The Ballad Of Brothers
By: SadHellhound (writer) &
Greatly Gaming (Editor)
Prologue: The Beginning Of Us
Celestia's sun slowly sets onto the horizon as Luna's moon rises into the sky and sits within the clouds. A large gust of wind slowly moves through the small town of Ponyville as a young mother carries a small basket with a bundle of joy, tucked away deep inside some blankets. She soon arrives to a large building with a giant double door and sets the basket down; ringing the doorbell before quickly running off into the night.
The door opens to reveal a woman, standing at 6'4 with long black hair and blue eyes. Her gentle hands slowly move the cover to reveal a small baby with big eyes of mismatched color. His right eye is cyan and his left eye is crimson. The woman smiles softly and, slowly picks him up with him still wrapped in the blankets. A note falls out of the blankets, catching her eye. Picking it up as she carries the child into the building she slowly reads it. "Please take care of my dear Dark Sun. I would raise him but I don't have the means." She sighs a little before sitting in a rocking chair and holding Dark Sun close as she gently rocks back and forth. Dark Sun whimpers slightly before falling asleep into her arms.
A young child with long blue hair and red tips walks into the room with a curious look. He smiles and runs over to the woman. "Hello Mother Maria! Who's that?" The boy happily chirps as Mother Maria smiles down at him and gently speaks. "His name is Dark Sun. I think you and him will be great friends, Greatly Gaming." Greatly looks down at Dark and warmly smiles.
Dark Sun whimpers in his sleep as his tiny hands grab onto Mother Maria's shirt. Smiling a little wider, Mother Maria gently strokes his head as Greatly climbs into the rocking chair and cuddles up to Mother Maria before closing his eyes as well. Greatly slowly falls asleep against her as Mother Maria kisses his forehead then carries both Greatly and Dark Sun to their rooms.
As she lays Dark Sun into a crib his tiny eyes open and he whimpers, reaching for her. She sighs and slowly picks him back up and holds him against her large frame. His tiny hands grip her shirt and he buries his face into her chest as he closes his eyes and relaxes. Mother Maria slowly sits down in a chair and strokes his tiny head softly. After a few minutes Dark Sun falls back asleep, comfortable in her arms. Mother Maria holds him tight and closes her eyes as she drifts asleep.
The sound of crying jolts Mother Maria awake and makes her look down at Dark Sun. His eyes are closed tight as he sobs. Quickly pulling him close she stands and carries him into the main room. He looks up at her as Greatly runs up worried. He looks at Dark Sun worried. "I-Is Dark ok, Mother Maria?" Mother Maria gently nods as she pats Greatly's back then gets a bottle of milk and feeds Dark. Dark slowly drinks and closes his eyes, calming down quickly. Sighing relived, Mother Maria rocks him gently in her arms while feeding him. Greatly smiles happily before reaching up at Dark.
Mother Maria slowly hands Dark to Greatly who holds Dark close. Dark looks up at Greatly Gaming with a cute face. Greatly slowly sits down and plays peek-a-boo with Dark, making Dark laugh happily. Dark soon cuddles up to Greatly and hugs him best to his abilities. Greatly smiles even wider as he hugs Dark tightly, making dark make a cute noise. Other kids soon walk down the stairs and see Dark being held by Greatly. A large boy with long red hair walks over. The boy stands at 5'7, the tallest of the children; he slowly sits in front of Greatly and smiles at Dark before speaking. "Is he a new, Greatly?" Greatly nods and chirps happily. "His name is Dark; Zexon!" Zexon smiles childishly as Dark holds on to Greatly's shirt and says more baby talk.
6 Years Later
Dark shyly hides behind Greatly and Zexon as they stare down a bully. The bully grunts and walks off as Dark looks up and Greatly and Zexon face him and smile. Greatly speaks softly. "You ok little brother?" Dark nods and as Zexon chuckles and hands him a small box. "Happy birthday; Dark." Dark nervously takes the box and bows. "T-Thank you Zexie.." Zexon smiles widely at the old nickname and pats Dark's back before leaving him alone with Greatly. Dark hugs Greatly tightly and whispers softly. "T-thanks for protecting me bubba…" Greatly grins even wider as he hugs his little brother.
"No problem Dark." Greatly takes his little brother back to the orphanage and sits him down in the play room as he runs to the toy chest and gets a bunch of Legos. He brings them back over to Dark and slowly sits beside him. Dark looks up at Greatly and cuddles up to him as he shows Dark how to build towers out of Legos. After a few minutes, Greatly looks down to see Dark fast asleep.
Greatly smiles at him and strokes his long white hair as Zexon walks in, dwarfing both Greatly and Dark. Greatly looks up at Zexon and sighs. "Zexon, how tall are you now?" He shrugs. "I think I'm 5 foot 9 now." Zexon chuckles and speaks again. "Funny; you're older than me but I'm bigger." Greatly chuckles and nods as Dark whimpers in his sleep. Frowning; Greatly quickly pulls Dark closer and strokes his hair, making Dark calm down.
Zexon sits beside Greatly and looks at Dark with worry. "That's the fourth nightmare this week…" They both sigh and both of them hold Dark to keep him calm. Dark's eyes slowly open as he looks up at them. He softly whispers. "M-Morning, Bubba… Morning Z-Zexie." Dark innocently holds onto Greatly as Zexon slowly grins. "Dark; have you opened your present yet?" Gently shaking his head, Dark pulls out the small box from his bag.
Zexon smile widens. "It's from all of us, here at the orphanage. Greatly even picked it out." Greatly smiles happily, as Dark opens the box. Dark's eyes brighten as he stares at to necklace. It's a simple bronze necklace with an onyx shield pendant. Tears swell up into Dark's eyes as he looks up at them both. He cries as Zexon and Greatly hug him tightly.
Zexon puts the necklace on Dark as he starts saying thank you repeatedly. Mother Maria slowly walks in and softly speaks. "Dark loves the gift I assume?" Greatly happily chirps. "Yes Mother Maria! He loves it!" She smiles and walks over as Zexon looks up at her and curiously asks. "Why do you go by Mother Maria? Are you a nun?" A small smile appears on her face as she shakes her head and answers. "No I am not, but I go by Mother Maria because you are all like my children." Zexon nods, satisifide by the answer as Dark slowly stands and hugs her legs and smiles through his tears. "T-Thank you Momma..." Her smile widens as she softly strokes his long, unkempt, white hair.
Zexon picks Dark up and smiles at him as he holds onto Zexon. Dark's small hands hold onto Zexon's shirt as Mother Maria walks into the kitchen as the other children run around and play as the oldest of the children walks over. She is taller than Zexon and she has long black hair with deep forest green eyes and a pale complexion. She warmly smiles at Dark as she kisses his forehead. Dark squeaks. "H-Hi Victoria." She just silently takes Dark away and from Zexon and slowly strokes his wings, comforting Dark and making him sleepy.
She gently sits down in a chair and wraps her wings around Dark and, he soon falls asleep while holding onto her. Greatly sighs as the sixteen year old rocks Dark in his sleep to prevent nightmares. Dark being the youngest of the orphans is always held and cared for by most of the kids and Mother Maria. Victoria smiles at Dark, the only person she's affectionate with as Zexon and Greatly play outside with the younger children.
Hours Later At 8:45 AM
Zexon holds Dark's hand as he starts to walk him to school. Dark looks up at Zexon and smiles. "I love you Zexie!" Zexon holds Dark close as nether of them notice the strange looking man following them. Zexon leads Dark through an ally to get him to school on time as the man gets in front of them and smiles, speaking strangely. "Kids… Hi.. Hi kids.." He pulls out a knife as he smiles evilly at them.
Zexon picks Dark up and starts to run away but the man teleports in front of them and stabs Zexon in the chest. Dark screams as the man runs away, making people come running. Dark cries as Zexon coughs up blood, onto Dark's face, and Dark tries to stop the bleeding as people quickly rush them to the hospital. The doctors restrain Dark and try to calm him down as they start to try and heal Zexon.
After hours and hours of this they let Dark in to see him. As Dark cries and hugs Zexon the doctors tell Mother Maria that he would die within the next few hours. She tears up and watches Dark cuddle of to Zexon, knowing that this will devastate everyone back home. After a few hours Dark cries into Zexon's chest as he becomes unresponsive the doctors take Dark out of there and give him to Mother Maria. They all say, "I'm so sorry for your loss." As they all of them leave, to get Zexon ready.
Dark cries saying he wants to be with Zexon as Mother Maria sobs and carries him home. As soon as they get home Dark runs to his room and locks the door, before hiding under his bed and sobs. Mother Maria soon unlocks the door and looks for Dark. When she finds him she slowly picks him up and holds him as he sadly cries. "W-Why did we abandon Zexie... H-He needs us momma…" She sobs and whispers into Dark's ear.
"Dark… H-Honey he's dead… He won't ever come back…" Dark screams. "No! Z-Zexie is fine! He promised he'd come back!" She cries harder as Greatly hides behind the door, knowing that Zexon will never come back. Dark tries to comfort Mother Maria, saying how Zexon will come back. Greatly enters and grabs holds Dark tight and pats his back with Mother Maria.
1 Week Later
Mother Maria dresses Dark in a black tux as Victoria sadly watches as Dark says silent. For the past week Dark has stopped talking to anyone and has to cry himself to sleep. After he is dressed up Mother Maria goes and gets the others ready while Victoria picks him up and kisses his forehead and whispers. "Today you'll see Zexon for the last time… Please show him you're ok." Dark just silently holds onto her as she carries him to the funeral while walking with the others.
The kids all place a flower on Zexon's chest, but Dark crawls into the coffin and holds onto Zexon. The others watch sadly as Dark tries to wake him but to no avail. Victoria and Mother Maria oick him up and set him beside Greatly as they watch the coffin get buried. Dark whimpers. "D-Don't bury him… H-He is ok; he promised he was ok..." He sobs loudly as the others slowly lead him away.
When they get home Victoria undresses him and puts him in his pajamas as Dark looks defeated and depressed. Greatly leads Dark to the play room and tries to cheer him up by playing catch. Half-way through the game, Dark just sits down and holds himself as tears well in his eyes. Greatly frowns and holds Dark close as he begins to sob. The others look at Dark with pity as Greatly carries him to his room and lays him in his bed. Victoria soon walks in and massages Dark's wings to lull him to sleep. As Dark sleeps, Victoria and Greatly watch over him to make sure he's ok throughout the long, cold, and dreary night.
As the sun rises, Dark opens his eyes and wanders down to the play room and sits alone on the floor. Dark stares at the pictures on the wall as Greatly soon wakes up and looks for him. Greatly finds Dark; crying in the play room, staring at an old picture of their trio. Flinching a little, Greatly goes behind Dark and holds him as Dark holds onto Greatly and sobs into his chest.
5 Years Later
Dark silently sits in his room; it's the anniversary of Zexon's death. He silently sobs as Victoria walks into the orphanage and talks to Mother Maria about adopting a kid or two. Greatly bursts into the room smiling. "Dark, Victoria kept her promise! She's adopting us!" Dark slowly turns around teary eyed, and curiously looks at him. Greatly gets all of their stuff packed and helps Dark carry it downstairs, where Victoria is waiting. She happily leads them home as she smiles and hugs them both. "Welcome home you two." And this, my friends, is where our story of these two souls begins.