//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3~A dinner meeting 
// Story: Youngblood 
// by Centurion Pike-Wall 
//------------------------------//

"Aww, she's so cute!", Depressi said, holding his baby cousin over his leg as he lightly bounced it. 

Off to the side, Scootaloo smiled as she took a sip of her drink. "Yep. Mommies little Wonderbolt, eh?"

On Depressi's leg, Speed Streak giggled, waving her hooves as he bounced her up and down. She had a light orange coat, which was a slightly darker shade than Scootaloo's, along with a light grey mane like the top of her father's mane. Her eyes opened wide in excitement, revealing large, greyish-purple orbs. 

"She reminds me so much of Ignis. I imagine the two of them will get along well when Mother comes over." He lowered his head, bringing it more or less level with her. "You hear that, Cousin? Your Auntie Dash and your other cousins will be coming for your first Hearths Warming!" Speed Streak giggled even more in response. 

The two of them were interrupted by DJ tromping down the stairs, whistling to himself as he did so. His fur and feathers were still damp from a recent shower, but he still looked decently well-groomed. He said, "Alright. What'd I miss?"

"Nothing much. Just playing with our little cousin", Depressi said, lifting Speed up for emphasis. She made a weird babbling noise, waving her hooves at him and trying to grab his beak. 

DJ snorted, before walking closer and letting her grab it. She cooed softly, seemingly fascinated by the hard, boney structure. She tapped it lightly, before grinning and giggling. Depressi pulled her away, before handing her back to her mother. 

Their session of playing with Speed Streak was over when they heard a loud knock on the door. Depressi said, "I'll go get it." He stood from his spot on the couch and headed over to the door. As he opened it, he was first greeted by his Uncle, Rumble. 

"Hey, bud", he said, lifting up a hoof to shake with his nephew. 

"Salve, Uncle", Depressi replied, before looking past him at a trio of ponies behind him. "Care to introduce me to your compatriots here?"

Rumble said, "Sure, but let's get inside first. I'm interested in meeting this brother of yours." The four of them entered, Depressi only stopping when he heard a loud gasp. 

He looked back and was fully able to look over the group of ponies that had followed his uncle in. One was a darker grey stallion with a pale silver mohawk, who he recognized as Rumbles' older brother, Thunderlane. The one next to him was a small pegasus filly, about six years old at most. She had a light grey coat, similar to Rumbles, along with a light Purple mane. The one that drew his attention, however, along with whose attention was on him, was the fillies mother; Rarity, another former friend of his mother. 

She differed rather little from when he last saw her, about eleven years ago. She had her hair pulled back in a bun with one side still falling luxuriously down one side of her face, and wore a necklace studded with blue jewels, but that was about it. She had by that point regained her composure, and said, "Oh, you must be Depressi! Pinkie said you and your brother were in town."

"E-er, yes. Salve, Mulier Rarity", he said, holding out his paw to shake. "Salve, Domine Thunderlane. And, you are?"

Before anyone else could respond, the filly smiled brightly, before trotting up to him like she was a very important individual. "Greetings! My name is Graceful Wind, although you could call me Grace if you like. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sir."

Depressi smiled. "The pleasure is all mine, Mulier", he said, lowering his head in a small bow. 

To Depressi's surprise, the young filly balked in shock and shot him a disgusted look. "Did you just call me a Mule!?", she yelled in a much screechier version of her previous voice.

"Grace, darling", Rarity warned. "Do not be rude. 'Mulier' is just Pryhan for Madame. Depressi here is a pryhan, so it's his first language. Now, apologize to Depressi."

Graceful lowered her head, before looking up at him and said, "Sorry, mister."

"No harm, no foul", Depressi said, shrugging. 

"Well, enough of that", Thunderlane said. "Let's eat! I'm starving!"

The five of them headed into the dining room, where Speed Streak was sitting in her highchair. They walked into the kitchen, spotting Scootaloo spooning pieces of noodle casserole into several bowls. Rumble says, "So, you didn't burn it I see."

Scootaloo snorted in amusement, replying, "Oh come on. I know I can't cook to save my life, but even I can't mess up 45 minutes in the oven at three-fifty."

DJ picked up one of the bowls, staring at the mix of vegetables and noodles inside. "Um, what is this?"

Depressi said, "I believe it's called Casserole. Noodles, cheese, and vegetables covered in bread crumbs and baked in an oven."

"Well, like my brother said: Let's eat!", Rumble said, scooting past the two of them and sitting at the table. The others followed him, taking their own seats as they began to grab utensils to eat. 

DJ grabbed a fork in his paw, poking at the Casserole for a bit, before picking up a bit on the fork and spearing a bit of noodles. He scraped them off of it into his beak, before tilting his head back and swallowing. He snorted, taking in the decent amount of flavor from the noodles. It wasn't that bad; not a decent puls or a good stew, but it wasn't bad. He then noticed that most of the others were looking at him. He looked around again, then said, "What?"

"Why, do you eat like that?", Grace asked with a look of mild disgust on her face. 

"I have a bird head, a la, a beak. You try eating without teeth", he said. 

Depressi said, "My brother said that he can't really eat without doing that. He doesn't have any teeth, so he can't chew his food, and has to do that to eat properly."

As Grace nodded in understanding, Rarity asked, "So, I didn't know that Rainbow had another child after you, Depressi. W-well, I mean I knew about your younger sisters, but not someone so close to you in age."

"He's adopted", Depressi said. "About, what, seven years ago?"

"Sounds 'bout right?", he said, shrugging before shoving another bite of the casserole in his beak.

Rarity seemed to mill over it a bit, before saying, "Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't realize."

"It's Fine", DJ said. "It's not that bad. Better food, warmer bed, and I've got some decent clothes."

After Depressi relayed what he said, Rarity said, "Well, that's good to hear. So, why don't you tell us about yourself, Depressi?" 

"Well, what do you want to know?", he asked. 

She said, "Well, whatever you want."

Depressi milled over it for a bit, before saying, "Well, again, I don't really know what to tell you if you want to know something."

Thunderlane said, "You play any sports?"

Depressi said, "Well, ok, I can work with that. I'm a member of the school track team, and I generally also participate in local shooting competitions."

"Shooting?", Grace asked. 

"Yeah", he said. "Ranged weapons. Crossbows, mostly, but I can also use a sling or Plumbata decently."

Grace asks, "What's a Plumpata?"

"Plum-Bata", he said. "A type of dart with a lead weight on it. Generally used by the army, but they're also used by sports shooters."

"Sounds interesting. Is it your special talent?", Thunderlane asks.

"As in my cutie mark?"

"Well, yeah", he said. "Just out of curiosity."

"In that case, then yeah. You want to see it?", he said. 

Rumble, feeding Speed Streak a spoonful of baby formula, said, "You know, I've never actually seen it. You're always wearing tunics and what-not."

"Why not", Depressi said, standing up and backing away from the table a bit. He pulled up his tunic a bit, revealing the mark on his flank. It was a pair of crossed crossbow bolts, the tips being blood-red lightning bolts. The shafts were black, and the fletchings were the same color as the upper part of his mane: blood-red, royal blue, and dark purple.

"Woah", Grace said. "That's cool!"

"Gratias", he said, lowering the end of his tunic and sitting back down. 

"So, do you do anything, DJ?", Rarity asked.

He had been calmly and quietly eating, practically ignoring everyone else. In response, he said, "I'm on the school gladiator team."

"He said he's a member of the school gladiatorial team. Equites, right?", Depressi said.

DJ nodded, before taking another bite. Rarity asked, "I'm sorry, but I'm not that familiar with, gladiatorial events. What is an Equites?"

"Well, an Equites is a type of gladiator; one that's actually inspired by Earth Pony Militia during the Pre-Discordian era, as I believe you call it. They use greaves, a helmet, foreleg guards, a leather tunic, and a small, round shield and a sword. A bit of an in-between between the lighter armored classes and the heavier armored ones", Depressi said. 

Thunderlane said, "Huh. That's certainly rather interesting."

"Sounds dangerous", Grace said. 

"Oh, it's not", Depressi said. "Well, it can be if you're not careful. But, you have to be well trained and not a complete moron before you can properly compete. DJ knows what he's doing." He then set down his fork, having finished his meal, and reclined in his seat. "But enough about us. Why don't you tell us about you?"

"W-well, you are the guest", Rarity said. "I don't mean to have you be the focus of the conversation, but you are the one who's-"

"Aw, come on Rares. Quit pressuring him", Thunderlane said. 

Depressi said, "Oh no. You weren't pressuring me, or my brother. I just wish to learn a few things."

"I don't care", DJ said, himself polishing off his plate.

"Well, ok then", Rarity said. "I've recently been declared one of the best-selling summer lines in Equestria! I'm planning on opening up a new location in Baltimare. I've even been looking at selling abroad! I don't know about setting up direct boutiques, but maybe talking to a distributor to sell to Griffonia, or maybe even the Empire. Tell me, do you think Pryha will appreciate some Equestrian fashion in their lives?"

As Rarity went into her ramble, Rumble whispered to his brother, "She tends to get into these things, huh?"

"Yeah. I'm just happy she has something she can get really excited about. It's like her version of the Wonderbolts, in a way", Thunderlane said. "Honestly, I'm just glad she got rid of her fainting couch." 

Scootaloo butted into their conversation, saying, "Oh, come on. It was kinda funny the way it came out of nowhere like Pinkie Pie. But, yeah. It's nice to see there's no bad blood."

"Bad blood?", Grace asked, also butting in.

"Yeah", Rumble said. "Depressi and DJ's mom doesn't really like Rarity, nor-"

"Wait, why?", Grace asks. 

"Blagh, da ba da!", Speed Streak cuts in, waving her hooves, almost demanding food. 

Scootaloo scooped up and fed some formula to her baby, and said, "Well, your mom and my older sis, their mom, had some bad experiences in the past, and my sister just doesn't want to talk to her, along with a few other ponies."

Depressi said, "Well, Miss Rarity, Pryhan 'fashion' is rather simple. Barebones, if you will. What we're wearing, along with additional styles of hats, is the typical clothing a Pryhan will wear."

"True", Rarity said, leaning forward. "But what about formal wear? I have a feeling that some notable figure will want a nice dress of Prench-style."

"Sorry, but no", Depressi said.

Rarity said, shocked, "Really!?"

"Yeah. Pryhans like dresses the way they are. I just don't see them being popular", Depressi said, finishing off his plate. 

"Suits, maybe", DJ said. 

"Yes, suits."

"Suits?", Rarity inquired. 

Depressi said, "Yes. Suits. Over the past few years, togas have become less popular, replaced by western suits. So, if you really want to enter the Pryhan fashion world, start learning to make suits."

"Hey, Rares", Thunderlane said. "We should get going. It's almost Grace's bedtime."

"Ahhhh, but daddy!", Graceful interjected. 

Rarity tutted, "Now now, Graceful. Listen to your father. Let's go."

"Ok", Graceful mutters. She pushed out her chair and slid to the floor. She and her parents headed towards the door, and Graceful yelled, "It was nice to meet you!"

"Indeed. It was really such a pleasure", Rarity said. 

"Gratias", Depressi said, bowing his head. "Good night."

"Night, bro!", Thunderlane yelled over his shoulder as they left, closing the door behind them. 

After they left, the two brothers turned and looked at one another. DJ said, "So, your turn?"

Depressi said, "I believe so. Unless we're counting disposing the stuff on the train."

"Of fucking course we're not counting the train. Why would we?", DJ replied, snorting.

"What're you two talking about?", Rumble asked. 

Depressi told him, "Which one of us is doing the dishes. It's my night, so I'll just go deal with it."

Rumble asked, "Wait, why?". 

"It's just the way we do things in our house."

Scootaloo said, "Well, don't worry about it. That may be how you do it at your home, but we'll take care of it here. Well, Rumble will..."

"Wait, what?", he said. 

"...Just go get some sleep. You two must be tired."

The two of them looked at each other, before shrugging. "Ok, night", DJ said.

The two of them headed upstairs, entering their room and beginning to take off their scarfs. After a few minutes, they had fully taken off their clothes and rested in their beds. After hearing a loud hiss from his brother, Depressi asked, "You good?"

"Yeah, yeah. But this bed isn't doin' my back any favors. Just, hit the sack." DJ turned over on his side, falling asleep shortly after. Depressi placed his hat on his saddlebags, before joining his brother in sleep.