//------------------------------// // Chapter Nine: Midnight Train to Manehattan // Story: Brushed Away 3: Hearts Entwined // by TheVClaw //------------------------------// “Are you sure?” When he asked that question, Canvas’ face carried a look of worry. The sun was beginning to set outside, which gave an amber glow that shone through the window and provided enough illumination for them in the train car. Because of that, the stallion was able to see the sincerity in Troy’s expression as he nodded. “Yeah,” said the Gryphon in a concerned tone of his own, “I’m telling you the truth. Rainbow Dash thinks there might be something up with Lyle.” “Well, do you agree with her?” Even though Canvas wasn’t trying to sound apprehensive about Rainbow Dash’s claim, Troy still paused for a second in uncomfortable silence. The Gryphon shrugged his shoulders a little as his beak skewed in uncertainty. “Well, he did seem a bit off when I picked him up at the airship station. I thought something may have been wrong, but I figured it could have just been hormones or something.” Canvas bit the inside of his cheek, and looked away from his fiancè before letting out a long exhale from his nostrils. He then began to tap his chin in thought.  The stallion couldn’t help shrugging as well. “Well, I suppose I can see your point,” he admitted meekly before looking back up at him. “But if there is something up with Lyle, then one of us should try to talk with him about it.” “I agree,” said Troy without hesitation. Before he could say anything else, the Gryphon’s thoughts were interrupted when a small bump from the tracks jolted both of them in their private room. The bump also caused Tenor, who was previously sleeping soundlessly on the bench opposite of the couple, to stir awake groggily. The Saint Bernard blinked a couple times slowly with a whimper as he looked around with his ears perked up. “Oh, it’s okay,” cooed Canvas as he bent in and scratched the puppy’s ears sympathetically. “It’s just the train, you can go back to sleep.” While Tenor nuzzled against the stallion’s aqua hoof, Troy looked over to the door and huffed briefly. “You know what? I’m gonna see what’s going on with him. I know he said he’d tell if there was anything wrong, but…” The Gryphon wasn’t sure what else he could add to that statement, and just sighed as he got out of his seat. “I dunno. I just don’t need this on my mind before the audition.” Canvas nodded, but his brows raised as he thought about something important. Before Troy could leave the room, Canvas turned to him and quickly said, “Wait! Ummm…” When Troy turned around, he saw that the stallion was biting his lip apprehensively. “Uhhh,” began Canvas with a more timid tone than expected. “Listen, ah… about what I told your brothers…” The Gryphon’s eyes widened a little, the words enough to stop him in his tracks and peak his curiosity. However, the stallion tapped his hooves together in nervousness as he admitted with a small blush. “I… actually didn’t tell them anything. All I did was tell them to say ‘nothing’ when you asked them about it.” Troy’s beak dropped. “What?!” “I was going to tell you before the audition!” said Canvas sincerely while holding Tenor in his hooves. “Seriously, I didn’t want you to freak out over that before your show! I just thought that…” The stallion then made a guilty shrug as he winced in realization of how his plan may have sounded. “I thought that maybe freaking you out for a little while was good enough payback for what you told them.” “Dude, that’s messed up,” stated Troy flatly while staring at the pony in disbelief. “Like, seriously. That’s reminding me of that crazy wife in that movie we saw.” “Oh, come on!” Canvas rolled his eyes with a shake of his head. “That’s not even a fraction as bad as that girl in Missing Mare! I didn’t even reveal anything to your brothers, unlike you!” “Ugh… whatever.” The Gryphon just shook his head and went back to the door in brooding silence. He muttered under his breath, “All I mentioned was the paw thing, jeez…” After Troy left the private room and closed the door behind him, Canvas sighed worriedly before looking down at Tenor. By now, the puppy was panting happily while looking up at the pony. “You don’t think I went too far, do you?” asked Canvas with a raised brow pointed at the Saint Bernard. Fortunately, Tenor responded by reaching up to lick at the pony’s face, which prompted Canvas to giggle while holding him securely. It took over ten minutes of searching around the train before Troy could find his younger brother. Most of the passenger cars just had ponies in them, and a lot of those passengers weren’t pleased when the Gryphon’s wings kept hitting them as he shuffled through the narrow aisles. When he checked the dining car, all he saw were the triplets taking advantage of a fairly small buffet; he decided to leave that car as quickly as possible when he saw just how enraged the cooks were looking. And when he went around to the private sleeping cars again, he avoided his parents’ room as soon as he heard moaning from the other side of the door. When he reached the caboose of the train, Troy groaned when he found nobody there either. However, the Gryphon figured that if his brother wasn’t in the train, then there was one place where he could’ve been. So, after putting a claw out to test the winds, Troy shot out from the back of the train, quickly taking to the skies. He then turned himself around and landed on the roof of the moving train car. Fortunately, Troy was able to see a figure sitting on the roof several cars ahead of him. Figures, thought the Gryphon to himself as he walked along the top of the train with steady footing. Due to still being a little annoyed by what Canvas told him, his thoughts then became a little heated. Why didn’t I just come out here first?! It would’ve saved me somg friggin’ time! Nevertheless, Troy kept that to himself as he reached the same train car Lyle was sitting on top of. Without saying a word, Troy sat down next to his brother to admire the view they had. Both were seated on one side of the car, where the setting sun was right in front of them and descending into the distant hillsides. “Man,” said Troy to himself as he stared at Celestia’s sun with an impressed smirk on his beak, “it certainly doesn’t look that great back in the Gryphon Kingdom, does it?” All that Lyle did was give a strong huff. “What do you want?” he asked with a clear tone of aggravation, not even turning his head towards his older brother. Well, at least Rainbow Dash wasn’t wrong, thought Troy as he turned his attention towards Lyle. “Okay, can you tell me what’s going on?” asked Troy in a stern tone towards the teenaged Gryphon. “And don’t try to say it’s nothing, because right now it’s pretty clear that something’s up.” Lyle just sighed in obvious aggravation, not saying anything before looking away from Troy’s gaze. “Well,” he began in a tone that made it clear he would’ve preferred to stay quiet, “I don’t think it’s anything for you to worry about.” “Well, right now it is.” With the way that response sounded, Lyle didn’t need to turn around to know that Troy was becoming a lot firmer with his tone and stare. Of course, Troy didn’t wait for his brother to turn around as he continued. “I already have a lot to do in the next week alone, not to mention in the next twenty-four hours! I have a play audition, an art show, AND a wedding to think about! And unless you want to add even more stress to that by acting all broody, I highly suggest that you tell what the buck is going on!” “UGH!” Lyle finally whipped his head back at Troy with an accompanied glare in frustration. “Nothing is wrong, okay?! There’s nothing to get worked up about!” He then looked away again as his voice turned to more of an upset mumble. “Nobody has any problems, so why should I? Everything is just fine and bucking dandy, isn’t it?! Everyone in the family is acting ‘normal’ again, despite the fact that you and Dad almost ripped it apart. Mom is getting a new kid, which Dad is gonna treat with respect! Because yeah, NOW he understands things enough! What’s there to complain about?!” Troy’s brows were raised quite high after hearing that bitter rant from his brother. As he blinked a couple times in surprise. He shrugged as he looked away from Lyle. “Well. Ummm… okay then.” Luckily, it seemed that Lyle realized how he sounded as he groaned and face-clawed. “Sorry, I’m sorry,” he quickly said while his eyes were covered. “I just…” After another brief sigh, Lyle dropped his claw and looked up to his brother to ask, “Why aren’t you pissed off?! I mean, doesn’t it upset you a little that Dad is just NOW going to stop being an asshole?!” Even though he understood Lyle’s point, Troy could only reply with a deadpan stare back at him as he asked, “Compared to what? Him still acting like an asshole?” “Ugh! No! I just mean…”  Lyle had to look down at his claws as he took a quick breath. He calmed down a little before continuing. “After all that he did to us, and after all the things he said the last time we were here, don’t you think it’s a little unfair that our next sibling isn’t going to know about any of that? I mean, that kid is going to spend his life with a ‘proper’ Dad, while all of us will remember how shitty he used to be!” Troy sighed, and instinctively wrapped a wing around Lyle’s back. “Hey, I get it,” he said in a sympathetic tone. “I mean, it does kinda feel like we’re getting the raw deal, huh? I mean, at least when you put it in that way.” “Yeah,” stated Lyle when he looked up at him, “exactly.” “But,” interrupted Troy as he glanced back down with a stronger tone than before, “are you seriously just going to think of Dad like that?! I mean yeah, he did act like a prick, but he’s not anymore! And even if he’s acting nicer now, it doesn’t mean he NEVER acted that way when we were growing up!” Lyle just huffed and averted his eyes from Troy. “Oh yeah? Like when?” That statement pissed Troy off, and he pulled his wing away from Lyle’s back. Without skipping a beat, his tone turned nasty as he answered, “Oh, I dunno. How about two years ago when you almost died from Grover Pox?!” Lyle instantly shut up. His beak clenched tightly as he looked away and scratched the back of his awkwardly. “Ermmmm…” “Seriously, we were ALL freaked out!” Troy said sternly while glaring down at him. “There was like, an EIGHTY percent chance that you weren’t going to make it! And who stayed in the waiting room for over two weeks straight to make you sure you were gonna pull through?!” “Okay! Okay!” shouted Lyle as he quickly tried to stop Troy’s rant. “I get it, alright! Dad was there for me during that time! You don’t need to bring that up!” “Well, I think I do when you ask a question like that!” Lyle openly cringed, but still nodded his head feebly. “Y-yeah… point taken.” “And that’s not the only time either!” added Troy as he continued his rant. “How about when he confronted the school after you got scratched by the Principal’s kid? Or when he took time off of work to teach you to fly because you weren’t getting it?” “Yeah, okay!” Lyle was getting fed up as he tried to keep Troy from listing any more points. “You’re right! He did a lot of good things, you don’t need to list them like a friggin’ presentation!” “I’m just making a point!” As he looked away from his brother, Troy sighed as he tried to keep his tone calmer before adding, “Listen… I know he said a lot of shitty stuff to you, and you have every right to still be mad about it. But you can’t just focus on that! Especially when you know he’s trying to be a better Dad to all of us!” Lyle paused for a moment, and leaned back on his claws which were behind his back. He made a low, long exhale and said, “Yeah, I know. But…” “But what?” asked Troy when Lyle didn’t say anything after that. “I just…” After shaking his head in frustration, Lyle kept his head down as he tried to think of the right words to say. “I know that he’s doing a lot for us, alright? And I know he’s getting better. But… but the only reason he has is because Mom threatened to divorce him! It’s like… it’s like if a dog bites a kid, and it ends up being chained to the yard with a muzzle! If it isn’t for that chain, it would most likely just do it again, right?!” Troy sighed and wrapped his foreleg around Lyle’s back. “Dude, come on. You gotta give Dad more credit than that!” “But you know it’s true!” Lyle turned his gaze up to him and said, “If it wasn’t for that threat, Dad never would’ve tried to change, right?” “So?!” Troy’s expression turned quizzical before adding, “What’s wrong with that?! Sometimes you need to a push to learn something! Like when you burn yourself on the stove to know it’s hot.” Lyle paused momentarily before shrugging. “Okay, yeah. That’s true.” “And just because he acted that way before doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed to do it again! You have to at least give him a chance.” Troy looked back out at the hills ahead of them, seeing that the sun was almost completely out of view now. “Seriously, if anything, you’re luckier than any of us.” Lyle blinked a couple times as he glanced up at Troy confusedly. “What?” “I mean,” began Troy as his stature slumped a little, “it’s not like we’re able to see the changes as much as you will. The triplets are all moved out, and I live here in Equestria. You’re the only one still living with Mom and Dad, so at least you have a chance to have him raise you differently than he did us. Even if it's only for a couple more years. And plus… you’re the first one to actually get a chance to see what Dad’s gonna do as soon as that kid is born.” Lyle didn’t say anything in response to that. But from the way his eyes widened slowly, it was clear that the Gryphon was definitely thinking about his brother’s words. Troy continued with a slight smile on his beak, all while his eyes looked towards the last glimmering light from the soon darkening skies. “I’m not gonna try and bullshit and say things are gonna be perfect. They probably won’t, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he does something stupid again. But at the same time, I think we should be hopeful that things aren’t going to get as bad as they were before.” When he looked back at Lyle, Troy kept his smile as he finished his statement. “I’m just saying that it’s never wrong to give someone a second chance, or even a third chance sometimes. Anyone is capable of change, and I think it’s pretty damn clear that Dad is doing what he can to be worthy of that.” Lyle’s beak was closed shut, but he still made a silent nod of his head. After a couple seconds, Lyle looked back out at the now dark skies and sighed. “Y… yeah. I think so too.” Troy smiled even wider and pulled in his brother with his foreleg. “That’s the spirit,” he said with a thankful hug. After a couple seconds, Lyle couldn’t help smiling as he pressed in closer against Troy in acceptance of it. The teenager only did so for a brief moment before pulling away with a huff. “So,” asked Lyle as he looked up at the now evening skies. “What do you think? Should we get something from the dining car or what?” Troy shrugged his shoulders indifferently. “Eh, I suppose. Although I probably wouldn’t recommend going near Mom and Dad’s private car on the way ther--” A heavy crash from up ahead interrupted Troy’s words. Despite the heavy chugging of the engine, as well as the strong winds which muted almost everything else, Troy and Lyle still quickly heard glass shatter before seeing the triplets shoot out into the skies like panicked bats. A furious voice bellowed out from the broken window of the car they just escaped from. “AND DON’T YOU COME BACK, YOU BUZZARDS!!!” Troy could only blink silently as they saw their brothers rushing away from who was most likely the enraged cooks from the dining car he saw earlier. Knowing that their dinner plans were most likely changed due to that, he turned back his brother with an alternative. “So… jerky from my luggage?” “Jerky from your luggage,” repeated Lyle with a nod.