Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

22.5--Preying On Pony Minds

At last, Twilight and friends galloped into town.

They had expected to bump into a pack of colorful werewolves causing chaos, but there was not a single wolf to be found. There were, however, claw marks on buildings, residents sitting atop the buildings, and Sheriff Silverstar and some of his deputies lying on the ground, bleeding from wolf bites. The only one on the ground that wasn't bleeding was Braeburn, who had been applying pressure to the others' wounds with whatever he could find.

Applejack sprinted at the sight of her cousin. "Braeburn!"

The stallion looked up. "Cousin Applejack!"

She threw herself into a relieved embrace with him. After a moment, Applejack immediately took Braeburn's front leg to look at the bruise. "Oh my, that's a mighty nasty bruise. I can't believe that bite didn't break the skin!"

"It woulda... if Tomato didn't jump onto Cheese's tail in the nick of time."

"Speaking of the two ponies you just mentioned..." Twilight said, looking around. "Where are they? Where are all the werewolves?"

Sheriff Silverstar had barely raised his head, wincing from the pain in his shoulder. "Yer a little late. We tried to keep 'em in the arena, you know, keepin' an eye on them and making sure they don't go bitin' anypony else... and they were calmer than a summer breeze at first, not wantin' no trouble like any sane pony. We thought the medicine bison's treatments worked, they weren't actin' like Cheese was last night. But then outta nowhere they just went crazy, and started attackin'."

Twilight winced at the rag soaked with blood. "I can definitely see that. I better cure you."

Applejack then asked, "Why would they just go all crazy like that?"

Braeburn looked at the ground. "Tomato said he heard a whistle, but I didn't hear no whistle. I tried to get him to safety, throw him in a tree, but... the pack just threw me aside like a rag doll. Then they snatched him and carried him off into the woods."

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie was in his face, her pink face now a redder hue. "And you let them get away?!"

Braeburn flinched hard enough to stumble onto the ground. "What good would I do against a pack of wolves?"

Pinkie groaned loudly, and started pacing. "This is just great! Our train crashes, Twilight's wing breaks, we had to drive a pump car for hours, and after all that, we miss them?!" She yanked at her raspberry curls. "Come on, universe! I just want my party pony pal back to normal, is that too much to ask?!"

Fluttershy tentatively approached her. "Pinkie... are you okay?"

Pinkie breathed heavily and sat, her eyes misty. "Why him? Why...?"

Rainbow Dash hovered above her, staring as Fluttershy and Rarity comforted the pink pony, and then looked at the forest that ran into the Macintosh Hills. "Hey, they couldn't have gone that far! Twilight can still track Cheese! We can just zip in there, change them back, and bring them back to town!"

As if she was demonstrating how easy curing them was, Twilight had just pulled some dark magic from Sheriff Silverstar, and the magic took the shape of a wolf and howled before dispersing. However, she turned to the others with a serious look. "It might not be as easy as you think, Rainbow. For one, the wolves would have to hold still, and two... there's clearly a powerful mage meddling in our efforts, and they're going to push back harder this time. And if it's the same pony that's been stealing Cheese's memories..."

"But what would somepony have to gain from stealing memories and turning other ponies into werewolves?" Rarity asked.

Rainbow smirked. "If they're gonna pull a Kazam, we can take 'em. Besides, we have Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy pursed her lips. "I don't feel so comfortable using the Stare on other ponies... but I'll do it to make it easier for us to help them."

Pinkie looked up and wiped her eyes. "And we'll cure Cheesy, right?"

Twilight smiled at her. "I promise we will." She crossed her heart and put a hoof over her eye. "Pinkie Promise."

Pinkie beamed. "I can't wait to throw that 'We Cured Cheese Sandwich and Others of a Werewolf Curse' party."

---

The pack had bounded through the forest, their path lighted by the full moon. They wove through the trees and leapt over shrubs and rocks, their eyes taking in every obstacle as they ran. Their paws had kicked rocks aside and snapped sticks in two, but they were otherwise quieter than they would have been as pony hooves. To any random passing animals, they would seem to be predators chasing some unknown quarry, and would flee before they could be noticed as easier prey; but, alas, what the werewolves pursued was no less than the siren song of a dog whistle, enchanted with hypnotizing magic.

They had captured the one prey that the whistle had bid them to, and the pony was lying unconscious on the lone buffalo-wolf's back. The pack darted through, still dancing through until they reached the Macintosh Hills, where an old, abandoned mine rested, with boulders of various shapes and sizes blocked the entrance.

One would think the wolves would have turned one way or the other, or stopped at this hill of rocks. But they continued running straight, not even slowing to avoid crashing headfirst into a rock. But, with a flash of magic from somepony watching them, the wolves slipped through the stony hill and entered into the shaft as if the rocks were made of water. They continued onward through the tunnel until they entered the large, barren mine.

Within the mine, the leader of the pack, Cheese Sandwich, clutched his head and panted. As the fog in his head cleared up, he started to scan the area much like anypony who woke up in a strange place would. He drowsily took in not only the normal mine features of dark, stone walls and a railroad stretching forth into a black abyss, but the odd parts such as how much of the room's space was taken up by what looked like the lab of a alchemist or a sorcerer, the cave now apparently had extra rooms with steel doors, or that the pillars were made of glowing crystal when this was clearly supposed to be a coal mine.

After he coughed harder than he'd like, he was fully awake, now wondering what the deal was with the cauldron, the shelves of spellbooks, and the various ingredients stored everywhere. He looked at the others, who also gazed around the underground amphitheater with no memory of how they even got there. To his horror, his brother was present as well, unconscious upon the buffalo-wolf's back.

"Guys?" One lady croaked. "What's going on? Why are we in the old mine?"

One guy held his knees, rocking back and forth and trembling. "We're underground... we're underground... we're gonna die!"

"Why do you suppose the whistle has called us here?" the buffalo asked.

"I dunno, maybe Cheese can explain it," Trouble Shoes muttered.

Cheese turned and backed away from the group of nearly a dozen. "Hey, the whistle wasn't my fault! If it was, I wouldn't have led you to an abandoned mine!" He paused a moment in order to sneeze, and looked up with a glare. "My question is why we took Tomato along for the ride?"

Now the group was even more confused as they looked at the sole non-werewolf on the buffalo-wolf's back. They followed that up with glancing amongst each other in panic, and then debating over how to get out of the mine and making sure Tomato was safe before anypony started acting wolf again.

They stopped once a flash appeared in the middle of the room. Cheese had his back to it, but he caught it from the corner of his eye and spun around to see Rooney, smiling with a grandfatherly warmth at the pack of werewolves.

"Well, well!" he exclaimed. "It seems I have visitors on this lovely night. I suppose I should make some tea, and make you feel at home."

As the others started to murmur amongst each other behind him, Cheese blinked. "Rooney? What are you doing here?"

Rooney just glanced around the mine. "Oh, this is one of the camps I occupy throughout my travels, just like in Sorrel Canyon. I just spent the day cleaning up so that charcoal smell doesn't suffocate me. And it's good to see you again, Cheese."

All eyes were now on Cheese, and he bristled at the accusatory stares.

"Wait, you know this guy?" one guy asked.

"What kind of lunatic lives in an abandoned mine?" another asked, flinching at the sound of screeching bats.

"Why ain't he bothered that we're... you know..." Trouble Shoes asked.

The buffalo-wolf narrowed his eyes and snorted. "This is a pony of suspicious character. We must leave this place at once."

"Whoa, whoa, guys!" Cheese said, waving his paws. "Guys, relax, Rooney's a pretty cool guy, trust me! He once stopped Tomato from a caffeine-induced rampage that could have completely destroyed the town we were visiting! He gave me something that cured these nasty headaches I was having! A-and I got to drink the best water ever, that made me stronger and healthier, which is something I really needed because I've been seriously out of whack for about half the summer..."

One girl raised an eyebrow. "Being a werewolf is not out of whack?"

"Well, uh... it is, but..." Cheese looked between Rooney and the pack, the gears turning in his head and his stomach in knots. The "best water ever" sure did make his body stronger and healthier, but it did nothing for his magic, which still died on him. "Look, Rooney here is good with magic! We don't need to wait for Princess Twilight, we could get cured by this guy right here, right now!"

Rooney stroked his beard. "I suppose I could."

Trouble Shoes looked at Tomato, and then back to Cheese. "What did yer brother think of him?"

Cheese rolled his eyes. "Oh, sure, you want your nervousness validated, huh?" He turned to the neutral-looking Rooney, explaining, "Yeah, Tommy didn't trust you, can you believe it? He thinks that just because I was getting kind of mean in Seaddle..."

He thought of the unnecessary beatdown of Midnight Belle and Dusk Knight that resulted in broken wings. How he flipped tables and punched a hole in the wall. And how his temper had scared Snapdragon Apple and Countess Coloratura out of their respect for him.

"...and Applewood..."

He thought of how he treated his cousin and his fiancee's friends, being unnecessarily harsh when they messed up the wedding planning--which they had to do because he spent all day having an adventure instead of doing his job. The image of those teenage gangsters made him sick to his stomach--even if they had started the fight, he ripped them apart and left them for dead. They were lucky to be alive, but they still ended up in the hospital. He didn't even want to know if his bites were contagious outside of wolf form!

"...and Aura Springs..."

He had tried to stay calm, be happy, let the show go on... but all that resulted in were dead and half-dead animals, bloodily mangled in just about every way that he could come up with, both in animal-like and pony-like sadism. Maybe if Cheese had bothered to shout for Tomato, he could have held off on the brutality until reinforcements arrived. Maybe the part of him that had craved blood had stopped him from doing anything sensible, maybe he wanted to release his pent-up frustration over his dying magic, or maybe he was also furious that his accordion had been smashed and he couldn't fix it. But there was really no excuse, was there?

"...and Canterlot..."

No matter how much he could justify that Kazam had deserved to be punished for that awful vampire crime, the unicorn had still been defenseless when Cheese attacked him. And no matter how annoying Pinkie Pie was, no matter how nosy and arrogant he found her, no matter how much he wanted her to stay away from him... there was still a part of him that hated to see her cry, a part of him that was drawn to her, a part of him that appreciated her concern. Was he just frustrated and jealous? Or was he missing something?

He looked up at Tomato, resting on the buffalo's back. Cheese had been jealous that Tomato could sing strong while he himself dwindled in his party magic. He had been annoyed by Tommy's whining, paranoia, and worry. He even considered killing him! He felt sick for even dwelling on those last thoughts, knowing that Tommy might be his last link to sanity.

All that happened within the last month, after drinking that magical water. The headaches didn't start until after Rooney came to that town. And Rooney seemed to be following them--he could have sworn there was one point where he saw him in Manehattan. The thought sickened him, it really did, but things got worse whenever Rooney showed up.

Tomato was right.

He spun around and shouted, "You're the memory thief!"

The declaration had echoed. The others gasped, and started to back away. They watched as Cheese heaved, his glare hardly concealing the fear and hurt that shone in his green eyes.

Rooney raised an eyebrow. "Now, now, there's no need to jump to conclusions."

Cheese winced from a headache, but continued, "Look... I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. Maybe you were trying to help me with some nightmares I was having about a certain big event that I was apparently a part of, if the whole trial thing was any clue. Maybe I had some bad foalhood memories? Maybe I was feeling guilty about something terrible I've done and wanted to forget it? And it just so happens that taking memories is a bad thing, so maybe, just maybe, you could really help me out by returning them to me? Please?"

"Oh, why, my friend?" Rooney said, his tone growing more condescending by the second. "So you could have the nightmares that prevent you from sleeping? So memories of a dysfunctional family and a horde of bullies descending on shy, lonely you can hold you back from your true party pony potential? And why should you remember those times where you fell short, and actually hurt somepony, such as your precious Pinkie Pie?"

Silver magic emanated from his horn, and he snatched Tomato right off the buffalo's back, showing him off to Cheese. "Or how about your beloved brother? How would your relationship be if you remembered all the heartache that surrounded him for years?"

Cheese's fur bristled. "Put him down."

Rooney glanced at one of rooms, steel door wide open, and then started to stroll toward it. "Let's make him comfortable. I'll make sure that he doesn't turn into a werewolf. Although I am willing to work with his vampire blood."

The witnesses there were sure to tell their friends that Cheese Sandwich's bristled fur seemed to move like fire, as if it needed to show everyone just how angry he was. It was why one would tell others that threatening his brother is a terrible idea. Indeed, in that moment, a snarling Cheese darted forward, his fangs bared and intent on maiming that crook until he was bled dry.

But, he was so no match for a sorcerer who could turn around and grab the wolf in midair with his magic, without even breaking a sweat. He simply smirked at him, and said, "I knew you would do that."

He stuck him on the ground, and pressed down until the cave floor swallowed the werewolf's feet, leaving him trapped. As Cheese started to struggle and snapped at his captor, Rooney made sure to trap the others the same way so they didn't get any ideas. With that, he continued on to the room, where Cheese could see Rooney binding Tomato in chains.

Cheese grunted as he tried to break free, but it was to no avail, so he could only watch as Rooney pricked Tomato and gathered his blood. "What did I ever do to you?! I've been nothing but nice to you, and you go and take everything away from me!"

Rooney pulled at Tomato's tail. "It's nothing personal, Cheese." He swung his head, and a blade of magical energy cropped Tomato's tail short. "I just need somepony to help me with a little payback toward somepony who took everything away from me. I had a lot of options, actually. There was Trixie, but she was certainly going to be suspicious if I showed up more than once. Those ponies at that village founded by the infamous Starlight Glimmer? My descendant is among them, and I couldn't risk him catching on."

Cheese growled. "Well, didn't count on my brother catching on, huh?" He smirked. "Or the fact that we know Twilight Sparkle."

"Oh, I figured that out when I saw you dancing with that pink mare. But, regardless, I can adapt."

Rooney spun around and shot a stream of magic into Cheese's ear, which would've made the werewolf jump had his feet not been stuck in the ground. Cheese felt the orbs containing his memories zipping out on the magic thread, causing his head to pound and his vision to blur. Swaying back and forth, he looked up at the memories floating around his head amongst the stars.

Rooney clicked his tongue. "Funny thing... once I take one memory, it's easier to remove the others. You also become less likely to faint when I pluck something like..." His magic wrapped around the dimly-lit memories of Cheese's skills and related knowledge, and yanked it right off the string. "This!"

It was as if wasps had been released into his brain and stung every nerve. Cheese screamed, wishing he could clutch his head as static filled his mind and everything he ever knew about his talents, from his main talent of throwing parties, to his skill with playing and writing music, his many odd interests and love of laughter, and even his various hobbies of tinkering and craftsponyship, was wiped away. He tried to sit to recover, but it was so uncomfortable for his legs he could only stand and sway.

Rooney looked to the other werewolves, who all had their heads low through the duration of the memory removal, gritting their teeth as memories similar to Cheese's spilled out of their ears, and wafted toward him until he formed them into orbs, and strung them into a necklace. He looked at the others, all drowsily confused over what just happened.

He asked, "So, Cheese, do you want to throw a party?"

Blinking stars out of his vision, Cheese replied, "...what's a party? How hard would it hit somepony's head?"

Rooney then gently took the Pinkie Pie memory in his magic. "I suppose you could ask a Miss Pinkie Pie about it." He shook his head at the sad sight of how dim it was. "I've heard that you are quite fond of her."

Cheese stared at the memory, his blank stare turning thoughtful. "Well, I know her. I don't know why I know her, I... think we played as kids? I saw her juggling once, and uh... she sang a song that one time, and we ate pizza..." His head hurt just thinking about Pinkie Pie, and what it was that drew him to her. "I think she made me really happy sometimes. Oh, and she's cute! Kind of annoying, but cute."

"Ah. Well, it's quite a shame... she's a lot like my wife."

Rooney yanked that memory, and the sharp pain made Cheese scream, jolting his mind back to the horrible torture and what it meant. Surprisingly, for how dim it was, Rooney had to put in a little more effort to yank Pinkie out of Cheese's memories. He tugged and tugged, even though Cheese cried, "Hey! Ow! No, stop! Ergh!" He was starting to shed tears, though he still glowered. "Don't I even have a choice?!"

"You had a choice long ago, and you've made it."

"But what if she's important to me somehow?!"

Rooney snorted. "If she was, you've forgotten why." The memory flashed to Cheese yelling at Pinkie, making her cry. "Look at this, Cheese... would she really believe that she means anything to you with how you spat in her face like that? You'll only feel guilty because I removed the talents that you stock so much of your pride in!"

Cheese sunk at the sight of the memory, and looked up pleadingly. "Can't I at least tell her I'm sorry?"

There was no answer as Pinkie was ripped away from him.

Rooney looked at the orb full of the excitable pink mare, and asked him, "So, who did you want to apologize to?"

Cheese stared blankly at the orb, seeing the mare within dance. "I don't know."

Rooney stored the memory in his cloak. "Hm. It doesn't matter anyway."

Over the following minutes, more facts and figures he knew were torn from him, as if one were tearing a sleeve from a jacket. Most of what he could remember after each time was how much pain he was in, feeling like his head was bleeding. The hornets in his head still stung, even as he tried to remember what was taken from him. Friends like Braeburn, mentors like Ponyacci, and many of the ponies he met on his travels were all forgotten. His mother, his father, aunts and uncles and cousins all disappeared, and for all he knew, he was an orphan.

As Cheese was torn apart memory by memory, Rooney could see all the similar memories of the others bleed out. When Cheese lost his talent, so did the others. When deprived of his friends and mentors, so were the others. Worst memories were gone, best memories were gone, all now threaded together in glowing necklaces, destined to be stored elsewhere in the abandoned mine. Such was the magic of the Alpha Elixir; any werewolf shall follow Cheese's lead, even by magic composition.

Cheese was barking more like a dog and whining to get his feet out of the mine's hard floor. His fur bristled, and he growled and yelped each time he was hurt. But, he also got in words that complained about losing something, still remembering that he was a pony and that his current form wasn't his true self. Tears poured as he begged Rooney to stop. As angry as he was, he was even more powerless, and soon, he couldn't even remember how he even got into that position.

At last, Cheese was whittled down to his last set of memories: those of his brother, Tomato. The glow had wavered with each taken memory, but it still shined the brightest. Rooney wasn't quite sure what it was, only guessing that it was due to being close in age and growing up together. There were a lot of foalhood adventures and misadventures he saw in the orb, between busking at a park, eating pizza, or playing an odd game of cowboys that were also spies. Still, as long as Tomato was remembered, Cheese was likely to break free of Rooney's grasp to protect him.

The final tug-of-war began with Cheese crying, "Brother... brother... Tommy? Tommy!"

It was then Rooney noticed that Tomato had started to stir. Now, adding on to the fact that Twilight Sparkle and friends were likely out there searching, he had more reason to hurry. So, he tugged harder, trying to cut the thread with magic as he had done before.

Cheese growled, and pulled back, wishing he could move his feet and just run away. "I won't let you take him away from me!"

Rooney scoffed. "I've had my brother taken away from me, and you don't hear me complaining about it!"

Cheese had to fight for his last shred of equinity; even if all he knew about himself was that he was once a pony, and now he was a wolf, it was clear that the difference lay all on his brother. So much of that one pony, that one pony always looking up to him, playing with him, getting into mischief with him. If he could just hold on to Tommy, there was still a chance of staying pony, of knowing who he was, of becoming whole again. So, he pulled with all his might, even managed to clamp his mouth on the thread and pull harder.

But, Cheese couldn't pull forever. In a snap, Tomato was in Rooney's clutches, and Cheese buckled down to the floor.

After collecting all the memories that wafted to him, stringing them through necklaces that made his cloak pocket bulge, Rooney released the werewolves' feet from the floor. He looked at Cheese, pulled the dog whistle from his cloak, and tooted it. "Rise, Alpha."

After taking a second to breathe, Cheese did so, and looked up, his irises now pitch black.

Petting the werewolf, and looking at the other blank slates in the room, he continued, "You are all my servants now, and you will do my bidding. And while I mesh two hybrid spells and sway our vampire friend, I have a task for you..."

---

Tomato wasn't sure if his eyes were open or not when he finally woke up to chirping bats. Cold stabbed through his coat and sent a chill onto his skin. A strange smell that could only be described as "cold barbecue" filled the air, and it made his stomach churn. He rubbed his head, only to feel shackles chafing on his ankles and chains brushing his face. After a startle that revealed more shackles and chains binding his neck, hind legs, and barrel, he tugged at them, wondering how he got into this scrape.

He reviewed the moments before he was knocked out; there was no way any of the werewolves, least of all Cheese, would chain him up like this! And if he recalled, in a brief moment of being half-awake, he had heard Cheese calling his name in a panic. Clearly, this was Whistle Guy's doing, and now, sitting in what felt like a cave, Tomato had no idea why he was a captive.

He was soon to get his answer when a door opened, colorful light washing his prison. Walking in was that Rooney character, who simply greeted, "Well, well, look who's awake."

Tomato inhaled sharply, and then snarled, "You!"

Rooney shook his head. "That's no way to address an old stallion, boy. Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

The chains didn't stop Tomato from standing up, and he had his head lowered as he hissed, "I knew it. I knew it was you! Cheese may have thought it was just a coincidence, but it's way too convenient that right after taking some 'special medicine', he starts acting like a monster!"

Rooney sighed. "It wasn't the elixir, it was the water that turned him."

Tomato blinked. "What, you're not even going to deny it?"

"The Wolf Plague wasn't ever made into a potion, but was cast on a pool to turn anypony who drank from it." Rooney paced around the room, slowly circling his prisoner. "I don't know what would have happened if you drank from it; your vampire blood could interfere with it... perhaps the Wolf Plague could have overtaken it and turned you into a werewolf. Perhaps it'd cancel it out, making you immune. Perhaps it'd kill you. But, regardless, I couldn't risk it." He stopped and stroked his beard. "I needed your blood intact to... study it."

"Study it?" Tomato scoffed. "Yeah, right... you turning ponies into werewolves? Maybe you'll serve vampires too! You're so transparent, I'd laugh if it wasn't for how you destroyed my brother. Where is he?!"

Rooney waved a hoof. "He and his pack are out, moving about to distract your little search party while I finish up a few things."

His horn glowed, and he shut the steel door. The only light came from his horn as he continued, "A risky little venture, but I needed to buy time, after cleaning up all day and waiting for the others to transform. Besides, if they don't give the dear princess enough time to focus, they should be all right until I jump in. I just need to do one more thing."

Whatever it was, Tomato knew that Rooney was going to leave soon, and that would leave him ample opportunity to escape. But, his hopes were dashed once he looked at his tail and saw that it was cropped short. His jaw slack, he grabbed his tail, and started to tug at it, in some feeble attempt for it to grow back.

Rooney chuckled at that sight. "Oh? You think I was going to leave you without making sure you couldn't escape?"

Blood boiling, Tomato attempted to pounce on him, with a inequine screech and eyes flashing red. The chains stopped him from reaching any further than a few feet, but Tomato still attempted to drag himself forward, ready to bite this crook and suck him dry.

Rooney raised an eyebrow. "Thank you for reminding me that I should reawaken your inner vampire after I'm finished tinkering with your memories. I don't want a super strong vampire breaking those chains and having me for supper."

Tomato stopped to catch his breath. "Tinkering with... what?"

In a silent demonstration, Rooney shot a stream of silver magic into Tomato's ear, and yanked all the memories out. The shock jolted him into a stupor, seeing stars among a green blur. Buckling onto his knees, he allowed himself a moment to regain his senses, and looked up to see Rooney examining his memories.

It was then he realized that this was likely the exact scenario Cheese had been involved in before losing memories. He stood up, a head rush making him sway, but he still sputtered, "D-don't you dare!" He pulled at the thread and attempted to pull one of the orbs back into his ear. "You're not going to steal my memories!"

The unicorn paused in his analysis and clicked his tongue. "Not with your attitude, I'm not. If I don't receive consent at this stage, I can't remove any memories... without killing you, of course. I only made it this far because your brother wanted to forget Las Pegasus."

"That's a lie!" Tomato snapped. "Cheese is not that stupid!"

"I hate to disappoint you, but many decisions are made of fear and stress; your brother was overwhelmed, so I relieved him of pain. All of his pain."

"All of his pain?!" Tomato seethed once again, it finally sinking in that this memory thief must have stolen the rest of Cheese's mind. "And all of his joy, too, huh?!" He stomped on the floor. "No, you didn't relieve him! You took a perfectly good party pony and turned him into a bloodthirsty monster! How can you justify turning somepony like him into your puppet and ripping away his entire life? Do you just hate parties?! Do you think that just because he's a goofball he doesn't have feelings?! His life had meaning before, and you took that away from him!"

Rooney laughed darkly, with a bit of an angry edge to it. "Oh? And what did you do to comfort him when he needed it? If any of his and your memories are any indication, nothing you do ever helps him. You're nothing but a curse to him, you know. In fact, you seem to be a curse to everypony. Shameful as it is, your entire life is a curse."

Tomato's glare softened into a more unsure expression, and he backed away, avoiding his gaze. "I... don't know what you're talking about."

Rooney rolled his eyes. "I suppose that could be the case. Why don't I refresh your memory?"

A flash from his horn made the orbs burst into smoke, swirling around the two stallions in a whirlwind. Tomato had closed his eyes and shielded his face from the storm; by the time the dust settled, Tomato opened his eyes to find the chains were gone. So were his clothes, and he discovered to his horror that he was now younger, back to baby-faced colthood days. Finally, he somehow had possession of an accordion--or at least was trying to tear it from the grubby, eight-year-old hooves of his friends.

Before he even realized what was happening, it sprung out of their grasps and smashed against the wall.

Then Cheese opened the door, and walked in to see the wreckage. His jaw dropped in shock, and the horrified gaze at the remnants of his instrument made Tomato want to disappear, to run away before he could relive the rest of the event.

His friends rushed out of the room at Cheese's venomous glare. Tomato was alone to face this dragon, who was ready to breathe fire over the loss of his treasure. Never before had he felt such fear when facing his brother, and he fully expected a beating.

“So…” Cheese spat. “Your friends are nice.”

Tommy squeaked and nodded.

Cheese turned back to the accordion, sat down, and squeezed his eyes shut. “Fitting for such a little backstabber. That promise not to touch it meant nothing to you, huh?”

Tommy blinked. “Uh, Cheese, I—”

“Get out.”

“But, but—”

“I said GET OUT!”

Tomato darted out of the room, and the door was slammed behind him. Once again, he felt like crying--only this time, his adult mind had the knowledge that those were the last words that Cheese said to him before running away. Tomato tried running away from the memory into the green smoke, trying not to let his foalish emotions get the better of him, only to bump into somepony's leg. He looked up to see his mother looking down at him, her face twisted into her meanest scowl.

"Tomato Matthew Sandwich, stop crying!" she snapped. "Your picking fights at school is making this harder than it needs to be! If you had just been a responsible colt for once, your brother wouldn't have run away! For all we know, he could be dead because of your actions!"

He turned and ran away from his mother, wiping his eyes clean from any tears that slipped out. He barreled into the smoke, hoping to run into a better memory, a time when he was happy and had no worries.

He skidded to a stop and stumbled onto his face. And then he heard laughter.

He looked up to see the majority of his classmates surrounding him, pointing at him and chanting, "Crybaby!" over and over amongst their own laughter. Some remarked that he looked so funny when he cried, some said something about how he was a baby, and some declared that he deserved it for being a mean party pooper for the past few weeks. Some even announced Tomato's horrible secret of being a nerd the entire time, because how dare he be smarter than everypony else.

And then there was Squirt, who dared to say, "I can't believe how he only cares about his lame brother."

Never let it be said that Tomato didn't ever beat the snot out of anypony; that day, in total fury at that callous comment, Tomato had pounced on his now-ex-friend, and absolutely clobbered him with his own two front hooves. He landed a few good hits, caused a few big bruises, and even chomped down on the other colt's leg, all while hot tears flew out of his eyes and curses spilled out of his mouth.

A teacher came out of nowhere and snatched him. The foals all stared in fear of this little fireball hauled to the principal's office, and destined for heavy-duty grounding from his mother. Tomato knew it too, and he knew that despite fights between rambunctious colts being par for the course for the playground, this fight was way too personal for him to even forgive his classmates, or even those friends. Indeed, those 'friends' were not his friends anymore, and there was soon to be animosity between him and most of the foals.

The teacher dropped him in front of a crowd, who were yelling at him and his parents, nearly frothing at the mouth as they pointed to the various houses in the neighborhood that looked as if a tornado had torn through. The only thing that seemed to keep the crowd under control was a police officer in between them. Still, he backed away from them and hid behind his parents, now overtaken with a headache, a queasy stomach, and the jitters.

"Listen, pal, I don't care if he has some so-called medical condition!" a fat stallion spat in Hay Burger's face. "What kind of of medical condition turns a kid into a maniac when he drinks a cup of joe anyway?!"

Hay Burger looked at the ground. "I dunno."

A mare in front glared at Mozzarella. "Well, you two have to keep that little freak under control, or he might end up in juvy!"

The nearby officer lifted a hoof, and the crowd silenced. He wrote a note, and gave it to his mother. "Well, ma'am, seeing as your son has now gotten a mark against him in property damage, physical assault, and disturbing the peace, we'll have go down and decide what to do with him. It's a good thing he's still young, so we'll likely give him community service to make up for his actions."

Mozzarella's side glare made Tomato shrink even more. "Okay, Sergeant. In the meantime, I'll remind him just what kind of citizen he's supposed to be."

"Don't forget to keep him away from my coffee," Hay Burger muttered.

Tomato was snatched by the ear, and dragged out of that vision, only to find himself being chewed out by his mother for how irresponsible he had been, how close he was to the slippery slope that lead to a life of crime and thuggery, and how she already lost one son to hedonism and how Tomato had to make the difference. He wanted to cover his ears to block it out, but his adult mind had no power over the scene, so he just bore it as his younger self was cowed by the volume of mother's voice, holding back tears.

When the opportunity came for him to break the illusion and run into the smoke away from the dream, he did so, only to barrel into the scene of Cheese arguing with their mother. Tomato looked at his cutie mark, Cheese's words about him being an accordion-smasher, who more than likely did unethical things to earn his cutie mark, being that same stab in the heart that it had been when it really happened.

"I have had it with him!" Cheese yelled. "All he was ever good for was screwing up my life and breaking my stuff! And yet you scold me just for my cutie mark?! Let me just say that I'm glad we don't have the same special talent!"

Tomato just about crumbled. The shock of Cheese not just insulting Tomato's new cutie mark, but possibly even hating him as well and confirming two-year-old fears, sent him to his haunches. What point was there in apologizing for the accordion incident now? Cheese was not just another pony who was angry with him--this was his brother, his best friend, who all but declared that Tomato was evil just for his cutie mark.

He backed away before the big fight, but bumped into ponies he knew as a teenager, who were quick to declare, "What do mean you aren't rich?! You bozo, you lied to me! That cutie mark is a sham!"

He took off from those ponies, but skidded to a stop in front of a bookstore. A sign on the door declared that it was out of business, and a teary-eyed old unicorn mare--who he recognized as his first employer, Madame Bookshelf--turned away from it. "I'm sorry, Tomato. You did your best."

Tomato breathed heavily at the sight of what he had come to consider a second home. Oh, how his spirits sunk at how much his own special talent had failed, and how he wondered if his mark really was a sham.

He turned, and found himself sitting in the middle of a trashed dinner party, feeling that headache, queasiness, and muscle weakness yet again. Blinking drowsily, he could see many of Manehattan's most influential heads of business cowering behind tables. Among them was Rich Custard, who held his crying daughter Creme Brulee close as he peeked from behind the table, and with a far bit of anger, shouted, "How dare you?! I should have known you were a monster! From this day forth, you are terminated!"

Even in his hangover state, that felt like a buck to the chest. Even more so when looking at Creme, who paused in her crocodile tears and smirked. He knew what that meant. He was invading on her turf, and thus, she arranged this mess just to keep him out of it, and remind him where a poor boy really belonged.

He felt that he should run again, but there was no point--he was just going to run into bad memories, and with each one, he was dying inside. He just fell onto his knees with a sob, his head hurting and his body weakened from the hefty reminders of how much he had been unwanted. How much he was just Plan B. How he was a little freak. How he was a sham. Most importantly, he was always a disaster waiting to happen. He was even sure that he wasn't even meant to be born--just a little accident that even Cheese would eventually come to resent.

He felt the chains binding him, he saw the smoke clear, and he looked up at Rooney, who held the most fake grandfatherly smile he had ever seen. The older stallion said, "It's hard to remember those difficult times, when you feel that you hurt more than help. And what's worse is that there's more where that came from. But, perhaps I could relieve you of those burdens."

Tomato breathed heavily, shaking. Even so, remembering what happened to Cheese, he still glared, and answered, "No... no, I won't let you."

Rooney stared a moment before shrugging and heading to the door. "I figured as much. I suppose I should just leave you alone with your thoughts."

Tomato jolted up, the chains slamming against him and the shackles chafing where they bound him. "What?! No, no, please, don't!"

Rooney opened the steel door, and then flashed his magic at Tomato's floating memories, making them release steam once again. "Oh, don't worry, I'll be back. Only by then, you'll be too weak to resist."

With that, he slammed the door.

Author's Note:

Well, sorry for taking a while, but I got involved in a little event called SpringTime Sequel-Slash-Sandbox Switcharoo. It's basically fan fiction of fan fiction, and I urge you to take a look.

Also, this is Chapter 100! And I have no idea how this thing ended up this long. Help me...

Comments

[RadicalDishonesty]

Well, when Wayer bares his fangs he bares them hard. It was awful to watch him tear away Cheese's memories like that.

Interesting that Rooney tried to give Tommy this flashback about how bad he was to Cheese, but ultimately instead settled on a display of every time he was mistreated.

[SageBrony07]

Wow. Now we got a truley wild cheese, and unless Tommy can escape, the same thing is going to happen to him. I hope he can escape and try and get Cheese to remember him by instinct or something.

[Leviathan Splash]

Rooney is going to be in a lot of pain when the Mane Six get him.

[Wolven5]

Rooney gets what’s coming to him make it devastating, like... stark-raving mad, next-to-utter denial that all his schemes have been yhwarted, maybe even a cliche’d hateful vow of revenge-kind of devastating

[redmar]

Wayer rune needs to be put back in prison after having his magic removed. Or perhaps you should throw him into the fountain of youth after ehich you remove so Wayer Rune's daughter can get some peace after 1000 years.

[Goldfinch142]

Yikes. Things are looking bad. Nothing good ever comes from Rooney getting involved.

Poor Sandwiches. Having every single memory ripped out or being forced to relive all the worst memories of your life can't be very fun. (Still, Tomato's good memories are there too--maybe they can help him resist.)

[Godslittleprincess]

So, he's going to get revenge on Celestia for something that wasn't even her fault to begin with. Gee, that sounds reasonable, NOT.