The Fifth Member

I still don't know where I went wrong in life.

Maybe it was when my uncle and aunt died, the first time. My parents were really distraught that day, well, mainly mother. My father was a little grieved, but nowadays I figure it was trying to make mother feel good, or just not to look like a bad pony. My brother... It's hard to say what he felt about the whole situation. He was mainly quiet for the weeks that proceeded the news of the death. Including the funeral, where he didn't speak a word. Though I was much younger then, I didn't understand the whole situation. All I knew is somepony got hurt really badly... that I wouldn't see them anymore. And they had to be my aunty and uncle. My aunty... I never really knew that much. She always preferred my brother, for whatever reason. My uncle... was my favourite. Every day, when my parents weren't home, and it was not a school day, he would take me out to play at the local park. We would also play board games at home, until my brother came along and played with us as well, along with aunty.

It was sad times for a while, when they died. I'm not ashamed to emit that I cried. I was only very young, anyways. That's not the others, think anyways. The 'others' were really the other ponies that also went to school with me. And... let's just say, it worked out well in the end for me. At least it did, at first. But... I never really did feel good for a long time after they died. I still miss them.

Then... things went from... sad to bad. An accident screwed up... our old, my first household. We had to move to a... less liveable one. It wasn't pleasant in the slightest. But my brother always tried to keep my hopes up, for everypony. Always trying to make everypony laugh, whenever he could. He was the jokester of the group. It would work, most of the time for me. If it didn't, when I was feeling down, he would always cuddle me. It felt... good. In a family sense. He was pretty much the main pony I grew up with, through thick and thin. He was responsible for a lot of things, in his life. I was one of them... after a while. It's how I earned my cutie mark, after all. And, don't forget, that everypony should be proud of theirs...

I don't know if that's sarcasm. Because I'm still conflicted over whether it is a proud thing for me. For what it represents... I'd rather forget it, if at all possible.

Laying against the tree, he opened his eyes after thinking to himself for a while. It was around the dawn, when the sun was slowly rising in the air. It was a clearer sight, clearer than most others. Taking a yawn, he managed to get to all four hooves without a sweat. Must've healed exceptionally overnight. But he felt confused over how this was possible. He just didn't chalk it up to 'magic'. Someone must have done something. Well, not that I'm complaining about it. Taking another yawn, looking around at the sight of the forest, he spotted a certain pony snoring on the ground. Typical. Always wakes me up early because of this. A dark realization came to his mind, before chuckling. Heh heh, shouldn't hurt now.

Slowly walking around the prone stallion, he crept up to his ears, before silently hissing. The stallion became startled for a few moments, before yelling to himself in his mind. Memories, visions, flooding his mind. Then an explosion went off. Then a bang. Then another hiss. He then awoke with a scream, breathing from his panic.

He could also hear the sounds of laughter coming from next to him.

"Ugh! Brother?" The fits of laughter was all the noise he could make before he was tackled by his older brother.

"No! No! Wait wait- Argh!" He soon found himself laughing again, but for a different reason. "Ah! No no! Haahaahaahaha! Stop! Pl- Hahaaha"

"See?" His older sibling said playfully through gritted teeth. "This is what happen, when you mess with me! Again!" Tickling around hi stomach for a while, he felt enjoyment from tormenting him, for being so rude fully awaken, so early in the morning. And this was due to the 'nightmare' his younger brother had caused. Even if it was painful, he ignored it for the time being with playing with him. It all felt good in his mind, distracting from the bad things in life. Why did he have to dwell on it? He could freely 'punish' his brother anyways. No pony would mind.

And that's what he gets for destroying his train set as well, a couple of years back. Some things stick to his mind, things he could never forget.

"Pl-please s-stop! Hahaha! Now, please!" Whining, tears began to pour from his eyes. In pain, and in laughter. He felt like he was going to die of happiness again. For all the wrong reasons. But it hurt after a while.

Sensing this, he immediately released him from his grasp, into a tight hug, settling him down. After a couple moments of comfortable silence, he spoke. "I was snoring again, wasn't I?"

"Since when do you not?" He was placed on the ground, as he rubbed his eyes.

"Hey, it's not my problem that I'm like this! I feel good when I sleep. Until you wake me up..."

"Well it concerns me! You keep waking me up early every morning, for the past few years now! Will you ever stop?"

"I don't think it's easy to stop snoring." He looked away for a second with a smile. "Considering it pisses you off, I don't see why I should stop." The sound of growling made him laugh. "But seriously, do you always wake up that early?"

"...for the most part." The oldest stallion of the two could sense that he was hiding something, but decided not to dwell on it. He could figure out what the reason is.

"Alright, alright." Wanting to distance himself from that thought, he rubbed his head. "Well, we should keep moving now. The nearest village isn't that far away,"

Complying with the order, they both began to pack up what they had at their campsite. Nothing more than blankets and a bag, that the older one carried, for weight reasons. Finally blowing out the smoke of the fire from the pile of logs, the older brother began walking down the grassy path, motioning him to follow suit. They walked in silence, but it wasn't awkward in the slightest. My brother and I have really known each other for a long time. We... basically for the most part, know everything about each other. What we do on a daily basis. Mainly because we are always around each other, and there really isn't anything else to do. He can tell when I'm afraid of something, and I can tell when he's afraid. It's... a connection I suppose. A brotherly connection. His thoughts were interrupted by his stomach growling.

"You and me both, bud." He looked back at him, both sharing a smile. He looked back straight ahead of him, before asking a question. "Hey, are you still tired?"

He was going to answer, but a yawn escape him. "I guess I am." He shrugged, blinking his eyes for a few times. Did that rhyme? Aw, who cares. He jumped on his brother's back, getting his message, before slowly falling to sleep on him. It's just going to be another day,,,