//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Brotherly Bond // by Crash Jet //------------------------------// Brotherly Bond Chapter 4 Pipsqueak had no idea where he was going, or how far he would run. All he knew was that he just wanted to get away from his family right now. He didn’t bother to fight against the tears flowing from his eyes. He had no reason to. Why suppress the sadness he felt at that moment? “Pip!” He heard Patch calling out for him. Despite how distant it sounded, he knew that his brother was chasing after him as fast as he could run. “Pip! Wait! Don’t run from me, please!” “Go away!” Pipsqueak shouted out. “Leave me alone!” He didn’t want to see his brother. He didn’t want to see anypony. However, it seemed that fate and his small hooves thought otherwise. He tripped and fell to the ground, his body suffering a rough landing to the ground. “Pip!” Patch exclaimed in great concern. It was now his chance to finally catch up with the colt as he sped forward. He stopped next to Pipsqueak and held him gently in his hooves. “Are you okay?! You’re not hurt, are you?” Pipsqueak started to sob loudly as he tried to push his brother away from him. “Let me go! I just want to be alone!” “I’m not going to do that, Pip…” Patch frowned as he tried to calm Pipsqueak’s crying. “I can’t leave you upset like this…” “It’s your fault! You… you’re going away! Why do you have to go, Patch?! Is it because you don’t want to be around me anymore?!” Patch shook his head. “That will never be a reason, baby bro… I have to go… they need me over there…” It was the day after their camping trip and Patch had to share some shocking news with the family. He received orders to deploy to a small village on the other side of the planet. Harsh storms had more or less torn the village to near famine. All the crops that once grew there were destroyed and several homes were in need of extensive rebuilding. Patch, being an earth pony, would be a part of the crop growing force to help get the village back to a stable state. Patch would be away for an entire year with no possibility of returning home until the job was done. “But I need you here!” Pipsqueak wept. “It’s not fair!” “I know, Pip… I really was hoping that a deployment would come up much later than this… but it can’t be helped… if we don’t help out, then that village will not be able to survive.” He hugged Pipsqueak gently, rubbing the colt’s back to console him. “We all have to do our part… including me… and especially you.” “W-What do I have to do…?” Pipsqueak said, laying his head on Patch’s shoulder. “You need to be strong… mum hasn’t stopped crying since I told her. Dad is shaken up about it too… they’re both really upset, Pip. You may be the only source of strength in the household for a little while…” “H-How can I be strong, Patch?” Pipsqueak said over his sniffling. “I’ll miss you too much…” “I’ll miss you too, believe me Pip… but just remember and remind them that I will come home when the year is up. You’ll see… a year will fly by and before you know, we’ll be camping and building model ships and spending a lot time together again. But you need to promise me that you’ll try to tough it out for mum and dad’s sake. Can you do that, Pip?” Pipsqueak let out another sniffle as he wrapped his hooves around Patch for a hug. “I… I’ll try, Patch… but you need to promise me that you’ll come home!” Patch smiled and rubbed a hoof against Pipsqueak’s mane. “I promise, baby bro. Now let’s head back home. Mum and dad are no doubt worried about you…” “… Can I ride on your back?” Patch nodded as he broke the hug and lowered his body. “Climb aboard, kiddo.” Pipsqueak gave a small smile as he, with a little help from Patch, climbed up on his brother’s back and held on tight. Patch started to walk towards the direction of their home, his pace slow so that Pipsqueak would enjoy every moment of the ride. “…Patch…?” Pipsqueak spoke up. “What is it, Pip?” He answered. “… When you get home… can we build a real ship and go sailing?” Patch let out a little laugh. “Sure thing, baby bro. We’ll go sail all of Equestria.” Pipsqueak found himself deep in the Whitetail Wood, thanks to all the running he had done. He finally stopped when he was sure that he had lost Apple Bloom. He looked around, nothing but tall trees and eerie silence. It seemed that no pony or animal was nearby. He was finally alone. Alone. It was the emotion he experienced for the last year. An empty feeling in his heart where it felt like he was the only pony left in the world. As supportive as his parents were, they couldn’t change what he felt at that time. His teachers? Most didn’t care or know what to do to pull him out of his loneliness, at least back in Trottingham. Miss Cheerilee did her best to offer an ear to listen to him. She cared for him like she did all her students, never wanting any of them to suffer even the slightest bit of sadness. He turned away her help. Sure she wanted to talk about it, but he wondered if she could truly understand what he’s experienced? Then he met the Cutie Mark Crusaders. For the first time in a long while, his loneliness was gone. That empty space was filled with joy. He truly enjoyed having the camping trip with them. They had accepted him into their group with no questions asked. He was given a chance to make new friends. Ones who perhaps could have brought him the same amount of happiness that his brother once had. He felt that he had ruined it all. Now his joy was replaced with pain. He could still feel the tears stinging his eyes as he thought about the moment that led him to running off. What did they think of him now, he questioned. Was he still just a showoff? Was he a bully in their eyes for pushing Scootaloo? Or was he just a little foal crying out for his big brother. “Patch…” He whispered to himself, setting down in the grass. He closed his eyes and allowed a fresh set of tears to fall to the ground. He had managed to fight off the urge to start sobbing out and held it back to a slight whimper, hoping that nopony would hear him. However, somepony did. “Pipsqueak?” Apple Bloom emerged from the brush. Her mane was disheveled, her bow slightly ruffled, and her coat had several stray leaves over it. Even with only the dim light of the moon shining, her concerned frown could be seen clearly. Pipsqueak opened his eyes and looked at her. The sight of her felt like a sharp puncture in his heart. He remained silent for a few long moments before he finally spoke. “Are you here to get back at me for hurting Scootaloo?” “… She’ll be okay… Ah’m more worried about you right now…” She walked over slowly so as not to startle him. Now that she had him in her sights, the last thing she wanted was for him to run off again. She sat herself next to him, never breaking eye contact with him. “She shouldn’t have said all that mean stuff to ya…” “I shouldn’t have pushed her…” Pipsqueak replied, looking down. “I guess you think inviting me along was a bad idea after all…” She shook her head. “Ah don’t think that at all… you made this trip so much more fun for all of us… Ah just hope you were able to have fun too…” “I did have fun… I really did up until now… I just…” Pipsqueak choked back a sob. “I just let my dumb emotions get in the way…” “… You were thinkin’ of yer brother… weren’t ya?” “…” He nodded. “This entire trip… I’ve been thinking about him and all the fun we used to have… usually… I get really sad thinking about him.” “Sumthin’ happened to him… right?” Apple Bloom hesitantly said. Pipsqueak shut his eyes. Once again, somepony was going to ask him what happened. Or so he thought. “You don’t have to talk about it if ya don’t want to…” “Huh?” He looked at her, seeing that she was staring down at the grass before her. “Ah mean… Ah know that Applejack always says that talkin’ is the best way to handle yer emotions. But Ah can’t force ya to do that… otherwise… you'll just be more upset than you were before. Ah just don’t want you to be alone, Pipsqueak… that’s even worse than not talkin’ at all…” Pipsqueak couldn’t believe what he just heard. Despite his outburst, the pony next to him wasn’t trying to press him to explain himself. All she wanted was to be by his side so he wouldn’t be left alone with his thoughts. As strange as he thought it was, it felt comforting. He could finally be allowed to keep his painful memory a secret from somepony. Any other day, he would have done just that. “… Patch…” He started to speak again, his tone soft. “He was my big brother… he was my favorite pony in all of Equestria… he taught me so many things and looked after me. He would always have time to play too… we would build model ships… go catch fireflies… skip stones… a whole bunch of stuff… then… he joined the Royal Guards.” “He had to move away… but he always came home every weekend or so to see me. He never changed… he kept doing all the things that made him a great big brother.” Apple Bloom looked at him. After thinking it over for a moment, she decided to take a chance with her next words. “…Sumthin’… happened to him though… right?” “…” Pipsqueak hesitantly nodded. “My parents and I were having dinner one night… it was exactly one year ago…” “Patch is gonna come home in 231 days, mum!” Pipsqueak said excitedly at the dinner table. “I’ve been keeping count!” His mother smiled as she took a sip of the vegetable soup she prepared for dinner. “That’s wonderful, sweetie. He’ll be here before you know it.” “The letter he sent last week said he was doing just fine.” Pipsqueak’s father said as he chewed on a piece of bread. “He can’t wait to see you, Pipsqueak.” “I can’t wait to see him either!” Pipsqueak grinned. “Maybe we can all go camping together, dad!” “That sounds like a wonderful idea.” His father nodded. Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door. “Hmm? Now who could that be at this hour?” “I’ll get it, dear.” Pipsqueak’s mother rose from her seat. “You two finish up your dinner and I’ll bring out the dessert when I get back.” His mother walked over to the door and opened it for the unexpected guest. Standing before her was a white pegasus pony in formal guard attire. Unlike the steely look most guards carried on their faces, this guard had a soft look in his eyes and a frown that couldn’t mean anything good was about to come. “I’m sorry for the disturbance…” He started to say, his voice hinted a tone of sorrow. “But are you… Patch’s mother?” “… Oh my…” The mother’s pupils shrank in fear. “H-Honey? C-Can you come here, please?” Pipsqueak’s father looked over and saw the guard pony at the door and his wife’s unmoving stance. He looked at Pipsqueak. “Son… g-go to your room…” “But why, dad?” Pipsqueak asked, not knowing what was going on. “Please… just go.” He ordered. Pipsqueak let out a frown as he pulled away from the table and made his way upstairs to his bedroom. The door was wide open and ready for him to enter. However, he simply closed the door, loud enough for his parents to hear, and snuck back to the top of the stairs. He made sure to remain as silent as possible so he could listen in on the conversation that his father for some reason didn’t want him to hear. “…” His father approached the guard pony, standing next to the mother and wrapping a comforting foreleg around her shoulders. “This is about Patch… isn’t it?” He said, his frown growing with each passing second. “… We received an urgent letter from the guards at the village Patch is stationed at.” The guard started to explain, his eyes remaining on the worried couple. “…Earlier this morning, the village was caught in a lightning storm. The pegasus guards did everything they could to push it out to sea, but a bolt of lightning struck one of the houses and started a fire. The house was engulfed in flames and trapped a small family inside… a family that Patch had gotten to know. He immediately rushed inside and started dragging each pony out one by one. Soon, only one pony was left and he ran inside to rescue her. That was when… t-the house collapsed…” “Please… no…” Pipsqueak’s mother whispered, tears building as she shook. Pipsqueak kept listening in, his eyes widening and mouth agape. “P-Patch…?” “Please…” Pipsqueak's father said gently, almost pleading for the news he knew would not come. “Tell us our son is okay…” The guard was unable to keep his eyes on the couple anymore and looked away, tilting his head down. “The guards all did an immediate search among the rubble. By some miracle… the pony he was rescuing survived. She swears that Patch had protected her as the house fell. As for Patch himself… well… h-he wasn’t so fortunate…” “He… he can’t be!” The poor mare started crying out, her husband instinctively hugging her close. “No! Please tell me this isn’t happening!” “I’m sorry…” The guard closed his eyes and lowered his head. “But… Patch is… is…” “NO!” Pipsqueak screamed as he ran down the stairs, shedding his tears uncontrollably. He raced towards the guard as fast as he could. “Pipsqueak!” His father caught and picked him up, trying to settle the flailing colt, who was screaming at the guard pony. “You’re lying!” Pipsqueak shouted furiously, his glare fixated on the still somber guard. “Patch is coming home! He told me himself! He promised!” “Pipsqueak… please…” His father said sadly, crying as he pulled Pipsqueak closer to him. “We’re going camping! And we’re going to build a real ship! We’re going to sail all of Equestria! He said we would! He said we would!” He started bawling into his father’s chest. For a moment, the usually stern pegasus guard shed a single tear. “I’m so sorry…” Pipsqueak continued his loud sobbing. His mother wrapped her fore hooves around both the colt and the stallion and pulled them in for a hug, her own tears running down her face. The family was motionless, remaining in their tight embrace as they wept for their lost Patch. “They gave my mum and dad a box with all the things Patch brought with him…” Pipsqueak said, fresh tears falling from his eyes. “And a medal… they said he earned it for his selfless act…” Apple Bloom watched Pipsqueak, crying silently as she wiped her tears away. “T-That didn’t matter to you… did it?” “… We used to have it in a case on the wall… every time I saw it, I would start crying, so mum and dad put it away… I couldn’t even stay at the ceremony the Guard Ponies had for him… one of them kept shouting his name and rank, like he was going to come back and answer. But he never did…” “Then it got to where I can’t even think of the happy moments without thinking of that night… it makes my heart hurt so much! I just wanted to forget Patch… I wanted the pain to go away!” “But it never did… and it never will…” Apple Bloom whispered sadly. “Ah know…” “What do you mean, Apple Bloom?” Pipsqueak looked over at her, seeing that she too had some tears of her own. “… Ah lost mah ma and pa when I was really little… Ah only have vague memories of them… and it hurts me too…” She sniffled a little. “Ah had Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith to comfort me when Ah was sad… and after a while, the pain didn’t hurt so much… but it’s still there when Ah think of them…” Pipsqueak was speechless. He had no idea that Apple Bloom had experienced much of the same ordeal he had. Yet she had acted so strong over it. Or she had until now. “Ah think…” She continued. “Because Ah had the rest of mah family there for me… and they were so upset about it too… it helped a lot. So… Ah guess what Ah’m trying to say is… if ya ever need a pony to listen to… a pony to cry with… Ah can be there for you… no matter what…” “… But… won’t that make you sad again…?” “It’s not good doing anything alone… and that counts for crying too…” Those words struck Pipsqueak hard. For the longest time since that day, he had always cried alone. It was those moments that his heart hurt the most, when he felt like he was the only pony left in the world. But now he had somepony to share his sorrows with, because she too had lived in the lonely world he lived. “… Apple Bloom…” After a few sniffs, he wiped the tears from his eyes and looked at her. “…Can we go back…? I want to apologize to Scootaloo…” “You don’t have to…” A voice said, startling both Pipsqueak and Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both walked over from the darkness. “I… I should be the one apologizing…” Scootaloo lowered her head. “Scootaloo? Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom looked at the two fillies. “H-How did you find us?” “We followed you guys after you ran off, Apple Bloom.” Sweetie Belle explained, frowning. “We found you just as Pipsqueak was talking about what happened to his brother… we didn’t want to interrupt.” “Y-You heard everything then?” Pipsqueak asked meekly. “I really had no idea that was the reason you were so quiet today… and every other day…” Scootaloo said, shaking her head. “And I was a real bully to you too… I guess I was just jealous of how good a camper you are… I really am sorry, Pipsqueak…” “… I… I forgive you, Scootaloo… sorry for pushing you…” He said, smiling a little. “Water under the bridge!” Scootaloo pepped up and held up her hoof. “Up high!” “…Um… okay…” Pipsqueak bumped his hoof against hers, making a small clop sound. “Alright!” Apple Bloom cheered, smiling. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders are all together again!” “Awww… isn’t this a touching moment…” A new voice hissed in a low tone as the sound of brush being rustled was heard. “Who’s there?!” Scootaloo looked over in surprise, along with the rest of the foals. Scootaloo probably wished she hadn’t asked. Emerging forth were three large black-furred wolves, each one had piercing yellow eyes that were fixated on the four little ponies. The one in the center was practically drooling as he licked his chops noisily. The message was crystal clear. They were hungry. “See, Nate…” The wolf on the left said with smug smirk. “I told you that if we waited, all four of them would bunch together…” “That’s good for us, Barnes…” Nate, the center wolf and leader said with a nod. “There’s plenty to go around now.” “W-What does he mean by that, Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle asked fearfully. “It’s very simple…” Nate looked at her, licking his lips again. “We’re three hungry wolves and you’re four little lost ponies… do the math.” “But I don’t like math!” Sweetie Belle cried out as she ducked behind Scootaloo. “Oh? Well you won’t have to worry about that anymore!” Nate cackled wickedly, showing his sharp, yellow teeth. His ears perked up when he heard the loud sobbing of the wolf standing to the right of the pack. Immediately, he dropped his smirk and shouted at the crying animal. “Cletus! What are you blubbering about?!” The largest wolf of the three, Cletus, wiped his eyes with his paws as he sniffled. “Well… I was thinking of that little spotty pony’s story… about his b-b-brother!” He said, blubbering at the word. “A-And then… and then… the little… yellow pony was talking about her mommy and daddy… and it’s just so sad! D-Do we really have to eat them, Nate? They’re been through so much already!” “Argh!” Nate slammed a paw atop Cletus’ snout, getting a pained whine from the wolf. “Focus! This is the reason we left the Everfree Forest… the hunt hasn’t been so good and I’m TIRED of eating bark and berries! And I’m not trying my luck with that yellow pegasus pony we ran into… that stare of hers is gonna haunt my dreams for weeks! ” “Yeah…” Barnes growled in agreement. “And besides… we’d be doing the little colt a favor. Once we’re done devouring him, he’ll be reunited with his brother…” “R-Really?” Cletus said as he rubbed his nose. “I… I guess that makes it okay…” “Good…” Nate smirked as he faced the ponies. “Now let’s dig in, boys!” Slowly, the three wolves crept towards the four frighten ponies, mouths now dripping with saliva over the thought of their upcoming meal. “I want the yellow one…” Barnes said with a low hiss. “I’m taking the orange one…” Nate said, baring his fangs. “I bet she tests just like chicken…” Scootaloo narrowed her eyes angrily and growled. “I’m not a… chicken!” She kicked a small rock forward and struck Nate hard in the nose. “Ow!” He stopped in his tracks and yelped in pain as he held his nose. “Run for it guys!” Scootaloo commanded. In less than a second, the four foals ran as fast as they could away from the wolves, staying together. “Nate? You okay?” Cletus asked. “She got you really good, huh?” Nate brought his paws down to the ground and started to snarl. “After them! I am NOT going to lose this meal!” The wolves all charged ahead, dead set on catching up to the retreating ponies. “They’re after us!” Apple Bloom shouted as she took a quick glance behind her. “Just keep running! We’ll lose ‘em!” Scootaloo told her. “But what if we don’t!?” Sweetie Belle exclaimed. “We don’t even know where we’re going!” Pipsqueak panted as he kept up with the three fillies. He was frightened. More frightened than he had ever been in his life. He may had finally made three new friends, but they were now the desired dinner for three ravenous wolves. He cursed himself for running off. He felt responsible for getting them into that mess. He wondered to himself what he could possibly do to get him and the fillies out of it. He also wondered to himself, just what would Patch do if he was there?