“Wait, you’re serious?!”
Troy was walking alongside his younger brother through one of the less-traveled streets of Ponyville when he asked him that question. Fortunately, since most of the ponies were either in stores or near the market district, Troy and Lyle were able to chat more openly without the risk of eavesdroppers while having a walk through town. Despite the surprised expression that Troy had, Lyle just gave a befuddled smirk back at him and answered, “I’m telling you the truth, man! He actually ran off with Ms. Beakman!”
“Like, as a couple?!” Troy’s face turned more disgusted as he looked away from his brother. Since he was having a nice day so far, he really didn’t want to think of one of Lyle’s classmates leaving with someone so much older. “Ugh! How did that even happen?!”
That question left Lyle looking a bit more uneasy. His beak skewed as he paused and said uncomfortably. “Well, uhh… I think I was partially the reason for them running off. I mean, I did make that commission of her for him. Apparently it got the two talking afterward, and… yeah.”
Troy shuddered, not wanting to ask for any details deeper than what Lyle just said. “So, now the two are in Zebrica?”
“Yep,” answered Lyle with a meager shrug of his shoulders. His face winced as he struggled to make his explanation sound somewhat reasonable despite the circumstances. “I mean, it makes sense since that country has no major age of consent laws. Of course, everyone thought it was a kidnapping until I got that postcard from them.”
“A postcard?!”
“Yeah. They wanted to personally thank me for 'bringing them together as lovers'.” However, with the memory of that card on his mind, Lyle cringed hard with his eyes clenched. “Ugh, I did not need to see a picture of her in a friggin’ thong!”
“Ewwww!” Troy gave his brother a much needed push at his side from giving him that mental image, but was still able to make a befuddled chuckle to himself and shake his head. “I swear, guys with old-lady fetishes are weird!”
“What, like you know any?!” asked Lyle with a suspicious stare.
Troy looked back at him and stated bluntly, “As a matter of fact, I do.”
“Who?!”
Bright, shimmering moonlight illuminated across the Equestrian skies and caught against the dew of the grass to leave a nocturnal and almost supernatural glow across Troy and Canvas’s backyard. Aside from the chirping of the first grasshoppers of Spring, the only sounds which could be heard were from the water splashing and bubbling in the open hot tub. Steam was emanating from the surface and making an intoxicatingly welcoming motion to enter and escape from the chilly night.
Troy and Canvas, who were in their matching bathrobes, had giddy smiles on their faces while walking towards the tub to partake. They hung their robes at the side of the tub and quickly got themselves inside. Both of them gasped from the intense change in temperature as they descended into the hot and welcoming brew. Of course, the tub wasn’t the only thing getting hotter as the stallion and Gryphon moved in closer to one another.
Troy and Canvas let the heat and steam envelop them as beak and muzzle meshed in growing ecstasy. It wasn’t clear how long their tongues sloppily played with one another, or how low claws and hooves have went, but it was clear that the mood was only going to get more lustrous for them. Canvas’s muzzle briefly pulled away from Troy’s beak, a brief line of saliva connecting them as he said in a pant, “Mmm… this was a great idea~”
“Mmmhmm,” moaned Troy in an equally enticed tone. After giving his fiancè another deep, longing kiss to explore more of his muzzle, he pulled back as well to add, “It really is. Thanks for turning on the tub, babe.”
Canvas giggled while bending in for another kiss. “Hehehehe, it was.” Canvas blinked and looked up at Troy with narrowed eyes. A sudden quizzical look crossed his face. “Wait, what? I didn’t turn the hot tub on.”
Troy was still turned on, but he paused when that statement was able to register in his head.
“You… you didn’t?” Now Troy was looking confused as well. “But I didn’t do it.”
“Then who did?”
A splashing sound which was louder than the bubbles answered their question. Troy and Canvas quickly turned their heads to the sound at the other end of the tub, and saw a stallion’s head pop out from under the water. The dark grey Pegasus’s fur was now almost pitch black, and his Mohawk of blue and silver was now matted and hanging from the left side of his head. Of course, that wasn’t as noticeable as the wide-eyed look of fear he had while staring at the couple in front of him.
“THUNDERLANE?!” Troy’s eyes shot wide open in a mix of shock and anger. While Canvas sat beside him in stunned silence, Troy asked in a with his eyes widening and a vein appearing though the feathers on his head, “What the BUCK are you doing in here?!”
Thunderlane’s pupils were shrunken in as his muzzle tried make any noise louder than a creak. “Uhhhhh…”
Unfortunately, Troy’s question was answered when another head popped out from underneath the water’s surface. A wrinkly green mare appeared next to Thunderlane and his instantly more worried expression. Without her hairnet, she almost looked unrecognizable with her white mane now matted and hanging down past her shoulders. But still, seeing Granny Smith was enough to make both Troy and Canvas’ jaws go agape in pure shock.
“Ummmm…” Granny Smith was better able to speak than Thunderlane, and said to the other couple meekly, “... Sorry ‘bout this. We… we’ll be outta here…”
Without saying another word, Thunderlane quickly popped out of the hot tub before Troy could have the chance to strangle him. The Pegasus bent back in to help his marefriend out, and made the unfortunate choice of lifting up one of her hindlegs up to over the hot tub wall.
“GAAAAHHHH!!!” Shouted Canvas and Troy at the same time, their eyes covered from having caught a glance of Granny Smith’s hidden orchard.
“Oh, don’t be actin’ like that!” Granny grumbled before finally being pulled out of the hot tub by Thunderlane. “It ain’t like you two never seen a…”
Thinking it over, the mare’s brows raised as she realized who she was saying that to. She then giggled with a guilty blush before looking back at them apologetically. “Oh wait, Ah guess you two never have! He he he he heeeee!!”
“Ugh!” groaned the Gryphon as he shouted with his eyes covered. “Please, just LEAVE!”
While Thunderlane tried to escort the mare away with an extremely heavy blush, Granny Smith called out to the stunned couple as she walked away, “Sorry ‘bout spoilin’ yer fun! Ah’ll make you guys some apple fritters t’morrow!”
After the two walked out of sight, neither Troy or Canvas could say a single word while sitting in the tub bubbling with Celestia-knows what fluids. Thunderlane sheepishly came back into view before either of them could speak, and said with a nervous smile to Troy, “Ummm… I’ll pay to clean the tub… And I’ll cover your weekend shift. Sorry, bye!!”
Thunderlane then ran off once more. After another moment in silence, Canvas quickly pulled himself out of the hot tub with a bitter scowl. Troy looked over at him and asked, “So… we’re not gonna…”
“Oh, BUCK NO! Not in THAT!!” shouted the stallion as he grabbed his bathrobe and stomped back into his house angrily. Of course, Troy couldn’t argue with his fiancè, which prompted him to do the same.
“Oh, MAN!!” Lyle was rightfully grossed out, but that didn’t stop him from cracking up. “That sucks!”
“Eh, yeah. It did,” admitted Troy awkwardly. After another second, he added with a shrug. “But to be fair, Thunderlane did get the hot tub cleaned the next day. And those fritters Smith made were amazing!”
As Troy’s mood became more carefree after that last detail was mentioned, Lyle asked in clarification, “Wait, is that the same mare who put a pitchfork against Blade’s throat?”
“Yep,” answered Troy while looking back ahead of him as the crowds became thicker in town. “Hopefully those chickens they brought over will help with that.”
The two Gryphons reached the market district of Ponyville, which was crammed with dozens of ponies on the massive street alone. Along both sides, rows of tents and tables were set up for merchants to sell whatever they had for a quick bit, which ranged from various foods to small trinkets or household items. There used to be a time where being in an area like this made Troy feel completely alien in comparison to everything else. But after spending almost a year in this town, the Gryphon didn’t feel different from any other pony as he walked around with his brother.
Unfortunately, that feeling only lasted for a brief moment while shopping. While Lyle stood at the vending booth for a pony who was selling peppers, Troy overheard a frantic flapping of wings above him in the sky. He looked up to see a flash of brown and tan zoom past him and the other ponies below, and quickly disappear behind a row of houses. After a couple seconds, Troy shook his head and pondered whether or not he was seeing things; but when he looked up again and saw Blaze and Blane circling the skies like hawks, each of them holding rather large tree branches like clubs, Troy could only sigh and cover his face with a claw. “Ugh… dammit.”
Suddenly, a claw gripped Troy’s shoulder from behind and pulled him back with surprisingly strong force. The silver Gryphon was nearly flown back into an alleyway, where he was face-to-face with a very worried-looking Blade.
“Uhhh… h-h-hey, Troy…” Blade tried to give a smile to make himself look fine, but the width and shakiness of it just made the Gryphon look like he was about to do some unnameable act from one of Lyle’s comic books. Troy flinched a little, but Blade didn’t seem to notice as his eyes darted back and forth. “L-l-listen, I… I kinda need your help on something. D-do you happen to know any p-place where I can lay low for a while?”
Troy’s eyes instantly narrowed on him in suspicion. Knowing what his brothers were capable of, he was instantly worried that several cops or pissed off mares were going to be coming into the alley for Blade as well. “What did you do?”
“Nothing! Nothing, I swear on me Mum!” Blade’s claws were raised in sincerity as he made that outburst, but they slowly began to tap each other’s talons as he kept talking. “B-but, I… I may have said something to make my brothers come looking for me.”
Troy made a painful groan with his face in his claw. “Urgh… okay… what did you say, then?”
“Well,” began Blade as he kept looking up in the skies for his pissed-off brothers, “after we went to that apple farm and gave them our chickens, we went back to your place, and… Fluttershy was there…”
After he put his claw down, Troy’s brows began to raise in understanding. “Oh… so…”
“Yeah,” finished Blade with a wince in his nod. “She saw the second cage and was being all nice to them. And then she saw us, and started sayin’ how we were so noble to save their lives. And then she asked if we were taking them to a farm or sanctuary, and…”
Blade was starting to sweat as his eyes were pinned to the sky, hoping Blaze or Blade weren’t too close. Troy decided to ask while his brother’s words were frozen, “So, Fluttershy took in the chickens you were planning to eat?”
With his beak firmly clamped shut, Blade looked back at Troy to make a feeble nod of his head.
Troy gave a more relaxed sigh. “Dude, I already told you we had plenty of meat at the house. You shouldn’t be freaking out about that.”
“Well, tell THEM that!” shouted Blade with his talon pointed to the sky. “They’ve been chasin’ me around like bloody loons! You gotta help me, mate!”
“Alright, alright!” Troy put his claws on Blade’s shoulders in an attempt to calm him down. “Just take a breath and hear me out. Sugar Cube Corner is only a couple blocks away. Rainbow Dash mentioned that there’s a cave underneath it where Pinkie stores all her party stuff. I’m sure she can let you hide in there until they calm down.”
Blade paused as he processed Troy’s plan, but the way his face scrunched in indicated that he wasn’t too happy about that option. “Ugh, I dunno… The last time I met up with a dame who had her own cave, it ended with me chained up and… wearing stuff.” The Gryphon then shuddered and looked away from Troy’s weirded-out face, not wanting to reveal anything more than that.
Troy quickly shook his head clear and assured Blade, “I promise you, Pinkie Pie is not like that.” After a couple seconds of reflection in regards to his words, Troy shrugged and added, “At least, I’m pretty sure she isn’t. I’m just saying, that’ll most likely be less dangerous than Blaze or Blane getting to you.”
Blade nodded his head firmly at that point. “Okay, fair enough. Wish me luck!”
The older Gryphon then bolted out of the alley so he could “blend in” with the marketplace. However, Troy overheard Blade shout out, “Oh crap!” before running right back into the alley to hand him a piece of paper. “Oh, I almost forgot. Your stallion wanted you to pick up some groceries while you’re in town. Okay, see ya!”
Troy groaned and muttered, “Yeah, thanks,” after snatching the list from his brother.
Blade then disappeared out of the alley once more, passing Lyle on the way. While the younger continued walking towards Troy in the alley, he looked back at Blade while asking, “Umm, what was that about?”
“Eh, nothing huge. He just gave me a grocery list from Canvas.” As Troy scanned the page to see what they needed, his tone turned flat when he noticed the last few entries. “Aaaaannnnnnd I have a feeling the triplets tried to ‘improve’ it…”
Lyle peered in to see what his brother meant, and tried not to laugh at the less-than-subtle changes to the list. Along with many of the vegetable items being crossed out, several items were scribbled at the end with clearly different claw-writing. Troy’s eyes strained as he struggled to comprehend what their older brothers were trying to get him to buy. “You gotta be kidding me… beer, nuts, more beer, cheese cans, purple stuff? What the… a pallet of cream cheese?!”
Troy just groaned and shook his head before putting the list down. “Whatever. At least they didn’t cross out Canvas’s stuff completely.” He then turned to Lyle with a smile and asked, “You wanna help me get the stuff? We can drop them off for Canvas before seeing Twilight’s castle.”
At the prospect of seeing his future brother-in-law again, Lyle smiled back with a nod. “Sure thing.”
Even after cutting out the triplets’ additions to the shopping list, the two Gryphons were straining by the time they finally flew back to the house. With both of them struggling to hold three shopping bags each, Troy was barely able to grip the doorknob with his tail to walk into the living space.
“Canvas?” Troy said with a grunt as he tried to stay on his hindlegs with his claws full. “We’re back with the groceries.”
“Ooh, perfect!” Canvas ran out of the kitchen with a relieved smile to grab Troy’s bags, not even noticing Lyle coming in through the doorway behind his brother. “I was just about ready to start sauteeing!”
Troy’s ear tufts raised up when he caught the scent of the welcoming aroma coming from the kitchen. “Oooohhhh…” When he got back on all fours, Troy tried to to ask before Canvas could disappear into the kitchen again. “Should I ask what you’re making for dinner?”
“It’s a secret,” piped the stallion happily while lugging his bags through the doorway while on his back hooves. “And no peeking!”
While Lyle hobbled over to the dining table to place the remaining bags, Tenor eagerly ran down the stairs from the loft while barking loudly. The puppy ran straight towards Troy to try and jump into him, but the Gryphon grabbed him with his claws while he was in midair. “Hey there, little guy!”
Lyle turned back to Troy while Tenor was licking at the Gryphon lovingly. Troy couldn’t help giggling while saying, “Lyle, this--hehehehe… This is Tenor!”
“Awww, he's pretty cute!” Lyle smiled and began to scratch the puppy’s back with his talons. As soon as he realized there was an extra claw, Tenor stopped lapping Troy’s face to turn his head and see the new Gryphon. Of course, this just made the Saint Bernard pant with his tongue out when he saw him.
“So this is the new dog, huh?” asked Lyle as he began to scratch behind Tenor’s ears, which the puppy clearly enjoyed with his eyes becoming half-lidded. “I gotta admit, I wouldn’t have expected you two to get a dog. Canvas always seemed like a cat guy to me.”
“HOLY SHIT, LYLE?!”
When Lyle turned around to the source of that shocked reaction, he only smiled wider when he saw Canvas at the doorway with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. Lyle put on a huge grin as he stood on his hindlegs and held his claws out for him. “C’mere, dude!”
Canvas didn’t even hesitate to run towards him. When the two hugged each other tightly, Canvas was pulled off the ground due to the height difference. Of course, the pony didn’t seem to mind one bit when he was put back down; instead, he just looked up at the younger Gryphon with a baffled smile and exclaimed, “Lyle, what happened?!”
“What do you think happened?” asked Troy as he put down Tenor and leaned against Lyle’s shoulder with a foreleg. “Little Lyle here got a visit from the Puberty Fairy!”
Lyle’s expression instantly soured, which wasn’t helped by the way Troy and Canvas were both laughing. Due to all the commotion, Tenor was still yapping and hopping around the three like crazy. Canvas was the first to stop giggling and give some attention to the excited pup. “Aww, someone’s getting antsy, isn’t he?”
“Well, can you blame him?” Troy asked with a smirk. “The place already smells amazing, and seeing a bunch of new faces is gonna make him go nuts!”
“Yeah, probably.” Thinking it over, Canvas looked back up at the two Gryphons while petting Tenor’s back with a hoof. “You two mind looking after Tenor while I cook? It might take a while, so it’d be good to get him some exercise before dinner.”
“Sure thing!” Lyle bent back down to scratch behind Tenor’s ears again. “Is he good with being flown? There’s a good chance Twilight could take us in at the castle, so we were planning on going back to Ponyville.”
“Oh really?!” Canvas asked in pleasant surprise. He looked up at Lyle with a smile and said, “That’s great! At least I know you don’t have to use the couch again.”
Lyle snickered. “Yeah, you and me both!”
“Well,” Canvas pondered Lyle’s original question, and had a bit lip before answering, “As long as you two don’t try to fly around with him too high, I suppose a walk through Ponyville would be good for him.”
Tenor made an excited bark as soon as Canvas said the word “walk,” and his tail wagged even stronger than before.
“Alright then.” Troy grabbed the leash that was by the door and snapped it into Tenor’s collar. “So, what time should be back by?”
Canvas shrugged, “Eh, probably around seven would work.” He then made a relieved huff as he trotted back to the kitchen. “Honestly, it’s just good to know we could have sleeping arrangements already taken care of! Those triplets definitely wiped me out more than they did Tenor!”
At remembering what happened before going to pick the rest of his family up from Canterlot, Troy’s whole body seemed to tense up in guilt. Even though he didn’t want to stick around after that awkward reveal, he certainly knew better than to leave his future husband alone with his older brothers after that bombshell. As Canvas disappeared into the kitchen, Troy turned back to Lyle and handed him the leash. “Uhhh… could you wait outside a second? I needed to ask Canvas about something.”
Lyle’s eyes slowly narrowed on him suspiciously. “This isn’t for something dirty, is it?”
“No!” Troy snapped in annoyance. “I just….” Troy paused as he looked back at the closed kitchen door, and then pered in closer to Lyle to say in a hushed tone, “I may have… messed up when I left Canvas alone with the triplets.”
Lyle’s brows immediately raised in understanding. “Ooohhh… Yeah, that’s worth apologizing for.”
“Thanks,” said the older with a nudge of his claw against Lyle’s shoulder. Even though it wasn’t exactly the response he wanted to hear, it was certainly the one that needed to be said. Lyle took the suggestion to leave Troy alone for a minute, and took Tenor’s leash to lead him outside. “Alright, just let me know if you need anything, alright?”
“Yeah, thanks.” After Lyle and the puppy exited the living space, Troy made an uncomfortable exhale and walked towards the kitchen door. Even though he wanted to go inside to make his apology, Troy didn’t want to do so after Canvas specifically said not to go into the kitchen before dinner. So, the Gryphon reluctantly knocked on the door to catch his attention. “Ummm, Canvas?”
The stallion replied from the kitchen in a positive tone, “Yeah?”
“Listen, ummm... about what happened this morning…”
The other side of the the kitchen door became eerily silent, aside from the sound of a large pot bubbling. Troy cringed at knowing his fiancè was aware what he was referring to, but still continued after a slight pause. “I’m really, really sorry. I swear, I didn’t tell those guys anything too personal, alright? Blade wrote to me asking about those toys he gave us on Hearth’s Warming, and I may have replied back and--”
“Troy, it’s okay,” replied Canvas’s voice in a surprisingly calm tone. “I’m not mad at you about that. I know you didn’t mean to say too much, and I completely understand. Besides, a lot of little secrets like that slip out from time to time.”
Troy sighed with a relieved smile, and nodded after giving the door an approving knock with his claw. “Thanks, hon. I’m really glad tha--”
The Gryphon was just about to walk away from the door, but that last sentence Canvas said made Troy freeze with ice in his veins. He peered his head in closer to the door as his tone became more fearful. “Canvas… what did you tell them?”
A very long bout of silence passed before Troy heard the stallion reply, “What do you mean?” Of course, the way that question was said just made the Gryphon more nervous. He could’ve sworn that he was able to catch the smile on Canvas’s muzzle when he said that.
“Canvas, what did you tell my brothers while I was gone?!”
For almost twenty seconds, the stallion didn’t say a word. Before Troy could burst into the kitchen for answers, he heard Canvas say in a sing-song tone much closer to the door:
“...Nothiiiiinnnngggggg…”
That statement was enough to make the Gryphon wince strongly. While the pony giggled in the kitchen and went back to work on dinner, all that Troy could do was slowly walk outside with a panicked and uncomfortable look on his face. He muttered to himself, “Ugh… what did he say?!”