Brothers

Written by tomer3391
edited by Aphotic Hope

-------------------------------tal aviv Rafael age 10----------------------------
The young Rafael had been playing with his new basketball in the community park. “I can’t believe that Uncle Tomer got me this ball like he had promised! He usually forgets the promise and tells me that he’ll definitely remember next time…” Rafael dribbled the ball down the court and went in for a successful layup.

As Rafael continued balling, he lost all sense of time and the day was quickly transitioning to night. The athlete grabbed his ball and sat down on a nearby bench. He wiped away the sweat that had accumulated on his forehead and looked up at the sky. “Wow, night time already?” He got up and began his walk home, bouncing his ball as he went.He silently thought, ‘I better head home or I’ll miss supper.’

As Rafael edged closer to a nearby pond, he began to hear a random child calling for someone. "Big, where are you? BIG!!" Rafael pants slowly as he locates the source of the anxious screaming behind a cluster of bushes. He saw a little kid with black hair screaming and crying. Without thinking, Rafael asks the less-than-happy boy, “Hey there, what’s wrong?”

The little boy flinched, startled from the spontaneous voice, but quickly recovered and replied, “M-m-m d-dog” The kid sniffed and resumed, “We were playing fetch near this pond, but he went to get a stick and didn’t come back. I can’t find him now…” The child’s crying started up again.

Rafael quickly moved closer to the boy and patted his back. Rafael warmly assured the boy, "Hey, hey, hey. Don’t worry. There's no reason to cry. I’ll help you. That sound good?"

The boy hugged Rafael tightly and replied, “M-mhm.”
Rafael and the child both got up and started to search for the dog. It had been almost an hour before either of the people had heard a high-pitched bark.

Almost immediately, the black-haired kid started to run in the direction of the sound. “Hey! Kid, wait up for me!” Rafael stumbled, but followed after the kid without hesitation.

When Rafael arrived at the scene, the small boy was reaching for a sack of something. A tall boy, about the same age as Rafael was holding up the bag, just out of the kid’s reach. “GIVE BIG BACK!” the kid yelled, still trying to reach the sack.

The tall kid smirked evilly and pushed the kid down. “Big? Ha, I don’t know what you’re talking about. This here is Rex.”

Rafael crossed his arms and cleared his throat. Once he got the attention of the bully, he said firmly with the hardest glare, “Give the dog back to the kid. No one likes a bully.”

Spooked, the tall boy dropped the sack and stumbled backwards a little. He quickly recomposed himself. He threw the sack at the pleading boy on the ground and spat, “I’ll make you pay for that! My name is Steven! REMEMBER THE NAME!” The boy ran off into a nearby thicket of trees.

The small kid beneath Rafael pulled open the sack and a dog jumped out at the boy , lapping and licking his face. “Big!” the boy screamed as he hugged the dog.

“DYNAMIC ENTRY!!”

Rafael had barely any time to react when a sudden foot swung out of the same thicket that the boy ran into and smashed Rafael in the face. Rafael fell back and hit the ground hard. He grunted as the pain set in.

A wild red-haired kid descended from a vine and landed on the ground with perfect precision. He scoffed and said confidently, “No one messes with my family!”

Rafael picked himself up and rubbed the bruise on his left cheek. He stretched out his arms and yelled, “COME AT ME BRO!”
The kid with big hopped up and got between us. He looked over at the red-haired kid and pleaded, “No, Tommy! Don’t. This guy helped me get Big back.”

Tommy eyed me suspiciously, but eventually cleared his throat and stretched out an open hand. He grinned and said, “Sorry about that. I thought you were the one bullying my cousin.”

I looked at my hand and back up to Tommy, whose hand was outstretched. I put my hand somewhere else though. Instead of into his hand, I connected my hand to his face, sending him to the ground.

Rafael dusted dirt off his shoulder and smirked, “Now, we’re even.

Tommy rolled back up and coughed. He wiped some spit from the corner of his mouth and said, “I like you.” He stretched his hand out again and introduced himself, “The name’s Tommy.”

The boy standing next to Tommy and Big quickly piped in, “My name’s Idan!”

-------------------------------Rafael age 24 Equestria day 6--------------------------

Rafael had just learned that he had to wait two years before he could return to his life on Earth. He fell into a deep depression and neglected any social contact, food, or drink. After a while, his decisions took their toll and Rafael began to suffer from malnutrition. He was frail and weak.

Even in his weakened state, Twilight and Pinkie continued with their daily check-ins with Rafael. Twilight had been talking to Rafael while Pinkie had gone God knows where.

Towards the end of a story, Twilight finished, “…and that’s how we turned my friend, Fluttershy, back into a pony!” Twilight had been hoping for a reaction, but Rafael was nodding off. Twilight wouldn’t get a reaction soon.

Twilight let out an agitated sigh. “Come on, Raf! It’s not like you’re never going to go home.” The purple pony tapped a hoof on her muzzle and offered, “Here, think of it like a long vacation! Somewhere that you never got to go.” Twilight smiled, hoping to cheer Rafael up. Rafael cracked a smile and sat up slightly straighter.

Rafael took a deep breath and finally responded to Twilight, “You know what? You’re right, But…” Rafael paused to sigh, “…why do you care about me so much? I’ve only been here for six days now and you’ve been coming ever since I woke up.”

Twilight was slightly stunned that she actually got a reaction from Rafael, but quickly snapped out of it and thought, ‘If I tell him what happened to me in his world, then we’ll trust me. Then, we can start helping him get back to full health.’

Twilight ran a hoof through her mane and started slowly, “Well, it all happened a few months ago. I –.” At that moment, the door swung open and Pinkie hopped through with the rest of Twilight and Co. Twilight groaned silently and muttered, “Celestia damnit, Pinkie.”

A yellow pegasus hovered across the room and cradled Rafael’s head in her hooves. “Oh, you poor thing.” A few days back, Twilight had described her friends to Rafael. He assumed that this ping pegasus’ name was Fluttershy from the descriptions.

Rafael, slowly separated himself from the cradling and said weakly, “Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry.” Rafael needed his personal space, even from people who cared for him. Fluttershy backed up and blinked.

‘Maybe after a little bit he’ll get better.’ She then perked up slightly and continued her thought train, ‘Then, then I’ll have a new animal species to be friends with! Ooh, I wonder what he eats…’ Fluttershy was still deep in thought and hiding a blush behind her mane.

A white unicorn stepped up and in the most formal, but snobby tone, asked, “Oh my! Darling, what ever happened to your beautiful attire?” Rarity looked over the suit that Rafael had been wearing when he arrived in Equestria. Rarity turned and began poking at Rafael while humming quietly.

Rafael was getting annoyed and shouted, “Hey! Stop that!” Rarity backed up and shimmied back to her group with a hurt expression on her muzzle.

Rarity stamped a hoof on the floor. “Well, I never! That was uncalled for.” Rarity harrumphed and looked away. Rafael feels slightly bad, but Twilight stared at Rarity with annoyance.

Rainbow leaned in to inspect Rafael and concluded hastily, “I don’t trust him.” The sky blue pegasus with a multi-colored mane floated around Rafael to get a better look at him. Rafael only guess that she was inspecting him for any weapons or mind-controlling devices.

“Oh, come on now, Sugarcube.” Applejack trotted up to Rainbow Dash and yanked on her tail, “You don’t trust nopony. Give this here stallion a chance.” Dash looked at Applejack irritated, but reverted his gaze to Rafael.

Applejack nudged Rainbow aside and looked at Rafael closely. “Hm, I reckon Twilight here already told you are names?”

Rafael cleared his dry throat and replied, “Y-yes. I know your names and all the adventures. You saved your country multiple times. Twilight told me.” Rafael coughed deeply and held his throat. It was all raspy and dry from a lack of fluids.

Twilight held up a hoof to stop Rafael from talking, but Rafael needed to ask something urgent. Rafael sat up all the way in his bed and eyed the ponies. “So, when will I be released from the hospital? And what should I do?”

Twilight cleared her throat and replied readily, “Well, I’ve already received a message from the princess about this. They said that whenever you feel better, they want to meet you. Until then, you are to stay at the library.” Twilight smiled, but Rafael just stared at Twilight and nodded.
At some point, Pinkie must’ve went out, because she hopped through the door again and dropped a glass of water on the bed stand. Rafael reached eagerly for it and drank it with haste.

--------------------Equestria week 2 day 1------------------------
Today, Rafael got discharged from the hospital and he walked alongside Twilight to the library. The longer Rafael walked, the more aware he was of his surroundings. He had been walking through the streets and intersections, which were littered with multi-colored ponies. He massaged his head and thought, ‘Maybe I’m still in the hospital… probably in a coma or something.’

The two neared the tree, and when Rafael noticed that the tree was the destination, he began wondering. He thought that they were going to a castle or mansion. Twilight was a princess after all… Why were they heading straight for a tree?

Rafael didn’t have a chance to think about the dwelling because Twilight cut him off, “Welcome to Golden Oaks Library! It’s where I live.” As Twilight presented the library to Rafael, three small figures loomed in the shadows of a shrub.

A brash voice spoke first, “So what do you think, girls? Think we can get our cutie marks in monster hunting?”

A high-pitched voice spoke up second, “Monster hunting? I thought we were going to try and become the monster’s friends!"

Lastly, a cute country voice spoke up, “Well, whatever we’re doing, ahm sure it’s goin’ to be a monster-related cutie mark.”