Outside the Ponyville Theater, a small crowd of ponies eagerly waited for the casting to be unveiled. Among the group included a grey pegasus who was standing quietly, with her eyes focused on two different spots: the left pointed at the empty bulletin board ahead of her, while the right gazed up at the skies above. As she waited anxiously, the blonde-maned mare wondered whether the sheet or her new friend would arrive first. Just then, the gryphon flew in from above.

As soon as he landed outside the crowd, Troy shook the sweat off his feathers following his hasty flight. The mare quickly tried to shuffle through the ponies to head towards him. Troy gave an enthusiastic wave as he walked over. "Hey, Derpy! How's it going?"

Derpy gave an equally bright smile back to the gryphon. "I've been pretty good, and Dinky says hi." She turned her crossed gaze back to the crowd, and stared in confusion at the bulletin board and its continued blankness. "Oh man, I can’t believe it's taking so long for the announcements to be made!"

"I know,” said Troy, easily able to see the board due to his height. "It's like the director had no idea what she was going to do for this."

"Probably,” noted Derpy with a light shrug. “I heard that happens sometimes. Do you think she was looking for the right play to include you?"

Troy struggled not to laugh, and rolled his eyes with a scoff. "Oh, yeah right. I really don't think that's gonna happen."

"Oh come on!" jeered the mare, who playfully jabbed at his shoulder. "Troy, you gotta be more confident in yourself! Ever since your audition, she's been keeping you on for every callback! I mean, that first song you did was absolutely brilliant!"

Despite Derpy’s persistent praises, Troy wasn't sure if he was good enough to be among the more experienced ponies around him. While the director definitely looked impressed after his first audition, Troy knew he had some big issues when it came to actually acting. In every callback he was picked for, Troy struggled to memorize his lines, and had no idea about the various stage directions. He knew that his renditions of the given songs were alright, though he’d never heard any of them before in his life. Regardless, Troy felt that being a decent singer wasn't going to be enough to be given a major role.

Well, Troy thought to himself, I can’t say I didn’t try.

The theatre doors opened up, and an earth pony mare with a light-orange coat and poofy white mane stepped out, whom Troy knew to be the director. She shuffled through the crowd with the sheet in her mouth, and waited until the ponies around her stepped back before stepping up to the bulletin board. Once she tacked the paper onto it, she walked back inside without saying a word, seemingly unaware of the impatient ponies pushing themselves to look at the list.

Derpy quickly flew upwards and hovered over the crowd, getting plenty of free space as one of the few pegasi present. Her eyes narrowed in concentration as she leaned in and read the names.

Before Troy could spread his own wings open to join her, the grey mare shrieked out in joy and barreled back towards him. She caught the gryphon off-guard as she tackled him to the ground, hugging him in absolute glee.

“OHMIGOSH!!!” she shrieked out elatedly. "I got the lead I got the lead I got the lead I got the leeeeeeeaaaaad!!"

Troy couldn’t help smiling wide to the mare’s good news, and hugged her back before managing to pry her off his chest. As the crowd dissipated, many of them looked disappointed as they sulked from the list of ponies in the cast; however, there were also a few that happily trotted off with content smiles. Troy made his way toward the board, leaving Derpy to dance around with her squealing still audible. As he bent in to read through the casting, started at the bottom of the list and worked his way to the top, until--

Troy's beak couldn't have dropped any quicker. His name, as clear as day, was at the top of the list alongside Derpy's. His left eye began twitching uncontrollably, his eyes blinking repeatedly in shock. Troy didn't notice at first when Derpy started hugging him again, even as she began cheering and hopping up and down.

"I can’t believe it! We're both leading! We're both leading together!!"

Troy couldn't help himself as he grew a large smile of his own, and he began jumping alongside the pegasus hugging him tightly. Even though he was stunned to say the least, his excitement was unbound at the prospect of his first performance ever being a lead role. Before he knew it, Troy was laughing when he held Derpy up and squeezed her, almost suffocating the mare before yelling out in joy.

"YES! Yes, yes, yes, yes! This is awesome! I can’t wait to tell--"

Suddenly, Troy gasped and dropped Derpy back down. He looked up at the clock tower nearby, his brows raising up in surprise.

"Oh shoot! I gotta get to the train!" After giving Derpy one more big hug, Troy flew off while shouting, "See you on Tuesday, Derpy!"

"Alright, have fun!" Derpy shouted back, waving her hoof while watching him leave. It was surprising to see him disappear so quickly after such big news, but she already knew he had big plans for the weekend. Before he could get out of earshot, she made sure to yell out, “Be sure to tell Canvas good luck on his art show!!”

Troy landed at the train station platform just in time, skidding to a halt with his talons grinding against the wooden floor. His entrance terrified half of the ponies around him, but the sweating gryphon didn’t seem to notice while his eyes were pinned at the train. He pulled out the ticket from his satchel, and was quick to give it to the wide-eyed ticket-collector before stepping on board.

Despite how spacious the train may have been, Troy’s size made him feel rather cramped while scanning the rows of seats he passed. While trying to find his friend, Troy turned around when he felt someone poke at his back.

"There you are, Troy!” Lyra had a relieved smile on her face after catching the gryphon’s attention. “We were wondering if you were gonna make it! Come on, the others are waiting back in the sleeper cars."

The two made their way to the cabin cars, with Troy muttering a quick “Sorry” each time his wings accidentally brushed against somepony in their seat. Once they reached the outside of the sleeper cars, Troy was surprised to find that the entrance doors were to the right. He opened the entrance to find a narrow hallway within, a row of doors on the left side leading into separate rooms. As he followed the unicorn mare, Troy entered one of the rooms where Bon-Bon was sitting by herself. Upon seeing the two, Bon-Bon quickly got out of her seat to hug Troy.

"There you are!" As the steam engines could be heard rumbling from outside, Bon-Bon looked just as happy as her wife about the gryphon’s lucky arrival. Troy looked around in confusion before sitting on the bench opposite of them, but tried to get himself comfortable as the train began to move.

"So, uhhh… where's Canvas at?” he asked before glancing out the window, seeing the Ponyville train station slowly passing his line of sight. “Is he in another car?"

"He's in the room next door,” answered Lyra. "I think he's asleep right now, so it might not be a good idea to wake him up."

"Oh, alright then." With that, Troy leaned back in his bench while Lyra and Bon-Bon chatted amongst themselves.

As the train moved faster along the tracks, Troy looked around the room some more with an appreciative smile. Due to the cabin’s spacious size, he could actually sit comfortably with Lyra and Bon-Bon without feeling like he was in a sardine tin. He could remember how cramped his seat was when he first took the train to Equestria from the Gryphon Kingdom, which was horribly cheap in comparison to this one. Since most equine amenities weren’t made for gryphons, it surprised him to find that something meant for ponies that could be so comfortable. Troy eventually stretched out across the bench with a pleased sigh, and sat in a more laid-back fashion.

"Man,” said Troy as he stretched out his legs, “this is way better than I thought it was going to be."

"I know,” said Bon-Bon, who scooted closer to her wife contentedly. "I’m pretty sure Glimmer Heart upgraded our tickets to make up for that whole Hot Shot incident."

Lyra groaned and slouched on her seat. "Ugh! Please don't remind me of that homophobic jerk! Seriously, I really felt like I was gonna deck that guy if Canvas didn't do it first."

Troy smirked as he recalled that footage he watched, and how many punches Canvas got in such a short amount of time. Considering everything that Canvas went through, Troy had to admire how tough the pony acted through that whole ordeal.

"Yeah, I get what you mean,” he said with a slight shrug of disbelief. “I mean, considering how badly he got her husband, I'm kinda shocked that Glimmer would do something like this at all."

“Well, what was she supposed to do?” asked Lyra while smirking with a tilt of her head. “Even if she went through with pressing charges against Canvas, she’d have to deal with a P.R. nightmare after her husband harassed us. If that recording went out, her reputation would likely be worse off than Canvas’.”

Troy didn’t say anything, but blinked a couple times before nodding in understanding. Sure, Canvas may have beaten that guy to a bloody pulp, but it was doubtful that most ponies would blame him after the way Hot Shot acted. However, his focus was quickly redirected towards Bon-Bon when she gasped in realization.

"Oh! I almost forgot!” Bon-Bon pointed a hoof at Troy and asked, “Did Canvas tell you what happened with them? The last I heard, Glimmer Heart actually divorced him!”

"Wait, what!?" Troy had to jolt his head while blinking wide-eyed. "Holy crap, really!? She dumped him for what he did?"

"Actually no!” Bon-Bon looked just as befuddled as the gryphon, and huffed before saying in addition, “From what I heard, she tried to get him to do couples counseling because of his anger issues. But during their first session, they got in a huge fight in front of their therapist, and he accidentally admitted to an affair!"

"Whoa!" Troy had to hold a claw over his beak to keep from laughing too loud. “Damn, talk about karma! Does Canvas know about that?”

"Well…” Lyra’s muzzle skewed in apprehension, and she turned her head to the door before answering Troy’s question. "We talked to him a little bit at the station, but I don't think he was listening too well. He was, like, really tired when he got here! He kinda looked like a zombie! He was even covered in a lot of paint, but he didn’t seem to notice it."

Troy blinked a couple times, before looking away from the mares with a contemplative expression. "Oh..."

Troy remembered when he last saw Canvas two weeks ago, right after the stallion had that sudden burst of inspiration. Ever since then, Troy wasn't able to see him at all while locked in that studio. While he knew the painting was a big deal for Canvas, Troy wouldn’t have expected him to be working on it the entire time. However, given how intense of an emotional downpour the artist experienced, the gryphon was sure that the isolation was something Canvas needed to do for himself, regardless of the risk.

“Hmmm…” Troy leaned back against the back wall, humming in thought about what Canvas may have done with all that time. Aside from that giant splotch of paint he last say, he couldn’t say he had any idea what the pony made for the gallery. Meanwhile, Bon-Bon cleared her throat to grab his attention.

"So what's new, Troy? We heard that you've been auditioning for the town musical this year!"

Lyra’s face lit up as she stared at Troy expectantly as well. Troy sighed with a roll of his eyes, and tried not to smile too bashfully. "Yeah, I have,” he admitted with a light blush. “In fact, I just got back from the casting announcements today, and I got the lead role!"

The two mares gasped in pleasant surprise, with Lyra hopping out of her seat excitedly. “Whoa, really?! Sweet Celestia, you must have been amazing at the auditions! What's the play? What role do you have?"

"Well, I don't know the play that well…” Despite how happy he was about his theatrical success, he looked away from the two in embarrassment due to his lack of knowledge in the craft. “... but it said I'm playing the Phantom or some--"

Troy jolted from how loudly they gasped that second time. "SERIOUSLY!?” shouted Lyra with her eyes nearly bulging from her skull. “You're playing the Phantom!? I… I can’t believe it! That's amazing, dude!"

Lyra shot forward and hugged Troy tightly, leaving him with a deeper blush that matched his confused smile. Bon-Bon just stared him up and down, needing a moment before saying her own piece. "You know what? I can actually see you playing that really well! I mean, the character kinda works for a gryphon, if you think about it.”

“Actually, yeah!” added Lyra after letting go of Troy. She looked back at her spouse and added, “Plus, Rainbow Dash said he had a great opera voice, so he can probably rock those songs without issue!”

Troy still couldn’t comprehend what exactly was so great about this ‘Phantom’ play, but given how optimistically the mares were raving about his news, he still smiled thankfully while Lyra returned to her seat.

"Well, I honestly never heard of this play before,” he confessed with a brief wince. “We don’t really have musicals back in the Gryphon Kingdom, so I'm kind of nervous about it."

"Oh, don't worry!" Lyra was quick to levitate her luggage bag from the rack above her. As she spoke, she opened one of the side pockets to rummage through her belongings. "I have a cassette of the soundtrack somewhere in my bag. I'll lend it to you if you need it."

"Really?" Though unexpected, Troy’s face lit up upon hearing that detail. Considering how he needed something to occupy his time before Canvas woke up, he shrugged his shoulders before taking the tape from her mint aura. "Well… I guess I can use my walkman to hear what all the hubbub is about..."

For the rest of the day, Troy rested across his bench while listening to the soundtrack through his headphones. Meanwhile, the two mares left the gryphon alone, and occupied their time with a deck of cards Bon-Bon had in her bag. As he listened through the tape, which included the actual play dialogue between songs, Troy could see why the show was so popular to ponies; in fact, after hearing some of the leads’ songs in particular, he was feeling downright excited to try his claw at them himself.

By sunset, Lyra and Bon-Bon were leaning against each other tiredly in their seat. Since he had already listened through the entirety of Lyra’s tape (as well as played back a couple of the songs on repeat), Troy decided to go to the room next door. As he lifted himself up, he caught the mares’ attention and said, "Hey, I'm gonna go check on Canvas, alright?"

"Alright,” said Lyra while snuggling with her half-conscious wife. “And you can keep listening to that tape if you want."

Troy smiled with a thankful nod, and silently left the room so they can have their rest.

Troy slid the door closed behind him, and put the walkman back into his satchel before looking into the next room. From the door window, Troy wasn't able to see anypony on either bench. But as soon as he slid the door open, the gryphon’s brows rose up when he saw Canvas lying on the floor. The artist was splayed out across the ground, still passed-out while using his art bag as a pillow.

Even with the limited light from the window, Troy could see the various colors of paint splattered all over the stallion’s fur. Canvas' long mane, which also had several splashes of colors matted to it, was covering a large part of his face as he slept. Because of that, a few strands blew out every time he exhaled weakly.

Troy was careful to step over the pony, and laid himself down across one of the benches while gazing down at Canvas. Due to how constantly his mane was blowing from his snout with every breath, Troy slowly reached down and pulled a couple strands away from his muzzle. Even as the train passed various structures, which caused dark shadows to zoom past the cabin’s interior, Troy kept his gaze on Canvas while his face was illuminated under the moonlight. The gryphon eventually rested his head on the bench, with his face less than a few feet from the stallion’s. Considering how long it had been since he last saw his friend, Troy couldn’t help staring in fascination from how peaceful the pony looked.

Canvas was resting without a care in the world, which made Troy smile in relief after everything that transpired two weeks ago. Without any tears matting his face, or any feelings of worry or frustration to take away his smile, Canvas simply looked at ease throughout his slumber. The chugging of the train engine, and the clacking of the wheels against the tracks, were the only things that overtook the silence of that moment. That, and Canvas’ calm breathing, which went at a gentle but steady rhythm.

Troy wasn't sure how long he was staring at Canvas, keeping silent as he admired his friend’s serenity. But as soon as the stallion’s muzzle began to twitch, and his eyelids began to flutter open, Troy quickly moved his head back to appear resting more casually.

“Mnnnghhh…” After stretching his back out and yawning loudly, Canvas slowly opened his eyes, looking around before he noticed Troy resting on the bench above him. “Huh… Oh, hey Troy…”

Canvas grunted as he got himself back on his hooves, with his knees wobbling a little from fatigue. Troy moved himself to a sitting position, which left more than enough room for his friend to sit beside him. Canvas slowly sat down beside the gryphon, ignoring the other bench across from them while blinking tiredly. Despite the fact that it was nighttime, Canvas still felt unbelievably tired as he grimaced from the bitter dryness in his mouth. Before Canvas could reach down to his art bag to find a water bottle, Troy handed him one from his satchel.

“Hmm?” As soon as he saw the bottle in Troy’s claw, Canvas smiled weakly and accepted the gesture. "Oh, thanks."

"S' alright,” said Troy with a light shrug of his shoulders. “You look pretty wiped out anyway."

“Yeah, I know…” Canvas took a few large gulps, nearly coughing as soon as he pulled the bottle from his lips. "I guess it’s pretty obvious, huh?"

The artist chuckled a little as he looked down at himself, and saw how much paint was splattered all over him. "Jeeze, I guess I should've taken a shower before coming to the train. I'd hate to think what Glimmer Heart will think when she sees me in Canterlot."

"Honestly,” said Troy while smiling optimistically, "looking like that would probably show her you've been working your flank off. If anything she'd probably admire that."

"You think so?" Canvas ran a hoof through his mane, wincing from how much of a tangled mess it became with the dried paint. "I guess that's the only impression I can hope for right now."

"Hey, don’t worry about it.” Troy relaxed on his side of the bench, and stretched out while keeping some distance from Canvas. “You're gonna be great at that gallery, I know it."

The stallion looked back at him with a gracious smile, not needing to question his friend’s sincerity in the slightest. Meanwhile, the gryphon looked back at him for a moment, before his beak skewed slightly in thought.

"So, Canvas…” He tilted his head curiously, and then asked, “why do you have a long mane?"

"Because I don’t cut it?" Canvas looked to his friend, a sarcastic tone matching his smirk. While Troy didn’t care much for smartass presonses (particularly Rainbow Dash's), Canvas' banter was valid proof that he was feeling a lot better following his rest.

"Well, what I mean is…” Troy noticed a small piece of dried paint, which was barely hanging on to a strand of Canvas' mane. He reached out to pick it away before he continued. "How come you don't cut it? I mean, it's probably a bit of a nuisance for you, isn’t it?"

"Well…” Canvas’ face displayed uneasiness, and his eyes averted from the gryphon while squirming weakly. "The thing is… the last time I had my mane cut, it… it was by my Mom..."

“... Oh…” Troy struggled not to cringe awkwardly as he looked away toward the window. “Right. That… That makes sense, I guess...."

He didn’t want to keep an uncomfortable bout of silence between them, but Troy wasn't sure of what to say. After readjusting the wings on his back, Troy looked back at Canvas and tried rewording his question. "I just meant, like... have you ever thought about cutting it? Or at least, trimming it a bit?”

Canvas slowly ran a hoof down some of the locks of his chestnut mane. Despite the skew of his muzzle, Troy was happy to see a brief smile on Canvas’ face as well.

"Yeah, it can be a little irritating. I've gotten it caught in more than a few things. Plus, it's a bit of a pain to wash, and especially annoying to dry, since it takes forever to do..." While seated on his side of the bench, Canvas sighed before letting go of his mane, and let it fall back across his shoulders. As he looked up to the ceiling, he appeared lost in thought for a moment.

"I guess… I guess that I just didn’t want to… you know... do anything to forget her..."

As another bout of silence began to seep in, Troy sighed once more. Given how sensitive the topic would be to address, Troy hoped that his response wouldn’t be taken badly.

"Hey, it's not like doing something like that will automatically make you forget her. I mean…” During his pause, Troy tried not to feel too distracted from Canvas glancing back at him. “... from what I've heard you say about her, it seems like it would take way more than a manecut to do something like that."

Canvas returned his gaze to the ceiling, but didn’t show any signs of a poor reaction. Pressing his luck, Troy decided to keep going. "Like… it’s obvious that you love your Mom more than anything. Shouldn't… shouldn't having her in your heart be enough?"

Canvas blinked once more, and breathed out slowly while letting those words sink in. He remembered what Troy said about not holding onto the pas. But obviously, Canvas knew that didn't include forgetting his own Mother. Until several months ago, losing his Mom was the worst moment of Canvas' life; but now, after regaining his footing in a new town, the stallion couldn’t deny how well he’d been able to move forward since. And despite all the changes that occurred, Canvas knew that he would never, ever stop thinking about her.

Eventually, Canvas bit his lips and slowly nodded. He looked back at Troy with an appreciative smile, while the gryphon showed the same expression beneath the moonlight. Despite their sensitive conversation, Troy was grateful that the stallion was still in high spirits.

"Yeah, I… I guess so…” Canvas needed a moment after making that response, but made sure to add a sincere, “Thanks."

"Hey, it's alright,” said Troy with a shrug of his head. “I'm just looking out for a friend."

Canvas nodded again, with both of them keeping their smiles and gazing at one another. The stallion observed how bright Troy's golden eyes were shimmering in the dark, which he could only assume was a benefit gryphons biologically possess. Meanwhile, the gryphon couldn’t stop thinking back to how Canvas looked when he was asleep, and how that gentleness was still evident in those bright blue eyes...

Neither one of them said a word during that moment, not that either of them paid much notice to the silence. The shadows from outside kept dancing around the two, but it was ignored just as easily by the two as their increasing heartbeats.

For a split-second, Troy’s head moved forward the slightest bit, as if some unknown force was making him move closer to Canvas. However, the pony quickly flinched before turning his head back to the door, not wanting to show the blooming blush on his face. "I-I-I, uhhh… Is the snack car still open?"

Troy blinked before he shook his head awake, not sure of what happened. "Well, umm… I think it might be?” The gryphon pulled back a little, not seeming to realize he was blushing as well. You... you can go check."

"Yeah! Yeah, I'll go do that. See ya later!"

Canvas quickly hopped off the bench, and threw the door open to rush out into the hallway. After the pony slid the door back behind him, Troy breathed out heavily while seated in the room alone. He looked back at the window with a confounded look, unsure how to explain why his heart was racing like crazy.

His eyes blinked repeatedly, and he had to shake his head a second time to try and clear his head. Not wanting to overthink things and ruin this weekend, Troy eventually pulled out the walkman from his satchel, and put on his headphones to listen to that soundtrack some more.

Meanwhile, Canvas was standing at the open platform between the train cars, his hooves tightly clutching the guard rails as they vibrated from the rumbling engines. He was panting just as heavily as Troy was, and tried his hardest to ignore the impulsive thoughts that went through his head. He clenched his eyes shut, but winced as he struggled to shake the image of Troy's face from his memory. Canvas could only focus on the strong winds gusting past his ears, which he hoped could keep him from hearing his own thoughts. After a brief swallow, the stallion began to breathe at a calmer rate the longer he remained outside.

By the time he managed to feel less flustered, Canvas opened the door to the adjacent train car, and tried to keep his mind blank while trotting past the aisles of seats. Since he could overhear the various chatter and noises from ponies around him, Canvas used that noise to help ignore his thoughts about Troy.

After everything the gryphon had done to help him out, the last thing Canvas wanted to do was endanger their friendship. If anything, losing Troy as a friend was more heartbreaking than that night he spent bawling in his embrace. But alas, as he kept moving forward to find the snack car, Canvas' thoughts slowly devolved to him chanting the same fact in his head over and over.

Troy's your best friend, Canvas.

Troy is your friend.

Just a friend.

… Right?

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 my followers helping me out with this process, as well as Double R. Forrest for their proofreading credits. 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.