Author's Notes:

Just as a quick note, this chapter is mostly just story and doesn't really have much sexual content in it. If you're just wanting sex, go to part two.

After a quick breakfast and a kiss goodbye, Troy was back at work with his Weather Team. Due to his unplanned absence, the gryphon made sure to take the more difficult tasks when he clocked in, mostly in an attempt to make sure his coworkers wouldn’t be too upset at him. Fortunately, it seemed that none of the crew members were that peeved about him leaving for a week and a half. Of course, by the time most of the morning cloud repositionings were completed, Troy was more than a little suspicious that his boss was the reason for that.

Rainbow Dash, who already completed her run of altocumulus clouds for the morning, was lying on top of one with a magazine in hoof when the gryphon flew towards her. Her ears perked up when she heard his wings flapping from a distance away, so she was able to casually put her reading material down by the time Troy landed beside her. “Hey Troy,” said Dash nonchalantly as she leaned back on her forelegs. Her head tilted when she asked with a hint of surprise, “Did you get that cumulonimbus done already?”

“Yeah, I did,” said Troy with a huff while giving the mare a more deadpanned stare, “but that’s not why I’m here.”

The gryphon turned his head to see where the other workers were. Even from a couple miles away, Troy was able to see that most of them were situated around a stratus cloud to stretch it out over a small pond. Happy that they weren’t within earshot, Troy returned his attention to Dash and asked, “Did you tell them anything while I was gone?”

“Like what?” asked Rainbow in a genuinely unknowing tone. “All I said was that I gave you some time off work. Why?”

Troy’s eyes narrowed on her suspiciously. “So you didn’t mention any details? Because last time I checked, ponies usually get a little ticked off when a coworker leaves for no reason. But I haven’t gotten any flack from them since I clocked in. So unless you told them anything, I wanna know what’s up.”

Dash seemed a bit puzzled when she asked, “Wait, seriously? You happened to get a week off during one of the slowest times of the year, and you’re upset because your coworkers aren’t mad at you?”

Despite his boss’ point, Troy groaned with a roll of his eyes and retorted, “No! I just want to make sure you didn’t tell them anything too personal, okay? I’d rather have them asking questions about my week with Canvas during the lunch shift.”

Rainbow just sighed. “Oh, come on! Do you really think I’d tell the guys about your sex life?! I Pinkie Promised that I wouldn’t do that, remember? Believe me, that’s something I would never break.”

Hearing the honesty in Dash’s voice, the gryphon breathed out in slight relief. Even though he wasn’t sure if his boss kept that promise because of him, or because of the fear of Pinkie Pie’s wrath, Troy was grateful that Rainbow didn’t blab about his first time with Canvas. However, that sentiment pretty much vanished when he heard the mare add bluntly, “Of course, I’m pretty sure they all already know you and Canvas are doing it.”

Troy’s eyes nearly shot out of his head in shock. “WHAT?!”

“What?” replied Rainbow with her hooves raised. “I mean, it’s not that hard to guess you two started getting physical after Canvas finished that painting! Ever since you two got together, it was clear that both of you were busy with stuff, right?”

Even though Troy knew that she was right, he was still peeved at what Dash told him. He looked away from her with an angered pout that went alongside his small blush.

“Plus,” she continued in a more logical tone of voice, “the fact that you specifically told me not to say anything about it kinda made them know right there! As soon as I said that your absence was a personal leave, they all had a good idea of what it was really about. Those ‘I can’t say’ kinds of answers aren’t usually the best, you know?”

Troy let out a deep and bitter exhale, letting Dash’s reasoning sink in as he sat with a brooding face. Despite the fact that the feathers ruffling from his head made him look more cute than upset, Dash suppressed the urge to giggle while adding in a hesitant voice, “Aaaaaand… a few of them may have seen your broken bed frame outside the house that one day.”

“What?!” shouted Troy as he whipped his head back to her.

“What?” repeated Dash like she wasn’t expecting that kind of reaction. “Did you really expect ponies to not talk about that when it was outside all day for everypony to see? I’m kinda surprised you haven’t heard anything about it since then!”

Troy wanted to ask how many ponies were talking about that broken bed, but his mind started going over past events while his beak hung half-open. He already knew that Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom knew about the bed (as well as Zecora, most likely), but he wouldn’t have been surprised of either of them started talking and spread that detail around town. It would definitely explain why Derpy was giggling the next morning when she asked if they slept well. Or why Missus Cake offered Canvas’ sundae to be half-off when they visited Sugar Cube Corner; although, he was unsure if that was because she wanted them to save money on a new bed, or if she just assumed Canvas got hurt because of how the bed broke. Either way, Troy felt kinda dumb for not catching those signs until now.

Troy blinked a couple times before he asked with a hint of worry, “So… how many ponies know about the bed?”

Rainbow Dash scoffed and shrugged her shoulders. “I dunno. At least half the town, probably!”

“Ugh!” Troy sunk his face into his claws and groaned in shame. “Dammit!”

“Oh, stop freaking out!” said the mare before giving Troy a sharp nudge with her hoof. “Seriously, nopony cares if you two are having sex or not!”

Troy pulled his face out from his claws to glare at the pony. “Oh really? Then why is our bed breaking the big story in town!?”

“Uh, because it’s funny?”

That just made Troy look even angrier.

“Oh, stop getting so upset!” snapped Dash with a peeved expression of her own. “The two of you being a couple is still a big thing around town, so what did you expect? In case you haven’t noticed, there aren’t exactly a lot of Interspecies couples in Equestria. And especially not in Ponyville.”

Despite Dash’s point, Troy’s slowly relaxing expression was soon followed by one of his brows raising back at her. “So, despite all the crazy stuff that happens in this area because of you and your Element friends, my love life with Canvas is the more interesting story in town?”

Now it was Dash’s turn to pause in contemplation. “Well… Okay, you have a point there,” she admitted with a meager shrug, “but most of our stuff is settled pretty quickly! Like, usually within an hour at the most. But you guys have been going pretty strong, even before it became an official thing.”

After a few seconds of silence, Troy sighed and settled on the cloud beside her while thinking it over. “I mean… that may be true, but it’s still not something I’m used to. Like, this is the very first relationship I’ve ever been in, and I have ponies talking about it like it’s a friggin tabloid or something!”

“Hey, it’s better than the actual tabloids Shining and Cadance have to deal with up in the Crystal Empire. You know how many pregnancy rumors have been circulating about those two?”

“Well, that’s sort of a given,” replied Troy with a glance back at Rainbow. “It’s pretty clear those two are gonna get a kid soon.”

That just made Dash’s head tilt before she replied blankly. “And you don’t think that’s a little hypocritical?”

Troy didn’t need to pause that long to see her reasoning after that question. Instead, his eyes just widened for a brief moment before pointing at her with a talon. “Touchè.”

Dash exhaled with a roll of her eyes and said, “Look, I don’t blame you for wanting your relationship with Canvas to be more private or casual, but it’s still a pretty big thing right now! I mean heck, you two were part of a betting pool because so many ponies wanted you to hook up!”

“A bet that was started by you,” said Troy with his eyes narrowed on her strongly.

“NO, it was Flitter and Cloudchaser who started it. I just spread the wager outside of work.” She then sighed briefly to get back on track. “Anyway, I’m just saying that the reason so many ponies are talking about you two is because they care about you! Everypony knows that you were the one who saved Canvas, so the fact that you two are a couple now is really sweet! Heck, even though I hate to say it, it really is like one of those gushy fantasy novels Rarity keeps trying to get me to read! How can you not talk about it?”

Troy hated to admit it, but he could understand Rainbow Dash’s reasoning. He wasn’t a fan, but he knew he’d probably act the same way in a small town like this it it was someone else. So after taking a deep breath and looking away from the mare, Troy just looked outward in silence. Rainbow Dash’s muzzle skewed briefly before she added, “Hey, come on. At least ponies aren’t teasing you two about it. I’d consider that a win right there!”

“Yeah, I get it,” said Troy in a more relaxed-sounding voice while looking out at the nea endless horizon of sky in front of them. When he noticed his coworkers just finishing their work in the distance, the gryphon huffed and began to get up. “Still,” he said as he looked back at her with a smile, “it’s nice that you didn’t tell anypony about it. That means a lot.”

“Hey, no problem,” Dash said as she got up as well. But before Troy could fly off to meet up with the crew, the mare gave him a stern glance as she added in a firm voice, “Just like YOU didn’t see me the other day at the store, right?”

“Of course, of course…” Despite his assurance, Troy couldn’t resist cracking a smile as he glanced back at Dash and asked cheekily, “Can I ask what you were getting from ther--”

“NO.” Dash opened her wings and shot off before Troy could finish his question. The gryphon merely chuckled as he saw her shoot off, surprised he was able to get under her skin so quickly.

“Damn,” muttered Troy as he flew off in tow of the mare, “I thought Rarity would be the kinky one of the group.”

In Ponyville’s main town square, Canvas was trotting towards the marketplace with his near-empty art bag by his side. Even though the stallion already had most of his necessities already stocked in the kitchen, he figured a quick run into town for a couple small things would help calm his thoughts. After his morning spent with Troy in an… unorthodox manner, he felt it was best to clear his head from today’s later plans with a small jog. Nevertheless, despite his attempts, Canvas’ heart was still thumping faster than usual due to his lingering thoughts about that gryphon.

Ever since he was younger and first came to terms with what he wanted sexually, Canvas pretty much assumed that he would prefer to be the bottom in most circumstances. Even if he was thinking about more petite and feminine-looking stallions, his mind usually veered towards the thought of being taken instead of the one taking. And given who his current partner was, Canvas never would’ve imagined that his mindset would change so quickly.

Of course, that was before seeing how cute that big, masculine gryphon looked when he was acting feeble and submissive. Granted, Canvas knew that Troy was an amazing top, and he wouldn’t fathom the idea of anyone else rutting him as wonderfully as that gryphon. But still, despite how much he loved it, the idea of giving Troy that same kind of feeling made the fur on the stallion’s back stand up in excitement. He could only imagine how his boyfriend would look in that kind of position, or how he would sound~

“Unnfff…” Canvas bit his lip with that blushed exhale, hoping his thoughts weren’t somehow being projected for everypony in town to hear; and while he knew that was a stupid idea, he couldn’t be too careful with a near-omnipotent draconequus roaming around Equestria freely. Regardless, it wasn’t long before more lewd thoughts began to swim through the pony’s cloudy mind. While he tried to keep himself from looking too obviously distracted, his hind legs instinctively came closer together while waking in case anything were to show between them. By the time he reached the marketplace, his thoughts were overwhelming enough to make him almost bump into the apple stand.

Applejack was busy getting the last of the apples arranged on the top row of her stand, but her attention turned to the stallion when he made a quick jolt and stopped before bumping into her. “Oh! Hey there, Canvas,” said Applejack cheerfully as she went to her spot behind the arrangement. “How’ve you been?”

“Oh, uhh… pretty good.” Canvas blushed a little while rubbing the back of his head, mostly from being embarrassed how much his mind has been wandering off that morning. Of course, the display of rather enticing fruit between him and Applejack was enough to make him think a little more clearly. He reached for a couple bits in his bag and asked, “Can I get a small bag of the Fuji Apples, please?”

“Sure thing! That’ll be three bits.” Due to her honest means of business, Applejack was one of the only ponies in the marketplace that Canvas didn’t have to haggle with in regards to a fair price. So, he gave her the payment with no problem before taking the small net of fruit. Of course, as he was putting his items in his art bag, he overheard the sound of sly snickering coming from behind Applejack.

Slowly, Granny Smith hobbled towards the stand beside her granddaughter while shooting Canvas a cheeky grin. “Heh heh heh… How’s the bed huntin’ been goin’ for ya?”

Canvas’ cheeks immediately grew red as he froze with his eyes widened.

“D’oh! Granny!” said Applejack annoyedly while shooting her a sharp glance. “C’mon now! Ya shouldn’t be pesterin’ him about that in public!”

“What? It’s just a question!” While Applejack huffed with narrowed eyes on her, Granny just rolled hers and looked back at the embarrassed-looking pony. “By the way, tell that Troy feller thanks for givin’ Apple Bloom the easier answer ‘bout that bed breakin’. She might not be a foal no more, but Ah’d rather wait until she’s a little older before explainin’ the birds and the bees.”

Canvas cringed while looking away from the older mare with a hoof covering his face. “Granny!” snapped Applejack. “Can ya please not pester the customers ‘bout that stuff?! It could keep other customers from comin’ here!”

“What other customers?” asked Granny while pointing a hoof out at the vacant space around their stand. “We just opened, so there ain’t nopony here yet!” She then motioned towards Canvas and added, “Besides, Ah just wanted ta make sure our neighbor wasn’t sleepin’ on a mattress on the dang floor! Bed frames aren’t that hard ta make, ya know.”

“Oh! Ummm…” Canvas’ hoof moved from his face to back of his head to rub awkwardly again. Of course, his eyes still looked away from the mares when he answered, “A-Actually, we got a new bedding set up already. It isn’t a frame, but… it’s actually really nice…”

“Wait, really?” asked Applejack in surprise with one of her brows raised. “Ah kinda figured you two’d need somethin’ custom-made given what happened to the first one.”

Granny Smith giggled to herself, which made Applejack give a brief glare towards her. Canvas tried to ignore it as he put his hoof down and continued. “Well, it kinda is custom made… Troy went and got a bunch of blankets to wrap around the mattress and make it into a nest.”

“A nest?” For a couple seconds Applejack seemed puzzled by that kind of solution. Of course, her expression settled to a shrug as soon as she remembered what species Troy was. “Oh yeah. Ah guess that makes sense.”

Of course, Granny Smith just looked at Canvas with a sly smirk while chuckling under her breath. “Ho, boy,” she said with a knowing gleam in her eyes. “That reminds me of when Ah stayed in the Gryphon Kingdom.”

Canvas looked rather surprised by hearing that. “You were in the Gryphon Kingdom?”

“Ah sure as sugar was!” exclaimed the mare proudly. “Back when Ah was part of the Equestrian Swimmin’ Team, we did some shows in Griffinstone for a week. Of course, this was back when that place was still in good condition...”

For a few minutes, the elderly mare went on about her times as an aerobic swimmer, and Canvas was piqued enough by her stories to listen patiently with a look of interest. Applejack already heard a good portion of Granny’s tales from that lifestyle, so she trailed off and went back to making sure there weren’t any noticeable empty spaces in the apple display. However, during her ramblings, Granny Smith decided to end it with a cheeky tone in her voice, “... Anyways, we ended up havin’ a good reputation in that town as entertainers! But after our team met up with a few of the gryphons one night, we ended up stayin’ an extra month! And let me tell ya what, we broke a LOT of beds in that short amount of time! He HEE!”

The stand nearly broke from how hard Applejack pushed her hooves down on it in shock. She may have heard Granny's stories a thousand times, but that detail was never mentioned once. “Wait, WHAT?!” she shouted in shock while staring back at her grandmother wide-eyed. Canvas was stunned as well, but his first reaction was to quickly look around and make sure not too many ponies were nearby to overhear Granny Smith’s statement.

“Oh, don’cha worry, Applejack,” said Granny with a quick reassuring glance back at her, “this was before Ah met your grandpappy. And back in those days, mares like me could leave for a good amount of time ta have some real fun before settlin’ down, if ya know what Ah’m sayin’~”

“UGH!” Applejack instantly read between the lines, and quickly turned away from Granny with her hooves over her face. “Granny, that is TOO MUCH information!”

Canvas was staring at the older mare with a baffled, but slightly impressed looked on his face. “Wait, you… you were with a gryphon once?”

“A gryphon?” asked Granny with an arched brow back at him. “Oh, please! Them fellers were like jelly beans! Once us girls each had one of ‘em, we had to see how good the others were! And let me tell ya, some of them must’ve been part dragon with what they were packin’ between their legs!”

“AAHHHH!!!” Not wanting that mental image in her head, Applejack shoved her hooves against her ears with her eyes clenched shut. “Not cool Granny! NOT. COOL!”

“Oh, quit yer bellyachin’!” snapped Granny back at her granddaughter. “We’re all adults here! It ain’t like Ah’m bringin’ up what positions Ah was in with 'em!” She then paused for a second before turning back to Canvas with a wink as she whispered, “But Ah can give ya some pointers if ya want~”

Applejack’s hooves pressed tighter against her ears desperately. “La, la, la, la, la! Ah’m not listenin’! La, la, la, la!”

Despite how awkward the situation must’ve been for Applejack, Canvas had to cover his mouth with a hoof while struggling not to laugh. Granny rolled her eyes with a groan at her granddaughter’s behavior, but kept her attention on Canvas with a cheerful grin on her wrinkled muzzle. “Ah’m just sayin, you are one lucky feller ta have someone like Troy. Heck, if that gryphon wasn’t swingin’ the way he is, he’d have’ta worry about me wantin’ a piece of him!”

Both of them laughed a little at that sentiment, and Canvas was sure to give the mare a thankful nod. “Well, thank you Missus Smith,” said Canvas with a grateful smile on his muzzle. “I’ll be sure to let him know that when he finishes work.”

“Well, you don’t have’ta tell him nuthin’ ‘bout that last part,” jeered Granny with a wave of her hoof playfully. “Just be sure ta take care of ‘im when he comes home.”

Granny gave another wink after saying that, hoping that stallion got the hint. Canvas kept his smile and nodded back at her. “Oh, believe me. I will.”

With that, Canvas made his leave from the stand with a wave of his hoof. Granny Smith waved back with a smile, but stopped when she saw the disheveled look that her granddaughter was giving her. With the way Applejack’s eyes were pinned on her with a flat stare and pursed shut lips, it was clear that she was trying her hardest not to give Granny a tongue-lashing for the things she heard her say.

Of course, Granny just huffed with a smirk and looked back ahead for any potential customers. “Oh, quit lookin’ at me like that. You should be lucky Ah ain’t bringin’ up my trip to Zebrica.”

Fortunately for Troy, the rest of his shift in weather patrol went rather smoothly. Even if his coworkers knew about the true reason for his leave of absence, none of them were crass enough to question him about it during lunch break. They all knew that the gryphon deserved some much-needed time with Canvas, so any discussion between them was left safe for work. And by the time his shift ended, Troy was actually feeling a lot more at ease while flying home.

Of course, the realization that work was over made the gryphon start to think about what was to come after he arrived back home. Even though he was over a hundred feet from the ground with the wind brushing hard against his wings, his growing thoughts were what was making his heart rate increase alongside his deepening blush. His breathing turned shaky as he flew, and all he could do was envision what could be in store for him.

He might’ve been significantly larger than his coltfriend (at least in most aspects), but the meek expression he had on his face gave off a completely different impression of what their roles might’ve been. Heck, with the way he was blushing at the thought of that confident, domineering pony, all that he needed was a cute little collar to make his appearance complete. Or perhaps some stockings to go over his paws to give him a more feminine look. Maybe Canvas had those in his shopping bag, just to bring out for later use and put his little Chickie in his place~

Troy clenched his eyes shut and quickly shook his head. He had no idea why those thoughts came to his head, but he knew better than to be this distracted while flying so high up in the air. The more he thought about it, the more baffled he was at how differently he was acting over the past few days.

Even if he did enjoy it. A lot.

“Ugh!” grunted the gryphon with his eyes clenched for a brief second. What was that stallion doing to him?! Troy hasn’t even bottomed for him yet, but he already felt like he was underneath Canvas’ hoof like some lust-minded servant. Just a week ago, nothing got him harder than the thought of pounding that pony’s luscious rump like he was breeding a mare in heat. But now that he got a taste of what Canvas was like in control, Troy wanted more like some kind of addiction. He wanted Canvas to have that kind of position. He wanted to be taken. He wanted to be penetrated and filled to the brim with that thick, throbbing stallionhood.

And he wanted that pony to give him that kind of embarrassed thrill he received that morning, as well as in the theater.

By the time he landed back at the front lawn of his home, Troy was breathing heavily and sporting a rather obvious hard-on. Luckily, nopony seemed to be nearby for him to see, so the gryphon felt no qualms as he walked to the side door with a determined and almost needy look in his eyes. Even though he looked like he was about to pin Canvas down and claim that aqua coated rear for his own, Troy’s mindset was the exact opposite. He wanted to take it.

Hard.

However, as soon as he stepped into the living area of the barn, his senses were overloaded with an amazing smell coming from the kitchen. It may have not been bacon (or even fried-up canned ham, which was strangely craving a lot lately), but the savory aroma of spices wafting from the kitchen doorway was enough to make Troy pause momentarily after closing the door behind him. Even though there was a loud sizzling coming from the kitchen, the sound of the door made Canvas shout out, “Troy, is that you? I got a pot of curry simmering on the stove, and the egg rolls are almost done!”

Troy’s eyes widened, and his stomach made an involuntary growl in approval. He may have been rock hard, and he may have had his mind set on one specific thing today. But dammit if he didn’t want some egg rolls now.