//------------------------------//
// Chapter Eight: Coming Clean 
// Story: Brushed Away 2: By Hoof and Claw 
// by TheVClaw 
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Cloudsdale, much like many of the other towns and cities in Equestria, was built to fit with the unique environments of the area. However, unlike the burning deserts of Appleloosa, the harsh winters of Vanhoover, or the pony-built oasis in the middle of nowhere that became Las Pegasus, Cloudsdale was founded from different ideals. Since the community was founded upon clouds for Pegasus ponies to thrive, Cloudsdale wasn't built to adjust to the environment, but to create it.

The large cluster of clouds held many of the most unique structures and buildings in all of Equestria, which were built of nothing more than clouds, dried ice, and the occasional rainbow waterfall or two. For many of the Pegasus ponies who lived around this region all their lives, the structures were things they were used to, things they didn’t give much notice.

However, for Gryphons like Lyle and Troy, whom had never seen these kinds of arrangements in their own Kingdom (except maybe some of the ancient structures that were still around), every single house and building stuck out like a sore talon, making their journey to the Weather Factory take a little longer than expected.

Due to the Weather Pressure Machine being under repair, the Weather Factory where Troy used to work was closed before he or his brother could reach it. Consequently, there wasn't much they could do but perch on a nearby cloud and stare at the large arrangement of clouds and ice columns in front of them. Nevertheless, Troy knew Cloudsdale well enough to know there had to be something fun to do, so, with a hopeful smile on his beak, he looked over to his brother while he stared at the large building.

"So, you used to work there?" asked Lyle, looking at the impressively huge and intricately built structure, which bore the sign Rainbow Factory out front. "Dang… Ponies have a lot of time on their hooves, don’t they?"

Troy chuckled and looked back at the Weather Factory, not faulting Lyle on that observation. From the way it was built—looking like some weird cloud-version of some of the ancient Gryphonian structures from long ago—it was obvious that a lot of effort had been made to make it look presentable.

"Yeah," Troy began, smiling to himself, "but to be honest, though, my job kinda sucked. I was pretty much stuck in a giant freezer, scraping down huge blocks of ice all day. It was easy, but… it got old pretty quick."

Lyle shrugged a little at Troy's statement, focusing more of his attention on some of the other cloud structures around them. "So… Is that why you're doing weather patrol now?"

Troy merely nodded as he looked back at Lyle. "Yeah, pretty much. I mean, I was barely talking to anyone while I was an ice scraper. I wanted to at least try to do something I could enjoy."

Thinking about it, a small smile came up on Troy's beak when he realized how truthful that statement was. While he may have had other reasons to start doing Weather Patrol in the first place—mostly because he wanted to make sure Canvas was alright when he first moved to Ponyville—Troy couldn't say that he was lying to Lyle at all. He really did enjoy talking with ponies during and after his first volunteer work, and it was only a convenient coincidence that he was able to get a different job so quickly after that. While he wasn't sure about mentioning it to his brother yet, Troy really felt that finding Canvas helped to make his life way better than he could've imagined.

"Honestly," Troy said, trying to catch his brother's attention, "I think switching jobs was a great choice for me. I mean, I never would've met any of the friends I've made if I stayed at my old job."

Looking over at Lyle, who was leaning back on the cloud with his claws, Troy smiled as he saw how intrigued his brother was with everything around them. Remembering the first time he arrived in Cloudsdale himself, Troy couldn't blame him one bit for staring at all the different structures like this. Looking outward himself, Troy decided to just appreciate the silence for now, and sat alongside Lyle as they stared at the floating city.

Hmmm… Maybe…

Troy's heart began to race a little as he realized how nice this felt right now. Remembering Rainbow Dash's advice, Troy knew that this could be a good moment to tell him. If he did it now, he could get it out of the way, and hopefully not get that big of a negative response from Lyle.

However, as he looked over to his brother, Troy saw that he was still looking around curiously at all the different clouds. Thinking about it a little more, Troy decided to wait a little longer. Since they just got to Cloudsdale, maybe he could show Lyle a few more things around town before telling him. He knew of some pretty cool vantage points that would allow them to see a lot of Equestria. Plus, he wouldn't mind dropping by the record store first.

With a quick stretch of his wings, Troy lifted himself up off the cloud and looked over to Lyle.

"Hey, Lyle. Come on." Motioning to him with a claw, Troy waited until Lyle started to get up before continuing. "We should probably hold off on eating that much until we get back home, but you wanna get a snow cone or something? There's a pretty good stand over by the record store."

Lyle shrugged a bit before lifting himself off the cloud. "Alright, sure. I'm kinda hungry anyway."

"Cool." With a smile, Troy began to fly off, Lyle close behind. As they made their way to the record store, Troy's previous mention of dinner reminded him of his fiancé, which made him decide to start some small talk with his brother.

"Hey, Lyle..." Troy looked back to him during flight. "What did you think of Canvas? Like, how was he while I was gone?"

Lyle thought about it for a second before looking back at his brother, giving him a light smile. "He's alright, I guess. I mean, he was a little fidgety at first, but he was cool once we started talking."

"Nice." Troy smiled back. "So… What did you two talk about?"

With the record store still a distance away, Lyle didn’t seem to mind much as they continued to fly further from the Weather Factory. Happy to actually be chatting with Troy after a year apart, Lyle kept himself close in flight as he spoke.

"Eh, we didn't talk about anything specific. Like, he mentioned a little bit about how you found him…"

Hearing that, Troy looked a little more worried when he looked back at his brother. Looking over, Troy saw that Lyle had an upset look on his face. "How come you never told me you got a busted wing from saving him like that?"

Even though he was expecting a different question, it still surprised Troy enough to cause him to look away in guilt. "Oh, yeah… Well… I kinda didn’t… want to freak Mom out…"

While he was glad Lyle's question wasn't something regarding his relationship with Canvas, it still made him feel bad that he never told them about his wing getting struck by lightning. Hoping that Lyle was understanding enough, Troy looked back to him. "Sorry for not telling you about that. I just… I didn't want you guys to worry."

Lyle just sighed and looked away. "Sure, whatever. I was just surprised to find that out, that's all."

"Yeah…"

While the two continued their flight, Troy felt a little more nervous. With the worry of a negative reaction to Canvas still on his mind, Troy tried to hide his nervousness as they soared, knowing that he was really going to surprise Lyle later today.

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With a distinct 'ding,’ Canvas happily trotted into Sugar Cube Corner with a smile on his muzzle. On his brisk jog into Ponyville, the stallion was able to think of a good dish to make for Troy and Lyle and purchased all the necessary ingredients as he strolled through the market.

Since he got his shopping done in less time than he thought, Canvas decided to get a little something for himself. And after managing to get a practice jog done in record time, he was really craving something chocolatey.

"Hello," said the stallion to Misses Cake with a cheerful smile as he reached the counter.

"Oh, hello, Canvas," Misses Cake said with a happy grin as well. "It's nice to actually see you around again! With the way you and Troy have been all week, I was starting to wonder how busy you've been!"

Canvas chuckled a little and looked away with a smile. "Yeah, we have been pretty swamped. I was wanting to get the house painted before winter came, which Troy had to help prepare for with Rainbow Dash."

"Well, that makes sense. Plus…" With a grin still on her muzzle, Misses Cake's eyes narrowed on Canvas as she added, "I'm guessing that, after that party, you two have been awfully busy with wedding plans, too."

Canvas started to blush a little as he looked back to Misses Cake, brushing some of his mane back with a hoof and a smile. "Yeah, a little bit. I'm just glad that Rarity gave us today off from talking about it. I've been meaning to appreciate an actual day off."

"Well, that does sound…" Noticing Canvas's hoof, Misses Cake's eyes narrowed a little in confusion as she trailed off. "Umm… Canvas? Where's your ring?"

Canvas's eyebrows rose a little before he looked down at his hoof, realizing that he still had it off. Even though he hated not having his engagement band on, he almost completely forgot about it after his run into Ponyville. Now, with the bitter reminder about what all occurred in the past couple hours, Canvas sighed a little before looking back to the mare.

"Well… One of Troy's brothers showed up to the place by surprise today. Troy hasn't exactly told anyone in his family about us, so…"

Misses Cake winced a little. "Ooh… I'm sorry to hear that." Hoping that this wasn't anything more serious than she imagined, she kept her attention on Canvas before asking, "So… are you alright? I mean… I really doubt hiding something like that would be easy for you."

"It's alright," Canvas said, holding up his hoof and giving her a reassuring smile. "Troy and his brother are catching up in Cloudsdale right now, and he's planning on telling him before coming back. I'm just hoping that Lyle's okay with this."

Seeing the confident smile on his muzzle, Misses Cake's tried not to show her worry as she smiled back. "Well, I certainly hope so. I'd hate to think about how bad things would get if there were problems…"

Taking another glance down at Canvas's ringless hoof, she pointed at him before adding, "But! Troy better be upfront about you two to his brother. Family tensions or not, I don't want to see you hiding your ring."

Canvas sighed and nodded. While he knew his fiancé would do the right thing, the stallion certainly didn’t want to keep his ring off more than he already had. "I know, and, believe me, I hate not wearing it. But Troy's been under a lot of stress about telling his family, and I told him that I'm behind him for any decision he makes regarding this."

"But Canva—"

"It's okay, Misses Cake," assured Canvas, just as Mister Cake trotted out from the kitchen with a fresh tray of desserts for the display counter. "Troy said he was going to tell him today, and I know that he will. Just because I'm worried, doesn't mean that I don’t trust him."

"Hm?" After placing the desserts in the display case, Mister Cake lifted his head back up before asking, "Trusting what?"

"Well…" Before Misses Cake could try to update her husband on what was going on, she paused and thought it over. Looking back at Canvas, the mare could tell that he had a fair point; despite the whole ring-hiding thing, she knew that Troy was a trustworthy Gryphon. In fact, he was the probably the most trustworthy Gryphon she ever knew, mostly since she only knew of two other ones.

After a quick contemplation, Misses Cake sighed before looking back to the stallion beside her. "Oh, it's nothing, Dearie. Canvas and I were just chatting about one of Troy's brothers coming to town."

"Oh really?" asked Mister Cake as he looked over to Canvas with an inquisitive brow. "Which one?"

"His younger one, Lyle," said Canvas. "He's hanging out with him right now in Cloudsdale."

"Well, that's nice!" Carrying a cheerful smile on his face, Mister Cake pointed a hoof at Canvas and added, "Be sure to bring him by here sometime. I'd like to meet more of Troy's family, just so I can get a better idea of what cake to make."

Canvas smiled and nodded, knowing how excited the couple were to be making their wedding cake. "Of course. Speaking of cake…"

Canvas glanced up at the large menu board hanging above the counter, scanning for a couple of seconds to find what he was looking for. With a smile on his face, Canvas looked back at the two bakers before opening his muzzle.

"I'd lik—"

"Here you go!"

Before Canvas could say what he wanted, Pinkie Pie jumped out from the serving window between the counter and the kitchen. In less than a second, Pinkie tossed a triple chocolate cupcake on the counter in front of Canvas, then shot back into the kitchen like some sort of hot-pink ninja.

"Pinkie!" shouted Misses Cake as she looked back to the kitchen. "He hasn’t even made his order yet!"

"Actually," said Canvas in a bewildered tone as he looked at the cupcake in front of him with wide eyes, "this… is exactly what I was going to order."

Looking back at Canvas and the cupcake, Misses Cake sighed a little, face-hoofing herself for trying to figure out how Pinkie did that. Mister Cake, who already shrugged off Pinkie's latest antic as her "just being Pinkie,” accepted the bits from Canvas with a light smile.

"Don’t worry about it. That happens sometimes. Actually, she usually does that with the chocolate-related orders. I think that's part of her Pinkie Sense or something."

Canvas merely shrugged in understanding and tried to glance back at the kitchen. "I guess that makes sense… I mean, it's not as weird as when she was in our closet last week."

"What?" asked the Cakes in unison, both of whom appearing more serious when they heard that last part.

"Yeah," Canvas continued, looking back at them in puzzlement, "it was the weirdest thing! After that big party she threw, Troy and I thought we were alone when we went back to bed. But then, out of nowhere, Pinkie Pie just came out of or wardrobe while we were talking! I just… didn’t know what to think of that."

The two bakers, who now had stern expressions on their muzzles, immediately turned back to the kitchen before shouting in unison:

"PINKIE!!!"

"Yeah?" Pinkie asked with a carefree smile as she popped her head out from the serving window.

"Pinkie!" Misses Cake said with a surprisingly angry tone, "How many times have we told you not to hang out in ponies' closets like that?!"

Canvas blinked a few times and tried to comprehend what he just heard. "Wait, you mean this happened before?"

"Yes," said Mister Cake bitterly, "a lot."

Pinkie, on the other hoof, just pouted as she sat in the serving window with her hooves crossed. "Well, how else was I supposed to learn their cutsie-wootsie nicknames to write on their wedding cake?"

While Canvas just stood by the counter, slightly dumbfounded, Misses Cake face-hoofed again before looking back at Pinkie. "Pinkie, do you remember what happened when you did that at Cranky Doodle's house?"

Pinkie's smile dropped. She looked a little more ashamed as she nodded slowly. "Yeah…"

"And what was that?"

"I… almost got arrested?"

"That's right," said Misses Cake in a more matter-of-fact' tone, "and you almost gave him and Matilda heart attacks!"

"But…" Pinkie's pout became bigger as she looked down to the floor in guilt. "I just wanted to celebrate their first kiss…"

Misses Cake just groaned and tried to rub her temples with a hoof; however, before she or her husband could try to say anything else, Pinkie raised her head back up and looked over at Canvas. "I'm sorry for hiding in your bedroom in secret, Canvas."

"Umm…" Even though he wasn't sure how to process everything he just heard, Canvas was still able to nod a bit before giving a reassuring smile. "It… it's alright, Pinkie. I'm not mad at you. I swear."

Pinkie immediately regained her trademark smile, which made Canvas grin a little bit more before taking his cupcake. "Well," began the stallion as he made his exit, "I guess I'll be heading back home."

"Okie Dokie Lokie! See you later Canvas!"

With a smile, Canvas nodded at her before turning back to the door. Before Canvas could make his way out of Sugar Cube Corner with his cupcake, Pinkie Pie gave him a wave before shouting, " And tell your fiancé not to worry about his parents so much!"

"PINKIE!" shouted Mister and Misses Cake, not looking over at Canvas, who just exited with a more uncomfortable blush on his face.

"What?" Pinkie asked innocently. "I was helping."

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Sighing under her breath, the pink Pegasus behind the counter of the record store rested her head on her hooves in boredom. Other than a couple ponies that came by an hour ago, business had been a lot slower than usual.

However, now that two Gryphons were browsing inside the shop, the mare knew that she couldn't just read her magazine like before. With a slightly inattentive brow, the Pegasus just blew some of her blond mane from her muzzle and stood guard.

With a skewed beak, Lyle looked over the selection of records in one section with obvious disinterest. Noticing his brother, Troy walked over to him from the classical section, realizing that Lyle was browsing the record store's arrangement of rap albums.

"Whatcha looking at?" asked Troy as he looked over Lyle's shoulder.

"Eh… nothing much. Honestly, I was expecting to see a bigger selection of rap around here."

The Pegasus barely paid much attention to Lyle's comment, looking up to the ceiling in indifference.

"Wait, you listen to rap?" Troy asked in a surprised tone. "Since when?"

"About a couple months ago." Huffing a little in disappointment, Lyle placed the latest single from Mic the Microphone back on the shelf. "Honestly, I just wanted to listen to something other than metal and rock, and it sorta grew on me."

Troy shrugged and looked around. "I guess that makes sense." Thinking about it, Troy looked back to his brother with curiosity before asking, "Hey, how's Blade, by the way? I haven't really heard much from him or the others."

Lyle looked a little further down the shelf before answering, "Blade's alright, I guess. He just finished some big tour thing over the summer. But, when he came back, he was talking with some really stupid accent he picked up in Trottingham."

Troy tried not to snicker too loud in the empty store. "Dude, really?"

"Yeah. It's really freakin' annoying!" Struggling not to laugh as well, Lyle looked back at his brother as he continued, "Blaze is still on a break from Stormball. I think he was supposed to be back on the team last month for some tournament, but he was caught with something and got suspended."

"What did he have on him?" asked Troy in surprise, not remembering any of his Mom's letters mentioning that. "Was it steroids or something?"

"Nah," answered Lyle as he looked away from him, "I think it was nip."

"Catnip?!" Troy's eyes widened in shock. "What was he doing with THAT on him?!"

"I dunno, but when they tested him, they didn't find anything in his system. I think he was just holding it for someone or something."

"I hope so," muttered Troy as he looked away, shaking his head in disbelief at hearing his brother doing something that stupid. "I mean, I know catnip isn’t that bad, but being caught with it by the coach was really dumb."

"You're telling me." Not finding any rap albums that appealed to him, Lyle made his way to the metal section with Troy. "Blane's alright, though. You hear that he actually opened up his own business?"

"Really?" asked Troy with a skewed eyebrow. "That guy's dumber than both of them! What kind of business is he running?"

Lyle shook his head in bewilderment and looked back to Troy. "Weapons trading. And he's doing it with a flower shop as his cover."

Troy face-clawed in embarrassment. "Seriously?! The guy's, like, seven feet tall! Why would he pretend to be working at a flower shop?!"

"I have no idea!" Lyle sincerely put his claws up and tried not to laugh out loud. "It's the weirdest thing ever! Like, he wears an apron and everything!"

Troy covered his eyes with a claw and tried to stifle his laughter. "Oh, man! I would pay good money to see him actually try to act like a florist!"

"Yeah, it does look pretty funny!"  Lyle's own laughter subsided a bit before he looked back at some of the metal albums. "Seriously, though, they're all doing pretty alright. They're still stupid, but hey, what did you expect?"

"Yeah…" Exhaling slowly, Troy's smile began to lessen as he thought it over. Although he was glad that Lyle was acting more mature than when he left, the fact that his older brothers were the same was troubling him a little. How would they react when they find out about him with Canvas? How would his parents react?

Actually, Troy was still worried about how Lyle would react, considering that he hadn’t told him yet.

"Whoa!"

Hearing Lyle's voice, Troy shook himself out of his thoughts and looked over. On the shelf of metal records, Troy's eyes widened as he saw what was included in the section. Taking up at least a third of the section, every single Talon Ripper record was arranged on the middle shelf, including a sign announcing that Changeling Slaughterhouse was coming out next week.

"Holy crap!" shouted Troy as he saw the arrangement, not expecting to see this in an Equestrian record store. He glanced at the mare at the counter as he asked, "How long have you guys been holding Talon Ripper albums?!"

"Hmm?" The mare, who was lost in thought, looked up at Troy and Lyle before replying, "Oh, yeah… we've been holding those albums for about a year now. I'm kinda surprised you never noticed it before, Troy."

Troy looked away a little in embarrassment. "Well, to be honest, this is probably the first time I browsed the metal section around here. But still…" Troy glanced back at all the Talon Ripper albums on the shelf, still perplexed. "Blade would probably flip if he saw this!"

"Blade?" asked the clerk curiously. "You mean like, Blade, the lead singer? You know him?"

"Yeah," Lyle said, looking up at her. "He's our brother."

"SERIOUSLY?!"

The mare shot up from her spot and stared at the two Gryphons, wide-eyed. "No way! Like, do you guys have any idea how many ponies would freak out if they knew that?!"

"Really?" Even though he knew Talon Ripper had some dedicated fans back in the Gryphon Kingdom, Troy always thought it was solely a Gryphon fanbase. "There are actually ponies who listen to that stuff?!"

"Yeah!" said the Pegasus in an obvious tone. "I mean, it's not a lot of ponies, but they have a couple of really big fans! In fact, I know that there's one pony who comes by every time they release a new album."

"Who?" asked Troy and Lyle in unison.

The clerk gave a light shrug and put her hooves up. "I actually don't know who, since it's usually not on my shift. But, yeah, there are a few ponies who really like that band."

Troy blinked a few times and glanced back at the albums. "Wow… Wasn't expecting to hear that…"

For the rest of the time the two browsed the record store, Troy was now plagued with two different questions itching his mind.

One—how was he going to come out to his brother?

And two—who the buck actually enjoyed listening to any of Talon Ripper's music?

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Even though Canvas had a good idea about what he wanted to make for dinner tonight, a spark of inspiration struck as soon as he left Sugar Cube Corner. Though he had only done it once before, the stallion figured that Troy's brother showing up was a good enough occasion to try it again.

And as soon as he saw Fluttershy strolling through town, Canvas remembered what Troy mentioned during their engagement party, making him quickly rush over to the mare while calling out to her.

"Hey, Fluttershy!"

Hearing Canvas's voice, Fluttershy paused and turned around, smiling when she saw the stallion coming toward her happily.

"Oh, hi, Canvas," said Fluttershy in a faint, yet happy tone. "How are you?"

"I'm pretty good…"

Even though he was determined, the very fact that he was even thinking about what he was going to ask her was making Canvas worry a little. Nevertheless, despite the building tension inside of him, the stallion kept a smile on his muzzle while he began his question. "Say, Fluttershy, umm… I wanting to ask you about something…"

Fluttershy, who wasn't noticing Canvas's nervousness, kept a curious smile as she listened. "Yes?"

"Well… umm…" Canvas bit his lip for a second and glanced down at the ground, taking a deep breath before he looked back up with a smile again. "Something kinda unexpected happened today, and… one of Troy's brothers actually showed up by surprise."

"Really?" Fluttershy’s ears perked up a little. "Which one?"

"His younger brother, Lyle…" Thinking it over, Canvas remembered what happened during the party, making him quickly put up a hoof as he clarified, "Not the one who gave Troy those metal albums! That was one of his older brothers."

"Oh, umm… okay." Flutterhsy's ears flopped back down again, leaving Canvas to breathe a little easier as he continued speaking.

"And… I was wanting to make a good impression, since… Well… Troy is telling him about us right now…"

"Oh…" Understanding what Canvas was saying, Fluttershy's eyebrows rose in slight worry. "So… do you think he'll be alright about it?"

"Well…" Canvas thought it over while he rubbed the back of his head with a hoof. "Lyle said I was pretty cool before he went off with Troy, so I'm wanting to stay hopeful. But… I was wanting to do something nice for both of them, so…"

Sighing under his breath, both worried and slightly ashamed for even asking, Canvas kept an optimistic smile on Fluttershy in the hope that she wouldn't immediately freak out or run away.

"Do you… happen to have any extra fish?"

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After leaving the record store and getting their snow cones, Troy decided to show Lyle one of the highest vantage points outside of Cloudsdale. Located at a hillside near the Wonderbolt's Training grounds, the point was high enough to see for miles around, as well as providing a great view of Canterlot. Although it would be several hours until the sun would set, Celestia’s waning sun was still evidently dropping as it headed to the west and began to go behind the training fields.

A deep shadow was loomed over Troy and Lyle as they sat by the ledge of the hillside. Even though he originally felt the shadow as some sort of a bad omen, Troy began to think less about it while he talked with Lyle some more.

As the two chatted about various things, Lyle eventually mentioned to Troy why he left for Equestria so early. Listening to his brother, Troy almost choked on his snow cone when Lyle finished his explanation.

"DUDE!" Troy had to cough a few times to get any lodged ice out of his throat, gasping a little before he looked at Lyle, wide-eyed. "You drew porn of Miss Beakman?!"

Lyle groaned a little and looked away from his brother's shocked stare. "Hey, it wasn't like I wanted to do it! It was a commission, okay?!"

"But… MISS BEAKMAN?! She's like, what… eighty?!?"

"I told you the kid was weird!" Lyle looked back to his brother with an obvious scowl. "Seriously, the only reason I did was because it was for fifty Avians!"

Troy's eyebrows rose at hearing that, appearing clearly impressed as he looked away. "Wow…" Thinking it over, Troy's brow furrowed a bit before he looked back to Lyle in confusion. "You mean a kid paid you fifty Aves for a drawing of that?!"

"Yeah… He… he was a creep."

Troy scoffed a little and looked away with a smirk. "Says the guy who draws porn."

"Shut up!" Lyle gave an especially strong glare to Troy, tightening his grip on his snow cone. "I told you, it was a commission! I don't draw that kind of stuff for fun!"

"Dude, I really hope so!" Troy snickered.

Eventually, their chuckles subsided enough to allow Troy to breathe normally again, letting him settle down enough to look back at his brother and attempt to change the subject. "So… school's alright for you, though?"

Lyle shrugged, a look of indifference on his face. "Sure, I guess. You know, aside from being suspended and all that stuff. School actually isn’t that bad for me."

"That's good to know," Troy said before taking another bite from his snow cone. "I never had that good of a time back in middle school, so it's nice to hear you actually have friends."

"That's true," said Lyle in agreement, "I mean, it still sucks, but whatever. I don't care."

"That's the spirit."

Keeping a smile on his beak, Troy looked back out at the horizon in front of them, seeing how vast the view of Equestria was from this point. Breathing in, Troy's heart started to feel heavier as he looked around, realizing now nice this moment felt right now. Thinking it over, he began to realize that this could be the right time.

Breathing out, Troy swallowed some excess saliva before looking back at his brother. Not wanting to just say it abruptly and make things awkward, Troy instead tried a different route in an attempt to make the change in subject more natural.

Clearing his throat, Troy decided to ask Lyle something, remembering what Rainbow Dash had told him earlier today.

"Hey, Lyle… umm… I was talking with Rainbow Dash today, and… she mentioned that you… you thought she was my marefriend?"

Lyle tried not to chuckle as he looked away in slight embarrassment. "Crap, she told you that? Umm… well…"

Knowing he couldn't just deny what she told Troy, Lyle looked back at his brother before clarifying, "I… I may have thought that at first. I mean, I thought it was your house, so when I saw a mare in the bed, it… kinda looked like that."

Troy shrugged in understanding, keeping a smile as he looked at his brother. Noticing how Lyle had explained it, Troy was happy to see that Rainbow Dash was right; Lyle really wasn't saying it like he was grossed out by the idea, which was a really good sign. Hopeful that he wasn't just hiding it, Troy skewed his beak a little before deciding to ask.

"So, ummm… Would that… would that be weird?"

Lyle looked up at his brother with a confused brow, making Troy breathe in with slight worry as he clarified his question. "You know, like… would it be weird if… I was with a pony?"

Realizing what it was Troy was asking, Lyle's eyebrows rose a little before he looked away. After a few seconds of silence, Lyle kept his eyes out to the horizon and shrugged lightly. "I… I guess not… I mean, you are in Equestria, so it kinda makes sense…"

Troy smiled a little bigger, feeling his hopes rise a little more. Taking a deep breath, Troy looked outward with Lyle, feeling his heart beginning to beat a lot faster in his chest.

Although he was beyond worried, Troy knew that this was the right moment. He kept his eyes away from Lyle as he began to speak.

"I'm… I'm glad to hear that… And… there's something I've been needing to tell you…"

Troy clenched his beak shut for a moment as he looked away from Lyle, not noticing how his brother was now looking back at him.

"I… I don't have a marefriend. I mean… I just wanted to point that out first…"

With his breathing becoming heavier than before, Troy hoped that it wasn't becoming loud enough to be too evident to his brother. Leaning on his forelegs, Troy felt his claws sink deeper into the ground as he continued, his voice shaking.

"But… Umm… I… I, sort of… I am in… a relationship…"

Not looking over, Troy could only hear his brother's voice as he gave a small reply. "Ummm… okay?"

"And…" Troy continued in a more nervous tone as he took another breath, feeling like a cannonball was in his stomach, pulling him down with each word. "I… I'm happy about… and… I really like… who it is I'm with…"

Even though he wanted to take a quick glance back at Lyle, needing to see how he was looking right now, Troy kept his eyes away, not wanting to risk seeing his younger brother looking at him with disdain. Because of that, Troy slowly exhaled, knowing that there was no turning back now.

"And… I don't want you to freak out about it… because… you… you kinda already… met the pony."

Lyle's eyebrows rose in slight surprise.

"And… well…"

Closing his eyes, Troy took a final deep breath. With his heart now thundering in his chest like a jackhammer, Troy could honestly say he never felt this unsure about anything in his life. 

However, knowing what he promised Canvas, Troy knew that he had to do this.

With his eyes closed, Troy breathed out as smoothly as he could, then opened his beak.

"It's… it's Canvas."

Even with the high winds around them, the silence was still undeniably overbearing. Since Troy was keeping his eyes shut, the lack of any sound from Lyle just made the silence feel even worse.

However, the moment those two words escaped his beak, that growing weight in his gut suddenly vanished, like something vaporized it from his body. Because of that, the next deep breath that Troy took felt a lot less pressured, allowing him to speak a little easier.

"I'm… I'm with Canvas. He… he's not my roommate."

Even though his heart was still pounding hard, Troy no longer felt the need to hold back anymore. He said what needed to be said, which made him stop feeling so held down. So, with a final exhalation, Troy opened his beak and finally said it.

"I… I'm gay."

With that, every ounce of tension that was building inside of him suddenly went away. After all the growing worries he felt from everything leading up to this, Troy didn’t expect that actually saying that would make it all go away so easily.

As soon as Troy came down from the realization of how gratifying it felt to finally admit that, it was soon replaced by the still silence between him and his brother.

Several seconds passed between the two Gryphons after Troy said those two words, which just made the older brother begin to grow worried again. Keeping his eyes closed, Troy wasn't able to see what Lyle looked like while he was staring at him. Instead, Troy could only hear silence, which was broken only a moment afterwards.

"Yeah, I kinda already knew that, dude."

Troy's eyes shot open in an instant. Turning his head over to his brother quick enough to risk whiplash, Troy saw that Lyle was keeping his eyebrows skewed, a light smirk on his beak while he kept munching on his snow cone.

"What?" Lyle asked in a more condescending tone, "You think I didn’t know?"

With his right eye twitching a couple times, Troy continually blinked, making sure that what he was seeing and hearing was, in fact, real.

"W-w-what?"

Lyle scoffed a little and looked at Troy. "Dude, come on! I know I'm young, but do you really think I'm that dumb?"

"I…I…" With his beak hanging open, Troy was dumbfounded as he tried to think of what to say in response. "You… you… You knew? But… how?"

Lyle kept a more “Are you kidding me?” sort of look on his face as he spoke sarcastically. "Umm, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that you're living on the ground with a stallion?"

Troy cringed a little and looked away in embarrassment.

"Dude, come on!" Lyle continued more matter-of-factly, "You really think I'm that stupid? I know that clouds don't take that long to make into houses! If you were staying with him for over a month, then something had to be up!"

"Well…" Troy attempted to speak up in his defense, which soon became fruitless as Lyle continued speaking.

"Oh, and I saw that huge freakin' nest you have upstairs."

"What?!" Troy looked at Lyle, wide-eyed, only seeing a smirk still on the little Gryphon's beak. "When?!"

"When I was looking around your place," said Lyle as he took another bite from his snow cone. "I mean, that's a huge bed, dude! And since you're having me sleep on the couch, you kinda forgot to mention where your 'roommate' slept…"

Lyle used his talons to make air quotes on the word "roommate" before continuing, "So, it was pretty obvious to figure out where Canvas was sleeping."

Troy groaned under his breath as he looked away, feeling like an idiot for not thinking about that detail. Though Lyle’s arrival was a  sudden occurrence and he had to scramble to get him situated, Troy still hated that he didn’t think about that sort of thing before going to help Rainbow Dash.

Before he could let any of that overtake him, Troy blinked a few times and thought everything over, realizing that Lyle wasn't acting mad or upset at all. Looking back over at his brother, Troy kept a puzzled look on his face as he finally spoke clearly.

"So wait, you… you knew? For how long?"

Lyle shrugged as he looked back to the horizon. "Well, it wasn't like I knew, knew… Like, I just had my suspicions, but it was pretty clear when I looked at everything. Plus…"

Lyle leaned back on his claws, thinking it over before adding, "When Canvas was talking about how you saved his life and all, well… It didn’t seem like something that a 'friend' would say. Like… it sounded like a lot more than that."

"Huh…" Even though Troy wanted to remind himself to ask Canvas what he specifically said to his brother, he was mostly just glad that Lyle was reacting like this. After all the bad scenarios he had running through his head, ranging from screaming matches, to full-blown fights, Troy was just happy that Lyle was acting positively about this. "So… you're… you're not mad? Like… you're not freaked-out?"

Lyle just looked back at his brother with a skewed brow as he replied, "Freaked-out? About what?"

"Well… you know…" Troy looked away from his brother for a second, fidgeting with his talons as he tried to think of the right words. "Like… Me with… him."

Lyle rolled his eyes, looking like Troy just said something incredibly stupid. "Are you serious? Dude, you've seen what comic books I've read! You've seen the video games I've played!"

Troy looked back at Lyle in confusion, not sure where his explanation was heading.

"I mean, come on! I drew a freakin' porn picture that made two teachers vomit! Do you really think that something like this would freak me out?"

Troy put up his talon to make a retort. His beak only stayed open for a second as he realized that he wasn't able to make a suitable response. Thinking it over, Troy realized that Lyle had a fair point; with all the content in the video games and comics Lyle had, the idea that he wouldn't be bothered by this wasn't a hard fact to swallow. Heck, a single page of a comic like Scarred was probably more damaging to a kid's psyche than the idea of having a gay brother.

With nothing to argue, Troy put his talon back down, and instead began to smile a little at the realization that Lyle was alright with his relationship. "So,” Troy began in an optimistic tone, "You… you're okay with this? Like… you're alright with me being with a stallion?"

Lyle shrugged and gave a light smile back to his brother. "Sure, I guess. I mean, it's kinda weird, but I don’t care."

Keeping his smile, Lyle looked back out to the view in front of them as he continued, "Canvas is pretty cool. Like, I know I only talked to him for like, less than an hour, but I already like him way more than any of the girls the triplets brought home."

Troy chuckled a little at hearing that, knowing that Lyle was definitely right on that part. Given all the bimbos that their older brothers have had "relationships" with, Troy knew that Canvas was way better than any of them. In fact, considering how bad some of those females were, Troy was fairly glad that he got himself attached to another male instead of one of them.

"Like," Lyle began, trying not to laugh, "remember when Blaze brought home that stripper to dinner? The one who pretended to have some nervous freakout, just so she could sneak into the bathroom to try to steal Grandma's meds?"

Immediately remembering that night, Troy groaned and looked away with a sneer on his beak. "Oh yeah… Tabetha…" Shuddering a little at that unpleasant memory, Troy looked back at Lyle as he asked, "Whatever happened to that bitch?"

Lyle thought about it a little before answering. "Umm… I think she has, like, three kids now. And they have five different dads."

Troy's eyebrows rose a bit, not expecting that answer. "Wow. That's… way less than I would've guessed."

Lyle clenched his eyes shut as he laughed out loud, needing a moment before he could reply soundly. "Yeah! Honestly…" Lyle managed to settle his laughter a bit before reopening his eyes. "She's doing way better than most of those guys' other exes! Like, I don't even want to tell you what happened to some of the others, like Crystal, or Chaka."

Troy made a much stronger shudder as soon as Lyle said that last name. "Ugh! I almost forgot about Chaka! Seriously, I think remembering her face made me a little gayer!"

At that moment, both of them cracked up loudly while they sat by the hillside. Even though their laughter caught the attention of a few Pegasus ponies passing by, neither of them cared.

Eventually, both of them managed to stop laughing after a while, not realizing that they had dropped their snow cones, which melted on the ground. Regaining his composure first, Troy kept a smile on his beak as he looked over to his brother. Happy that they were acting like this, Troy waited until Lyle was calmed down before speaking.

"You know… I was really worried about how you would react to this, but… I'm really glad you're not, like, mad at me or anything."

Regaining his voice, Lyle just sighed before turning his attention to Troy. "Dude, come on… I can't believe you actually thought I'd act like that."

"Well…" Thinking about the rest of his family, Troy looked down to the ground and tried not to look too disheartened. "I mean… I just know that Dad would say something against it."

Hearing that, Lyle's smile dropped a little, realizing his brother had a point. "Ooh, yeah..." Lyle looked down to the ground as well as he thought it over. "Yeah, he… he probably would, wouldn't he?"

Troy sighed under his breath and nodded. However, Lyle perked his head back up as he looked over at him. "But, seriously, though, you shouldn't think about him right now."

Slowly, Troy looked back up to his brother, noticing that Lyle had a more optimistic look on his face.

"I mean, this is kinda weird for me to find out, but… It doesn’t mean anything bad. Like… it doesn’t really matter to me who you're with, dude. Honestly, I'm just glad you're doing alright for yourself."

Troy's eyes widened a little at hearing that, seeing that Lyle really meant that statement. "Re… really?"

"Well… yeah." Lyle kept a smile on his beak as he looked back at Troy. "I don't really care. You're still my brother, Troy."

Even with everything else that Lyle said, those last five words he said were exactly what Troy needed to hear.

With a huge smile on his beak, Troy lunged forward, grabbing Lyle as he held him in an extremely tight hug. Clenching his eyes shut, Troy didn’t give any heed to Lyle's struggles as he tried to escape his brother’s suffocating squeeze.

"Urgh… Aaaah!!!" Feeling like his eyes were going to bulge out of his head, Lyle tried to speak before his lungs could be squeezed shut. "Tr-Troy, you… you're choking me!!"

Realizing that he was actually strangling his brother, Troy quickly let go of him. "Oh! Sorry…" 

Even with the light shade of embarrassment on his face, Troy still kept a grateful smile and he tried not to tear up. "Sorry about that, but… I really needed to hear that."

"Ugh… Geez, dude!" After a couple gasps for air, Lyle made sure none of his ribs were cracked before he looked back to his brother. "I know you're worried, but that was a bit much!"

"Sorry," said Troy again, not wanting to mess up anything so soon after Lyle accepted him. "I'm… I'm just glad you're okay with this."

Rolling his eyes, Lyle sighed under his breath. "Whatever. Honestly, I'm just glad I'm the first one you told."

Troy looked at his brother with a confused brow. "What do you mean?"

"What do you mean, 'What do I mean?'" Lyle gave Troy an annoyed glare before continuing, "Whenever something big happens in this family, I'm always the last one to know!"

"Oh, come on! No, you're not!"

"Yes I am!" Lyle had a more aggravated look on his face. "Like, when Blaze was going to college for that Stormball scholarship, I was the last to know! When Blade said he was doing that world tour, I was the last to know! When you said you were moving to Equestria, I was the last to know then, too!"

Thinking about it, Troy clenched his beak shut, realizing that Lyle may have been right about this. Slowly, Lyle's angry expression turned more saddened, and he looked down at the ground.

"And… When Grandpa died…"

Troy sighed bitterly and placed a claw on Lyle's back. "Lyle, come on… You… you were really young back then."

"But still!" Lyle shot back up as he looked at Troy. "I'm sick of being the last one to know about stuff in this family!"

Closing his eyes, Lyle took a deep breath, wanting to calm himself down and stop shouting. After exhaling slowly, Lyle reopened his eyes before speaking in a calmer tone. "Just… I'm glad you told me. Like… I like being the first one to know about something, for once."

Keeping his claw on Lyle's back, Troy just smiled as he nodded in understanding. "Alright, yeah… I get it."

Looking at his brother, Lyle gave a faint smile back before looking back out at the horizon. Blinking a couple times in contemplation, Troy realized that he could easily bring up something else before heading back home. After hearing what Lyle had to say, Troy grew a small grin on his beak, knowing what he could say to make Lyle feel better.

"Hey, Lyle. Just so you know, there's something else you should know before everyone else."

"What?" asked his brother, looking back at him.

"Well…" Blushing a little, Troy's smile grew as he looked away bashfully. "Technically speaking, Canvas…Well… I guess I can't say that he's… my boyfriend…"

Lyle's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Troy slowly looked back at his brother, keeping his cheeky grin before speaking in a giddy tone. "Well… he… he's my fiancé."

Lyle's eyes shot wide-open in surprise. "Seriously?!"

Troy nodded quickly, happy to see his brother's reaction. "Yeah. I… I proposed to him at the Grand Galloping Gala last week… and he said yes!"

After blinking twice to process what Troy said, Lyle gave a smile of his own before slapping Troy on the back. "Dude! That… that's awesome! Congratulations, Troy!"

Unable to hold back anymore, Troy pulled Lyle in for another hug. Fortunately, Troy made sure that this hug was a lot less suffocating, allowing Lyle to smile and reluctantly hug him back.

"Th… thanks, Lyle," whispered Troy as he tried not to cry. "I'm really glad you said that."

Lyle just kept his smile while hugging him back, glad to see his brother this happy after missing him for so long. "It's alright, Troy. I get it."

Even though he didn’t want to choke Lyle like last time, Troy hugged him a little tighter, closing his eyes as he savored this moment.

"I love you, Lyle."

Lyle sighed and closed his eyes as well. "I love you, too."

In that moment, Troy felt like he was closer with his brother than he ever was before.

As he kept hugging Lyle, all of Troy’s past worries and issues were completely muted, not entering his mind for a second while he held his brother tightly. Even though he knew he still had a ways to go, having one of his brothers support him like this was the greatest thing Troy could've ever asked for.

He wasn't sure how long he hugged his brother, but he honestly didn’t care. After all the unexpected surprises that occurred today, all Troy knew was that he was happy, and all because he really had something he hadn’t had for over a year.

A brother.