What's real?

by Dubstep Tree

Fun, Games and Poison..

As Flash and his younger brother Match Box walked in the faint sunshine, a cool, brisk breeze blew softly into Match's mane, causing him to shudder and whine as his wings stretched out in fear. As night began to near, the sun started to lower and the moon proceeded to emerge from the horizon.

Match's older brother Flash glanced behind him with worry, soon turning back to look forward as he had been before. A feeling of unease still lingered in Flash's chest, but the negative emotions lifted as soon as he started to think of other things. Memories of his wife and kids fought the feeling away, but other thoughts clouded them and the worry returned just as soon as it had left. Disturbing images of future consequences would have even been hard for the most sane pony in the world, let alone Flash.

The older brother shook his head and sighed as he trotted on with Match slowly tailing behind. Before Match knew it, he was right in front of a lovely, pure-white house with dark green shutters. A plain door was visible, along with something rectangular next to the bottom frame.

Near the door was the most welcoming welcome doormat that anypony would want to get their hooves on by sight. Standing on the mat would be another thing that ponies would do alternatively, so as he stood on the mat, Match Box deemed it the fluffiest and best doormat he had ever felt, not that it was much of a big deal in the first place.

"Let me just find my key so that we can get inside," Flash said calmly as he rummaged through his pockets.

Trying not to fall over from the imbalanced weight on only three legs, his hoof pace started to quicken as he searched for his key. After nearly a whole minute, he realized that he had no luck of finding his key in his pocket.

"Wait a moment... I might have a spare under the door mat..." he said to his brother and himself.

Match Box, who was barely listening, was focused on something else. His tired eyes were directed upon a cloud that looked like a bottle or similar-shaped object. Match Box didn't understand whatsoever anymore, it was too strange.

"Flash? Do you truly think they made the right choice to let me go?" the pegasus said faintly, shaking fearfully before falling into a sitting position while sulking, "W-what if I hurt somepony?"

Flash frowned and placed a hoof on his younger brother's shoulder before speaking his mind, "Listen, Match. There are more ponies in this world, far more dangerous then you! The guards were just concerned that you would let the others escape, they didn't want to risk it!"

"Flash..."

Flash responded and tilted his head in concern, "Yes?"

"I'm s-scared..." Match Box replied as he shook, looking like he was about to fall over and cry like a little lost foal.

"It's okay. Life is scary at most times, but we must cope with what life burdens us with," Flash said as he sighed and leaned his head against the front door, "You know what... I feel it's time I told you about Iron Thorn."

"Iron who?" Match said, confused. His eyes grew curious while his ears slightly tilted upwards.

"Iron Thorn: he's our fifth brother and the most mentally deranged pony in the whole Asylum. I was told that he brutally murdered five or six other ponies that were guards there. Once, he even bludgeoned a pony to death with a rock until his guts just..." he paused, stopping himself before he got into greater detail.

All of the describing made Flash feel nauseous and sick inside, his will to continue disappearing. He wasn't even close to the gruesome and disturbing parts yet, but if he couldn't go on to say the start, saying the end would be impossible.

Match's eyes widened in surprise and seemed like he would try to bail, as if he was going to back up a few hoof steps, but he didn't. Instead, he stood still with a terrified expression across his face, "P-please continue..." he urged his older brother as he desperately wanted to know the rest of the details.

Flash breathed in some fresh air and decided to continue since Match wanted to know so badly, "W-well... we had to restrain him more then you already were... with chains... shackles... ropes... stuff like that, you know how it goes. Anyway, he somehow managed to break out of his restraints and took the door down. H-he... attacked our newest recruit who we couldn't help... a-and murdered him within seconds..."

Match Box kicked his back hooves in frustration and turned his back away from Flash moments after, "I don't understand this sh*t! Why is our family full of insane lunatics?"

"A curse, maybe?"

"Yeah... maybe..."

If only they were bucking real... but curses are only old pony tales, moron... Match thought to himself as he smirked devilishly before turning around. His tail flicked and his right eye twitched angrily in unison.

Just as Match Box was about to say more, a crack of thunder made him jump in fear. The bolt scared him into falling on his back in the grass as droplets of clear water splashed upon his whole, uncovered body.

"Gah! I've had quite enough of getting wet for one day!" he yelled out, remembering what happened in the morning with the whole ice-cold bucket of water incident, which still seemed to annoy him.

"Match, come on. Let's just get inside..." Flash urged, opening the door so that Match Box could be the first inside since his brother wasn't so big on getting wet, along with the fact that he didn't want to anger him any more than the day already had.

Flash led him into a darkened room, Match slowly following close by. As the lights flicked on in the small, yet empty-looking kitchen, Match Box looked around with a blank expression, even though he desperately wanted to show how impressed he was of Flash's home. Flash stood behind him, waiting patiently until he was far enough from the entrance until he could enter as well.

As the Flash walked in, he didn't hear any activity bustling about in the house, so he assumed everypony in the household was sleeping.

He turned his attention to Match, who was still curiously inspecting his surroundings, until his concentration was broken by Flash's question, "Are you hungry?"

"No, I'm fine. I had an apple earlier," Match replied contently, yet in an emotionless tone.

Flash shook his head and thought to himself, Will there ever be a time where you're going to be happy?

"Match Box! You must be tired, right? Follow me to the guest room!" he called, a little harsh, but took the lead, uncaring towards how Match would have reacted. All he heard was a gloomy sigh and slow hooves following behind.

Looking behind, Flash saw the grey pegasus hanging his head down, looking at the floor instead of what was in front of him. Match Box didn't look happy, not in the slightest.

When Flash opened the door to another completely different room that Match Box would be sleeping in, he reached for a light switch so that he could see in the dark. He switched on the lights, when all of a sudden the bright glow died after just a few seconds of use. He tried to turn it on again, only to have the same reaction.

"Well, darn! The power went out. Damn storm..." Flash cursed under his breath as he lit a candle and went to the doorway, "Goodnight, Match. Sleep well."

"T-thank you Flash..."

Flash's ears shot upwards as he turned around with a smile, trotting towards Match and giving his younger brother a hug.

As Match felt Flash's embrace, he shook a little and couldn't help but have a tear sparkle and fall with a splash on the carpet. He sniffled and smiled, as did his brother.

"Like I said before, goodnight Match Box," he said once more making his way to the door, and right at that same moment Match looked away quickly so his brother wouldn't see him crying.

"Um... yeah. N-night..."

Right when the door closed, Match Box walked over to the window and opened it so that he could poke his head outside and look at the stars.

The ponies that were unable to see for the past two years in his pathetic life would have never thought that they would miss the sight of the night sky... or so he thought. With a sigh, the stallion closed his eyes and wondered to himself, Is he even gonna be able to help me at all? Or am I going to end up being a failure and being submitted back to the asylum?

He shivered before closing the window and descending from the frame to lay down on the bed that was literally calling for him to sleep upon. He hadn't realized how tired he was, and with a yawn, sleep took place.

The next morning, Match Box awoke to feel something rather heavy on his chest, and when his eyes finally adjusted to the morning light, he saw a pair of pale sea green eyes staring back at him. The heavy weight was caused from a living organism standing on top of him.

"Hello there, mister! What are you doing here?" to Match Box's surprise, it sounded like it belonged to a little filly.

His eyes widened as he leaned forward and off of his bed. He rubbed his eyes, seeing a little colt to the right side of the bed. The filly still sat on his stomach, smiling as if there was no tomorrow. The colt jumped upon the ground and lifted his hooves next to Match's head.

The filly had a chocolate-brown coat and pale, sea-green eyes. Her coat blended into a pure, creamy color near her back. The filly was a unicorn since a horn protruded from the center of her forehead.

"Uh..." was all he could make come out of his mouth at that exact moment since he was surprised at the sudden wake up call.

"Milkshake! I wonder if he speaks Spanish! That could be why he isn't replying to you," the pumpkin-orange-colored colt said to the filly that who was supposedly named Milkshake.

Match box shook his head softly and finally spoke, "I'm pretty sure I speak pure English..." he replied as Milkshake stepped off of him and onto the floor next to the colt.

"Well then, since we got that covered, what's your name?" Milkshake asked enthusiastically.

"Match Box," he replied to her as his tail covered his cutie mark, since the stallion didn't want to have to explain that his cutie mark was based on his smoking habit, "How about you two?"

"Well, my name is Milkshake! And this would be my brother Pumpkin Pie!" she exclaimed to Match Box with happiness.

A small smile formed on Match's face as he couldn't stop thinking of the fact that he was once their size too. They were absolutely adorable in so many different ways. "It's very nice to meet you then!"

Pumpkin Pie then curiously tilted his head and stared at Match, "Why are you here though? Aren't you a stranger?"

"I'm actually your father's brother," Match Box said suddenly without hesitation.

With a gasp, Milkshake's eyes widened and she squeaked cutely.

"Daddy never told us he had a brother! So does that mean you're our uncle?!" she said excitedly.

As the Stallion nodded, Milkshake and Pumpkin smiled and hopped around excitedly for a few seconds, "Milkshake, let's go get breakfast! Come on, Match Box!" Pumpkin Pie quickly motioned Match to follow the two foals.

A moment later, the three of them arrived in the kitchen, standing in the doorway smiling.

"Morning, mom!" Milkshake and Pumpkin Pie said in unison.

A lemon-colored mare looked up and flicked her left ear curiously. "Kids, who is that?" she asked, pointing at Match Box.

Right at that moment, Flash walked in yawning as he pushed his way through the entry towards his wife Lemon Sour, "Lemon, this is my brother, Match Box. Match Box, this is my wife, Lemon Sour!" he said, smiling before nuzzling Lemon and licking the tip of her nose. "I see you've already met the kids."

"Well, I see that Flash hasn't mentioned me until now," Match Box said before smiling.

Lemon Sour giggled joyfully before replying, "Well, Match Box, would you like to join us for breakfast?" she asked as she put a single egg on each plate and started to cook another one for Match Box since she didn't expect another pony to eat with them.

Match Box smiled happily since he was finally going to be eating real food instead of that mushy grey crap they made him eat back at the asylum. The food that he had been given to eat there had a dull taste to it so he had forgotten what it was like to have something with more flavor and such.

As the whole family sat at the table eating their eggs, Match Box settled down in between Milkshake and Pumpkin Pie.

"Hey, Match Box! Wanna play a game with us later? Like, when you've settled in a little?" Pumpkin asked as his smoke-gray eyes gleamed in joy.

Match looked a little closer at Pumpkin's eyes and smiled, He's got his father's eyes! he thought.

"Sure! I would love to!" he replied happily to the children who then speedily finished their breakfast and ran to their rooms.

Match Box wondered to himself what game they were going to play later. Even though the foals were in a completely different rooms, their giggles could be heard from the dining table.

After having a short nap in his room, Match was awoken by a loud knock at his door. He jumped out of his bed and fixed his messy, tangled mane. He opened the door a few minutes later to find Pumpkin and Milkshake smiling. "Hi, Uncle Matchy! Ready to play?"

"What are we going to play?" Match Box asked remembering now as he twitched his right ear.

"Hide and seek!" Pumpkin Pie said, quicker then Milkshake.

He laughed, noticing his sister was a little irritated, "No fair! I was gonna say it!" Milkshake said as she playfully pounced on her brother.

Match Box chuckled a bit and stood in front of the two foals, smiling more then he ever had in his life.

"Okay, so this is how it's gonna go! I'll count and you and Pumpkin hide!" Milkshake explained before running off to count.

Match nodded and looked over towards Pumpkin Pie and smiled, "Come on, let's go hide!"

As the pumpkin colored colt nodded without a word, the two walked around the house until they found a closet to hide in.

"Hey Pumpkin! In here!" Match instructed as the colt ran into the closet and he closed the door instantly.

Afterwards, they both silently waited in the dark, hoping that they wouldn't be found in their hiding spot.

"Match?" Pumpkin whispered quietly.

"Yes?"

"May I call you Uncle Matchy?"

"Of course you can!" the grey stallion said while nodding until they both heard the hoof-steps of Milkshake close by.

"Where are you two?" Milkshake asked loudly, trying to test how smart Match Box and Pumpkin Pie were. "Are you here?" she then opened some curtains and to her disappointment, they weren't there. She looked around some more and eventually passed the closet.

Match Box then leaned in and whispered to Pumpkin Pie, "Think she'll find us?"

"I don't know..." he replied honestly.

After a while, Match Box was thinking of something which made him giggle, which of course was heard by Milkshake. She smirked, Finally! I found them! she thought to herself as she snuck closer towards the closet door.

"Oh my, I wonder where they could be...?" She said sarcastically as she whipped open the door scaring the living daylight out of Pumpkin Pie and Match box.

"HI! AREN'T YOU JUST ADORABLE! BYE!" Match Box oddly yelled in fear as he got up and ran out of the closet with Pumpkin trailing behind.

"Uh, okay..." Milkshake tilted her head and giggled. "Okay! Now, Pumpkin Pie! You're counting next!"

Pumpkin then nodded and walked off to count. "Matchy! Let's go hide in the attic!" Milkshake exclaimed as she bounced happily.

Match then, without a word, followed the filly to the attic and made their way upwards.

Milkshake looked around and switched the light on with her magic and giggled, "Hide in that crate! I'll hide in this box."

After hiding for a while they finally heard Pumpkin's voice from downstairs they stayed as still as possible. He was speaking with a stallion.

"Dad?"

"Yes, Pumpkin?" Flash asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

"Have you seen Match Box and Milkshake?" he asked his father, hoping that he knew.

"Last time I saw them, they were in the attic," Flash replied to his son as he patted Pumpkin's head.

Flash then walked away while his son climbed to the attic and searched for his family members. After a while of searching, he tiredly sat on a crate which was being used by Match Box. Pumpkin decided to rest and laid down on it's rough surface.

Match Box needed to feel the cool air due to the small space in the crate, and not realizing that Pumpkin was on top of the lid, he hopped out and sent Pumpkin into a picture frame causing the glass to break and cut the colt.

The grey stallion gasped as he ran over towards the wounded orange-colored colt and checked him from top to bottom. He noticed that Pumpkin Pie had a piece of glass wedged into his hoof and blood was seeping from beneath it.

"Oh my gosh! Pumpkin, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Match Box, said covering his face in shame.

I'm an idiot! I screw everything up! he thought to himself as he saw that Pumpkin tried to walk but kept falling down because of his injury.

"Stay here, Pumpkin!" Match box urged as he ran down out of the attic to find his brother.

"Flash!" he yelled.

Flash heard the yelling and ran out, alarmed, and met up with his brother in the hallway. "What's wrong? What's with the yelling?" he asked Match Box, sounding calm but worried at the same time.

"P-Pumpkin g-got hurt!" he exclaimed, falling into Flash's arms as he cried, "And it's all my fault..."

"WOAH! Match, calm the hell down! Tell me what happened!"

"W-well, he was on top of the crate and I didn't know and he fell into a painting and it broke and- Oh Faust... I'm an idiot!" Match Box yelled, running out of the house.

After a while, Match Box leaned against a tree that was a few feet away from the house. He lit a cigarette and put it in his mouth as he thought to himself about the incident: that was, until his older brother Flash joined him and frowned at the sight of him smoking, but decided to ignore it.

"Oh, hi Flash..." Match looked away from him and created a sad expression.

"Listen, Match Box! I'm not angry with you!" Flash said, hoping it would help the situation.

"I know... I'm just stressed..." Match Box replied as a puff of smoke came out of his mouth from the cigarette.

"Why?!"

"I just... don't feel... normal..."

"Are you still thinking about the asylum, Match?"

Match Box nodded, "I guess... I'm just used to it... and now... I have to deal with this sh*t..."

"Match, you have us. Now, come on! Let's go get some dinner!" Flash suggested happily. "Also.. Pumpkin Pie is okay! Lemon Sour is tending to him. I would've helped but she told me to come find you.. so I could inform you that he was okay."

Match rolled his eyes and turned back towards his brother, "Give me a minute... I'm kinda busy..." he said smoking some more, but to his surprise Flash had snatched the cigarette away from his brother's mouth and stomped on it.

"No, Match! Stop trying to smoke the pain away! It's not gonna help you!"

Match Box then growled and stared at his brother dementedly, "It calms me though you idiot!"

"There are better ways to calm yourself down! Get inside right now!"

That night after everyone was asleep Match box laid down in his bed before feeling very light headed, a few minutes later he fell onto the floor with a loud thump waking Pumpkin pie up while he shook violently on the carpeted floor.

Pumpkin Pie knocked on Match Box's door, "Uncle Matchy? You okay?" he asked tiredly.

"Y-yeah, b-but can you get your father please?" Match stuttered as he got up from the floor.

Match could hear a muffled conversation coming from the end of the hallway, then the clopping of hooves becoming louder as they neared the room that he stood in. The door swung open to reveal Flash in the doorway. Without a moments hesitation, he entered the room, tired and worried.

"Match, what's wrong?!"

"F-Flash! I'm not feeling so go-" before he could finish his sentence, Match Box collapsed to the floor and started coughing up blood while also staining the carpet.

It was as if he had a horrible disease or medical problem, and his thoughts trailed to a stop when he finally blacked out.

Match Box woke up in the hospital with a headache and wondered what had happened the night before, only to see his brother sitting beside him with a worried expression.

"Flash! What happened? Where am I?"

"It's okay, the doctor will explain everything," Flash said as he held Match's hoof.

A few minutes after waiting, the doctor came in and explained his diagnosis to the young stallion who sat, shocked. He couldn't believe what he was being told.

"So somepony tried to poison me? But who the hell could have..." his sentence was broken off by a figure in the window. He stared curiously only to find that the figure had been alarmed and had bailed from the scene.

Who was that? Was that the one who poisoned me? Match Box wondered to himself as he ignored his surroundings and fell asleep into deep thought...

Author's Note:

Anything I may have missed I will maybe add in to the next chapter because I grew lazy.. because I've been working on this chapter for like ever!! But here it is!!

I thank Blade the Mouse for planning out another amazing chapter with me!

I also truly thank Random Disco for all her efforts of editing!! I am enjoying this probably as much as these two are! But I don't know! It's what they want so yeah.. I am very happy! and I hope to keep up with this story!!

Comments

[Meepaa]

I love this story! And I hope it would be updated more often but, as somepony once told me, you can't rush perfection. Keep up the good work!

[Dubstep Tree]

3437261 Aww thanks X3 I am happy that you enjoy it! I hope to make more of it then so the story can go on!