While nopony expected the Princess of the Sun to arrive at the art gallery, her presence was an amazing surprise for all the guests there. Despite the alicorn's insistence to just be seen as another guest while going around the gallery, many of the ponies kept themselves silent as they kept their distance from Celestia and Twilight Sparkle.

Even though Canvas had gotten used to being around Twilight over the past few months, to be in the same room with a goddess like Celestia was something he never thought he'd experience. As Canvas stayed nearby his wall of artwork, shaking with anxiousness about being near high royalty, he almost didn’t notice when Troy stood beside him, staring wide-eyed at the Princesses as they walked around the gallery.

While the Gryphon Kingdom was ruled under a monarchy separate from Equestria, Troy couldn’t think of a single Gryphon who would dare disrespect Celestia's ruling, or her powers when it came to raising and lowering the sun. Even though the Gryphon/Equestrian Conflicts had ended peacefully before he was even born, Troy knew there was still some unmentioned tension between older ponies and Gryphons because of those actions.

So now, with the Gryphon in the same room as the Princess of the Sun and her protégé, Troy felt a huge knot in his stomach at how he should act with them around. Looking over to his side, Troy saw that Canvas was looking way more nervous than him, leaving him to try to calm the pony down while Celestia admired Gemini's painting of Manehatten.

"Hey Canvas,” whispered Troy as he reached a claw to the pony's shoulder. Canvas immediately flinched at the touch before he realized it was just Troy, making him breathe hard as he looked up at him with worried eyes. Waiting until he calmed down a little, Troy tried to keep a calm tone of voice as he spoke. "Canvas, are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah,” said the pony in a shaky tone, "I'm just standing by my artwork on the biggest night of my life, waiting for the Goddess of the Sun to look at my achievements. What's to worry about?"

Seeing how flustered Canvas was getting, Troy looked back over to Celestia, who was now looking at Glitter Shine's work before he turned back to the stallion.

"Canvas, c'mon,” said Troy as he tried to give a reassuring tone. “You shouldn't be this worried. It's just the Princess. It’s not like anything bad is going to happen."

"But,” sputtered the pony as he saw Celestia come closer, "what if she doesn’t like my stuff? What if she says something bad about them, and nopony buys my work again?"

Despite how worried Canvas looked, Troy just looked at the pony with the strongest "Are you kidding me?" face he could give, shaking his head slightly before speaking up. "Canvas, do you seriously think that's gonna happen? I understand getting a little paranoid, but that's a bit extreme, don’t you think?"

Canvas kept his worried stare on the Princess, who just left Country Comfort's exhibit on their way to Vintage Vinyl's, before he turned back to Troy.

"I just… I'm really worried about what to do. I mean… I know Twilight was nice to me and everything, but… I jus--”

"Hey,” said Troy as he put a claw to Canvas's shoulder, "nothing bad is going to happen. I'm sure of it."

Canvas breathed in a little deeper as he looked up to Troy. Seeing how calm the Gryphon looked while staring at him, Canvas started to feel a little more at ease. Keeping his claw on the pony's shoulder, Troy couldn't stop staring as he saw how big Canvas's eyes looked, staring back at him with those shining pools of blue, which always looked so interesting to the Gryphon.

Slowly, Canvas's eyes began to relax a little as they started to look half-closed, making him look almost hypnotized as he looked at the burning gold hue of Troy eyes. While there were so many things Canvas wanted to tell Troy, none of them seemed to escape his mind as he smiled, keeping his gaze on the Gryphon he loved.

Slowly, Canvas began to hear the voices of Twilight Sparkle and Celestia as they reached Flamingo Fire's exhibit, making him and Troy turn to see the terrified unicorn before the two Princesses. While Celestia stared at the stallion's painting of a knife-wielding pony with an odd fascination, Twilight looked a little more uneasily as she looked with her.

"Well,” said Twilight as she turned back to Celestia, "it's probably a good thing I didn’t bring Spike with me. This would probably give him nightmares."

Hearing this, Flamingo Fire cringed a little and looked to the ground in guilt. However, Celestia kept her interested gaze on the painting as she spoke in a more optimistic tone.

"You know, I think Luna might enjoy seeing this. She's always been interested in the darker pieces of artwork."

At Celestia's comment, the red unicorn stood proudly once more as he gave a smile to the two, although it made him look slightly more terrifying with his piercings. After giving a kind nod and thank-you to the stallion, Celestia walked forward again with Twilight, making their way towards the wall of artwork made by Canvas.

As the two got closer, Canvas started shaking a little before Troy moved in closer. Feeling the Gryphon's feathers brush against his fur, Canvas started feeling a hundred times warmer and his heart started racing. While he certainly stopped thinking about the two alicorns coming up to them, Canvas was now feeling a completely different form of worry as he felt the warmth of his friend trying to calm him down. Closing his eyes, Canvas breathed in deeply before opening them, seeing Twilight Sparkle smile as she walked up to him.

"Good evening, Canvas,” said Twilight as she looked up to his wall of artwork. "It's nice to see you've been working hard since moving to Ponyville! I'm really glad to finally show your work to Celestia."

Looking up to see Celestia looking at his paintings, Canvas gulped some excess saliva as he tried to think of what to say. Before anything could come to mind, Canvas only stared wide-eyed as the Goddess looked to him with a kind smile. Raising a hoof toward him, Canvas realized that Celestia was offering it for him to shake, making him shake a little as he began to raise his own hoof to her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Canvas,” said Celestia in a kind and warm voice. Even though Canvas had never met her in his life, he instantly felt calmer as she spoke, giving a calm and motherly feel to him as he shook her hoof. Looking up to her, Canvas saw that her smile was just as warm as her voice, looking at him the most genuine look of kindness as he slowly put his hoof down. Wanting to show his gratitude, Canvas gave a small bow to her before he spoke.

"Princess Celestia, it… it's truly an honor to meet you." Raising his head back up with a grateful smile, he turned back to Twilight as he continued, "And it's been an honor to know Twilight as well."

"I'm glad to hear that,” said Celestia as Canvas turned back to her. "And she's told me a lot about you as well."

Upon hearing that, Canvas grew worried, knowing exactly what it was Twilight Sparkle has mentioned about him. Seeing how determined she was about helping out Canvas when he told her about that night, he looked up to the Goddess with unease. The only one he ever told the full story to was Troy, who also stood with concern as Celestia noticed the pony's change in tone. Keeping her reassuring gaze, Princess Celestia looked down to Canvas's art bag, staring in curiosity before looking back to Canvas.

"Is that your art bag, Canvas?"

Looking down to the bag around his shoulder, Canvas nodded as he looked back up to her. Without needing to be asked, Canvas pulled the bag off his shoulder, handing it to her as her shining, white aura picked it up. Carefully opening the bag with her magic, Canvas looked in amazement as the Princess pulled out all the pictures inside, having them shuffle around midair as she glanced at each one. As the pages levitated around her aura, Celestia paused on one particular sketch, making her look with amusement as Canvas realized which one she was holding. Being able to see through the page from his side, Canvas realized that Celestia was holding the sketch that he made of her, the very first picture he drew after leaving Gallop Creek.

With a smile growing on her face, Celestia carefully arranged Canvas's pictures back together with her magic before placing them back in his bag and levitating it back onto his shoulder. With the pony staring worriedly, Celestia looked back over Canvas's paintings with a smile on her face, stopping her gaze on the large painting displayed in the middle. Seeing the Gryphon painted in the middle among the vibrant colors, Celestia looked towards Troy, making his feathers immediately ruffle out at having a Princess look at him. Holding a hoof to her mouth to keep herself from giggling, Celestia turned back to Canvas, while Troy quickly rubbed his feathers back down.

Looking up at Celestia, Canvas had no idea what to do or say. With his heart racing like a jackhammer, Canvas could only stand frozen on the spot as Celestia began to speak in a warm tone.

"Canvas, Twilight has told me about what happened, and it really makes me happy to see you doing so well."

Despite how gracious the Princess sounded when talking about him, Canvas still felt uneasy being in front of somepony who knew what happened to him. However, all of his worries immediately flowed away the instant he felt the Princess's hoof on his shoulder. Looking up to her, Canvas saw that she was looking back with the warmest smile on her face.

"Despite all that's happened to you, you still managed to move forward and accomplish so much in a few months. You really have an amazing talent, and you should be proud of what you've done."

At hearing Celestia's kind words, Canvas felt his eyes start to well up as he smiled at her. Glancing over to his friend, Canvas saw that Troy was looking at him with a small smirk, also seeming proud of him. Looking back at Celestia, Canvas saw her look at his artwork one last time before turning back to him, seeming confident at what she was about to say.

"Canvas, you really are a great artist, and I have no doubt in my mind that you can accomplish so much more.

“Because of that, I would like to ask if you would make a painting for my castle."

Among the large collection of gasps heard from within the ballroom at Celestia's request, Canvas stood frozen in front of the Princess, looking like he was going to faint at any second as he processed what she just said. Shaking in his hooves, Canvas started breathing rapidly as he looked to the ground, unable to come up with any full words to say to the Goddess in front of him.

"You… you-you w-w-w-wan… you want m-m-me t-to…”

Holding a hoof to his face, Canvas almost stumbled forward as he kept looking to the ground, seeing fresh tears fall from his eyes and hit the golden carpet, leaving small dark specks before he looked back up to her. Seeing Celestia keep her caring smile toward him, a smile shakily grew on Canvas's muzzle while tears came down his cheeks, as he slowly put the hoof down from his face. Feeling the carpet underneath him and the tears against his fur, Canvas realized that this was actually happening, that this wasn't a dream. Before he could start breaking down at any moment, Canvas bowed his head again towards Celestia, tears still escaping him as his voice came out in a shaky, yet most grateful tone.

"Your Majesty, it would be an honor."

As the ponies around the ballroom began to cheer--except the other artists, who just stared with dropped jaws--a grey Pegasus stallion with a green mane and large camera stumbled up to them. Seeing that the pony was from the Canterlot Press, Canvas quickly took position next to Celestia with the largest smile on his face, with Troy and Twilight standing next to them. After a quick flash of light, Canvas stood in absolute delight as he looked around the ballroom at everypony cheering, realizing that he’d finally made it.

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After the countless hugs Canvas got from his friends--as well as a few silent stares from the other artists--Canvas sat in pure bliss outside of the gallery, letting the cool air hit his fur while Troy sat next to him, holding him by his shoulder as guests began to leave. After everything was over, Canvas ended up selling most of his paintings that night, including his large one, which was bought by Hoity Toity.

Keeping his eyes closed as he savored the cool night, Canvas held Troy closer to him while he listened to the hoofsteps walk past. As Canvas savored how amazing everything went for him, Troy sat next to him in silence with a smile on his beak, looking down at the pony as he thought about how lucky they both were.

Meanwhile, a few blocks away, Celestia decided to walk back to the castle to appreciate the summer night before heading to bed, as two Pegasus Guards and her Most Faithful Student walked alongside her. While Celestia seemed content with everything that happened tonight, Twilight looked slightly unsure as she looked up to her mentor.

"Princess Celestia, do you mind if I ask a question?"

"What is it, Twilight?" Celestia asked in a calm tone as she looked over to her. While Twilight didn’t want to bring up anything inappropriate after such a nice evening, she still felt like she should ask about Canvas.

"When you were talking with Canvas, you said that you knew what happened to him."

Realizing what Twilight would ask, Celestia's light smile began to drop as she nodded. "Yes,” said the Goddess in a saddened tone, "I did look into what happened in Gallop Creek."

As they kept walking, Twilight saw that her mentor's face was now in a more sullen state, looking forward as her tone of voice came out more upset than before. "I found out what happened to him before he arrived in Ponyville, and… and I also know who hurt him."

"Really?” Twilight said in a heightened tone of voice. "When I asked him about it, he wasn't able to tell me who it was."

Celestia's pace slowed down a little as she looked back to Twilight, her gaze looking more grim as she replied to her.

"After looking into it, I wouldn’t blame him for not speaking about it. Even to a Princess."

While Twilight knew Canvas went through a lot, she didn’t expect Celestia to look this morose as this topic was brought up. Before she could say anything, Celestia continued to talk as she kept walking forward.

"After finding out about who hurt him, I asked Luna to verify the claims given to me from the townsponies in Gallop Creek. After looking through the memories and recollections of the ponies I interviewed, it became difficult for me to figure out what to do."

"What do you mean?" asked Twilight, confused. "If you know who did it, shouldn’t you do something to punish them?"

Celestia stopped walking, making Twilight and the Guards stand still as Celestia breathed in, sighing before she looked over to her student and spoke in a stern tone of voice.

"Twilight, after seeing everything that happened, before and after Canvas left that town, I realized that the issue was a lot more complicated than I first imagined. Even though I'm not sure what will happen in the near future, I can say with the utmost certainty that Canvas won't be attacked like that again."

Despite how confident Celestia looked with that last statement, Twilight still looked at her with confusion before asking one final question.

"I trust that you're right about this, but what does this mean for me? What should I do?"

After a long pause, Celestia placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, holding it there as she spoke to her.

"All that I ask is that you keep an eye out, Twilight Sparkle. I'm not saying anything will happen soon, or even at all. But if anything does happen, I want you to act accordingly. Do you understand?"

Even though Twilight wasn't sure what to do, she still nodded at the Goddess with a confident look in her eyes. "I understand, Your Highness."

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Because of how long Canvas and Troy stayed back at the gallery to talk with Glimmer Heart--as well as with the journalist, for his story for the paper--Lyra and Bon-Bon were already back at the hotel by the time the two finally started walking across Canterlot. While the streetlights were much brighter in Canterlot than in Ponyville, the meticulously paved stone streets still felt as empty this time of night than they did back home, which gave a nice sense of familiarity to Canvas as he happily trotted alongside Troy towards the hotel.

While the Gryphon looked forward as he walked with a smile, Canvas couldn’t keep his eyes off him as he stayed close. Underneath the bright streetlights, Troy's feathers shimmered like the most polished silver, illuminating the Gryphon in a light glow that was making Canvas's heart flutter. After everything that happened tonight, Canvas was almost hopping around the empty streets like Pinkie Pie, feeling beyond excited about how his gallery ended.

"I, I really can't believe this is happening to me!" exclaimed Canvas as he cheerfully looked up to Troy. "I mean, I knew this gallery was going to be big, but I didn’t think it was going to be THAT big!"

Seeing how ecstatic the stallion was, Troy kept his smile as he looked back at him, feeling relieved to see him this happy. "I'm really glad for you, Canvas. I mean it, this is a huge thing for you."

"Oh, this is way, WAY bigger than huge!" shouted Canvas as he grabbed Troy by the shoulders. "Do you know how many Earth Ponies have a piece of artwork in Canterlot Castle?! Seriously, guess how many!"

Despite liking seeing Canvas this happy, Troy started to feel a little uncomfortable as he was put on the spot to guess.

"Umm… I'm not su--"

"NONE!!” shouted Canvas as he let go of the Gryphon. "There are no Earth Ponies in history who have ever made anything good enough for Canterlot Castle!"

As he kept going, Canvas started pacing along the middle of the road as Troy only watched in amusement. "I'm going to be the very first Earth Pony to ever do something like this! I mean, this is bigger than anything I ever expected! I'm going to make history, I'm…”

Canvas turned back to Troy with a huge smile on his face, his eyes growing wide as he realized what he just said. "Troy, I'm going to make history!!"

Shouting out in glee, Canvas lunged onto Troy, hugging him as hard as he could (which wasn't nearly enough to choke the Gryphon) as he felt him hug back. While still keeping his hooves around Troy's back, Canvas moved his head back so he was looking straight at him, staring into his gold eyes as a large smile crept on his face.

Seeing how happy Canvas looked this close, Troy felt his heart begin to beat faster as he began to smile back, not noticing the feathers on the back of his head ruffling out. Before Canvas could move his head in closer, a large “whoosh'”could be heard as Troy's wings shot open. Seeing the Gryphon's wings stick out and almost shake from stiffness, Canvas tried perching his lips shut as he struggled not to laugh.

"Umm…” Troy slowly looked back to his wings with a tone of shame in his voice. "It's… it’s not what you think…”

Not able to hold it in anymore, Canvas let go of Troy and started cracking up. As Troy tried looking away, a guilty blush starting to spread across his face, he felt his wings slowly revert back to his body. Seeing how embarrassed Troy was looking, Canvas managed to stop laughing as he looked at him with a smile on his face.

"I'm sorry, dude,” said Canvas as he wiped his eyes with a hoof. "I just didn’t expect that to happen."

"Yeah, me neither,” grumbled the Gryphon as he looked away from him.

As soon as that awkward moment passed, the two began walking again as they got closer to the hotel. Walking along the stone pathways, Canvas and Troy looked over as they reached the edge of Canterlot, realizing they were at one of the ledges that looked over a large portion of Equestria. Under the shine of Luna's moonlight, both of them stopped as they admired the view of the miles upon miles of hills, all of which laid under the stunning backdrop of constellations and stars above. As the two leaned against the ledge and looked outward, Troy looked back to Canvas with a smile on his beak.

"You really did it, Canvas,” Troy said kindly. "You made it to the big time."

As Troy looked to his friend, Canvas stayed silent and looked outward, a slightly upset expression on his face. Slowly, a small grin came up on the pony's face as he spoke.

"I did. I… I really made it as an artist."

While Troy thought something felt off about how he said that, he didn’t want to put too much thought into it as he got off the ledge. "Well, you want to head ba--"

"And they said I'd never make it!"

Taken back by Canvas's sudden outburst, Troy started to get worried as Canvas stepped away from the ledge as well, looking over at him with anger on his face.

"Back in Gallop Creek, they always told me I'd never do anything with my talent in art! They constantly picked on me, and treated me like dirt, but now…”

Canvas looked away from Troy and started pacing around again, a weird grin growing on the pony's panting face before he looked back to him.

"You know what I want to do right now? I want to go back there! I want to go back to Gallop Creek, and walk up to every single one of those jerks and just… just… just rub it in their stupid faces!"

Stepping back from that last burst of anger from the stallion, Troy could only stand still as Canvas kept going, pacing around by the ledge as he kept letting off steam.

"After everything I went through, after everything I did and sacrificed, I wanted to be successful at this! I wanted to be a great artist, just so I can prove everypony back in that damn town wrong! And now I did it! I'm doing a painting for a goddess! A goddess!!"

Canvas quickly rushed back to the ledge, sticking his head out to the rest of Equestria as he started screaming his head off.

"You hear me, Gallop Creek?! I became a somepony!! I became more important than any of you morons ever could! I made it, and I did it without any of you losers!! You hear me, Gallop Creek?! You hear me, Dad?! SCREW YOOOOOOOOOU!!!”

Canvas dropped his head down and started breathing heavily, feeling glad that he finally got that out, while Troy stood beside him, speechless. Feeling like all his energy was drained out from that screaming fit, Canvas kept his gaze to the ground as he felt his eyes welling up again. Before Troy could say anything, he heard the sound of clanking armor coming towards them. Knowing what might happen if the Royal Guards saw them, Troy quickly snatched the exhausted Canvas and flew off.

Managing to get away from the sights of the Guards, Troy landed with the pony a block from the hotel. Resting the pony's hooves on the ground, Troy could only look with worry as Canvas stood still, breathing in and out heavily before he finally said something in a faint whisper.

"I… I'm glad I got that out."

Looking back over his shoulder, Troy made sure nopony saw them before he turned back to Canvas with an irritated look on his face.

"Dude,” Troy said as he caught his breath, "I know I told you to let these things out, but did you have to do it with a bunch of Royal Guards around?!"

Seeing how aggravated the Gryphon looked, Canvas only gave a sheepish grin before looking down at the ground. "I'm… I’m sorry, Troy."

Despite not wanting to forgive him that easily, Troy just chuckled under his breath and put a claw to Canvas's back. "It's alright. At least you're not bottling things up. Besides, we didn’t get caught, so that's good." Troy gave one last look behind him to make sure they weren't followed before he stretched his legs out.

"Plus,” said Troy in a more optimistic tone, "at least I got some exercise." Giving a grin back to Canvas, Troy saw that the pony was looking alright again as he giggled at Troy.

Seeing the hotel in the distance, Troy motioned Canvas to follow him as he walked forward. Staying silent for the rest of the walk, the two of them walked close to each other as they made their way to the hotel.

Next Chapter: Chapter Thirty-Four: Not While I'm Around Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 29 Minutes