Despite Ponyville usually being fairly active early in the morning, the storm from earlier that night made most of the ponies in town stay in their homes, making the town look fairly empty as the sun began to rise. Even though they were both rather exhausted from everything that happened in the past twenty-four hours, Canvas and Troy still kept a regular pace as they walked back home together. Because all of the major storms had ended, every inch of Ponyville and the surrounding area was now covered in a thick mist of fog, helping to make the two feel more secluded as they walked through the brisk autumn morning.

Although neither of them could see any more than a few feet through the morning mist, Canvas and Troy knew they were beginning to reach the town limits of Ponyville again as they passed the last building. Due to everything that had transpired, Canvas was fairly silent as he let his encounter with his father set in, not noticing how silent the Gryphon was getting as he walked beside him.

It wasn't until they were less than a mile from their home that Canvas noticed Troy’s silence. Looking over, Canvas saw that the Gryphon was staring dead ahead, looking like he was avoiding eye contact as he kept a saddened look on his face. Worried about what this meant, Canvas put a hoof out to Troy to halt him.

Troy breathed out deeply before he slowly turned to the stallion, an upset look on his face, which worried Canvas even more. Before the stallion could try to ask what was wrong, Troy threw his forelegs out and hugged Canvas, gripping him tightly as he clenched his eyes shut. Unsure of what caused this, Canvas only stood on his hooves as he felt his boyfriend squeezing him tightly, not realizing how troubled the Gryphon was until he spoke.

"I… I'm sorry Canvas."

"Wha… why are you…”

Canvas couldn't think of what to say before Troy slowly let go of him, guilt on his face as he spoke to him.

"I… I was convinced that you didn’t need to see him anymore. But I… I saw how much better you felt after talking with him again, and… all I can think of now is how I almost kept you from doing that."

Seeing how distressed Troy looked as he explained, Canvas remembered what the Gryphon said to him earlier that day, realizing why it was making him so upset now. Even though Troy's words did almost convince him not to ever see his father again, Canvas knew he couldn't let his lover feel so guilty about it. He hugged him back tightly.

"Troy,” said Canvas as he kept his boyfriend clutched around his hooves, "it's alright. I would never blame you for something like that, and you know that I'll always love you."

Even though he still felt bad about what he said to Canvas, Troy felt a light smile come back on his beak as he hugged his coltfriend back. Feeling Troy's warm feathers brush against his wet fur, Canvas took a breath before he continued to speak.

"Honey, I know that you were trying to help when you said I shouldn't talk with him, and… and you weren't wrong about anything you said."

Troy pulled back a little as he looked down at the stallion with a confused look on his face. Wondering what his coltfriend meant, Troy looked at him curiously before Canvas continued in a more saddened tone.

"I… I don't think I can ever completely forgive him. I… I don’t know if I can even call him my Dad anymore…”

After seeing how happy he looked with Copper at the train station, Troy was surprised to hear Canvas say something like that; however, Canvas kept a more optimistic look on his face as he spoke some more.

"But… that wasn't why I decided to talk with him again. I… I realized that, despite everything that happened, I couldn’t just let things end that way. After all I went through, I was still clinging to my past and letting it take over me."

Canvas put out a hoof and grabbed Troy's claw, holding it as he looked up at the Gryphon with a faint smile.

"I didn't want to drag my past around me anymore. Even with everything that happened, I realized that, to really move on, I couldn't hold a grudge like that."

Troy began to smile back as he realized what the stallion was saying. Despite still feeling bad about being wrong about this, Troy didn’t mind as he looked into his lover's beautiful blue eyes, keeping his full attention on Canvas as he finished his statement.

"Troy, I realized something big last night. I realized that life is way too precious to waste, and I shouldn't use the time I have hung up on something that's already done. Life is way too short, and… and we should use the time we have to focus on what we really want, not what we could've had."

Understanding Canvas's words, Troy moved his head in and used a claw to stroke his chestnut mane. Knowing the stallion was completely right, Troy began to close his eyes as he saw Canvas bend in as well, making him feel better as he spoke faintly to the pony.

"I couldn’t agree with you more."

Shrouded by the thick fog around them, Canvas and Troy felt even closer as they shared a deep kiss, holding each other close as they warmed up together in the cold autumn air. Remembering what caused Troy to find him at the station, Canvas slowly freed his lips from his lover's beak before he spoke to him.

"Hey Troy,” said Canvas in a curious tone, "you said you followed me because of a letter?"

"Yeah,” said the Gryphon as he opened one of his wings, pulling out a sheet of paper with a claw as he handed it to him. "I woke up and realized you weren't there. When I rushed downstairs, I found this on the dining room table."

Canvas's eyes widened a little as he looked at the letter, seeing the royal-purple ink it was written in as he read what it said.

Troy,

Head to the Ponyville Train Station. You might be needed, but please do not interfere.

While he was surprised Troy would think he wrote this since this was nothing like his hoofwriting, Canvas stayed silent as he looked back up to his boyfriend, seeing how surprised the Gryphon looked when he realized the stallion didn’t write it.

"Wait a minute,” said Troy as his eyes began to grow wider, "if you didn’t write that, then who--”

"It's okay, don't worry about it,” said Canvas as he gave Troy a reassuring smile.

Looking down at the letter in his hoof, Canvas smiled a little and realized how much Luna helped him out. Knowing the Gala was in less than a month, Canvas grinned as he realized what he could do before then.

"Just so you know, Troy,” said Canvas as he looked back at the Gryphon, "I think I'm going to be in my studio for a while before the Gala."

While he wasn't sure why Canvas would say that, the grateful smile the stallion had on his muzzle was more than enough for Troy to know he was really feeling better after everything. Not wanting to interfere with his coltfriend's happiness, Troy only nodded in agreement before he bent in and kissed him once more in the morning mist.

Even though they stayed in that space for what felt like an eternity, the two eventually made their way back to their home, not caring about anything as they rested back in their nest. While Canvas was quick to rest snugly against the Gryphon's feathered chest, Troy was still awake as he held him close, savoring his warmth as he felt the morning light shine into the room. As the stallion's breathing came in a gentle rhythm against Troy's body, the Gryphon could only grin as he looked at Canvas, smiling as he saw how carefree his lover really looked as he dozed.

For the first time, Troy could truly see that Canvas was at peace.

Keeping his forelegs wrapped around his lover, Troy couldn’t sleep as he kept thinking about Canvas's words, replaying them in his mind as he realized how right they really were. Looking down at the sleeping stallion, Troy realized that life really was a precious gift, knowing that the one he was holding was almost taken away not too long ago.

If he never noticed him that fateful day, Troy knew he would've never felt as happy or fulfilled with his life as he was now. Closing his eyes, Troy pulled his coltfriend in closer, savoring his warmth as he realized how much this beautiful pony really made his life better. As he held him tightly, Troy could only think about that last thing Canvas said: life is too short.

Replaying those four words in his head over and over, the Gryphon's eyes shot open, still clutching the stallion as he discovered a revelation about himself. When he felt his lover's heartbeat gently thump against his body, Troy felt a smile spread across on his beak as he looked down at Canvas, realizing what he really wanted to do.

Looking at the aqua stallion he knew to be the love of his life, Troy's eyes moistened as he smiled at him, feeling even better to be with him before he closed his eyes. As the Gryphon began to rest alongside his lover in the morning light, Troy's mind started to become at ease when he realized what he needed to do, finally knowing what he could do in Canterlot as those four words helped him to rest.

Life is too short.

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Opening his tired eyes, Troy moved his head in forward while lying in the nest, hoping to feel his stallion in his grasp so he could nuzzle him. However, as Troy's eyes adjusted to the darkness around him, he realized Canvas wasn't in the nest with him. Realizing it was nighttime, Troy groaned and rose to his legs, knowing his sleep schedule was going to be messed up because of this. As he reached the stairs, Troy suddenly stopped caring about any issues he had at that moment, his eyebrows raising as he saw Canvas at the bottom of the stairs.

Sitting in one of the chairs at the dining room table, Canvas's back was turned to Troy as he sat silently, only illuminated by a single light bulb above him as he looked down at the table. As Troy began to walk down the stairs quietly, Canvas didn’t notice as he kept his attention to what was in front of him. From his height, Troy was easily able to see what Canvas had, noticing the manila folder at the corner of the table before he came closer.

Covering every inch of the dining table, all of Canvas's artwork that had been given him at the train station was now in full view. Looking over Canvas's shoulder, Troy could see the various drawings and paintings his coltfriend did back when he lived in Gallop Creek, seeing the vast arrangement of talent the stallion really had. However, among all the stunning landscape paintings and charcoal etchings, Troy turned his attention to what was directly in front of Canvas, making his eyes widen as he realized Copper didn’t just give him his paintings back.

Separate from his artwork, Canvas looked down at the only open space on the table, which laid several photographs of him and his parents. Noticing tears coming down Canvas's face, Troy slowly bent in, holding his lover softly as he looked at the photos with him.

While most of them were the basic ones of Canvas as a colt--a really cute one too, Troy noted--the Gryphon's attention went to the one in the middle of the pile, standing alone as he saw Canvas staring at it. While the photograph looked fairly old, Troy peered in with interest as he saw a dark-blue mare with a wavy, black mane, smiling at the camera as she held the little Canvas in with her wing.

Seeing the small puddle of Canvas's tears underneath the photo on the table, Troy didn’t need to be told who this mare was supposed to be. Seeing how good-looking the Pegasus really was, Troy held Canvas in closer and hugged him, hoping to ease his heartache as he gently spoke.

"Canvas, your mother was beautiful."

Feeling his lover's warmth against his back, Canvas smiled faintly as he used a hoof to pull Troy in closer. Still looking at the photo of Blowing Winds, Canvas felt himself still tearing up as he spoke to Troy.

"I… I never thought I would see her face again. When I left, I…. I didn’t have a single photo of her…”

Troy hugged Canvas even tighter as he heard that, not wanting the stallion to feel disheartened as he continued to speak.

"I really am happy he gave me these… that… that was probably the nicest thing he could've ever done…”

While Troy still hated Copper with a passion, he couldn’t help but feel a little better about him as he saw the photos included in that folder. Despite still thinking of him as a horrible bastard for hurting Canvas all those months ago, Troy knew that this was indeed a great thing to do for his son, realizing how grateful the stallion looked as he kept his attention on the photo of his mother. Closing his eyes, Troy kept his forelegs around Canvas's chest, resting his head on his aqua shoulder as he held him in that space. As the two savored their warmth for a moment, Canvas broke the silence when he spoke to the Gryphon.

"Troy…”

Troy opened his eyes as he heard his name, looking down to the stallion as he responded, "Yeah, hon?"

"I…"

Despite knowing he really wanted to do this for himself, Canvas still felt a slight hesitation as he attempted to say it out loud. Hoping Troy would understand why he wanted to do this, Canvas took a deep breath before he spoke again.

"I… I need to do something before we go to that Gala."

"What is it?"

While he could tell Canvas was serious about something, Troy kept his beak shut as he listened to him, hearing his voice come out faintly as he said what he wanted to do.

"I…

“I need to see her again."

Next Chapter: Chapter Forty-Nine: The Return (Part 1) Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 18 Minutes