While Canvas and Troy enjoyed themselves, Lyra sat in the lounge area of her hotel room, hoping she learned that spell from Glimmer Heart correctly as she lit up her horn. After a little bit of struggling, a rectangular screen like Glimmer's appeared in front of Lyra, glowing that familiar mint-green hue as the unicorn looked with satisfaction. While she tried to remember how the spell went to transfer to the view from the orb she snuck into Troy and Canvas's room, Lyra didn't notice Bon-Bon when she walked into the room.

"Honey,” said Bon-Bon in a confused tone as she held a piece of paper, "I just got back from the front desk. Why is there a charge of two hundred bits on our bil--"

Bon-Bon immediately stopped as she looked at her wife, noticing the screen before her expression immediately went from confusion to aggravation. As the mare glared back at her wife, Lyra tried keeping a sheepish grin as she stepped in front of the screen, hoping her body would somehow hide what Bon-Bon just saw.

"Lyra…” said Bon-Bon as her eyes narrowed at the blushing unicorn. "You better not be doing what I think you're doing."

"What do you mean?" asked Lyra as she darted her eyes around nervously. "I… I have no idea what you're talking about, honey."

“... Lyra,” said Bon-Bon in a more stern tone of voice, "you promised you were going to stop doing this!"

"Oh come on!" said Lyra as she tried to make herself look innocent. "You don't even know what I'm doing!"

"You're trying to pair together ponies again, aren't you?"

An awkward silence developed between the two as Lyra stood there, biting her lip and keeping a worried look on her wife before she finally spoke faintly.

“... Noooooo...

“... Only one them is a pony."

"Lyra!" shouted her wife as she face-hoofed. "I told you to stop doing this kind of thing!"

Despite how angry Bon-Bon looked, Lyra tried to keep her composure as she replied, "Oh, come on! At least let me explain!"

"Seriously?! You swore that you would stop doing trying to pair random ponies together, and you're doing it again! Do I have to remind you why that's a bad idea?"

Lyra sighed as she kept her horn lit up, not wanting the screen behind her to disappear. "I know what I said, but I really think tha--"

"Lyra,” said Bon-Bon in a serious tone of voice, "do I need to remind you of what happened when you tried pairing together Rarity and Fluttershy?"

Lyra cringed a little and looked away from her wife. "Yeesh, honey! You don't need to bring up that disaster! Those girls at the spa still giggle when they see me."

Bon-Bon put a hoof to her side as she kept going. "Or how about the time you tried to set up Caramel with Big Macintosh?"

"Okay,” rebutted the unicorn, holding up a hoof as she spoke back, "to be fair, I didn't know that Big Mac was already in a relationship wit--"

"Or when you tried it again with Applejack and Rainbow Dash?"

"They kissed!" snapped Lyra as she pointed at Bon-Bon with an insistent tone. "I swear to Celestia, I saw those two kiss!"

Having heard this excuse a hundred times before, Bon-Bon rolled her eyes as she kept going. "Whatever. How about the time you tried to set up Twilight Sparkle with Cheerilee? "

Once again, Lyra winced as she looked away with guilt. "Yeah, that was pretty bad. But again, I didn't know about Big Mac, and I never would've done it if--"

"You shouldn't be doing it at all!" Bon-Bon shouted as she threw her hooves up in frustration. "Every time you try getting involved in the lives of ponies like this, it ends up in a giant mess!"

Seeing how upset her wife was getting, Lyra sighed and looked away, feeling slightly guilty as she thought of what to say. Lyra turned her head back to her, standing silently in front of her screen while Bon-Bon finished.

"Honey, I know you want to help out your friends, and I'm happy that you want to do that. I love you--I really do--but this kind of thing has to stop before somepony really gets hurt."

“... I…”

Even though she already knew that Lyra was going to try to convince her otherwise, Bon-Bon stayed silent as she looked at her wife, watching as she looked back to her screen before turning back to her.

"I know I shouldn't be doing this kind of thing again, but I'm not going to interfere, I swear." Lyra pointed to the screen as she continued, "I already have the things set up for Canvas and Troy. All I was going to do now is watch, alright?"

Bon-Bon closed her eyes and groaned, hating that the unicorn was trying to do this. "Lyra,” she said as she opened her eyes, "I know you've been saying a lot about those two, but do you really think this is a good idea?"

"You saw how they are together!" Lyra insisted. "You know how much they care about each other! Heck, you saw that wing-thing Troy did, right? Or how he looked when he heard Canvas's speech by the statue?"

"Honey, I just don--”

"Just listen to me,” said the unicorn as she became more firm in her tone. "Canvas likes Troy, and it's pretty obvious that Troy likes him back. They care about each other, and they deserve to be together! And if you can tell me, without a doubt in your mind, that you don't think they have feelings for each other, then I'll stop. I'll turn off this screen, and stop right now."

Staring at her wife with a stern look on her face, Lyra watched as Bon-Bon looked between her and the screen. After a moment of silence, Bon-Bon sighed in defeat as she walked back to the bed.

"Just be careful, alright honey?"

"I always am,” said Lyra as she cheerfully sat back on the couch. Keeping her horn lit, a few sparks flew out as she tried to remember how Glimmer Heart performed the spell. In a green flash of light, the screen immediately changed to the view from the orb, showing a bird's-eye view of Canvas and Troy's hotel room.

"Yes!" cheered the mare as she looked up to the ceiling in relief, feeling happier as she started talking to herself. "I can picture it now! The two stare into each other's eyes as their faces get closer, and then they wou--”

BBBBRRRAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPP!!

Lyra looked back to the screen as the loud noise interrupted her train of thought. Looking at the screen, Lyra could hear laughter from Canvas and Troy as they held their bottles of root beer, before Canvas held his hoof up to catch Troy's attention. "Wait, wait! I feel another one!"

Sitting on the couch, Lyra could only stare at the screen as Canvas breathed in and out a few times, holding his hoof out before he opened his mouth again.

UUUUUURRRRRRRRRPP!!

After another loud belch, the two of them started cracking up again while Lyra sat, disgusted. She knew they were guys, but she didn't expect this to happen when she was setting up that cart for them. As the Gryphon prepared to beat Canvas's belch on the screen, Lyra didn't notice Bon-Bon staring at her, smirking as she spoke in a sarcastic tone.

"Good job, Lyra. You really are a matchmaker. Two hundred bits, so you can watch a burping contest. You're just like Princess Cadance."

The unicorn peered back at her wife with a sneer before seeing her condescending grin.

"Don’t give me that look,” said Lyra as she turned her attention back to the screen. "This honestly isn’t that different from when we first met."

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BBBRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOPPP!!

After that impressively loud burp, Troy looked back to Canvas and the two of them laughed their heads off, sitting on the couch as they held their nearly empty bottles of root beer. As Canvas took another swig of the Gryphonian beverage he was really enjoying, Troy rested on the couch a little more and looked at his own bottle.

"Oh man,” said Troy in a saddened tone as he looked at how little was left in the bottle, "I really need to see where Glimmer Heart got this stuff. I couldn't find it anywhere in Cloudsdale."

"I'm kinda surprised,” said Canvas after putting his bottle down. "This stuff is really good. I bet it would sell well over at Sugar Cube--”

Canvas stopped talking as felt another burp coming up. Sitting up on the couch, Canvas breathed out a little as Troy watched with anticipation.

"This is a big one,” uttered the pony as he bent forward, putting his hooves on the glass coffee table in front of him as he felt it build up. "Wait, wait!"

Canvas opened his mouth wide while bent forward, anticipating something huge before it finally came out.

Uuurp.

As Canvas sat confused for a second at making such a small belch, Troy busted up laughing on the couch, holding a claw to his face as the other kept him from falling to the floor.

"Oh come on!" Troy exclaimed through his laugher. "Even my brother Lyle could burp louder tha--"

BBBBBBRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPP!!

After Canvas burped with a force that almost shook the windows of the hotel room, Canvas slowly turned back to Troy, seeing that his feathers were blown back from something that loud and sudden. Meanwhile, Lyra and Bon-Bon stood in front of the screen with their jaws agape. Blinking a few times in a stunned state, Troy slowly opened his beak again as he tried to speak.

“... You… you win, dude."

After another few seconds of silence, the two dissolved into laughter again on the couch. After about a minute to calm themselves down, the two took another swig from their bottles, placing them on the table after finishing them off. Looking back to the cart, Canvas lifted himself off the couch as he walked over to it.

"It's pretty cool that Glimmer Heart would do something like this,” said the stallion as he looked over the display. "Although I have to wonder why she got so many strawberries."

Bon-Bon glared at Lyra, making the unicorn blush as she looked away.

Shrugging the thought away, Canvas picked up a strawberry with his hoof, holding it for a second before he tossed it up in the air. With Troy watching from the couch, Canvas opened his mouth as he saw the strawberry come back down, only for it to hit his eye before falling to the floor. Wincing a little, Canvas put a hoof to his eye as Troy struggled not to laugh. Hearing the Gryphon's muffled snickering, Canvas looked back to him while walking to the strawberry on the floor.

"What?"

As Canvas picked up the strawberry with his mouth and began chewing, Troy just looked at him with a smile before saying, "Dude, I could've done better with my eyes closed!"

Canvas gave a skeptical look to Troy as he turned back to him, swallowing the strawberry before replying, "Oh yeah?" The stallion said with a smirk, "I'd like to see you try!"

"Gladly!"

Troy lifted himself from the couch and walked over to the cart, giving a cocky grin to the pony as he picked up a strawberry from the bowl. Holding it between two talons, Troy placed the claws from his other foreleg over his eyes before tossing up the piece of fruit. Without any effort, Troy opened his beak and caught the strawberry. Opening his eyes again, Troy saw Canvas stare at him in disbelief, looking between him and the cart as he tried to stammer out a comment.

"I… I… thought… how did you… you cheated!"

"Oh, please,” said Troy in a more cocky tone as he looked at him with a grin on his beak. "I caught it fair and square. I'm just better than you at it, that's all."

Seeing how smug the Gryphon looked, Canvas quickly grabbed two strawberries from the bowl. Glancing at Troy with a determined look on his face, Canvas tossed both of the strawberries up one-by-one. As they came back down, the pony managed to catch both them in his mouth. As he chewed both of the pieces, Canvas gave his own smug grin back to Troy.

Seeing what was going on, Troy grinned at the pony as he reached for the bowl, knowing a challenge when he saw one. "Alright,” said the Gryphon in a more arrogant tone of voice, "I'll put in some effort this time."

Grinning at the stallion, Troy now held three strawberries in his claw, before he threw them outward with a loud ‘swish'. Shooting his wings open, Troy let the flying strawberries roll off his wing as they shot out in the air in different directions. Not caring about blowing anything over in the hotel room, Troy flew in a quick circle around the room, catching all three of them in less than a second. Landing back in front of a stunned Canvas, Troy kept his cocky smirk as he swallowed all three.

Even though Canvas had no idea how he was going to beat that, the pony kept a confident look on his face as he reached for the bowl. Holding another strawberry in his hoof, Canvas looked at Troy with a smirk on his face before he threw up the piece of fruit. Tossing it as hard as he could, Canvas prepared to catch it before he heard a loud 'splat’. He looked up to see that the strawberry was now stuck to the ceiling.

After a few seconds of silence between them, Troy fell to the ground as he started laughing, pointing at Canvas with his claw as he cracked up.

"Oh man!" shouted the Gryphon between laughing fits. "That… that was hilarious!"

Seeing how hard Troy was laughing, Canvas started to get more irritated as he reached for the bowl again. Picking up another strawberry, Canvas looked back to Troy while he was still laughing, making him even more aggravated. Without thinking, Canvas threw the strawberry at Troy, hitting the Gryphon right in the forehead. Troy immediately stopped laughing as he stared at Canvas with wide eyes, making the pony suddenly look terrified at what he just did.

"Did you…” Troy's golden eyes narrowed on Canvas as he lifted himself up, his face turning more serious as he looked at him. "Did you just throw a strawberry at me?"

Worried about his well-being after hearing the change in Troy's tone, Canvas looked away from him worriedly and stepped back.

"Um… I… I… I was getting… you know… a little annoyed, but…”

Looking back to Troy, Canvas grew even more worried when he saw the Gryphon staring at him intensely, his smile gone as he walked over to the cart. Keeping his gaze on Canvas, Troy used his claw to pick up one of the bowls of strawberries. A grin slowly began to grow on his beak. Knowing what he was thinking, Canvas narrowed his eyes and walked up to the cart as well.

"You really want to start this, Troy?" Canvas raised a hoof up to the cart, grabbing the other bowl as he kept his stare on the grinning Gryphon.

As Canvas held onto his bowl, Troy's eyes narrowed closer as he stared Canvas down.

"You're the one who started it,” Troy said, his grin growing even wider.

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In less than a few seconds, the spotless, white hotel room became a battleground, as the stallion and Gryphon began assaulting each other with strawberries, staining every white surface of the place red as pieces of fruit flew around and splattered on the walls and furniture. Meanwhile, Lyra and Bon-Bon sat on the couch in their room, watching in enjoyment at the fruit fight occurring on screen.

Through the constant laughter and yelling, Canvas and Troy didn't seem to notice the mess they were making as they ran around the room, throwing strawberries at each other from the floor after they both ran out from their bowls. As the white walls and carpet got splattered with more pink stains from their battle, Canvas ran to the bed, giggling as Troy threw more squished strawberries.

Jumping on the bed, Canvas grabbed a pillow before turning back to Troy, using it as a shield as more strawberries bounced off the white fabric. As Troy ran up to the bed to throw some more, Canvas swung the pillow, hitting Troy as he bounced on the bed. Seeing that the pony had a new weapon in his arsenal, Troy grinned back and grabbed the other pillow. Breathing heavily, the two of them stood on the bed for a second, looking at each other with their pillows as they grinned at each other, both of them knowing exactly what was going to happen.

Now with a bowl of popcorn between them, Lyra and Bon-Bon sat on the couch comfortably as they watched the pillow fight on screen, the unicorn doing a spell to zoom in on the action. As the mares watched the feathers fly around the room while the two kept pummeling each other with pillows, Bon-Bon reached her hoof in for another helping of popcorn.

"I hate to admit it,” said Bon-Bon as she started munching on the popcorn, "but this is actually really entertaining."

"I know, right?" said her wife as she watched the screen with a smile on her face. "It reminds me of when we did this."

"Yeah,” said Bon-Bon as she watched with an eerie fascination. "It's almost scary how close this is to what happened on our honeymoon."

As Troy tried to make a particularly hard swing at the pony with his pillow--which was now half-empty due to how many feathers it had lost--Canvas ducked underneath it, taking the opportunity to lunge forward and tackle the Gryphon on the bed. Throwing him on his back, Canvas held Troy's forelegs against the bed with his hooves, the both of them breathing heavily as Canvas grinned at him. While Troy was surprised Canvas managed to pin him down, he didn’t mind at all as he looked at the smiling pony on top of him, who was panting heavily as he looked down on him.

"I,” grunted the pony between several deep breaths, "won!"

"Oh yeah?" Smirking at Canvas, Troy turned his head over to his side as his beak felt around the feathers on his shoulders. While Canvas sat on top of him, confused, the Gryphon managed to find a loose feather, preening it out with his beak before turning back to him. Holding a dark-grey feather in his beak, Troy grinned before moving his head in, using the feather to start tickling Canvas's chest. Unable to keep his position, Canvas began giggling loudly as his grip became looser, eventually making him let go to hold his chest before Troy lunged forward.

In one swoop, Troy managed to turn the tables, holding Canvas against the bed in the same way the pony did. Unable to move his hooves with Troy's claws holding them against the bed, Canvas kept laughing with his eyes closed as he laid under the Gryphon, not noticing how Troy's laughter was slowly stopping.

As he looked down on Canvas, giggling, Troy felt his heartbeat racing faster as he held him down, realizing he stopped laughing as he kept his eyes on him. Seeing his friend begin to settle down from his laughing fit, Troy kept his stare on him as Canvas opened his eyes again.

Looking back to Troy with a cheerful smile on his face, Canvas's grin began to fade slowly as he looked up, seeing how quiet the Gryphon was while staring at him. With his blue eyes open again, Troy couldn't help staring as he looked at Canvas like this. Seeing how happy and carefree the pony was, Troy realized this was one of the first times he'd ever seen him like this alone. Without any darkness surrounding them, or tears, or bandages, or stitches, or anypony to get in the way, Troy felt his chest beat faster as he stared into the flawless shade of blue that made up Canvas's wide-open eyes.

As the Gryphon kept Canvas pinned down, the stallion looked up at Troy, feeling his own heart beating like crazy when he peered into those golden eyes once more. As the pitch-black pupils around the seas of gold stared straight at him with intensity and wonder, Canvas breathed a little harder as he began to blush, not noticing that Troy was blushing as well. As the two continued to stare, Troy slowly let go of Canvas's hooves, letting his claws rest beside Canvas's head as he kept his gaze on him.

With his hooves now free, Canvas slowly lifted them up, letting them rest around the back of Troy's neck as he kept looking into his eyes. In an almost instinctive manner, Troy felt his own forelegs move against his will, pulling them towards Canvas as they met around the pony's head. As Canvas felt Troy claws at the back of his head, he felt a wave of warmth flow through his body as he gripped his hooves against the Gryphon's neck, using them to slowly pull his head up to him. Much like on the train the night before, Troy felt his head move forward as it reached closer to Canvas.

Keeping their eyes locked onto each other, Troy could hear his heart thundering in his chest, and felt Canvas's warm breath from his muzzle as it blew against his beak. Troy began to close his eyes, letting his body take over as his mind stayed blank, with only the sound of his heartbeat going through his head.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump...

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump...

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock…

'Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock...’

With Canvas's face only a few inches from his, Troy's eyes opened as he realized the thumping sound wasn't his heart. A frantic knocking came from the door. As his mind came back into reality, he realized how close he was to Canvas before he pulled his head back, letting go of the stallion as he quickly moved to the other side of the bed.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Lyra held her face up against the screen in rage. "KISS HIM, YOU STUPID BUZZARD!!”

Breathing heavily, Canvas slowly sat up as he heard the knocking at the door.

"Hello?" said the voice from the other side of the door. "I think I left my wallet on the cart when I brought it in."

With his heart still racing, Canvas looked over to Troy, who was sitting on the bed with his back to him, not seeing that the Gryphon's eyes and beak were wide open in shock. With Troy frozen at the bed and breathing heavily, Canvas slowly pulled himself off while the knocking continued. With a multitude of feelings racing through Canvas, he quickly grabbed the wallet in anger before opening the door and throwing it out.

Slamming the door shut, Canvas rested his back against it as he kept his eyes shut, breathing heavily before he felt a gust of wind blow past him. Before he could open his eyes, the door to the balcony flew open as Troy rushed out. With a new wave of worry flowing through him, Canvas ran to the balcony, looking out from the ledge. Troy was already a small speck in the distance.

"Trooooooooy!” shouted the pony, trying to call out to him.

"TRROOOOOOOOOY!!!"

Realizing it was too late, Canvas kept his hooves against the ledge of the balcony as he looked down to the ground beneath him. Clenching his eyes shut, Canvas's hind-legs buckled underneath him as he kneeled against the balcony, breathing hard as he felt his heart push down to his stomach.

"Don't go…”

Canvas's voice came out in a faint whisper against the winds of the summer night, as he sat near the ledge in despair.

"Please don't go…”

Moving his hooves down so they were gripping the bars of the balcony ledge, Canvas struggled not to cry as he kept whispering to himself.

"Troy… please…”

“... I love you.”

Next Chapter: Chapter Thirty-Six: Revelations Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours