Troy tried to keep his mind clear while stirring the sauce for dinner, but he honestly wasn't able to think straight. After getting that letter from his brothers after the painting incident, only two questions were running through Troy's head as he stirred the contents of his saucepan:
One - What in the name of Equestria were those idiots planning to do to make up for drawing on Canvas's painting with crayon?
And two - Which one was he going to strangle first for drinking all of his root beer?
Canvas, who had a more relaxed smile on his face, trotted up to Troy as he tried to inspect what the Gryphon was cooking. "Oooh!" said the stallion happily as he smelled what was on the stove. "Mushroom fettuccine?"
"Yep," replied Troy in a slightly prideful tone. Even though he wasn't even half as good of a cook as Canvas was, the Gryphon was still improving quite a bit since the two started living together. "I got a couple of really good recipes from Bon-Bon, and I wanted to try this one out tonight."
"Well, it looks like you're doing a great job." Seeing how the mushrooms were sizzling against the pan with a good helping of onions and garlic, Canvas was already feeling anxious to try out Troy's latest dish. He leaned his snout in to take a whiff, pursing his lips shut to keep from salivating. "Mmmmm… Man I love mushr--"
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The sound of a hoof thunderously banging on their door made the two of them jolt away from the stove. Afraid of what the commotion was about, Canvas was the first to make a statement, "I… I'll get it. You need to turn the mushrooms over anyway."
"Hm?" Troy looked back at the pan, and quickly grabbed the spatula. "Oh crap, You're right!"
While Troy tended to dinner, Canvas opened the door from their living space, only to be greeted by a less than happy Applejack.
From the look on the orange mare's livid face, it looked like she was one wrong statement away from punching the nearest face her hooves could reach--and considering that Canvas was the closest one to her right now, he took a cautious step back from the doorway. "Ummm… Hi, Applejack."
"Where's Troy?!"
Canvas's muzzle was hung slightly open, unsure of what to say to the farmpony. Even though he clearly knew where Troy was at the moment, he was also afraid whether or not Applejack was going to hurt him. "Ummm… he…"
"What's going on?" asked Troy as he poked his head out from the kitchen. As soon as Applejack saw the Gryphon, her eyes widened and her scowl became more apparent. With the way her green eyes were leering at him, Canvas was terrified that she might run in and try to beat him like a Changeling.
But instead, surprisingly enough, the mare took several steps back from the door. Standing sway from the doorway, she pointed a hoof out toward their yard before bellowing out in an enraged tone, "Are these yer brothers?!"
Troy stepped out to the doorway to see what Applejack was referring to, and gasped when he saw what she was pointing at:
One of the Apple family's wooden carts was parked outside their barn, with an equally angry-looking Big Macintosh saddled to the front. On the back of the cart, with Granny Smith standing at the base with a pitchfork, all three of Troy's older brothers were struggling to move while tied up inside. Along with thick rope lassoed around each of the three to keep them from flying away, they also had their beaks gagged with cloth as they tried to speak in muffled cries.
"What the buck happened?!" shouted Troy, wide-eyed.
"These Gryphons here were tryin' ta swipe our property!"
"Mmmm-HMMM Mmmm Mmmm Hmmm!"
Choosing to ignore Blaze's attempts to speak while gagged, Troy groaned before turning back to Applejack. "Ugh… What did they try to take?"
Granny Smith piped up to answer Troy's question. "Apple Bloom caught these three tryin' ta break inside one of our chicken coops!"
"WHAT?!" Troy's eyes show wide-open, and he looked over at his brothers inside the cart. "What the buck were you guys thinking?!"
Blade's head perked up a little, staring at Troy as he tried to make a response. "Mmmmm, Mmmm Hmm Mmm Hmmm--"
"Uh, excuse me," interrupted Troy as he looked up at Granny Smith, "can you get the gags off them, please? I can't really understand them."
The old mare's eyes narrowed on Troy, giving off an obvious vibe that said "No bucking way!" But, after giving off a brief exhale, Granny Smith complied, taking the gag out of Blade's beak while still keeping her pitchfork pointed at him.
"Gah!" as soon as the gag was off, Blade panted loudly a couple times before shouting out to Troy, "C'mon man, help us! These ponies are bloody loony!"
"WHAT'YA SAY, YA VARMIT?!" yelled Granny Smith as she pressed the pitchfork closer to his throat. Unsurprisingly, that was enough to shut Blade right up, although a light whimper could be heard though his clenched beak.
Troy sighed as he face-clawed, unsure whether or not to be surprised that they would actually do something like this. Even though he loved meat as much as anyone else in his family, even he knew better than to try something like that in Equestria. "Guys…"
The three looked up at Troy, none of them trying to speak while the pitchfork was pointed at them.
"Did you seriously try to take chickens?!"
The three of them blinked twice in unison (one of those triplet traits which really drove Troy nuts sometimes), all giving the same befuddled look at him. Since Blade was the only one that was no longer gagged, he was the first to give a response to him.
"Didn't you get the letter? We were getting dinner!"
Granny immediately replied furiously, "THAT AIN'T DINNER, YA VULTURE!"
"HEY!"
"Okay! Okay! Okay!" Seeing how angry Troy got as soon as her Grandmother said the "V" word, Applejack was quick to put her hooves out between them before anything escalated too far. "Troy," said the mare insistently as she turned her head to him, "she didn’t mean it like that, okay?"
"Like heck Ah didn't!"
"GRANNY!" AJ looked back at her with a strong glare. After Granny Smith made a huff and looked away, Applejack sighed and turned her gaze back towards Troy.
"Ah'm sorry 'bout that. She's just a bit upset about what yer brothers tried ta do."
"Yeah, yeah…" Rubbing his temple, Troy tried to avoid getting too outraged at Smith’s comment. After giving off a deep sigh, he put his claw back down before speaking in a more calm tone of voice. "I get it, and… I'm really sorry about my brothers, okay?"
Applejack could hear the sincerity in the Gryphon's voice, and nodded in acceptance. "Okay, then."
Applejack then looked back at the cart, giving a nod to her brother. After Granny Smith hopped off, Big Mac gave the cart one good buck, knocking the three Gryphons off and making them fall ungracefully onto the grass.
While Granny and Mac began to make their leave, Applejack looked over at Troy's brothers with a bitter scowl. Troy, not wanting to cause any more animosity between himself and the Apples (especially since discovering their amazing pies), Troy tried to speak more sympathetically. "Listen Applejack, I really am so--"
"It's okay," assured the mare as she looked back at him. "Ah know it ain't yer fault. From what Ah heard from Rainbow Dash, it seems like the three are a bit of a hoof-full."
Troy gave a meager nod, looking away slightly in guilt. "Yeah, they kinda are… I really am sorry, though."
"Thanks." Applejack nodded with a more relaxed smile on her mzuzle. "We're just glad they didn't take nothin'." Before she could leave, her smile immediately vanished as she pointed a hoof at Troy, sternly. "But Ah better not EVER see those three on ma property again!"
She turned her head to the triplets before shouting at them "YA GOT THAT‽"
Despite the mare being almost half their size, all three of them nodded quickly, not even trying to make an audible reply.
"Good," said Applejack bitterly. She then walked up to the three, taking the cloth out of Blaze and Blane's beaks before placing them in her Stetson. After putting her hat back on, she glanced back at Troy. "Y'all can keep the rope. Ah'd rather not try untyin' them."
"Okay," said Troy in an understanding tone. He waved a claw at her as she made her leave. "Have a nice night, Applejack."
"Yeah, yeah," said the farmpony in a more tired-sounding voice, not even looking back as she began her trek back to Sweet Apple Acres.
After making sure she was gone, Troy's expression turned more callous as he stared at the three Gryphons tied up on his front lawn. "Just what the BUCK were you guys thinking?!"
The triplets stared up at him, silent for a couple seconds in bewilderment before making a unified response. "We were getting DINNER!"
"YOU DON’T EAT MEAT HERE!"
"It wasn't meat! It was chicken!"
Troy's head shook slightly, trying to process the utter stupidity that came out of Blaze's beak. "Did one of those ponies hit you in the head with a shovel or something?!"
Blaze's eyes widened in shock. "Dude, how did you know?"
"What he was meaning," chimed in Blade insistently, "was that the chickens here are the same as back in the Gryphon Kingdom! They're not sentient!"
"Yeah!" added Blane. "We weren't going to get one of the animals that could talk! We're not monsters!"
Troy groaned loudly, putting his face in both claws so he wouldn't become too enraged by his brothers' "logic". Fortunately, before he could point out that the three were still trying to steal property, the sound of Canvas's voice was enough to keep Troy from going too ballistic.
"Troy! Dinner's ready!"
Hearing his fiance’s chipper announcement, the Gryphon managed to calm down enough to sigh and reply with a smile, "Alright!" Anxious to see if he got that recipe down correctly, Troy began to make his way back inside the barn for a relaxing dinner. However, the sound of Blaze's voice was a good reminder that it probably wouldn't be.
"Hey! Where are you going?!"
Troy looked back at the three, who were all still hogtied on the lawn like a rodeo attraction. Growing a dubious smirk on his beak, Troy kept his glare on them as he tried not to snicker.
"I'm going inside to have dinner. See ya!"
"Dude, COME ON!" shouted Blane as he tried to break himself from his restraints. Of course, given how well-tied the Apple family's knots were around the Gryphons' limbs, any struggle would just make things a lot worse. "At least untie us first!"
"Hmmm…" Troy tapped his chin with a talon, making a faux-contemplative expression to sarcastically think it over. "You know what? After that flour thing this morning, and drinking all of my root beer… Nah."
Troy closed the door, leaving the three Gryphons pissed and unable to speak. Blade turned his head over to Blaze before screeching. "I told you we should've left a bloody bottle for him!"
"Hey! YOU were the one who took the last bottle! Remember?"
"… Oh yeah."
The door reopened, and Canvas looked out to the three with a slightly concerned look on his face. "Umm, guys? Do you know where Lyle is?"
The triplets looked over at each other, taking a second to remember before Blaze turned his head back at the stallion. "Oh yeah. I think Lyle went over to Cloudsdale for coffee or something. He didn't really say much, though. He was just drawing in his little sketchbook or whatever."
"Oh… okay." Even though Canvas was happy to hear that Lyle didn't get into any similar trouble, he was still worried about what the little Gryphon might be doing. If anything, the stallion wanted to at least talk with Lyle, just to let him know he wasn't mad at him for the painting.
Of course, as soon as he took a good look at triplets tied up, Canvas's muzzle twitched as he tried not to giggle at them.
"Oi!" Seeing how Canvas was smirking at them, Blade spoke up with a bitter scowl on his beak. "What's the matter?! Never seen a Gryphon tied up before?"
Canvas didn't immediately make a response to that question. Instead, his smile only grew a little bit bigger, and his cheeks showed the slightest hint of pink. He slowly walked back into the house, narrowing his eyes at them as he made a brief statement:
"…Mmmmmmmaybe I have…"
Before the door closed all the way, Canvas saw the eyes of all three of them grow wide from hearing that. And as soon as the door was closed shut, the stallion was able to hear all the Gryphons make a unified "Eeeeewwwwww" from the outside. Of course, Canvas paid no attention to that, and just trotted to the table with a chuckle while Troy came out of the kitchen.
"Everything okay?"
"Yep!" chirped Canvas cheerfully as he got into his seat. "Just wanted to make sure Lyle wasn't in trouble."
“Is he?” asked Troy cautiously.
“I don’t think so. They said that he went off to Cloudsdale for something…” Canvas’s gaze went down to the floor for a second, showing a hint of unease on his face. “I really hope he’s not feeling too bad about the painting.”
"I’m sure he’s fine, Canvas. You said it yourself; it was just an accide--"
"Guys, come on!" wailed Blane from outside. "Some pony walked by and was laughing at us!"
Taking a moment to let that statement sink in, there was a brief bout of silence before Troy and Canvas started cracking up. Giggling like a school-filly, Canvas walked over to the record player, choosing one of his Sapphire Shores albums for a change. "You think some music would be good to drown them out?"
Troy shrugged with a smile. "Sure thing."
So, with the triplets still tied up outside, Troy and Canvas managed to let any lingering worries pass as they had a very pleasant dinner while the pop music played. While Sapphire Shores wasn't necessarily a favorite of either of them, the accompanying acoustics of Troy's brothers whining outside made it much more entertaining.
And the fettuccine that Troy made was delicious.
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Knock knock knock knock
Huffing out a tired sigh in frustration, the brown Pegasus began to grow impatient as he waited outside the ludicrously painted barn. Even with the huge cloud structure hanging above it, the barn still managed to stand out way more because of how wildly its walls were painted. While the fact that an artist lived here would make this choice of decoration seem a bit more understandable, it was still a bit of an eyesore for the mover this early in the morning.
Looking over at the other mover, an equally large Pegasus with a dark grey coat, the pony looked like he didn't seem to mind as much. His focus was on the walls of the barn, looking them up and down with obvious interest while they waited for the stallion inside. However, before either of them could hear any indication of someone coming to the door, the sound of a light "pomf" caught their attention, making them look up to a brown Gryphon who poked his head out from the cloud structure.
"Oi! You two the movers?"
Even though both the ponies were wearing denim coveralls, clearly indicating that they were in fact the movers, neither of the ponies were able to make a reply right away. Since most of their business was back in Canterlot, both of them were slightly surprised to see a Gryphon around this part of Equestria. However, before either of them could say anything, the studio door of the barn opened, revealing a tired-looking Canvas.
"H… hello?"
The brown mover noticed Canvas first, turned back towards him before speaking, "Um… Hello. We're here to pick up the piece for Fancy Pants."
Canvas's eyes grew slightly wider, almost looking worried for a second. "Oh! Well… You see--"
"I got it!" shouted Blade from above in a more upbeat-sounding tone. Before Canvas could protest, the skinny Gryphon landed on the ground in front of the barn, making the two movers jolt in surprise as he made his way into the studio. "It's right over here!"
"BLADE!" Canvas quickly rushed over to Blade, who was already grabbing the destroyed painting which was still wrapped up. Since he never had a chance to try to fix the piece (or get the motivation to even look at it, for that matter), the stallion was more than a little worried as he whispered in a frantic hiss, "Blade, what the buck are you doing?!"
"Don't worry. We got this," whispered Blade back with a suspicious-looking grin on his beak. With the two movers waiting outside, Blade left Canvas in a befuddled state as he went back out of the studio. "Here it is, guys," said the Gryphon in a cheerful tone. "This bloke's been working hard on it, so be sure to be extra carefu--"
"YAAA!!!"
As soon as Blaze crashed down from the cloud, both movers jumped back and yelped in surprise. Much to Canvas's shock, the muscular Gryphon had what looked to be a Guard's helmet on his head, and a large spear on his claws.
Unfortunately, before he could ask what the buck Blaze was doing, Blane soon crashed down to the ground as well. However, even though Blane had a spear as well, his menacing scowl was an effective replacement for any helmet. "I told you that last pizza roll was MINE, you turd!" bellowed Blane with an angered sneer toward Blaze.
"You ate all the other ones!"
"Yeah, and I was gonna eat that one too!"
"I was hungry!"
"THEN MAKE YOUR OWN!"
Blane swung his spear, which was quickly blocked by Blaze's as they began to joust in the front yard. While the movers stood at a distance in frozen shock, watching the two Gryphons duke it out with spears like some kind of battle scene, Blade tried to step in between them while holding the painting. "Guys come on, stop it!"
"He ate the last pizza roll!" shouted Blane between thrusts. "He has to pay!"
"Well, YOU--" Blaze deflected one of Blane's slashes with his spear before continuing, "--said that I could have some! And you ate the rest before I could even have one!"
"I ALWAYS GET THE LAST ONE!!!"
Blane made one final jab with his spear toward Blaze, who was lucky enough to duck his head at the last second. However, with the way the two were moving around and squaring off with one-another, Blade ended up being behind Blaze when that happened.
The spear was thrust through with all of Blane's might, which gave it more than enough momentum to easily punch through the mass which was in its path. Blade tried to speak, but his words were cut off as soon as the spear made its impact, making everyone gasp in pure horror.
Blane's eyes shot wide open. Seeing what he did, his claws began to shake violently, unable to speak with his beak hung open.
No one was sure how long that brief moment of silence lasted, but it was finally broken by a sudden cry:
"What the bloody Tartarus did ya have to do that for, ya tosser?!"
Even though the spearhead was only a few inches from his head, Blade seemed to be more upset about the rest of the spear going straight through the painting he was still holding.
Canvas, who was still standing at the doorway of his barn, kept a perplexed look on his face as he stood silent. Looking between the Gryphons and the two movers, who were looking fairly shocked at the painting being wrecked, Canvas blinked repeatedly as he tried to process everything in his head.
"Oh, man…" Blaze put down his spear first, keeping a shocked look of awe on his face as he walked up to the impaled piece still on Blane's spear. "I can’t believe you did that, dude! Isn't that Canvas's painting?!"
Blane lifted his spear up a little, seeing how the wrapped painting hung on it like a poorly-made piece of kabob meat. "Oh no…And he worked so hard on it, too…"
Canvas's eyes narrowed on the triplets in slight suspicion, slowly beginning to realize what was going on. When the Gryphons all turned to Canvas, keeping expressions of faux-guilt on their faces, the stallion took a second to regain a more fitting response. "You… you guys…"
His eyes darted towards the two movers for a split second, noting that they still had surprised looks from what they just saw. Glad that neither of them showed any hint of suspicion, Canvas looked back at the Gryphons as he adopted an “angry” look on his face. "I can’t believe you guys did that! You know how long I worked on that painting?!"
"It was an accident!" cried out Blane in an insistent tone of voice. However, the Gryphon's eyes gave off a different vibe to the artist, widening a bit as if to give an unseen nod and smile to him. In fact, Canvas could see that while Blane's face was saying "It was an accident" for the movers to see, his stare on the stallion said "That's right, dude, play along."
So, in an attempt to keep everything going smoothly, Canvas continued to yell as he walked up to the three. "Didn't I tell you guys to NOT be doing this kind of stuff around my studio?! I worked my flank off to get this ready! And now…"
Canvas bit his lip as he reached his hooves out to the painting, pulling it off from the spear still in Blane's claws. After a surprisingly hard pull, the ruined piece tore off from the shaft and spearhead, making a nasty scraping noise that made both movers openly cringe.
Canvas held the frame in his hooves, looking through the massive hole the spear made through both the painting and the wrapping that was covering it. After pursing his lips for a second, keeping an obvious look of disappointment on his face, Canvas sighed before finishing his statement in a more defeated tone. "Now… now it's ruined."
The triplets all lowered their heads a little in shame, averting their eyes from the saddened artist. Both the movers ears drooped, seeing how distraught the stallion looked about this incident.
Several seconds of silence passed while Canvas stared at his painting, taking a moment to breath before slowly turning to the two Pegasus stallions. His face gave off a saddened expression as he spoke meagerly. "Uhhh… Do you guys still need this?"
The grey Pegasus looked over towards the brown one, seeing him bite his lip in contemplation. Looking at the wrecked painting that Canvas was holding, the mover sighed in frustration, knowing that this was going to be quite the story to explain to Fancy Pants back in Canterlot.
"Well…" Thinking it over, the brown pony took a second before looking back at Canvas. "We'll go back and explain to Fancy Pants what happened. Since this was obviously an accident, I'm sure we can work something out, okay?"
Canvas's eyes widened in surprise, not expecting the mover to be that understanding about all this. "R-really? That… that would really help me out a lot. Thank you so much."
"It's okay," said the stallion with a wave of his hoof. He then reached a hoof inside of his coveralls, pulling out a small camera that looked fairly similar to the one Fancy Pants owned. "I just need to take a few pictures for proof, just so we can get the damage assessed."
Canvas made a quick nod to the Pegasus, which was good enough for him to start taking a few photos. While the grey pony held up the frame, the brown pony took several shots of the damaged painting, luckily not unwrapping it to reveal the destroyed canvas inside. They also took a few shots of the spear that was used, as well as the three Gryphons responsible--despite some obvious hesitation from them about being put on film for damages. After everything was recorded to the movers' satisfaction, the two were about to leave before they heard a new voice from above.
"Wait!"
The two Pegasus stallion had their wings unfolded, but didn't leave the ground before they saw a fourth Gryphon fly down from the cloud as well. Unseen by any of them since the previous morning, Lyle landed less than gracefully, looking like he hadn’t had an ounce of sleep since the incident occurred. His black and white feathers were slightly disheveled, and two heavy bags hung underneath his golden eyes that were barely staying open. However, of all the things Lyle had on him that would cause concern, the biggest one was the rolled up piece of paper in his claw.
"H-here," panted the Gryphon as he handed the roll to the grey-coated Pegasus. Barely able to stand, Lyle had to shake his head to jolt his mind enough to speak. "This… this is a re… replacement… for Canvas's client…"
Canvas quickly trotted up to the stallions when they unrolled the paper, and all three of them were surprised at what was inside.
The picture inside looked to have been drawn with colored pencil, but that didn't diminish the incredible quality of it in any way. While the picture may have not been the painting Canvas created, the drawing was a near replica of the piece he made for Fleur De Lis. Despite the original picture being destroyed, every detail that Canvas remembered painting was resurrected in Lyle's sketch; even though the Gryphon only really noticed the painting a few times before it was ruined, he still remembered it enough to create it almost flawlessly on his own medium.
Needless to say, Canvas was absolutely stunned. Much like the two movers, the artist's jaw dropped, rendering him unable to make a statement.
The triplets noticed Canvas's reaction, prompting them to shuffle in and take a look for themselves. Peering in from behind the movers, towering over the two quite easily, it wasn't long before one of the Gryphons spoke up.
"Holy shit!" Blaze looked back at Lyle in amazement. "Was that what you were working on, dude?"
Lyle nodded weakly while his head was hung low, still struggling to stand upright. Canvas, also looking over at the Gryphon, quickly pulled away from the group to make sure he was okay. "Umm, yeah," began the stallion as he turned his head back to the two stallions. "You two can send that back to Fancy Pants, if you want. I think that'd be a good replacement for now."
The brown Pegasus nodded in agreement, taking another second to look at the drawing before rolling it back up carefully. They didn't notice that an envelope was taped to the back of it, but it wasn't disturbed as it was rolled within the tube of Lyle's drawing. After the other Gryphons walked away from them, the stallions gave a wave to Canvas before flying off, both secretly glad they don't have to lug a large framed piece back to Canterlot.
"One more thing!"
The brown mover looked back at Canvas, who was staring at them while they were already in the sky.
"Can you send me back a photo of that sketch, please?"
The Pegasus nodded with a smile. "Sure thing! Have a nice day, Mister Canvas!"
The two then left, leaving Canvas to check on the sleep-deprived Gryphon who helped save his flank. "Come on, Lyle," said Canvas as he put a hoof around the Gryphon and led him inside the barn. "Let's get you some sleep, alright?"
Lyle barely made any legible response, and just lumbered into the studio like a zombie. Troy, who was asleep though a large majority of the commotion that happened outside, managed to walk into the studio just as Lyle passed out on the couch.
"Hmm?" Still groggy from having been woken up this early, it took a couple seconds for the gears in Troy's head to start turning as he noticed Canvas and the Gryphons in the studio. "Wha… What's going on?"
"Oh, nothing," said Canvas with a smile towards his fiancé. "Just got some good help from your brothers here."
Blade, keeping a proud smirk of his own on his beak, lugged the torn painting back inside before tossing it to the corner of the studio ungraciously. Upon seeing the huge hole on the framed piece, Troy's eyes widened in worry. "Oh no, what the buck did they do?!"
"Relax, dude!" answered Blane as he leaned up against the wall of the studio. "It was that one we already wrecked. We just made sure that the movers saw it getting destroyed themselves."
Troy grow a confused brow. "Wait… what?"
Blaze raised a talon to intervene. "It was kinda my idea."
"Really?" asked Canvas in an impressed tone as he looked over at Blaze.
"Yeah! I mean, if those movers were to see what really happened to it, without any pretext about how it occurred, than there's a good chance that they would assume that Canvas was partially to blame, even though he wasn't. And if they went back to the client and just said that something happened to it without any valid explanation, or any credible testimony other than us, than it might make Canvas look bad for any other potential buyers due to bad press…"
Canvas's eyes widened in surprise, not expecting Blaze to be speaking in such a professional or articulate tone. However, not seeming to realize how astounded the stallion was looking, Blaze kept a slight smirk as he continued:
"So, we figured that if the painting was covered up, not showing what really happened to it, then we could host an 'accident' to occur to it while they were present, 'ruining' the painting in front of them, and thus giving them a legitimate testimony to prove that Canvas was at no fault at all. They say that the painting got wrecked by some Gryphons, which technically is true, and Canvas most likely won't get in any trouble with his client for it. It'll just be seen as an 'unforeseen circumstance' instead of negligence!"
Blaze clapped his claws together after finishing his explanation, keeping a triumphant smile on his beak. "Eh? Come on, you gotta admit that was a kick-ass plan!"
While Troy stood in a speechless state, his beak agape at what he just heard his older brother say, Canvas blinked as he stared at Blaze with an extremely impressed look on his face. "Wow, that's… That's surprisingly brilliant."
"See?" Blaze pointed at the stallion as he looked at his bewildered younger brother. "This guy gets it! I told you I'm the brains of the group! But you never believed me, did you?"
"Wait a minute…" Troy's eyes narrowed on Blaze in suspicion. "Didn't you guys do something like that when you wrecked my science project back in grade school?!"
"Yep," piped up Blade nonchalantly with a smile as he leaned against the back of the couch. "And you got an extra week to redo it, didn't 'cha? That's how we knew it would work this time, too!"
Troy's eyebrows rose in astonishment, never having thought about that moment until then. Back when the three accidentally destroyed his science project, Troy remembered that he was absolutely crushed, mostly since it happened the night before it was due. However, on the next day, the three not only placed it in a cardboard box and brought it to school without his knowledge, but also "accidentally" set it on fire in front of the teachers. He always thought that it was just an example of the three being stupid, but it really did work.
"I… I…" Looking between the three prideful Gryphons, and the obviously happy stallion beside them, Troy slowly grew a smile of his own while trying to speak. "I honestly don't know what to say right now."
"It's okay," said Blade as he raised a claw to keep Troy from saying anything more. "I mean, we did wreck his painting pretty bad." He then took a glance down at Lyle on the couch, snoring loudly as he laid in a near comatose state. "Honestly, I think Blane ruined it way worse than this guy did."
"Eh…" Crooking his head a little in thought, the massive Gryphon obviously looked hesitant to say anything in agreement to his brother's reply. However, after taking a glance back at the painting in the corner, Blane sighed before shrugging his shoulders. "Yeah, okay. I may have used a little too much paint remover."
Blaze added bluntly, "You shouldn't have used any of it, numb-nuts!"
"Shut up, Mister 'Crayon-will-work-just-fine'!"
Blaze paused for a second, clenching his beak shut before looking away with a scowl.
"Anyway…" Blane stood back upright, and turned to Canvas with a more sympathetic look on his face. "Listen, if anyone's to blame for all this, it should probably be me. I mean…" Blane looked over at Lyle, and painted a talon at him as he added, "I'm pretty sure Lyle had the best idea to fix it, but… well… I didn't listen that well, so you really shouldn't blame him for any of this."
"Don’t worry," assured Canvas in an insistent tone. "I know it was an accident, and Lyle is just fine. I don't blame any of you for what happened."
"Yeah, but still…" Blane used his talons to rub the feathers on the back of his head, sighing softly before putting his claw back down. "I messed up, and I want to make it up to you. So…"
Blane then put his claw against his chest, standing up more upright before speaking in a proficient tone of voice. "I'd like to offer my services for you and Troy's wedding, free of charge."
"Seriously?" asked Canvas with a pleasantly surprised tone. "You'd help with floral arrangements?"
"Well, yeah," answered Blane with a shrug of his shoulders. "If you two are serious about this whole thing, I might as well help out. I mean, that’s what family does, right?"
Troy raised his brow in confusion. Even though Blane's gesture was undoubtedly generous of him, he remembered what Lyle told him when they first started talking about what the triplets were up to "Wait a minute, I thought you were using that as a cover for weapons dealing!"
"Yeah!" added Blade from the couch. "You showed Dad and us that big room underneath the shop and everything!"
Seeing how they were all staring at him, Blane winced a little as he averted his eyes from them. "Well, you see… I was kinda… pretending to be a weapons dealer…"
"Huh?" said Blade and Blaze in unison, obviously shocked by this revelation.
"Y-yeah…" Blane's face started to blush a little as he looked down to the floor, his paws shuffling a little as his voice came out more bashful. "I borrowed most of that stuff from a friend of mine before I showed you the room, and I gave it right back when you left. It's really a big hydroponic setup for my more exotic breeds…"
Troy's beak dropped, not detecting any hint of dishonesty in Blane's statement. "Wait, so… You're really a florist?"
Blane scratched the back of his head as he turned away, obviously looking embarrassed by saying it out loud. "Yyyyyyeah…"
Blade and Blaze, still shocked that their brother was keeping this a secret for so long, were both frozen for a moment in silence. However a brief sound managed to break the silence.
"… Pbtbtbt…
"GAAAAAA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAA!!!"
The inside of the studio erupted in extremely loud laughter, leaving Blane to stand with an extremely pissed-off look on his face while he listened to his brothers cackle at his reveal. Even Canvas, who didn't want to laugh, had to turn away so Blane wouldn't see him try not to giggle.
"Oh, shut up, guys!" shouted Blane as he glared at the Gryphons laughing around him. "I just like things that smell nice, alright?!" He then pointed a talon in Troy's direction. "I'm not the one sleeping with a stallion!"
"Hey!" Troy wanted to sound angry in his retort, but was still trying not to laugh alongside his brothers. "Come on, that's… that's… pbtbtbt… you're working in a flower shop!"
That only made Blaze and Blade's laughter get even louder, making Blane scowl hard before turning away. "That's it! I'm done!"
"No, no Blane!" Canvas quickly ran towards the Gryphon, getting himself to stop giggling before stopping Blane with a hoof. "Blane, it's okay! They're not making fun of you!" His head turned to the other three as he eyed them intensely. "Right?"
Troy was the first to manage his laughter, and nodded at Canvas's question as he took a couple of breaths. "Yeah, yeah… I'm just… I'm sorry about laughing…"
By the time the other two got themselves to stop laughing loud enough to rattle the studio windows (although, not seeming to wake up Lyle in the slightest), Troy got himself under control enough to add in a sincere tone, "Thank you for offering to help with our wedding. We really would appreciate your help, Blane."
Even though it looked like Blaze and Blade were still trying their hardest to not crack up again, Blane groaned before lessening his scowl for his younger brother. "Yeah, okay… You're welcome, dude."
Remembering an important detail about today, Canvas was quick to speak up to catch Blane's attention. "Actually, Troy and I were wanting you guys to visit Rarity today to get some measurements made. She's our wedding planner, so I bet she'd love to see some of your work."
"Really?" asked Blane as he looked toward Canvas with a twinge of enthusiasm.
"Sure! I think she was saying something about wanting Roseluck to do our floral arrangements, but I doubt she'd protest to your help if you have the skills."
Blane scoffed a little with a smirk. "You kidding me? I've seen her stuff, and I can do circles around her! I mean, her roses are alright, but I can outdo her petunias like a friggin' beast!"
Canvas, ignoring the small snickers Blaze and Blade were giving off, headed to the kitchen with a confident smile on his face. "Awesome! I'll just get some breakfast ready, and we'll head off to see her!"
While Canvas trotted out of sight, Blaze was the first to finally say something to Blane after his admission. "Dude, why… Why didn't you say anything before?"
Blane gave a deadpan stare towards Blaze, knowing that their hyena-like laughter was a good enough indicator as to why he wanted to keep his passion a secret. Fortunately, both Blaze and Blade were able to get the hint, and simultaneously shrugged in reluctance.
"Okay, okay," continued Blaze in a more understanding tone of voice. "I guess that was a dumb question, wasn't it?"
Blane rolled his eyes before walking towards the kitchen where Canvas was. "Honestly, I was more worried about Dad than anything else…"
Troy's ears twiched a little at hearing that, and he turned to hear Blane's final statement before walking out of the studio.
"Seriously, I can already hear what he'd say about it: 'Be a man, Blane.' 'Don't be a sissy bird'…"
Blaze sighed before following him. "Yeah, I guess you’re right. He probably will flip his lid about it…"
Troy cringed hard at hearing that, not needing to be reminded of that sort of thing right now. Even though Blane's admission was definitely a shocker, Troy knew that he definitely had him beat when it came to unfavorable secrets. Troy’s head lowered a bit as he grimaced, catching the attention of Blade who was able to notice his brother’s distress.
"Hey, Troy, come on…" Blade put a wing around his brother, giving him a tight squeeze as he tried to cheer him up. "Don't let them get you worried, mate. Remember when I brought home that Diamond Dog girl that one time? I mean, Dad didn't freak out that badly then."
Troy turned to him with a confounded look on his face. "He kicked you out of the house for two weeks!"
Blade shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Well, yeah. But he took me back, right?"
Troy just groaned as he rubbed his temple with two talons. Even though he was happy to have his brother try to cheer him up about what might happen with their parents about his engagement, Troy was still monumentally concerned about how badly things could go for him. "Listen Blade, I… I'd rather not think about right now, okay?"
"Alright, alright," answered Blade as he pulled his wing away from Troy. "If you want, we can talk about something else."
"That would be great. Thank you."
As the two began to walk out of the studio, leaving Lyle asleep on the couch, Blade turned to him with a more curious smirk on his beak. "Hey Troy, I was wanting to ask you something…"
"Ummm, okay. What?"
"Well, I was wanting to ask you… What do you have planned for your wedding in terms of… Entertainment?"
Blade turned to Troy with an expectant grin, perking his eyebrows up and down several times as he tried to give his less-than-subtle hint. "HHHHMMMMMM?"
Troy, knowing very well what his brother was trying to get him to approve, quickly turned his head away from Blade, obviously not wanting to approve of his idea. He might have loved his family, and might be glad that his brothers accepted him for who he was, but there's one thing that he really… REALLY did not want to happen:
"Blade, I am not going to have death metal at my wedding!"
"Oh, COME ON!!!"