//------------------------------//
// Chapter Thirty-Eight: Heart to Heart 
// Story: Brushed Away 2: By Hoof and Claw 
// by TheVClaw 
//------------------------------//

It didn't take long for Canvas to find Lyle after he flew out of the pony's art studio. Despite how fast the Gryphon may have flown, Canvas had a pretty strong hunch where his future brother-in-law lay have went. Running as fast as he could, Canvas was able to use the markings still in the forest to navigate through without getting lost. As soon as Canvas reached the clearing, getting to where he and Troy were at the previous night, the stallion saw where Lyle was.

Hunched nearby the destroyed tree that Troy tore into last night, the black and white Gryphon was sitting on its husk in silence. A few feet away, a similarly-battered dead tree was laying in the grass beside it, adding more broken remnants and splinters to the open field of grass. Seeing the added destruction, Canvas almost wanted to make a statement as to how Lyle and Troy were more similar than he originally thought, but he decided to stay silent when he walked in nearer.

When he reached closer to Lyle, Canvas's ears perked upward a bit, catching very faint noises from the preteen Gryphon. Realizing what it was, the pony's heart sunk in dread, hating that Blane's involuntary statement lead to it:

Sobbing.

Lyle's head was rested into his claws, his back hunching upward with each breath as he tried not to bawl his eyes out like his brother had. Instead, Lyle was more reserved as he sat in the husk. His breathing came out in hard, rapid pants, obviously from trying to keep himself stable. Unfortunately, the sound of a branch snapping underneath Canvas's hoof made the Gryphon perk up a little before shouting out angrily, "JUST GO AWAY!"

Canvas didn't see the Gryphon's face, mostly since Lyle kept it away from his sight, but the stallion could tell that he was really hurt by what he overheard his brother say. "Lyle, please, I… I don’t want to see you--"

"I SAID GO AWAY!!!" screamed Lyle even louder than before. While his face stayed buried in his claws, a loud sniff was heard before several more rapid pants. Canvas stayed silent, but still walked towards him with cautious steps of his hooves. It wasn't until he was a few feet away that the pony opened his muzzle.

"Lyle… it's just me…Nobody else is here…"

Keeping his voice in a timid whisper, the stallion walked up to the battered trunk Lyle was sitting on. Lyle stayed silent as Canvas sat in beside him. For a long moment, neither of them spoke.  Not needing to push anything, Canvas waited a bit while sitting next to him, not wanting to disturb anything the Gryphon must be thinking about. 

Lyle kept an irritated scowl on his face, but had it pointed away from Canvas. Although, that was mostly because he didn’t want the stallion to see the tears that ran down his feathered face. His beak finally opened as he spoke in a weak-sounding voice, “Wh-what do you want, Canvas?”

Hearing how strained Lyle’s voice sounded, Canvas winced in discomfort. Nevertheless, the stallion made a small exhale, feeling a little bit better that Lyle was least trying to open up enough to talk. “Listen, I… I get that you’re mad right now.”

The Gryphon made a strong huff, not needing to say that Canvas may have understated his insight. Fortunately, the stallion didn’t let that get to him as he continued. “I’m really sorry you had to go through that, Lyle. Seriously, it…” Thinking it over, Canvas could only sigh as he thought it over. “...it really does suck… Believe me, I know.”

“HOW THE BUCK COULD YOU KNOW THAT?!?”

Jumping off of the log, Lyle was absolutely furious as he turned to stare Canvas down venomously. While the stallion stayed on his flank, unable to get a word in, Lyle continued to fume out while pointing a talon at him. “I just found out that my Dad never gave a SHIT about me!! I’m supposed to be his SON!! HOW CAN YOU ACT LIKE YOU KNOW WHAT THAT’S LIKE?!?”

Lyle was just a few inches from his face by the time that last statement was screamed out, but Canvas didn’t budge an inch. Along with the fact that this wasn’t the first time he’s dealt with a screaming Gryphon in the past twelve hours, the pony knew better than to let Lyle’s anger get the best of him. Instead, Canvas kept a neutral expression on his face while waiting for him to finish. “Lyle…” the stallion spoke in a calm and unwavering tone, “... can you let me finish?”

Honestly, Lyle looked like he wanted to keep yelling at him, But after a brief bout of silence, the Gryphon’s pout lessened before he stepped back. Lyle breathed out deeply before sitting back on the stump beside. “Yeah, yeah…” He rubbed his temples with a claw as he tried to keep himself more stable. 

While the Gryphon kept his beak shut, Canvas waited before reopening his muzzle. “Thank you…” Looking over at him, Canvas saw that Lyle had his face pointed to the ground, with his beak still showing an apparent scowl. Canvas bit his lip before moving his head downward as well. “So Lyle… Can I ask you something?”

His golden eyes turned back at Canvas in annoyance. “What?” he asked bitterly.

Canvas took a breath through his nostrils, and exhaled before making sure his lips weren’t pressed shut from that tone. “Well… Troy already told you about my Mom, right?”

Lyle wasn’t sure what he was getting at, but he still made a small nod. “Yeah. Back in Manehattan.”

Lyle still sounded annoyed, but at least he wasn’t acting so uptight. Canvas bit the inside of his cheek as he looked back toward him. “Okay. So… did he tell you anything else?”

Lyle blinked a couple times. “What do you mean?”

“Well…” Even though he felt uneasy asking him, Canvas knew what he was planning when he came out to find Lyle in the first place. He kept a worried glance back at the Gryphon before saying, “Did Troy mention anything about… my Dad?”

From the way that Lyle’s brows rose slightly, the pony could tell that Troy really hasn’t said anything about that. While he was beyond grateful that his fiancé never mentioned anything about his Father, Canvas knew that talking about it wasn’t going to be easy. Nevertheless, the aqua stallion waited until Lyle shook his head, prompting Canvas to sigh before looking back down. “Well… there’s a reason for that…”

Seeing how much Canvas’s tone changed to a more morose state, Lyle sat beside him with a growing feeling of worry while he listened. The pony closed his eyes for a moment, looking like he was trying to prepare himself before speaking in a fainter tone. “You see, Lyle, I… I only had my Dad for the longest time after my Mom died. And… I really thought he was always going to be there for me…” Canvas had his head hung low, and only kept his sights on the grass underneath his hooves while speaking towards Lyle. “But… but that didn’t last…”

While the two sat alone in that field, without a single soul to listen in on them, Canvas told Lyle everything about what happened back in Gallop Creek. Despite the fact that retelling those events still hurt as badly as reopening a fresh wound, Canvas was able to keep himself from crying as he went into as much detail as he could. While he spoke about it, Canvas never once looked up to see how Lyle looked, and just kept his eyes down at the ground.

Meanwhile, Lyle's once-fuming state was quickly changed as he learned more about Canvas, and what happened after he came out back in his old hometown. Throughout the pony’s story, Lyle’s expression turned from an upset scowl, to a shocked wide-eyed stare; of course, by the time that Canvas’s story was complete, the only response that the Gryphon had was a completely stunned look on his face.

Canvas breathed out heavily, albeit shakily as well, when he reached the end of his recollection. “Troy… Troy really did save my life that night. If… if he never found me…” The stallion’s eyes shut for a long moment as he let what he was about to say sink in. He gave off a deep sigh before reopening his blue eyes, which were looking slightly moist. “I… I know that I’d be dead.”

An extremely long bout of silence lasted after that last statement from the pony. Still processing what he just heard, Lyle turned away from Canvas to look back down at the ground. After shaking his head in disbelief, the Gryphon was only able to faintly say one thing in response:

“... holy shit…”

Canvas only replied with an understanding nod of his head. “Yeah, I… I know…” When Canvas turned back over to Lyle, he could see that he was still deep in thought as he sat in stunned silence. He looked back down at the grass as he added in a grave tone, “I’m just saying, I… I do know what it’s like. I know you’re mad, but… you’re not the only one with a shitty Dad.”

“... Well… you win.”

“I… I didn’t mean it like that, Lyle!” Canvas gave off a huff before turning back to Lyle. Seeing how the Gryphon still had his beak pointed to the ground, the artist pulled out a hoof to wrap around Lyle’s shoulder. “Listen, I… I know that you’re probably not in the best mood to talk right now, but I just want you to know something. No matter how bad it might feel, it doesn’t mean that it’s never going to go away.”

Canvas saw Lyle’s golden eyes look back at him, which prompted the stallion to hold onto him tighter. “I’m serious, Lyle. I’ve been there before. It might not be easy, but… it’s not impossible. Things are going to get better, I promise.”

Lyle only blinked a couple times, and chose to stay silent as he made a very faint nod. Not needing to say much else, Canvas leaned in against his future brother-in-law, placing his head on the Gryphon’s feathered shoulder. As the pony closed his eyes while holding him, neither of the two spoke for a long moment. Nevertheless, while Lyle sat with the stallion beside him, his thoughts became harder to ignore. Recalling everything that Canvas told him, there was still something he wanted to know.

“So, ummm…”

Canvas’s ears perked up as he heard Lyle’s voice speak up. When he reopened his eyes, the stallion saw Lyle looking up at him curiously.

“Did… did you ever talk to him after that?”

Canvas’s brows raised in slight surprise. “What?”

“You know. Did…” Lyle looked away in guilt as he realized how his question may have sounded. “Did you ever… see your Dad?”

Biting his lip shut, Canvas took a breath before nodding and looking down at his hooves. “Yeah, I… I did.” Recalling the event, Canvas tried not to openly cringe as those memories came back to him. “About a month ago, he came to Ponyville looking for me…”

While the stallion sat in the same slumped-over position he was in earlier, Lyle listened intently as Canvas continued. 

“I tried to get away from him, but he eventually caught up with me. And after all he put me through, I… I just couldn’t stand the idea of even talking to him…”

The pony’s expression started to turn more sour. “He tried to tell me how he gave up everything to try and find me, like… like that was going to change everything he did. And… I didn’t even care when he started crying about it…”

Lyle’s eyes widened as he listened with interest, not daring to interrupt Canvas.

“He begged. Like… he literally begged for forgiveness. And… and I just told him off as badly as I possibly could…”

The silence that passed was long enough enough to warrant Lyle to ask, “So… what did you say?”

Canvas kept his face turned away as he replied coldly, “Enough to leave a full-grown stallion sobbing in the middle of the street.”

Even though Lyle was more than a little taken aback, he wasn’t sure what he was more surprised by: the answer that Canvas gave, or how bitter he sounded when he said it. From the look he saw on the stallion, Lyle didn’t see any evidence that Canvas was happy about what he just admitted. Even though he wasn’t sure whether or not to ask, Lyle still took a breath before asking timidly, “So… Did you, like… regret it?”

Canvas’s expression softened a little, leaving him to sit in contemplation before sighing. “I don’t know. I mean, I… I can’t say that I completely regretted it. Even though I knew it was bad, I meant every word that I said to him. But…”

After blinking a couple times to let his thoughts arrange in his mind correctly, Canvas exhaled once before looking back at Lyle. “But it didn’t make me feel any better at the end. I may have felt a little vindicated at first. Like… some sort of adrenaline or something. But… it didn’t take long before I just felt hollow inside. It just… didn’t feel right.”

While Lyle looked downward, obviously in thought about that detail, Canvas took the moment to add something he knew he had to say. “Seriously, I know that you’re mad at your Dad right now, and I don’t blame you for a second. What he said was really low, and I’m sure you’re probably thinking about every bad thing you could do to him because of that. But I’ve been there before, and I did all that. And… and it doesn’t change a single thing.” 

Canvas paused as he tried to process his words right. “When you let your anger build up, it doesn’t do anyone any good. It’s… it’s like a rash. You can scratch at it all you want, but that relief is not going to last.”

It took a while for Lyle make a response while he sat, basically staring off into nothing. But after the silence passed, he finally regained his focus back to Canvas after everything was said. While the stallion expected at least a nod in understanding or something, Lyle instead replied with a weakly-voiced question. “So… what is it that I should do?”

Canvas honestly wasn’t sure what to say, mostly since he knew that he couldn’t necessarily compare his own actions to what Lyle should or shouldn’t do. But still, the pony shrugged as he replied, “Well, I really think that’s up to you, Lyle. I was never really given any advice on what to do, and I doubt it would be fair to say how you should react. But…”

The artist bit the inside of his cheek in thought for a brief moment. “Honestly, it… really depends on whether or not Jonas is willing to come back. I mean… if he isn’t willing to change, then there’s no use in trying to make that happen.”

Blinking a couple times, Lyle took in that fact before making a reluctant shrug. “True.”

“Yeah, definitely.” Canvas shook his head as he added, “I mean, I would’ve never expected my Dad to try and come back, but he did. So, who knows? Maybe your Dad can get some sense knocked into him, if he’s smart enough.”

Lyle made a huff. “Yeah, I doubt it.” As he slumped his head back down, Lyle sat in thought for a little longer before looking over at Canvas. “But… if he does…”

Canvas looked back at him, waiting for the Gryphon to finish his statement.

“What… what should I do?”

Canvas sighed and answered honestly, “Honestly, I don’t think I should get into that. What you do is your decision. If he does decide to come back, it’s your choice whether or not to let him back in your life. Nobody else can make that decision for you, and nobody else should. You get what I’m saying?”

Lyle nodded lightly, but he still looked fairly confused. Of course, before Canvas could say anything else, Lyle looked at him with his head slightly crooked to the side as he asked one last thing. “So… did you… forgive your Dad?”

Canvas’s heart sank at that question. Fortunately, it wasn’t bad enough to keep him from speaking. Instead, the stallion looked back down to the ground as he replied flatly, “No. I didn’t. Even after I calmed down and tried to speak with him, I think it was clear from both of us that what happened couldn’t be undone…”

Lyle blinked a couple times, unable to say anything in surprise at how blunt the pony’s answer was. After a quick huff, Canvas looked back at him before adding, “But… that was because of what happened to me, and I don’t want you to feel like you should act the exact same way. If you decide to keep him out of your life, or if you decide to forgive him, I’m not going to say anything otherwise. All you have to do is think whether or not your choice will be worth it, and I’ll respect whatever you choose to do. But all I ask is one thing…”

Making sure that Lyle was looking right at him, Canvas kept his hoof on the Gryphon’s shoulder as he stated firmly. “Do. Not. Let your anger get the best of you, Lyle. I mean it. No matter what happens, you need to keep a level head, and not let your emotions take over. You understand?”

Even though he was still a little confused, Lyle got the gist of Canvas’s advice to nod strongly to him. “Y-yeah. I… I think I do.”

Even though he wanted to feel like more needed to be said, Canvas still nodded in closure that Lyle was at least trying to think about what he said rationally. After taking a while to appreciate the nice, albeit chilly weather, Canvas sighed before finally breaking the silence. “So, how about we get back home? I don’t want the triplets to get worried.”

Lyle nodded, and waited for Canvas to get off the log before following him. As the two stretched out, Lyle saw that Canvas was planning to go back through the woods where he came from. While walking alongside him, Lyle cleared his throat to catch his attention. “Ummm… Canvas?”

The stallion looked back at Lyle, who was looking down at the ground between them as he spoke in a more subdued tone. 

“I’m… sorry about what happened with your Dad.”

Hearing that, Canvas felt his heart buckle a little on the inside. Fortunately, he barely showed much sign of that as he nodded back at him. “Th-thanks… I’m sorry about yours.”

As the two looked looked at each other, it was clear that both of them knew what was coming. Taking the initiative, Lyle was the first to wrap his claws around Canvas in a tight hug. Canvas immediately returned the gesture, not even caring that he was finally starting to tear up as he held his future brother-in-law tightly in his hooves. Of course, even if he did open his eyes, he would’ve seen that Lyle’s eyes weren’t dry either.

“GUYS!”

The two stopped their hug after hearing Troy’s voice. After quickly wiping their eyes, the two looked up to see the silver Gryphon swoop down to them with a worried look on his face. “I just heard about what happened. Lyle, I--”

“It’s okay,” stated Canvas as he put a hoof up to stop whatever Troy was going to say next. “Seriously, it’s fine.”

Troy looked like he wanted to say more, and quickly turned his head to Lyle. Fortunately, Lyle just nodded in agreement to his brother. “Yeah, it’s alright, Troy. I’m good.”

Even though Troy wasn’t doubting his words, he still went in to give Lyle a hug of his own. “Lyle, I’m really sorry.”

Lyle hugged him back, but was struggling not to cry again as his voice came out strained. “Yeah, I know…”

Canvas just stood in wait as he saw the the two hug it out, knowing that he didn’t need to do much else. When Troy finally let go. Lyle quickly rubbed his eyes dry again as he stated, “I really don’t want to think about it right now, okay? I just… I need to clear my head a bit.”

“Yeah, alright,” said Troy in understanding. He put a claw on Lyle’s back while he and Canvas stood beside him, and gave him a helpful pat before speaking up. “Just so you know, Derpy told me that Bon-Bon was trying out a new taffy today. You wanna come into town and try it out?”

After making a small sniff, Lyle thought it over before nodding. “Y-yeah… I think that’d be alright.”

“Sounds good to me,” added Canvas more cheerfully. “I was wanting to talk with the Cakes anyway.”

“Alright then.” After pulling Canvas up with a wing in surprise, he looked back at Lyle while the stallion was being thrown onto his back. “C’mon. Let’s get back before the triplets eat everything in the kitchen.”

While Lyle made a small chuckle, Canvas huffed as he looked back at his fiancé. “You know, I can walk on my own.”

Troy turned his head back to him with a smirk. “Oh, you like being on my back, don’t deny it.”

“Urgh!” Lyle clenched his eyes shut as he turned away from the two. “Phrasing!”

The couple looked back at Lyle for a second, letting what Troy said sink in before they both started laughing. Before shooting up into the skies, Troy looked at his brother while shooting out his wings. “Pervert!”

Lyle looked back at him with a scowl as the two flew off. He shot up after them while shouting back, “You’re calling ME the pervert?!”





Canvas kept an unsure look on his face as he asked, “Are you sure there isn’t anything else?”

“Canvas, it’s perfectly fine,” assured Cup Cake as she returned the bag of bits back to him. “It was only an overturned table and couple of broken glasses. It really wasn’t that bad.”

“Yeah,” added Mister Cake from the serving window behind his wife. “Believe us, Pinkie Pie usually does way more damage on a good day!”

Even though Canvas had to shrug in agreement, he still felt unwilling to not give the bakers any more compensation than the small amount they already accepted. “I know, but I doubt none of that would’ve happened if I didn’t push Jonas like I did.”

“Now don’t you go blaming yourself,” stated Missus Cake sternly as she pointed a hoof at him. “What happened last night wasn’t your fault. I think it was pretty clear that Gryphon had some issues long before meeting you. If anything, you should be grateful that nobody got hurt.” The mare quickly thought her statement over before adding, “Well, not physically hurt, I mean.”

Cup Cake winced a bit from needing to add that detail, but Canvas just sighed before saying, “It’s okay, Missus Cake. Troy has his brothers, and he’s doing pretty well for the moment.”

Mister Cake’s head poked out from the serving window. “Where is he, by the way?”

“Oh, he and the guys are at Lyra and Bon-Bon’s. She was really wanting their opinion on a new taffy flavor.”

“Ah,” said Carrot Cake with raised brows, “I think she mentioned something about that. I think Rarity was wanting to talk with Troy too.”

“About what?” asked Canvas curiously.

Mister Cake shrugged his shoulders. “Not sure, but it sounded urgent when she came in earlier.”

“Huh…” Canvas had no idea what the fashionista wanted with his fiancé, but he merely shrugged as well before looking back at the door. “Well, I guess I am glad that things are alright for the time being. I just wished that it didn’t blow up before the main course was served.”

“Oh, don’t let that get to you,” said Missus Cake in a more upbeat tone. “That Gryphon probably had a stick up his… ‘You-Know-What’ for a while,” she said in a cheeky whisper. “All that matters is that Troy still has a family to support you two. Plus, we’re glad that our dinner didn’t go to waste.”

“Oh, that was delicious!” said Canvas with a newly-formed smile on his face back to her. “Seriously, that pizza was amazing!”

Cup Cake just blushed a little as she rolled her eyes with a smile of her own. “Well, we are bakers, after all. I’m just glad we were able to satisfy a family of Gryphons!”

“By the way,” added Mister Cake as he looked over at Canvas curiously. “Do you know if they added something to that potato soup? Because I found a bunch of weird red flakes inside of it. I thought it was paprika or something, but it tasted way too salty for that.”

Canvas’s smile quickly dropped as his eyes widened in an instant. “Uhhhh… I--”

Ding!

When the door to Sugar Cube Corner opened, all three ponies turned in shock to see a familiar Gryphon burst inside. Panting heavily, it was clear from her matted feathers and fur that she was flying without sleep since leaving the bakery. But despite her exhausted state, Angela gasped with a mix of shock and slight joy when she saw a familiar face.

“CANVAS!! I… I really need to talk to you…”