Seeing how many empty glasses were in front of him, Troy was surprised how weak Equestrian alcohol really was. Even after drinking so many different glasses of various drinks, Troy didn’t even feel the slightest buzz. As the bartender started pulling the empty glasses away--giving an obvious glare to the Gryphon for taking advantage of an open bar like this--Troy sighed and looked back to the crowds.

Through the large array of different ponies in fancy outfits and garments, the Gryphon was finding it difficult to see where Canvas could be among them. Even though he didn't take much notice of what was happening around the bar, he still recognized the technicolor mane in his eyesight as Rainbow Dash sat at the bar beside him.

"Hey Troy,” said the Pegasus before holding a hoof up for the bartender. "Yo, barkeep! Get me whatever my buddy's drinking!"

As she pointed to Troy, the bartender reluctantly made two more Sea Breezes, levitating the drinks to them while still glaring at the Gryphon. Seeing what Troy had been drinking, Rainbow Dash looked over to him with a skeptical smirk.

"Really, dude? A Sea Breeze? Seriously, that's something Fluttershy would drink!"

"Well,” replied the Gryphon as he picked up his glass, "I'm not drinking it for the buzz. I just wanted something that tastes alright."

Seeing him down his glass, the Pegasus mare shrugged as she drank hers as well. Even though she'd rather have something stronger, Troy wasn't kidding when he said it tasted good. Letting the sweetness and strong taste of vodka hit her tongue, Rainbow Dash finished her drink before looking over to Troy. Seeing him eying the crowd again, Rainbow looked over for a couple seconds before she said, "Canvas is by his exhibit."

"Oh, thanks."

After thanking her, Troy looked over and saw that the aqua pony was by his paintings again, although Canvas seemed to be on edge about something before a few ponies walked up to him. As Troy looked on for a few seconds, he suddenly realized that Rainbow Dash knew what he was doing, making him turn back to see the mare grinning at him. Not wanting to prove anything and build up her cocky attitude, Troy stammered a bit as he tried to disprove her assumptions.

"I wasn't… I… I… I was just trying, like--”

"Dude, cut the denial!” blurted the mare as she held out a hoof to him."I think we both know what's going on."

Troy groaned as he looked back across the bar away from Dash, not wanting to get in this discussion. "Seriously, can't I just have a drink in peace? Why are you so insistent on digging into me about this?"

"About what?" Rainbow asked as she kept a skewed eyebrow. "I'm just trying to keep conversation."

"Oh, don't give me that!" Troy turned back to the mare as he continued, "Ever since that slip-up at the sports bar, you keep trying to bring up little hints and jabs about me and Canvas, and it's really getting on my nerves!"

Rainbow Dash sighed as her smile dropped. "Listen Troy, I'm not trying to jab at you or anything. I'm just trying to point out something you might not realize yourself."

Troy face-clawed and tried to comprehend why Rainbow was talking to him like this. Resting his forelegs on the bar, Troy kept his face in his claw as it propped his head up. "Rainbow, please stop making assumptions like this. It is really annoying."

"Oh come on!" said the Pegasus, her tone starting to get more insistent. "Do you really think this is just an assumption? Dude, I've seen what you've been doing ever since you joined my crew, and from what I've seen, I think it's pretty apparent you like Canvas."

Troy groaned and rubbed his temples with his claws, not wanting to listen to his boss talk about his personal life.

"I'm not just talking about the sports bar--which I may remind you, I never brought up since I'm your friend,” said Rainbow Dash as she looked at him.

Knowing that she really hadn’t brought up that moment at the bar since it happened, Troy lowered his claw as he looked toward her, keeping a stern tone on his face as she continued.

"Ever since you joined my crew, you spend almost all your free time with Canvas. I mean, I spend a lot of time with my friends too, but I don't spend every day off with just one of them! I'm not trying to imply anything, but it really seems like you care about him."

"Well, of course I do!" said Troy with an obvious tone in his voice. "I saved his life, remember? I wanted to make sure he got better, and then when he did, he turned out to be a great guy."

"Uh-huh,” said the mare with a smirk on her face, "and how about that wingboner you got today?"

"What?!”

Even though he knew Rainbow could say things rather bluntly, he didn’t expect her to go for that kind of blow at him.

"Oh don’t give me that!" Rainbow protested. "You almost knocked out Fluttershy when your wings shot out like that, and don’t try to deny it!"

"Oh, for crying out loud, can you just shut up about this?!" As Troy looked over to Rainbow, he was beginning to look angry as he glared at her. "Gryphons don't even get those, that's a Pegasus thing!"

Despite how angry Troy was getting, Rainbow Dash only kept a look that said, "Are you kidding me?" After a few seconds of her stare, Rainbow opened her mouth as she spoke in a stern tone of voice. "Dude, I'm not a moron. I was best friends with a Gryphon. I know how the Gryphon body works, and I know what you just said is a lie. You got a wingboner."

The mare turned back to the bottles in front of her as Troy groaned again. Gripping his claws on the table, Troy was just about to leave when he heard Rainbow Dash ask one more question.

"Troy… remember when you told me why you wanted to be part of the Weather Patrol?"

Even though Troy didn’t want to listen to any more of the mare's words, Troy kept himself in his stool, breathing out slowly before he answered the question, "Yeah. I… I wanted to be more social. And I am."

"Sort of."

Surprised that she would say something like that, Troy looked at Rainbow Dash in confusion as she turned back to him, keeping a small smile on her face as she spoke.

"Troy, I know you just joined my crew so you could look over Canvas at first, which I allowed because I wanted to make up for that storm. But the more time you spent working for me, I saw that you've been there for him even after he was healed. Even after he managed to get a good life for himself, you still stood by his side whenever you could. And yeah, you have been more social around town and stuff, but I noticed something about you when you're with other ponies."

Now looking at her in curiosity, Troy stayed in his seat as Rainbow Dash continued, "I've noticed that whenever you're with other ponies, like my crew or Lyra and Bon-Bon, that you're usually pretty neutral. I mean, you smile here and there, but not nearly enough for me to see that you're actually happy. However, whenever I see you with Canvas, or talking about Canvas, or even thinking about him, I always see a smile on that beak."

As Rainbow Dash kept her smile, which actually looked a lot warmer than it usually did, Troy just sighed before he replied in a slightly irritated tone, "Okay, so what's your point?"

"My point,” said Rainbow as she kept smiling, "is that I can see that Canvas makes you happy. Happier than anypony else around here. I'm not trying to make fun of you, or criticize you or anything like that. I'm just being honest… That stallion makes you happy, and you should know that."

With that, the cyan mare got off her stool, leaving Troy at his spot at the bar. As Troy sighed in relief, he looked back around the mass of ponies in the ballroom. Not wanting to think about what Rainbow Dash just told him, the Gryphon's gaze slowly went back to Canvas's display. Looking over, Troy could see Canvas chatting with a few ponies, actually laughing a little as he talked about his art.

Even though he couldn’t hear what Canvas was saying from this far, Troy could still see that the pony was looking a lot happier. Thinking about all that the stallion has managed to do and overcome to reach this point, Troy sighed as he admired how great Canvas looked right now. Before he realized it, a small smile grew on his beak while looking at him, appreciating how far his best friend has come since that first day. With his attention on Canvas, Troy didn’t notice Rainbow Dash next to him again, sneaking up to the Gryphon before whispering in his ear.

"Told ya!"

Troy quickly swiped his claw in her direction in both surprise and annoyance, missing her as she speedily darted off, laughing. Getting sick of everything around him, Troy decided to stretch his legs, leaving from his stool while the bartender silently cheered to himself in relief.

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Glimmer Heart looked up to the clock on the wall to see it was almost eight, grinning to herself when she knew the main event of the night was about to begin. Knowing how much money could be raised after this, Glimmer Heart cleared her throat as she stood in the middle of the ballroom by the statue. Levitating a microphone with her aura, Glimmer tapped the end a few times with her hoof, the sounds emanating around the ballroom as the ponies turned their attention to her. Seeing that she had everypony's attention, Glimmer Heart kept her horn lit as she began to speak into the microphone.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, I would like to thank everypony here for coming to this gallery. Every year, this event is held to showcase the best and brightest in the Equestrian arts, and it has always been my greatest pleasure to meet so many new, shining artists."

As Canvas stood by his artwork with a blush on his face, Glimmer Heart kept her caring smile to the crowd as she continued to speak.

"Because of this, I am honored to present the highlighting pieces of the six artists displayed for tonight."

Glimmer Heart's horn grew brighter as she turned her attention to the first collection of artwork, a white unicorn mare with a blonde mane standing proudly beside her.

"From Manehatten, I would like to present Gemini's piece, titled Heart of the City."

Using her pink aura, Glimmer Heart slowly opened the curtain displaying Gemini's biggest piece, a large painting of the Manehatten skyline. While the skyline was painted in a pitch-black with blue windows in a minimalistic fashion, the white background carried a large image of a pink heart, rising above the city like a sun. Looking at the large piece, Canvas thought the piece was rather striking, although a bit clichéd to be honest.

Glimmer Heart then walked over to the work of the second unicorn mare, a powder-blue pony with a purple mane in pigtails. While most of her paintings were adorned with enough glitter to make Pinkie Pie proud, it was done in a surprisingly tasteful fashion as the pink aura enveloped her curtain.

"From Las Pegasus,” said Glimmer, "here is Glitter Shine's painting, titled Shining in the Night."

Opening the curtain, many ponies looked in admiration as they saw a large painting of one of Las Pegasus's most well-known casinos, The Pharaoh, standing against the night as it shone against the Pegasus Strip. Canvas was especially impressed when he saw how the golden glitter was used against the large pyramid-shaped building, making it look like a natural part of the Las Pegasus cityscape as it glittered around the ballroom.

As Glimmer's aura reached the third curtain, many of the ponies turned their attention to the third mare, a yellow unicorn with a matching blonde mane in an expensive-looking green dress.

"From Appleloosa", began Glimmer Heart, "This is Country Comfort's piece, titled Buffalo Roam."

Opening the curtain, Glimmer revealing a large detailed painting of one of the buffalo migrations, which showed them running through the apple orchards in the brightest colors imaginable. Reminding Canvas of the old-fashioned paintings he's seen in traditional places, he was impressed to see a depiction of something that happens so quickly be made in such detail. As the mare stood with a light blush, Canvas wondered how long it took her to get all the little details just right.

Before he could think much about it, Canvas noticed the fourth curtain about to be opened, as the last unicorn mare stood anxiously by her work. Wearing a thick pair of fake glasses and a red, plaid scarf that clashed with her green coat, the mare kept her pink mane within her grey fedora as Glimmer introduced her.

"From Portlandia, I would like to show Vintage Vinyl's piece, titled Mane Stream."

As Glimmer Heart opened the curtain, many of the ponies stared in confusion or unease as they saw the unicorn's painting, which displayed what looked to be a pure-black stallion trying to pull himself out of a raging blue river against a red sky. Looking closer, Canvas saw that the river wasn't supposed to be water, as he noticed many different objects making up the blue surface the pony was pulling himself from, including a bunch of newspapers and garbage. While Canvas wasn't sure what to think of the meaning behind the painting, he could tell that it was at least an interesting one to look at.

Glimmer Heart then walked over to the wall of artwork by the only unicorn stallion in the exhibit, a surprisingly tall and thin red pony with a pure, white, spiked mane. If it wasn't for the large amount of hair gel or the piercings along both his ears and nose, Canvas would've thought of him as being kinda cute.

"From Baltimare,” said Glimmer as her magic went around the curtain, "here is Flamingo Fire's piece, titled Within Darkness."

Glimmer opened the curtain, making many of the ponies gasp as they saw Flamingo's painting. Showing the inside of a dark alley, the painting carried the image of a bloodied pony walking toward the viewer with a knife in its mouth, while a large cross-shaped scar went across its grinning face. While Canvas definitely didn’t expect to see a piece that dark to be displayed here--despite how macabre a lot of Flamingo Fire's other paintings looked--he had to admit that it looked pretty cool. Looking around to the crowd of Canterlot-type ponies with shocked looks on their faces, Canvas struggled not to laugh as he saw how uptight this crowd really was.

"And finally…”

As Glimmer Heart walked over to Canvas's display, the Earth Pony stood proudly with a smile on his face, looking at the crowd of ponies as they stared in confusion or curiosity. Even though he hoped nopony would try to deny he did this like the judges back at the art contest, Canvas kept his enthusiastic smile on his muzzle as Glimmer introduced him.

"From the town of Ponyville, this painting from Canvas is titled… Soaring Through Sound."

With everypony, including Troy, watching enthusiastically, the curtain opened to reveal Canvas's largest painting to date. While many of the ponies either went “ooh,” or “ahh,” or chatted with each other about what was there, Troy could only stare wide-eyed as he looked at the painting.

Looking like an abstract painting at first, the background was flooded with almost every color imaginable, all of them blending together in a sort of tie-dye motif as they swirled around to the highlighting part in the center. In the middle of the painting, among all the blending colors and hues that swirled in harmony, stood the image of a grey and silver Gryphon, with his wings and legs spread out in flight and his beak wide open.

Blushing heavily behind his feathers, Troy realized what Canvas had been painting all this time. Remembering how Canvas looked at him while he was singing Vesti La Giubba, Troy looked at the piece in a speechless state as he saw that his friend painted him, showing how he saw the Gryphon as he sung his heart out that day. Looking at the background, Troy realized that the swirling colors were there to represent his music, and how his voice and dedication helped to burst out so many different emotions and feelings so different from himself. While he may have just been seen as a grey Gryphon to most ponies, Troy found out that Canvas saw him for much more than that, as the pony painted what Troy had inside of him as well.

As the crowds began to move around again between the displays, Troy slowly walked over to Canvas's exhibit and looked at the painting at a closer glance. Looking at the Gryphon in the painting, Troy smiled a little as he recognized the shade of grey on the canvas board. While looking, Troy almost didn’t notice Canvas he walked up beside him, carrying a particularly deep blush against his aqua fur as he saw how Troy was looking at the painting. Glancing over to the worried pony, Troy kept a smirk on his beak while keeping his calm stare, looking back to the painting before he spoke.

"So,” said Troy as he noticed the grey paint that made up the shape of the Gryphon, "when you were looking at that grey slash of paint two weeks ago, you… you saw me?"

Biting his lip, Canvas slowly nodded as he looked away from Troy, feeling extremely embarrassed for waiting until now for him to see this.

"Ye… yeah… It… it just came to me."

As Troy turned back to the stallion, Canvas kept his gaze to the floor as he meekly spoke some more.

"I… I should've told you sooner. I… I’m sorry."

Troy gently placed a claw on Canvas's shoulder, making the pony look up to see Troy smiling down at him. "Don’t say you're sorry. You did a great job, and I'm glad everything worked out for you."

Canvas blinked a few times before finally replying, "Wait… you… you're alright with this?"

"Well, why wouldn't I be?" As Troy spoke, he kept a happy tone of voice as he looked back to the painting. "This is a really good painting, Canvas. Seriously, I'm really impressed by it. Besides…”

Troy turned his gaze back to Canvas, carrying a warm smile on his beak as he continued.

"... It’s really great to know I was your inspiration for this."

As Troy smiled at him, Canvas's blush grew even deeper as he smiled back. After realizing how he'd been feeling about the Gryphon in front of him, Canvas felt his heart beat even faster as he looked in Troy's vibrantly golden eyes. As the Gryphon's eyes peered back at Canvas with warmth and gentleness, the pony felt frozen at the spot as he felt his chest get warmer, wanting nothing more than to be closer to Troy. Before he could say or do anything, Canvas noticed Troy's eyes quickly dart back as his head turned behind him.

"Ooh,” said the Gryphon in an excited tone, "I think Bon-Bon just made more of those caramel things."

Even though Canvas knew by now about Troy's amazing smelling skills, he was still surprised the Gryphon would pick that up as he watched him quickly dart off through the crowds. After losing sight of Troy within the crowd of ponies, Canvas sighed as he looked back down to the ground, his heart feeling heavier as he didn’t want to let him go.

Before he could feel any more heartbroken, Canvas began to take notice as several ponies came up to him, all of whom looked rather interested in his art. Taking a deep breath, Canvas forced out a genuine-looking smile as he looked back up to the ponies, standing tall as he heard their praises.

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After dealing with snooty ponies all night who were quick to criticize any visual imperfections of her food, Bon-Bon was happy to finally see Troy as he came up to her station, looking thrilled to see that her caramel-chocolate candies were just brought out. Since barely any of the Canterlot-type ponies really touched those, since they weren't “visually appealing,” Bon-Bon didn’t seem to mind as the Gryphon started quickly eating them from her platter. Seeing how happy Troy was looking, Bon-Bon cleared her throat to catch his attention before speaking.

"So Troy, how's the gallery going for you?"

"Nod bud." Troy finished chewing on the wad of caramel and chocolate in his beak before swallowing, allowing him to speak clearly. "I mean, it's a bit boring, but I'm really glad I came here with you guys. Did you see Canvas's big painting for this?"

"Well yeah,” said the cream-colored mare in an obvious tone of voice, "I did carry it here from the station, remember?"

Seeing how pleased the Gryphon was looking, a smile came up on Bon-Bon's face as she continued, "I was wondering what you would think about seeing that."

"It's awesome!" said Troy as he reached for some more of the chocolates. "I wasn't expecting him to paint something like that, but it's pretty cool, you know? It's neat knowing I was a big part of his work for this."

As Bon-Bon smiled and nodded, she didn’t notice her wife rush up to Troy, looking upset to see him here of all places. "Troy!" Lyra exclaimed in a frantic tone. "Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be talking with Canvas?"

"I did,” said the Gryphon in a confused tone of voice. "I talked with him about how I liked the painting, and then I came here when I smelled the chocolate being brought out."

While Bon-Bon's eyes opened in surprise that Troy could do something like that, Lyra facehoofed before she began looking around. Noticing something near the center of the ballroom, Lyra turned her head back to Troy, using her magic to wrap his body around in an aura before pulling him with her.

"Come on, birdbrain!" Before Troy could protest or respond, Lyra pulled him away from Bon-Bon's station, leaving the mare utterly confused as she looked down to her almost empty platter. After blinking a few times, Bon-Bon looked back to the crowd as she thought about what Troy said.

"Can a Gryphon really smell that far?"

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Because of the large number of ponies who’d come up to Canvas after his unveiling, the Earth Pony had to move closer to the center of the ballroom in order to not feel so overcrowded. While many of the artists had their own attention from Canterlot ponies regarding their work, none of them measured to the large mass of ponies around Canvas as he stood by the statue.

Among the sea of ponies asking him questions--many of them about his painting techniques, as expected--Canvas noticed the question of one particular mare within the crowd, coming out from an unknown part as they reached Canvas's ears.

"Canvas, what's your inspiration for your big painting?"

Even though he swore he recognized the voice, Canvas couldn’t see who it was until he realized most of the crowd had grown more silent. Having heard the question as well, many of the ponies around grew curious to the answer, waiting for a response as Canvas stood still. Realizing that he should answer, Canvas cleared his throat before looking around, breathing in as he started to speak.

"Well, I… I guess I can say my piece was inspired by my best friend…”

Feeling his heart grow heavier at saying “best friend,” Canvas felt like he should say more, mostly for himself, as he knew how important Troy really was to him.

"He… he found me several months ago… when I lost everything I had. I… I honestly felt like… I could have ended my own life…”

Canvas kept his gaze to the floor to avoid the worried looks and light gasps from ponies in the crowd, biting his lip a little before continuing.

"But, he… he found me… and he saved my life. He had no idea who I was or what happened to me, but… but he still saved me. And he stood by my side ever since."

Knowing how strongly he felt about Troy now, Canvas could feel his eyes moisten as he kept speaking.

"He became the best friend I ever had… and… he was there for me when I needed him the most. I… I honestly don't know what I would do without him.”

With his heart beating in his chest, Canvas wiped his eyes with a hoof to make sure he wasn't crying before he went on.

"I… I don't think there's anything I can do that can fully make up for everything he's done for me. He was always there for me since that day…and…”

And I love him.

Canvas's eyes shot open as that thought shot through his head. Standing silent for a few seconds, Canvas breathed out heavily as he realized how he truthfully felt about the Gryphon. Feeling how truly right that thought sounded in his head, Canvas began tearing up a little before he continued to speak.

"I… I just wish he knew… how… how much I really care about him. Because… because he means so much to me."

While Canvas began wiping his face dry around the ponies listening to him, Canvas didn’t seem to notice his position by the statue, or under the dome for that matter. Since the crowd of ponies blocked his sight, Canvas didn’t realize that on the opposite end from the statue, Troy was standing by himself with his eyes wide-open.

After Lyra dragged him to the spot and said asked Canvas the question, all the unicorn did was tell Troy to stay before walking off, leaving the Gryphon to hear every word Canvas said, like he was standing right next to him. As Canvas started answering more questions from the ponies, Troy stayed in the spot, silent, feeling his beak begin to smile as he realized how important he really was to his best friend.

Meanwhile, Lyra stood proudly by the entranceway of the ballroom, feeling ecstatic at seeing how grateful Troy looked to have heard all that. Seeing how he was smiling in that spot, Lyra almost didn’t notice as two particular ponies walked past her into the ballroom. Catching the glimpse of the shimmering mane from the corner of her eye, Lyra gasped before quickly bowing to the ground.

Soon after, everypony took notice as they hurriedly began bowing as well, letting their gratitude be known as the two alicorns entered the gallery. While Twilight Sparkle may have been at the exhibit near the beginning of the night, the Princess left for a little while for an unknown reason; now, the purple alicorn was back in the ballroom among the honored ponies, as she stood next to her mentor, Princess Celestia.

As the almighty alicorn stood among her subjects, her stunning, multicolored mane flowing around weightless in the ballroom, Celestia slowly raised a hoof to the room, allowing everypony to rise before she spoke in a warm voice.

"Good evening."

Next Chapter: Chapter Thirty-Three: Dream of an Artist Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 44 Minutes