Chapter 9: A Brother's Embrace

Well, this one took a bit, but I promise to give you all break from cliff hangers for a bit. I'm going to go ahead and promise one more chapter by the end of the week because I'm taking a much needed trip to the desert. Thanks to MyInnerWeirdo for making this whole project possible, this wouldn't exist if it were not for her! *round of applause* without further adu...

“Plan B, what the buck do you mean plan B!?” screamed Reverb as he continued to beat Rainbow’s father into a small blue pulp. Even though the stallion was in an incredible amount of pain from his numerous injuries, the thought of causing so much stress and chaos for one pony absolutely delighted him. Even with a punctured lung, and a number of broken ribs, the pony continued to laugh and wheeze.

In any other situation Twilight would have been disgusted, and would have tried to break the two apart, but here vision was blurred tears of anger which drove her to give the awful stallion a kick or two in the groin when she could get a good shot.

Reverb finally convinced himself to stop kicking, but the fire in his heart had yet to fade. He took three paces back once again and caught his breath. The bruised and beaten pony had yet to cease his fit of laughter, occasionally coughing up blood in between breaths.

“Just calm yourself Reverb, don’t want to anything to drastic here,” Reverb said to himself as he threw his hooves on his head while pacing back and forth in front of the destroyed store front. He approached the cyan blue stallion again, but set him upright so he could look the monster in the eye.

In the calmest tone that Reverb could muster, he once again asked the stallion, “Where is Rainbow Dash, where is my sister?” Just saying that word...sister, he hadn't actually felt the power behind that one word until now. It was so much more than a simple word. The love and care had always been there, but the constant distance between the two siblings made it impossible to know how much one pony meant to him.

Reverb could picture that young little filly that he rescued all those years ago. Rainbow colored bangs hanging carelessly in front of pink eyes. A bright white smile that could illuminate even the darkest of rooms. Even though Reverb had not seen his sister in nearly half a decade, he still had that image forever ingrained in his mind.

Suddenly something snapped Reverb out of his trance; he couldn't quite make out the sound that had startled him so he turned his attention back the Rainbow’s father.

“WHERE IS MY SISTER!?” Reverb screamed giving the pony one last, swift kick to the chest.

Through the muffled coughs and laughter the stallion choked, “Just listen for yourself.”

Reverb quickly realized what snapped him out of his dreams, it was a loud scream. Then it all clicked. He knew that voice. Even if it was just a distant scream, it was unmistakably Rainbow Dash.

Not wanting to waste any time, Reverb jumped out of the broken store front window and sprinted out into the dark, moonlight filled alleyway.

He continued to hear the screams of agony, mixed with the sound of grunts and shouts of another pony. He didn’t want to believe it was his mother, but nopony else would have been crazy enough to join his father in a mission to, well to be honest Reverb never bothered to ask his father his true intentions, but he came to the conclusion that it would have revolved around using Rainbow for collateral in exchange of the small fortune Reverb had saved over the years.

The screams continued to resonate off the surrounding buildings, making it impossible to determine the true source of the struggle. Reverb began to pathetically scream out for his sister, but his only response was more agonizing, blood curdling screams.

Trying to see through his tear filled eyes, Reverb flew overhead to try and locate the carriage that most likely contained Rainbow, but with so little light, it was impossible to see your own hoof in front of your face at that altitude.

Dropping back down to the streets Reverb continued his search. He had heard the rest of the girls as well as Paper Back behind him trying to help him search, but he knew that whatever horrible situation Rainbow was in, would surely be too much for one, or five innocent mares to witness.

Reverb would never give up, but his frustration was starting to impair his hearing and vision. Just as Reverb wanted to scream and fall to the ground, his ears picked up the sound of metal on metal. It was faint, but it was enough for Reverb to find the location of the carriage. Without looking back Reverb sped off to the left taking a small drainage all the way to an abandoned parking lot.

There, cast in the shadows of the neighboring factory, was a small rusted carriage that without a doubt belonged to his parents.

Reverb was relieved to have found the carriage, but something else had made his heart skip a beat. He noticed that Rainbow had not screamed for the past two minutes, which to Reverb felt like hours.

Sprinting as fast as he could, Reverb approached the rusted doors and threw them open. If he had eaten any food at all that day, then he would have surely been reacquainted with it, because the sight and smell of the scene before him made Reverb lose control of his legs.

In a pool of blood, he saw two cyan blue mares, with rainbow manes entangled in a final, hatred filled embrace. Reverb had no tears to shed, the sight was so graphic, that all of those drug filled nights that he had spent with his parents as a colt, seemed like a cartoon.

The sound of hoof steps could be heard echoing from the pavement as Paper Back and the girls approached the carriage.

“Don’t come a step closer!” Reverb yelled. There may have not been any tears in his eyes, but the tone of his voice was all the girls needed to know that something was terribly wrong.

“You can’t keep us from our friend ya hear!” Applejack yelled back continuing to approach the carriage. Reverb was not in any mood to negotiate with these girls. With a swift swing of a wing he had knocked Applejack on to the ground. Before the rest of the girls could help her up, Reverb sprinted back to the carriage, locked the door behind him, and looked for any sign of life in Rainbow Dash. He could care less about his mother; her death would actually bring a terrible weight off of Reverb’s shoulders. That mare may have been his mother, but she was never family.

His assumption had been correct; his mother had been strangled to death by none other than her own daughter. If the situation wasn't so grim, Reverb would have commended Rainbow Dash for her bravery, but this was no time for celebrating.

Reverb picked up his only true family member and held her tight. Both for the embrace, and to try and apply pressure to the numerous stab wounds that dotted Rainbow’s back. Reverb began to cry. This was the first time that he had even touched Rainbow since he had kissed her on the cheek nearly sixteen years ago when he left her on the steps of the flight school. It broke his heart to know that the only two times he had ever embraced his sister, was when he was preparing himself to say goodbye. Forever.

Not knowing what to do next Reverb pulled his sister’s head toward his own, and whispered those exact same words he told her when she was a small filly.

“You will never get to know me, or who I really am, but remember. I will always protect you. I will be your light in times of darkness. I will be your shelter in the worst of storms. I will be your silent guide in life. I will be you’re one and only brother, and I will love you forever... I promise”

Reverb began to shake and cry. He had failed. His one job in life was to make sure that this one mare, the one pony in the whole world that meant more to him then his own life was safe. Here she was, having the life spill out of her in his very arms. How could he have come so close to being reunited with his sister, only to have her taken away by those same ponies that had taken away his own life.

Sadness, grief, anger. Reverb didn’t know what emotion he was feeling but it was tearing his heart to shreds. All he knew was that if his father wasn't dead yet, he would make sure that his own hoof would deliver that final blow.

Just as Reverb began to shift the limp Rainbow Dash off of his broad shoulders, he felt the delicate mare in his hooves shiver. Reverb quickly hugged Rainbow again.

“You’re still in this Rainbow! Don’t you give up, you hear me? I watched you grow up. You have never lost a battle that you truly loved. Fight Rainbow Dash! Don’t leave me... Please....please don’t leave.”

Rainbow’s lips quivered, but no words came out. Reverb put his ear directly next to her mouth. “Come on Rainbow say it, just say anything, you can do it.”

“Loyalty...” is all Rainbow had the strength to say.

“I know Rainbow, I know. You are the most loyal pony in Equestria, just stay strong, stay with me!”

“You made a promise, it’s not too late to keep it,” Rainbow whispered

Reverb pulled his sister in tighter. “Always...”

*-----------*

Reverb’s attempt to keep the girls at bay was hopeless. He had managed to lock the door to the carriage behind him, but everypony outside had heard everything he had said. Frankly, he didn’t care anymore. His only job was to take Rainbow to the hospital. It would be a long shot, but he had to try and save her.

“Reverb, I know you don’t want to leave her now, but I can teleport her to the hospital. I only have the strength to send Rainbow and I though. It’s the only way we can get her there before...before it’s too late...” Twilight pleaded

Reverb was still holding Rainbow in his arms. He didn’t want to let go of her. This might be his last chance to be with his sister.

“Do it for Dash Reverb, it’s the only way.” Twilight said again. Reverb took a breath, kissed Rainbow on her cheek, and set her gently in front of Twilight.

“Just get out of here,” Reverb chocked, not wanting to look Twilight, or Rainbow in the eye.

After the purple flash dissipated, Reverb turned back to the girls.

“Well we better get a move on if we want to make it to the hospital in good time,” Applejack stated, starting to walk toward the street. The rest of the girls followed suit, but Reverb stood still.

“Come on Reverb, we wouldn't want to keep those two waiting,” Rarity said with some hesitation.

“You girls go on,” Reverb replied coldly. “I have some unfinished business to attend to.

Everypony knew what his intentions were, but they all told themselves that Reverb was just going to say goodbye to his mom. In a way, they were all right, but Reverb had something a bit different in mind.

The girls left Reverb to his work. He slowly made his way back to the carriage and looked at that the blood filled interior. Not wanting to leave any immediate sight of the crime, Reverb pushed the carriage into the garage door in the back of the factory. It would be months, perhaps even years until another pony would stumble into the shell of a building.

Next, Reverb pulled his mother out of the pool of blood she was resting in and set her on the ground. Delicate would not be the most fitting word as to how he slid his mother along the ground toward a hose attached to the fire escape of the factory.

Crusted blood and dirt washed off of her coat as Reverb sprayed his mother’s body with the rusted hose. Seeing the mare clean of all filth made Reverb examine his mother more closely.

She really was just as beautiful as Rainbow Dash. They had nearly identical bodies, but years of apparent drug use and domestic violence had ravaged some of his mother’s finer features.

Carelessly slinging his mother on to his back, Reverb began his slow walk to his store, where his father was waiting for him.

Shards of broken glass sparkled in the moonlight, giving some added light to the pitch black alleyway. Reverb casually made his way through the front door, ignoring the large entrance that was made by his father.

Reverb didn’t need to worry about his father getting away. After doing that much damage to his fragile body, any chance of movement was impossible for the broken stallion.

His father had curled himself up into a small ball in the main aisle. He was shaking quite vigorously from the cold night air that spilled into the store through the shattered windows. Reverb approached quite slowly, trying to keep his cool. After one look at his father he could see that he was in a substantial amount of pain, but there was no fear in his eyes. No matter what Reverb did to that heartless stallion, his father would never give Reverb the satisfaction of causing him as much pain as he deserved. It was all just some twisted game to his father. Lives were just pawns that he moved about the chess board of life, sacrificing them as needed. Love was a foreign emotion to that pony. He may have lived with the same pony for years, but even she was just as part of his game.

No longer would this stallion be allowed to do what he pleased to anypony. Reverb had failed to stop this game in the past. He had learned from his mistakes, but he knew that this was his only chance to turn something that used to be so wrong, into something so right.

Reverb walked in front of his father, and set the lifeless body of his mother down next to his quivering father.

Reverb’s father was obviously not accustomed to seeing his partner so clean and peaceful, that he had assumed Reverb just carried in the body of Rainbow Dash.

Laughing like a mad pony the stallion looked down at the body. “Plan B hasn't failed me yet, you know Reverb I gave you a chance, but you turned it down. You could have switched places with your sister, but I suppose you were just too much of a coward to do it. Doesn't really surprise me though. You never had the guts to deal with death, even when you had your chance to kill me last time, you chickened out. I’m glad we tossed you to the curb, I wouldn't want a son that was a pussy, always holding me back.”

Reverb just chuckled to himself. His father’s words stung like daggers, but he knew that every word that came out of that bastard’s mouth was a lie.

“Something funny you little shit?” yelled Reverb’s father, becoming quite confused and aggravated by his son’s unusual behavior.

“Take a closer look,” Reverb whispered with a smirk on his face. The stallion looked up at his son trying to analyze what he had said. Reverb responded by quietly pointing down to rainbow mare on the ground.

The Stallion shifted his weight toward the mare and scanned each corner of the cold corpse.

“How, how dare you!” screamed the stallion falling over the body desperately flailing his hoofs at Reverb’s feet. “I’m going to kill you for this you fucking monster!”

Reverb once again responded with laughter. “So, I’m the monster now. Death is a part of life dad. You should know that better then anypony, but sometimes things interfere with the natural process of death. Murder is also a part of life. No matter how hard you run from it, your actions always come back to haunt you. I’m sure that my actions today will have severe consequences in the future, but for today it’s my turn to deliver justice. Father, I don’t need to tell you what evil things you have done. Even if the list is miles long, each and every one of those actions is ingrained in your head. So you could constantly feel the guilt and pain that everypony you hurt had felt. Allow me to put you out of that misery father. Life isn't a game that can be manipulated by small brained stallions such as yourself. Game over, dad.

The stallion rose to his feet and stared his son in the eyes. There was no emotion. Just two mirrors that reflected back the image of a beaten, bloody stallion that had his last laugh.

Reverb watched his father’s eyes drift lazily to the left, down toward the ground where the shotgun was resting. Reverb turned his back to his father and anticipated his sudden jump for the weapon.

While his father was in mid jump, Reverb bucked his father so hard that his body flew like a rag doll toward the other corner of the store.

That blow was enough to make the stallion completely immobile. He had several broken bones and was suffering from internal bleeding. Reverb picked up the weapon that his father had attempted to grab, and pointed the muzzle at the pathetic excuse of a stallion that lied at his feet.

“Sorry it had to be this way dad, but Rainbow Dash and I deserved better than this, and it’s about time that life goes back to normal.”

*------------*

Twilight met Reverb in the waiting room of the Manehatten hospital. She looked quite shaken, but she mustered the power to give Reverb a small smile. That alone made Reverb sigh in relief. Reverb knew that Rainbow was alive, but her condition must be critical.

Without exchanging any words Twilight led Reverb through a pair of white swinging doors.

Reverb hated hospitals. He only been to one once before, but it had been when he was just a young colt, and he watched as his guardian slowly died. He just associated the hospital with a cemetery. A place where ponies came to die. Luckily after seeing Rainbow Dash resting in her bed covered with bandages, Reverb knew that this place saved his sister.

“She needs her rest right now everypony, but you may stay in the room as long as you keep your voices down,” whispered the nurse as she walked out of the room.

“We got her here just in the nic o’ time,” Applejack sighed. “My heart was poundin’ mighty fierce when we saw Rainbow all beat up bein’ taken to the operating room.”

“Yeah, I was all super scared, but then she came out, and that little beepy machine was still beeping, so I knew that Dashie was ok!” Pinkie Pie yelled, but was quickly scolded by the others for being too loud.

“She’s in critical condition, but she is going to pull through, everypony knows that Rainbow Dash won’t lose anything without a fight.” Twilight said proudly.

“Believe me I know,” both Reverb and Paper Back said in unison. Paper Back was slowly running his hoof through Rainbow’s mane cherishing the connection he was having with his daughter. It had been far too long since he had seen his daughter. Even If she was in the hospital.

Everypony sat in the room for a few more hours recapping the crazy events that had taken place the past three days. They didn’t feel bad leaving out one or two of the more, “graphic scenes.”

Twilight sat peacefully in the corner, but motioned for Reverb to join her in the hallway so they could talk in privet.

“Um, Reverb, so about cleaning up the mess we made back there, I was thinki-”

“It’s already been done Twilight, just relax. Everything had been taken care of.” Reverb assured.

“What about the situation back at the store, what do we do about your dad, and all the glass and...blood.” Twilight stuttered on the last word.

“That has also been taken care of,” Reverb said coldly. “Nopony will be messing with Rainbow and I ever again, and the store has been taken care of properly.”

“Reverb, what did you do?” Twilight asked with a stern voice.

“Let’s just say that I learned two things from my father,” reverb replied. “One, if you have a problem pony, take care of said problem so it doesn't come back. Two, if you need to make a mad dash out of town and don’t want to leave any evidence, just burn it all.”

“You didn’t,” Twilight said in disbelief.

“I did. I assure you that I didn’t have any intentions of doing what I did to my father, and I made sure that my store was properly destroyed. I can’t hide forever, but I can try to live my life to the fullest with Rainbow Dash and you all until that day comes.”

Twilight was at a loss for words. What Reverb did was awful, but after contemplating his actions in her head, she realized that she would have done the exact same thing if she was in his situation.

Twilight patted Reverb on the back and gave him a smile. They continued to make small talk until Rarity came out and told the two that Rainbow was starting to wake up.

Everypony in the room gathered around Rainbow and gently hugged her, making sure they didn’t disturb her wounds.

Rainbow was weak, and could barely talk to she just gave everypony in the room a weak smile. When she turned her attention to Reverb he gave her a large grin.

“Hello Rainbow Dash, you probably don’t remember me, but my name is-”

“Reverb,” she whispered. “It’s nice to see you again bro.”
Reverb felt a tear roll down his cheek and hugged Rainbow, knowing that this time he would be able to hold her in his hooves forever.