alright to get an autograph from you sometime? My boyfriend Eirjan is a huge Bridleway fan, and he’d lose his mind if he knew you were here today.”
Troy blinked before looking away, and muttered to himself, “Who the heck has Canvas been hanging out with?”
Inside the convention center, a large stage had been erected to stand prominently over the middle of the spacious ground floor. Metal music continued to rumble out from the speakers above, while various sideshow performers adorned the stage for the cheering audience below. A stunningly beautiful mare covered in tattoos was standing upfront while holding a longsword in her hoof; and as she leaned her head back with her muzzle opened wide, the roaring applause didn’t seem to affect her concentration in the slightest while sliding the sharp metal effortlessly down her gullet. Meanwhile, at both sides of the sword-swallower, twin stallions in black leotards worked in unison as they juggled flaming bowling pins without any protection.
“Holy crap…” Canvas’ head was peeking out from the stage curtain, his jaw agape from the dangerously impressive feats happening for the audience. But despite how eye-catching the displays may have been, Canvas quickly retreated backstage before shuddering involuntarily. “Man, I bet Troy wouldn’t mind learning a skill like her’s...”
Much to Canvas’ surprise, it turned out that the actual competition wasn’t happening out in the open like he expected. Instead, there were six small tents that were built across the backstage area, which were meant to give the artists and clients privacy during the actual tattooing process. Even though the idea seemed weird at first, it ended up making sense when Canvas found out the actual judging process was meant to be done blind. Since the winner was to be decided solely by the art itself -- without any knowledge of who actually made it -- Canvas was even more hopeful that Flamingo Fire’s thorny rose would stand out amongst the competition.
While a large package of bottled water was lugged atop his back, Canvas was smiling when he trotted inside of Flamingo’s assigned tent. “Alright, here’s the water! It wasn’t missing, it was just misplaced by staff.”
“Oh, thank goodness!” Flamingo sighed in relief as she got up from her stool, and floated the package off Canvas’ back with her magic. “Thank you again for checking for me. I’ve already been getting fidgety about everything going smoothly, and I didn’t want to leave my tent unless absolutely necessary.”
“I totally understand what you mean.” Canvas helped her load the bottles inside the small minifridge nestled between Flamingo’s seat and the empty tattoo table. “And believe me, I want you to win this cash prize just as much as you do.”
Just outside Flamingo Fire’s tent, Home Grown had just come back from the bathroom with a satisfied sigh. But just as he was about to open the tent flap, the stallion paused when he overheard Canvas and Flamingo’s conversation inside.
“So, you already have an appointment set up with the surgeon?”
“Yep! He’s supposed to be one of the best gender reassignment specialists in all of Equestria. It’s been tough being on the waiting list for so long, but he’s been nothing short of supportive.”
“Hey, I don’t blame you for feeling that way. I’m just glad you have the chance to afford the procedure.”
“I know, right? I swear, I wish I invested in bottom surgery first before all my facial reconstruction.”
“Don’t be, it looks amazing! Seriously, you pass incredibly well.”
Home Grown grew wide-eyed and his head reeled back in shock, his reveal resembling the kind of reaction expected from a character in a very poorly-aged comedy. Unfortunately, that expression quickly morphed to that of disgust, before the stallion trotted away from the tent with an angered grimace. “Oh, for crying out loud!”
His outburst could be heard from inside the tent, prompting Canvas and Flamingo to pause their conversation to look over at the door-flap. “Hmm?”
Back out at the convention floor, Troy was standing by the entrance with his eyes bulging out of his skull, and his beak hanging agape. His left eye twitched uncomfortably as he looked around the massive convention floor, staring at the multitude of ponies he never would’ve encountered in his regular life. Ponies may have had wary opinions at best about things like tattoos or excessive piercings, but it was a whole different thing for someone who was raised in the ultra-conservative Gryphon Kingdom. Sure, Troy may have broken apart from his culture fairly easily due to being gay, but that didn’t stop his upbringing from seeing all those body modifications like they were going to be contagious. “…This is where Canvas has been hanging out?” he asked with a worrisome wince.
“Oh, don’t be so paranoid,” said High Flier, who was standing beside Marzo and shooting Troy a teasing smirk. “I promise you, none of us got any needles near him, alright?~”
“Dude, come on!” Marzo gave his apprentice a warning nudge with his elbow, and tried to speak more assuredly for the sake of Troy’s frazzled expression. “Seriously though, we mostly just showed him the ropes about how we perform our craft. He actually knew Flamingo Fire from back at that Canterlot art exhibition you guys attended.”
Troy’s head reeled back. “Wait, seriously?”
“Yeah, I know, right? We were all surprised by the coincidence as well! But even then, Canvas has really been learning a lot about tattooing since yesterday.”
The zebra smiled pridefully, while Troy was left to look away from him and High Flier with his eyes repeatedly blinking. The gryphon glanced back around the venue, his expression struggling to look less put-off by the event’s inked clientele. “Wow. I… I’m not sure how to respond to that…”
Seeing how uncomfortable Troy was getting, Marzo and High Flier shared similarly wary glances back at one another. The pegasus was the first to look back at Troy to ask, “Hey, uhhh… You’re not, like… against it or anything, are you? Because Canvas said a lot of really nice things about you, and I don’t want this to be a red flag on your end.”
“Whoa, whoa, WHOA!” Troy was quick to dismiss such an assumption with his claws raised in sincerity. “I’m not against Canvas learning about tattoos and stuff! I mean, he is an artist, and… I’m not gonna lie, this definitely seems like the kind of venue he’d go to for a Cutie Mark mission…”
Despite how truthfully that assurance was spoken, Troy still paused for a second upon hearing it out loud. Regardless, he shook his head with a brief exhale before continuing. “I mean… It’s still a lot for me to adjust to, but… I suppose Canvas was the same when he first came here, right?”
The two tattoo artists shrugged with reluctant nods, not disagreeing with the gryphon’s assumption. Meanwhile, Cherry Bomb showed up just in time to take notice of Troy with an elated smile. “Oh my gosh, you’re Troy, right?” When he turned around to see the white unicorn, she quickly put her hoof out to introduce herself. “It’s great to see you in the flesh! Canvas told us so much about you. My name is Cherry Bomb.”
“Oh, umm… Hello there.” Troy gave a slightly less hesitant smile while shaking the mare’s tattooed hoof. As he looked around at the three artists, Troy had to ask. “So, all of you were hanging out with my husband, huh?”
“Don’t worry, we were gentle on him,” said Cherry with a jeering smirk. “Also, we’re all pretty sure that he and Flamingo are already becoming good friends.”
“Yeah, totally!” added High Flier with a nonplussed smile of his own. “I mean, if that whole Cutie Mark thing isn’t about her, then that map might just be broken or something.”
Since he had only just arrived at the convention center, Troy could only shrug while nodding in acceptance of such an idea. The name Flamingo Fire did ring a bell for the gryphon, although he couldn’t necessarily pin down any specifics. And since her friends were all present with curious smiles on him, Troy ended up trying to ask, “Well, uhhh… if that’s the case, then I wouldn’t mind hearing what happened since--”
“HEY!! GET THE BUCK OFF ME!!”
That enraged shout from behind the curtains may have been muffled enough for most of the convention center to miss; but since Troy and the artists were close enough to the stage to hear Home Grown’s voice, they all whipped their heads towards the source just in time to hear Flamingo scream out, “Please, you can’t just leave me like this! THIS ISN’T FAIR!!”
Marzo, Cherry, and High Flier all gasped fearfully before running off, making a beeline straight towards the backstage with Troy running in tow. “W-Wait up, I’m coming too!”
Meanwhile, behind the curtain, Home Grown was furiously trying to kick away Flamingo’s pink aura as it tried to grab his ankle. Canvas tried to block the stallion’s escape route by standing before him on his hind-legs with his hooves in front of him; his expression bordering between worry for Flamingo’s distressed look, and unbridled anger that left his teeth tightly clenched. Since none of the convention staff were present to witness the unruly behavior, Flamingo Fire was basically on her own as she desperately tried to keep her client at bay. “Home Grown, PLEASE!!” she pleaded, the corners of her eyes already beading in worry. “You already signed the paperwork!”
“BUCK YOUR PAPERWORK!!” With a profound kick of his hoof, the stallion managed to kick away her aura and free his hoof. Canvas tried to lunge in and stop Home Grown, but was unfortunate enough to receive a strong head-butt square in the chest. With a pained “OOF”, Canvas collapsed to the floor with his hooves clutched to his chest, his breaths now severely limited in harsh wheezes. Just as Marzo and the group were able to rush in and see the altercation, Home Grown got up to Flamingo’s face and screamed, “I’m not gonna ruin my body with something made by a BUCKING TRANNY!!”
P’TOO!!
After spitting in Flamingo’s face, Home Grown was only able to see for a split-second upon turning around. Of course, that was because of the avian claw that instantly struck the stallion’s face, delivering a punch brutal enough to knock Home Grown out cold in a single hit. The pony fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes, already growing a nasty shiner over his left eye. Troy didn’t even realize what he just did until he stood over the stallion with his claw still clenched; even upon reflection, however, Troy looked ungodly pissed as he shouted down at the unconscious bigot, “DON’T YOU EVER TREAT A WOMAN LIKE THAT!!!”
If Canvas had been paying attention to his husband in that moment, he likely would’ve been freaked-out at how much Troy sounded like his Dad. But instead, Canvas struggled to get back on his hooves so he could check on his friend. “Flamingo! Flamingo, are you--”
As soon as she wiped that loogie from her cheek, Flamingo Fire bolted away from the group with tears streaming down her eyes. Canvas instantly ran after the mare, her sobbing cries echoing loudly across the backstage. Marzo and the others began to run off as well; but unfortunately, the artists and Troy were all quickly caught up in a couple strong auras of blue magic.
“Alright! Alright!” Just in that moment, two police ponies in uniform walked up to the group, taking notice of Home Grown still lying unconscious on the floor. One of the officers was carrying an annoyed grimace as he glanced over at the tattooed individuals, already looking like he was assuming some incorrect things about what may have happened. “Now just what the hay happened here?!”
“That guy assaulted our friend in a blatant hate crime!” Cherry Bomb may have been restrained by the police, but she made that claim confidently enough to make them turn their attention towards her. With that, the mare motioned down towards a randomly-placed stool right beside Home Grown, which Troy knew wasn’t there just seconds earlier. “That jackass tried to run off after spitting on Flamingo, but tripped and hit his head on the stool! Ask any of us!”
Troy was staring at the mare wide-eyed, but didn’t even think of trying to say anything that went against her claim. Marzo and High Flier nodded their heads towards the officers, with the zebra saying, “Yeah, that’s exactly what happened! The dumbass should’ve been paying attention to his surroundings.”
High Flier made sure to shoot Troy a smirk while winking in solidarity, which the gryphon accepted with a nod before the cops could glance over at them. Troy quickly looked down at his claw, and sighed in relief when he saw his knuckles didn’t appear bruised by that knockout punch he delivered. Therefore, the gryphon was nodding right alongside the others as he spoke. “Uhhh… Yeah! He also knocked my husband down to the floor, but ran off before I could grab him.”
The two cops looked at each other for a moment, and then down at the pony laying motionless on the floor. The two unicorns had their muzzles skewed for only a moment, before giving some health-hearted shrugs with their hoofcuffs drawn. “Well, we did overhear a slur being thrown out from outside the curtains…”
While Home Grown was knocked-out cold, his hooves were tightly restrained by the pairs of cuffs. But before Marzo and the others could sigh in relief, one of the cops pointed at them with a stern, “BUT! We still need to take statements from all of you before being released!”
Though none of them were willing to complain after the transphobe was dealt with, the four all groaned in disdain with strong eyerolls.
“Flamingo… Flamingo, please talk to me!”
Canvas was close to tears as he stood outside the ladies room, its door locked shut to keep him from intruding on Flamingo’s privacy. Unfortunately, Canvas could still hear the mare’s muffled sobs from the other side. The stallion had both of his hooves pressed up against the door, but could only hang his head with a pained look while standing on his hind-legs. “I’m so sorry,” he said with a heartbroken quiver of his muzzle. “Flamingo, I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to talk about all that stuff for him to hea--”
“SHUT UP!!!” shrieked Flamingo from the other side of the door, prompting Canvas to reel back with a scared look. The stallion winced with his eyes tearing up, but he kept his muzzle tightly closed with a quiver. His ears dropped down in shame when he heard the mare’s voice struggling to choke out between sobs. “Please… Please just… Just leave me alone…”
Canvas wished more than anything that he could respect Flamingo’s wishes; but when he glanced up at a nearby clock on the wall, he cringed when he saw the minute hand already nestled between eight and nine. He closed his eyes with a hoarse sigh, knowing that he had to do something to keep Flamingo from leaving the competition less than twenty minutes away. Even so, Canvas was sure that if he tried to bring it up outright, she would likely scream at him with the same anger that transphobe had earlier. Not to mention, Canvas wasn’t sure what he could actually do to help when her assigned pony was being carted off by police.
Nevertheless, Canvas took a deep breath before reopening his eyes. “Flamingo… I’m just going to say this once, alright? If you really don’t want to talk, I completely understand. Believe me, I’d be just as upset as you are right now.”
Canvas heard a bitter groan through the door, which made him wince worriedly. He was sure that Flamingo wasn’t a fan of hearing such a basic statement, but his expression grew more determined as he kept speaking. “But I really… really do not want you to give up, Flamingo Fire! I’ve seen how talented your work is, and I know that you can win that competition! And I’m not just saying that to make you feel better, okay?! I’m saying that because you’re an amazing artist, and the last thing I want to do is see you lose this chance!”
Canvas closed his eyes with an awkward grimace after saying that last part, hopeful that he didn’t get too insistent for Flamingo’s liking. He really didn’t want her to give up on her dreams, but he was fully aware of how vaguely the two could be considered ‘friends’. Sure, they certainly bonded a lot the previous day (especially after their smoke session later that night), but that didn’t mean Canvas had the right to give Flamingo any kind of pep-talk. Still, since he was the only one present to try and console her, he tried to remain as hopeful as possible while listening to Flamingo’s sniffling through the door.
“... I… I get that you’re trying to help,” she muttered with a voice that bordered between a pained whimper, and a bitterly sharp tone of insistence. “A-And I am grateful for that… I really am… But I’m REALLY not in the mood to deal with somepony trying to give me some bullshit words to pass a stupid Friendship Mission!”
“THIS ISN’T ABOUT THE FRIENDSHIP MISSION!” Canvas didn’t want to snap at her so quickly, but he couldn’t let her dismiss his help as he put his hooves back up against the door. “I’m sorry for yelling! I really, really am sorry! But I am NOT bullshitting you about this! Flamingo, are you really going to let some asshole get to you like this!? After everything you’ve managed to accomplish since Canterlot?”
Canvas hoped that his words were getting through to her, but there was no way for him to know when all he could hear on the other side was silence. Regardless, the stallion continued to speak, his tone growing emotional by the passing second. “Listen, I… I know you’ve been through a lot, and… and I know that I can’t compare my own struggles with yours, so I’m not even going to try and insult you by doing so. But I will say this, Flamingo… Even if my Friendship Mission was destined for someplace else, I’ll be damned if I’m going to leave you right now. And you know why that is?”
After a long bout of silence from the bathroom, Canvas closed his eyes with a deep breath before saying, “Because… Because I know that you’ve had your chance in the spotlight taken by me before, and… And I really don’t want to think that I could’ve done something to keep that from happening again, only for you to turn it down…”
Canvas sighed, his head hung low, silently cursing himself for how meaningless his words felt in that moment. If that stupid door wasn’t in the way, Canvas would’ve lunged in to hug Flamingo as tightly as he could and give her all the support she deserved. But since the two were separated, all that Canvas could do was hope that she wouldn’t dismiss his pleas too quickly. As the seconds of deafening silence passed between them, Canvas eventually pulled away from the door to stand on his hooves regularly. He looked away from the door with a worrisome wince, trying his hardest not to glance up at the clock ticking away.
Click
Canvas looked back at the door the moment he heard the knob unlock on the other side. Unfortunately, as soon as the bathroom door reopened, the stallion found himself standing firmly in place in response to Flamingo’s appearance. The mare’s amber eyes were visibly reddened from the tears that matted her cheeks, and her mascara had been smudged badly enough to make her resemble a pissed-off raccoon. Flamingo didn’t say anything at first, and just stared at him with an unamused glare that made him wince. “Alright then,” she stated with an impatient tone that emphasized how little she was giving in to Canvas’ fluff. “Let’s say that you do want to help me out. If that’s the case, how the BUCK do you expect that to happen, huh!? Because as far as I’m concerned, my ten thousand bit prize just left me after spitting in my BUCKING FACE!!”
“That doesn’t mean anything!” pleaded Canvas. “Flamingo, we can still find a volunteer if we--”
“WHERE!?” Flamingo got right up in Canvas’ face with a furious scowl, more tears already stemming at the corners of her glaring eyes. “Where the BUCK are we going to find a pony who can take a six hour tattoo with a bare foreleg!? Are you aware how hard it was to find THAT guy!? Do you remember how many ponies out there already have tattoos on their forelegs!?”
“Th-That doesn’t mean it’s impossible to find somepony!” Canvas stepped back from the livid mare, and held out one of his hooves to keep some distance between them. “Listen, we still have about fif…”
The very moment Canvas took notice of his raised hoof, his eyes instantly widened while his words began to trail off. “... teen minutes… Until…”
Due to how suddenly Canvas’ attitude changed, it took Flamingo a moment to realize why he was staring at his left hoof in silence. When she took a moment to calm herself down and keep from screaming again, her eyes eventually glanced down at Canvas’ foreleg too. But unlike Canvas, whose face was hard to read due to the gears already turning in his head, Flamingo’s expression quickly morphed to a panicked look the moment her eyes widened like his. “Wait… Wait a minute, are… are you…”
The two ponies instantly looked back up at each other, sporting the same expression that said everything their open muzzles couldn’t. Neither of them could say what they were thinking in that moment, but it was obvious from their enlightened stares that they were thinking the exact same thing. Canvas’ cheeks practically exploded with a heavy blush, but he tried his hardest not to appear too fearful while his hoof was still raised. As for Flamingo, her eyes repeatedly blinked before she tilted her head with a confounded look.
“Ummm… Canvas?”
“…Y-Yeah?”
“... How much does your family hate tattoos?”
“... A lot…”
“Oh… is that so?”
“Uh-huh…”
“...”
“...”
“... Are you doing it anyway?”
“Buck yeah.”
By the time Home Grown had finally gained consciousness, he was lugged in the back of an ambulance carriage outside the convention center; however, since he was rightfully restrained by his cuffs and a muzzle guard, he wasn’t able to interfere with the group who gave their statements inside. Even if their testimonies were faker than a politician’s smile, it was doubtful that the authorities were going to press too hard in defense of somepony who committed a hate crime. Because of that, Troy couldn’t help smiling at the artists in appreciation after the police officers dispersed from the backstage.
“Okay, okay…” Due to all the commotion that occurred, members of the convention staff had only now arrived at the scene to take statements of their own. Even though none of the ponies in yellow vests tried to evict Marzo or his friends, there was still a pressing matter at hoof while a pegasus mare was looking through her clipboard. “So, that was Home Grown who was arrested, correct?”
Troy and the others all nodded while standing as a group across from the head staff member. The mare ended up sighing with a disappointed scowl. “Well, if that’s the case, I’m not sure what we can do for Flamingo Fire in regards to this competition.”
“Wait, what?!” shouted Marzo, High Flier and Cherry at the same time. The zebra spoke up insistently. “Wait a minute, you can’t just take her off the bracket after she was assaulted!”
“Yeah!” shouted High Flier with an enraged glare. “What, do you really think you can get away with that without a lawsuit?!”
Before Cherry Bomb could try to shut him up, the staff pony spoke with a more sympathetic tone. “Trust me, this is not something I want to do! I heard from the police what happened, and we’re going to do everything we can to set things right with Ms. Fire! But unless she has a backup pony scheduled for the event, which she doesn’t, then I don’t have any othe--”
“Who says that I don’t?~”
All of them turned around the moment they heard the mare's confident voice. Flamingo Fire trotted into the backstage with a determined, albeit freshly re-makeuped smile on her face. Her eyes may have been a little red still, but she didn’t appear too overwhelmed while Canvas was walking in beside her. Troy’s eyes shot wide-open the moment he saw a couple of papers held in Canvas’ mouth, which were handed to the head staff pony by him.
“Here you go,” said Canvas with a blush and a nervous smile. “Ummm… I hope that’s everything, ma’am.”
The mare read through Canvas’ application forms with a studious eye, not seeming to notice the gawked stares that Flamingo’s friends were all giving to the stallion. Troy looked especially wide-eyed while looking at his husband with his beak agape. Canvas flinched the moment he saw Troy, not having noticed him during the initial assault. But as the gryphon stood in pure bafflement, Canvas’ blush deepened immensely before he squirmed in guilt.
“Uhhhh… Heh heh heh… Honey?” asked Canvas in the most sheepish tone of voice the gryphon ever heard. “I… I really think we need to talk…”
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Good on Canvas for stepping up
10286990
Yeah, I know. Brief moment of panic, but in any other story with any other two characters... well.
Wow... yikes. Like seriously. Bastard of a stallion. So much for peace love and harmony eh? Must have missed the memo.
Also, in totes agreement with you on J.K. She's a passable author, but not the world's greatest human being.