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// Chapter Five: Oh Brother 
// Story: Brushed Away 2: By Hoof and Claw 
// by TheVClaw 
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Canvas rose both eyebrows. "Really? Your family is coming to Equestria?"

"Umm-hmm." Keeping his beak shut, Troy could barely make much of a reply. Instead, the Gryphon just nodded before handing the letter to Canvas. Holding the wrinkled paper in his hooves, Canvas cleared his throat before he read the letter out loud.

"Dear Troius… I know it's been a while since the last time we wrote to you, but you haven’t sent a letter yourself in over a month. I know you might be busy in Equestria, but that doesn’t mean you can’t write to us more often."

Canvas looked up at the Gryphon, who was staring down at the floor with a worried look on his face. Canvas turned his attention back at the letter as he continued to read.

"It's hard to believe that, just ten months ago, you left for Equestria. While I wasn't a big fan of your decision, I know that it was something you really wanted to do, and I won't fault you for doing what makes you happy. And considering how happy you sounded in your previous letters to us, your Father and I decided to take some time off and visit you."

Troy's talons began tapping at the floor quickly while he tried to hide his growing tensions. Even though he was worried about his fiancé acting like this, Canvas didn’t stop reading the letter out loud.

"I'm not sure when this letter will arrive, but we're planning to come to Equestria in the middle of November. Also, your brothers are planning to come over as well. They've all really missed you, so be nice when they come by. And we're all looking forward to seeing you, and meeting your friends… Sincerely, Mom."

Canvas narrowed his eyes at the bottom of the letter as he read the P.S.

"Also, Blade sent you his newest Talon Ripper album, Changeling Slaughterhouse."

Canvas took note of the album, which was still in the box on the dining room table. Realizing why Troy was looking so worried, Canvas put down the letter and shifted his attention to the Gryphon. 

Breathing heavily, Troy looked close to hyperventilating as he muttered under his rapid breath, "Two weeks… Two weeks… They're coming here in two bucking weeks!"

"Troy!" Canvas put his hooves up and grabbed the Gryphon by the shoulders. "It's okay! This isn't anything to wor—"

"Two weeks!" Troy shouted in a panic as he pulled himself away from Canvas. Troy then began to pace around the living space in a frantic manner, worrying Canvas even more as he heard the Gryphon continue to ramble to himself. "They'll be here in two weeks! Here! They'll see where I live! They'll see that I'm living on the ground! With a stallion! That I'm engaged to a stallion!!!"

Canvas ran back into the kitchen. Troy didn’t notice at all as he continued to pace in frantic circles.

"Oh, nonononono! This is not good, this is not good! They're gonna freak out! They're gonna see me with a guy, and they'll never speak to me again! I don’t know what to do, Canvas! I have absolutely no idea wha—"

SPLASH!

A splash of cold water hit Troy directly in the face, startling him enough to pause his panicked movements. Canvas, who was breathing heavily, kept his eyes on the Gryphon while holding a now-empty glass in his hoof. Looking up at his fiancé, Canvas hoped that he managed to calm down Troy enough to speak.

After a few seconds of silence, Troy blinked rapidly before looking down at Canvas. "Did… did you just throw water in my face?"

"Well," began the stallion as he looked away nervously, "I really didn’t want to slap you…"

Canvas took a deep breath before he looked back up at Troy with a more stern look on his face. "But you need to calm the buck down! Seriously! It's two weeks, Troy! Half a month! You have more than enough time to prepare until then, so stop acting like a paranoid nutjob!"

Looking down at his claws, Troy took a deep breath and tried to settle himself down. While his feathers dripped dry, Troy slowly exhaled and closed his eyes. After taking a moment, Troy nodded, making Canvas feel slightly better as he put a hoof to his shoulder again.

"Troy, please don't get too flustered about this. I told you that you shouldn't be acting like they're automatically going to react badly."

Troy slowly reopened his eyes, looking at Canvas as he tried to mutter a response. "But… but what if—"

"Troy," said Canvas in a more firm tone of voice, "do you remember what I told you when we came back from Canterlot? What I told you after the party ended?"

Troy closed his eyes and sighed. Again, he nodded slowly before saying faintly, "Y-yeah… You… you said that no matter what happens, that you…"

Troy reopened his eyes and looked at his fiancé, who was carrying a warm smile as he stared back at him. "You would be there for me… no matter what."

"That's right," said Canvas in a tender tone. "I said that I would be here for you, and I meant every single word when I told you that."

Troy started to give a faint smile back to Canvas, which prompted the stallion to move in closer. Wrapping his hooves around the Gryphon's back, Canvas kept his smile as he continued, "No matter what you need to do, just know that you have my full support. Because nothing is more important to me than making you happy."

Looking into the stallion's eyes, Troy didn’t see any sign of insincerity or doubt. Instead, Troy only saw the purest of honesty and love within those flawless pools of blue. Those same eyes that made the Gryphon fall for him in the first place.

Moving his head in, Troy's voice came out in a faint whisper as he opened his beak. "I love you…"

"…I love you, too." Canvas closed his eyes as he kissed Troy deeply, keeping him in tight embrace as they stood within their home. After holding him for another moment, Canvas pulled his lips back again before smiling warmly.

"Now, how about we have some breakfast?"

Sighing in agreement, Troy merely gave a smile back and nodded. With that, the two walked back into their kitchen. While Troy headed straight to the plate of doughnuts, Canvas walked over to the freezer.

"Hey Troy, I know you said you didn't like this kind, but are you sure you don’t want any of this bacon Twilight got us?"

Troy immediately shuddered and glanced over at Canvas with a disgusted look on his face. "Ugh, no! And for the last time, that crap isn’t bacon!"

Canvas rolled his eyes as he pulled the box of veggie bacon out of the freezer. "Dude, c'mon! Twilight went out of her way to get this for you. And considering it's a gift from a Princess, I think it's kinda rude to not at least try it!"

Troy grimaced and quickly shook his head. "No way! And I've tried that veggie bacon before! It smells like wet Band-Aids!"

Canvas blinked a few times as he stared at Troy, a perplexed expression hanging on his face for a moment before he sighed in defeat. "Fine," said the stallion as he placed the package back in the freezer. "And I'm not going to ask how you know that."

As he watched Canvas take out the powdered sugar from the cabinet, Troy sighed and picked up a doughnut from the plate. "Seriously, though. Veggie bacon sucks."

"Well…" Canvas took out a powdered sugar spoon. "As long as you don’t tell that to Twilight and hurt her feelings, I think we'll be alright."

"Agreed," said Troy as he took a bite from the doughnut in his claw.

While the two began to have their breakfast in the kitchen, neither of them paid much attention to Troy's package on the dining table, nor the letter beside it. Because of that, neither of them realized that there was more written on the back of the page…

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Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was appreciating a well-deserved morning off. She decided to take a day in on one of her clouds. Even though her main cloud home was absolutely awesome—especially with that new rainbow fountain she added last week—she knew that she had to have a little variety. And as soon as she found out about the great spot Troy used to hang his cloud at, the Pegasus took the area as soon as she was given the okay from him.

While her second cloud wasn't nearly as large or extravagant as her main place, Rainbow Dash didn’t plan for it to be much more than a place for her naps and flying practice. Due to the nice lake and waterfall on the ground below, the Pegasus liked to come here to unwind every now and then, letting the running water help to ease her mind when she needed it.

Lying on her back in a less-than-graceful position, the mare was snoring loudly as her head hung off her cloud bedding. She wouldn’t even be able to notice if an earthquake went off right now.

Tank, Rainbow Dash's pet tortoise, was also resting soundly on a folded blanket near the Pegasus's bed. However, the reptile's beady eyes opened as he felt a shadow move past him. Looking around, the tortoise's eyes widened as he saw what it was.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash kept snoring loudly on the cloud, lifting up a hoof as she scratched her belly. After grunting a little from her scratching, the Pegasus rolled over onto her stomach, raising her flank up as she continued to sleep.

A shadow appeared over the pony's body, which was completely unnoticed by her. Slowly, a claw came up to the pony, poking her flank a few times with a talon before she grunted in her sleep.

"Unnnn… nooooo… Soarin, ponies are watching…"

The claw retracted for a moment, unsure of what to do. After a few more loud snores from Rainbow Dash, the talon poked her again, albeit slightly harder. Rainbow Dash grunted a little and repositioned herself on the cloud. She was still out like a light and spoke in her sleep again.

"Mmmmm… Discord, that tickles…"

"Huh?" said a young voice as the claw pulled back once more.

Despite another voice being in her cloud, Rainbow Dash didn't take notice in her unconscious state. Starting to get fed up, the claw pushed against the mare's back, shaking her a little before she murmured with a smile on her sleeping face, "Mmmmm, that's right, Pinkie… Tonight, we're putting glitter on everything…"

"Dude, what?"

"Huh?"

Finally, Rainbow Dash began to slowly reopen her eyes as the new voice woke her up. Blinking a few times, the Pegasus began to stir herself awake and look around. However, the mare's eyes widened as she turned her head and looked directly into the golden eyes of a Gryphon.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!"

"GAAAAAAHHHH!!!!" screamed the Gryphon as he shot back from Rainbow Dash.

Sitting on her bedding in wide-eyed shock, Rainbow Dash was breathing heavily as she saw who was looking back at her.

With golden eyes as wide as the pony's, the Gryphon standing in her room had black fur along his body, and a mix of black and white feathers around his chest and head. While he was certainly much smaller than Troy, he was still big enough to be about the same size as Rainbow Dash. Beside the Gryphon, two large duffle bags sat on the base of the cloud, looking like they were about to fall through from their massive weight.

Wondering why the buck some Gryphon was in her house like this, Rainbow Dash's eyes narrowed on him as she blurted, "Dude, you have two seconds to explain why you're in my house!"

The Gryphon pulled back a bit in surprise before he looked around in confusion. "Wait, this is your house?"

"Yes!" shouted the mare in an irritated state, which was caused by a mix of confusion and sleep deprivation. "This is my house, kid!"

The Gryphon glanced at Rainbow Dash for a second before he bent down to one of his duffle bags. Opening a pocket on the side, the Gryphon pulled out a piece of paper, studying it closely before looking back at the mare.

"But…" The Gryphon looked around in an even more confused state. "…This is Troy's address, right?"

Blinking a couple times, Rainbow Dash's eyes narrowed on the Gryphon in her room. Looking at his small and smooth beak, the Pegasus began to see a fairly strong resemblance to Troy, making her raise her eyebrows.

"Wait a minute… Are you, like… related to him or something?"

The Gryphon narrowed his eyes back at the Pegasus, looking slightly puzzled before he spoke in a more obvious tone. "Ummm… yeah, I am. Troy's my brother."

Remembering her conversation with Troy back at his engagement party, Rainbow Dash realized that this had to be one of the family members the Gryphon was talking about. Getting off her bed, Rainbow Dash stood on the base of the cloud as she walked up to him. 

The Gryphon, keeping a perplexed look on his face, looked around the room for another second before putting his claw out to the mare.

"Ummm… hi. My name is Lyle."