Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

23.1--Sweet Dreams are Made of Cheese

The Canterlot Water Plant was perched further up the mountain than its home city. As a lone facility that had a large plot of flat land to itself, it overlooked not only the neighborhoods and hubs of the city, but also the many towns scattered across the valley. The Plant had a purpose to pump water from the river through the pipe system to reach many homes and businesses, as well wipe away any sediment and possible contaminants that could have come from upstream. Even so, being so high up on a mountain, residents bragged that they had the purest water in Equestria.

Still, it was better safe than sorry, in case of some mountain goat taking a potty break upstream.

Security guards marched around the area that night. Whether it be strolling through hallways of pipes, passing open water tanks of varying cleanliness, or circling the perimeter of the area, those ponies shone a light--be it by horn magic or flashlight--wherever they went. There were moments where they paused to appreciate the moon's reflection on the pools, or have a little chat with each other, but otherwise, guarding the facility and the workers treating the water was serious business.

One guard was stationed at the gate. It had been a long and boring night, with just the night shift workers clocking in as usual and going off to do their business. So, he had been pacing back and forth, counting the links in the fence, when he noticed a lone, cloaked figure approaching the gate.

He stopped his pacing, and turned to face the visitor. As the visitor came closer, it was clear that this was a stranger. "Sir, this is a restricted area, I'm going to need some identification."

The stranger said nothing, and simply ripped the gate off the fence with his magic. The guard kept himself from jumping from that bold move, but it was clear that this fellow had no good intentions. He turned back and said, "Sir, I'm going to have to escort you off the pre--"

The stranger blew a dog whistle, and before the guard knew it, he was pounced on by a rather large attack dog, one that could easily be seen as a wolf. Jaws snapped short of his muzzle, and the stench of dog breath--mingled with the smell of cake and ice cream--made his stomach churn. As he was busy defending himself from the dog, he noticed from the corner of his eye over a dozen of those dogs popping out from behind trees and rocks, and rushing into the facility at command of their master.

He wrestled the dog until finally managing to buck off of him, and looked to the hut. There, on the panel, sat a big red alarm button, meant to alert all personnel and summon the Royal Guard in case of emergency. He wasted no time in getting to his feet and galloping toward it at full speed, in hopes of making it.

But, that very same dog--which was pink of all colors--suddenly popped up in front of him, and pounced him.

The stranger marched deeper into the facility, moving swiftly and calmly as chaos raged around him. Colorful canines took both security ponies and plant operators by surprise, with the former attempting fight and the latter choosing flight. Those that fought sustained injuries, and cried for somepony to call for backup. Those that ran found themselves herded into various corners and dead ends in the facility, and were backed into pipes and tanks before the canines lunged.

Blood started to stain the concrete as ponies left and right were bitten, and the victims had barely any time to agonize over their wounds before mists matching their eyes billowed out of their ears, and they fainted. The mists reformed into orbs in the stranger's hoof, and the stranger blinked them away to an unknown place.

As his dogs continued their rampage, the stranger made his way to the storage tanks, which were closed off and about to pump the newly filtered water to the city. He levitated himself to the top, and opened a hatch to see the water churning within. With one final look at the city below, he flipped off his hood, and his horn created a large ball of magic, which crackled, glowed dark hues of red and purple, and bore silhouettes of running wolves and flying batponies. He cast the ball into the water, and one by one, the tanks glowed.

He smirked. It wouldn't be long before the pipe system did the rest.

---

When Tomato opened his eyes, he found himself in a tree. Little pieces of bark stuck to his cheek and his long legs dangled from the branch he lay in. He took a moment to gauge how high the tree was--not very high, thank goodness--and to determine his location, which was in a park of all places. In fact, it looked just like the park he and Cheese often visited in foalhood.

He sat up and took a moment to stretch. Out of habit, he expected his tail to wrap around the branch to keep him balanced; unfortunately, thanks to it being cropped short, he quickly tumbled out of the tree and landed chin first in the grass. He cursed under his breath, and picked himself up, rubbing his throbbing chin.

He looked around the pack, rotating his body to get a full view. He could see trees where he remembered them, the pond where he remembered it, and gazebos where he remembered it. He could even see that one ice cream pony that their grandparents used to buy treats from to give to their grandsons.

Tomato blinked. "How did I get here?"

Last he remembered, he was in some mine shaft near Appleloosa; now he was in a park in Manehattan? But, then again, looking up at the skyscrapers yielded completely different buildings from familiar ones like Equire State or the Trade Center. There was a circus tent, a tower of building blocks, and what looked like Cheese's party tank, except being more like an observatory. And strangely, this city seemed to be in some sort of pit, if the cliffs taking up the skyline in all directions was any indication.

He wondered if Twilight and the others were around; they had been in the room when everything flashed white. He reasoned that they must have appeared in other spots in the city, so it's only fair that he should go out to look for them. Plus, he was curious.

---

The first thing that Twilight felt was the fluttering of her own eyelashes, immediately followed by the bad, dry taste in her mouth. Her legs felt like wood, which should be easily remedied by a simple stretch. She felt a soft bed against her back, But, more importantly, she could hear two voices, both male, engaged in conversation that she couldn't interpret.

She felt a strange, rubbery limb on her forehead, and she heard one of them say, "Oh, I think she's waking up!"

"It's about time, bro! How should we celebrate?" the other said.

Twilight barely opened her eyes, spotting two yellow, blurry figures. "Huh?"

"You've been asleep for quite a while, Twilight," the first one said. "In fact, we thought you girls were dead until we saw you breathing."

"Well, they have been through a lot in just one day," the second said. "Is it any surprise that they're pooped?"

Twilight figured that somepony from Appleloosa found them somehow, and brought them back to town to nurse them back to full strength. She sat up, yawned and stretched, and rubbed her eyes. "Mmm... thanks. I can't tell you how grateful I am that..."

She fully opened her eyes, and her vision cleared to reveal a couple of giant rubber chickens staring at her.

She screamed and tumbled out of the bed, hitting the floor with a thud. The pain from her broken wing shot through her body, and he panted as she looked around the pink room, trying so hard to ignore the poultry that was untangling her hooves from the sheets. She spotted the rest of her friends in other beds, having just woken up and were now confused at being cared for by things like a giant hamster, a T-Rex, a pegasus version of Cheese Sandwich, and a potato on a mobile couch.

The rubber chickens freed her hooves, and one of them helped her up. "You're grateful that... 'ahhhhh'?"

Twilight scanned the room again, hoping that each creaturewould remove their heads to reveal ponies in costumes. "Wha... what's going on? Where are we?" She looked up at the rubber chickens. "Who are you?!"

One of the rubber chickens, wearing a bowler hat, grinned widely and shook Twilight's hoof. "The name's Boneless! And this guy in the tie is my brother, Boneless 2! Right now, you're guests in our little abode!"

Rainbow perked up with an odd look. "Wait, Boneless? Isn't that the name of Cheese's rubber chicken?"

"Well, technically, his physical form is dead; mine is the one who travels with Cheese these days," Boneless 2 said with a chuckle. Then he gave them a concerned look. "In all seriousness, you appeared in this realm during a bright flash several hours ago. We found you girls unconscious, so we had to put you somewhere comfortable."

"Wait... several hours?!" Twilight exclaimed.

Boneless 2 stepped back. "Of course... time moves differently in the mind than in the real world, don't you know?"

Applejack blinked. "Err... did you just say the mind? As in... Cheese Sandwich's mind?"

Rarity stared at the spud that handed her a plate of eggs. "Well, it'd explain why a potato is giving me breakfast, but... huh?"

Rainbow looked up at the ceiling and shouted, "Okay, Discord! We know you did this! You can come out now!" She glared at the hamster that brushed Fluttershy's hair and got in its face. "Oh, I know it's you, Dissy! You can make yourself cute all you want but we all know you have a soft spot for Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy pushed her away from the giant hamster that now cowered and cried. "Rainbow Dash! That is no way to talk to Harvey!"

Pega-Cheese gently pulled Rainbow back. "Sorry, but I don't think Discord's involved with this one. I'm pretty sure he doesn't know that as a colt, Cheese Sandwich wished that he'd grow wings and take to the skies." He fluttered his wings for emphasis.

Harvey looked up and squeaked, "Or that he always wanted a pet hamster."

"Or that he likes dinosaurs!" the T-Rex roared.

The couch potato just blinked with a grumpy pout. "I have no idea why I'm here."

Twilight stared at the scene, processing the information that she and her friends had just received. It was then she realized why Cheese's memory orb was flashing, and what had happened when Tomato touched it. She turned to the Bonelesses. "I can't believe it... Wayer must have set it so that if anyone touched it, they'd be trapped in Cheese's mind!"

Boneless blew a party blower and threw confetti. "Congratulations! You figured it out!"

"Oh, don't mock her!" Boneless 2 scolded. He turned to Twilight with a sheepish grin. "Sorry about that. Boneless takes more toward Cheese's more exuberant traits... and some of his sass. As for me... well, I take more toward Cheese's more reserved and responsible attributes."

Boneless rolled his eyes. "Lighten up, Twosie. It's not like we'd have figured out why they're here before she did."

Twilight scanned the room a third time, and noticed somepony was missing. "Wait, where's Tomato?"

Boneless blinked. "Tomato?" He scratched his chin and thought for a moment. "You mean the party pooper brother of Cheese's? I thought they didn't want anything to do with each other ever again." He rolled his eyes. "But Cheesy Sense insists that Cheese has to try and make Tommy smile..."

Twosie hit his brother. "Boneless, you're a little too stuck in the past, they made up last fall!" He turned back to the girls. "My apologies, ladies... Tomato is categorized differently from you, so he must have landed someplace else. And since things are positive between the brothers now..." He gave Boneless a stink eye. "...he should be safe."

"Huh... so, what's outside of this room? I'm sure a party pony would have a lot more going on in his mind than just a pink room with several weird pictures and unusual creatures being nurses."

The Bonelesses and the rest of the nurses laughed, and Twosie took Twilight by the hoof. "Oh, dear Princess, of course there's more! We just put you in a quiet place so that you five may sleep!"

Twosie escorted Twilight out of the room, followed by his brother herding the other four as well. They turned into a foyer, where the front door sat. Twosie turned to smile at the mares, and then threw the door open to lead them outside. The girls filed out, and looked up to see what was outside.

It was the biggest, loudest, and strangest carnival that they had ever seen. Rides wove around the grassy landscape, jumping tracks and shooting confetti cannons like it was going out of style. Ponies galloped within bubbles of all shapes and sizes, and some took to slinging accordions around and swinging on them like jungle vines in the candy trees. A pizza island floated in a fruit punch lake, and pinatas exploded to reaveal delicious prizes. Balloons didn't just float; they danced to the music, changing colors with every beat. There weren't just ponies, both familiar and strange; there were many other creatures, both real like buffaloes and griffons, and make-believe like butterfly-winged mice and living food people enjoying the crazy festivities. The party seemed to stretch left and right for miles, with screens that clearly played some of Cheese's party-related memories, including Rainbow's birthaversary.

Twilight gazed at the scene before her. "Wow... the books weren't kidding when they said you could create an entire world out of one mind."

Rarity watched a line of models march in front of her, wearing outfits of garish colors, unnecessary straps, and mismatched pairs. Poodles atop their heads added the final touch to clothing that made her gag. "Couldn't he have imagined outfits less... tacky?"

"Sure looks like something Pinkie would like," Applejack said.

"Hey, what's up with the sky?" Rainbow said.

The other girls looked up to see that the sky was green, much like Cheese's eyes were, but oddly, it seemed to be fractured. It seemed like a cracked window just barely hanging together after a nasty blow, and was one hit away from being completely shattered. None of the party guests seemed to notice, but whether they were ignorant or just didn't want to cry that the sky was falling was in question.

Boneless blew a party blower and grabbed Fluttershy. "Come on! Cheese created this extravaganza, and he'd be happy to have more guests!"

"Wait, no, I--" She was suddenly whisked away into the party, squeaking in surprise. Following that, the other nurses grabbed a mare, and pulled them into the party, laughing all the way and excitedly leading them to something they thought that each girl would like. Twosie, startled by the sudden turn of events, shook his head with a little half-smile.

As each girl was dragged into the party, Boneless started to sing,

"Come on, girls, let's run on in
This party is only just startin'
What you saw was just a little taste
We can see more if we make haste!"

Boneless threw Fluttershy into a petting zoo of strange and colorful animals, each engaged in a circus act that normally ponies would perform, such as the tightrope, trapeze, or clown skit. She looked around the ring with awe, and smiled at the creatures that turned and bowed to her.

Boneless grinned. "Watch the lion tame the rabid pony
Behold the elephant's tightrope dance!
The acrobat sheep are really soaring
Go on, Fluttershy, just give it a chance!"

Fluttershy skirted to the edge of the ring and faced the rubber chicken. "Look, I do really like this animal circus, they actually look like they're having a lot of fun! But, I need to be serious, and ask you where--"

She didn't get to finish, as she was pulled into a hippo's juggling act.

Meanwhile, Rainbow was taken up to the sky by PegaCheese, who had suddenly changed into a Wonderbolt outfit when they passed through a cloud. Before she could ask how he did that, she was interrupted by the Wonderbolts zooming by.

PegaCheese and the rest of the 'Bolts flew in circles around her, singing,
"Oh, what a feeling it is to taste the wild blue yonder!
Freedom and fun just like this is something you shouldn't squander..."

PegaCheese clapped, and the 'Bolts started to write words in the sky.

"But here in the Mind Realm!
In Cheese Sandwich's Mind Realm!
You have enough room to spread out your wings
Write a song to sing!
Have some joy to bring!
Limitless imaginings!"

He gave a curt nod to Rainbow, and pointed forward. Rainbow stared a moment before grinning, and zooming forward to underline "Welcome to the party!" with her rainbow contrail. Her heart swelled as the crowd below cheered, and PegaCheese flew next to her.

"There is no room for fear and stagnation
When you hold.... the spirit of celebration!"

PegaCheese took Rainbow by the hoof and pulled her down to the roller coaster, where they landed in a car and started to ride it, through hills, loops, hoops, and jumps, all while Rainbow was cheering and laughing. Landing one jump elicited a cheer from a nearby crowd of Pinkie Pies.

Rainbow's smile faded at the sight of the Pinkies. She turned to Cheese. "Hey, this is awesome and all, but Pinkie's in trouble right now!"

"I'm sorry! Can't hear ya!" PegaCheese shouted.

Rainbow growled. "I said Pinkie's in trouble! And so are you!"

At another part of the party, Applejack found herself part of a food fight with Harvey the giant hamster, dodging rocky road ice cream, sandwich cookies, potatoes, lasagna, and of course, cheese, among other items. As Applejack ducked and jumped and chucked food, Harvey danced along with her, singing,

"You gotta boogie like you're makin' headline news
You gotta dance like you're a wonder
Or you'll end up with a face full of food--"

SPLAT! Applejack now had a face full of pear jam, much to her annoyance.

Harvey winced. "--when you make a blunder."

Nearby, Rarity was witness to the T-Rex of all creatures knitting banners from the giant ball of twine they sat upon, all of which took to the air to travel to other parts of the party. One of them, which had a pattern of a sunset fading into a starry night, picked them up and flew them around like a magic carpet. As Rarity clung to her prehistoric companion, she looked around to see various articles of clothing, accompanied by many other kinds of art.

The T-Rex sang,
"Creativity is an adventure to behold
With just your mind you can ever travel bold
Be it through parties or fabrics or painting or stone,
Those who imagine can make their own throne."

Their banner swooped down to grab Applejack and Harvey. Then, it replaced Rarity with the giant hamster, while juggling her and Applejack as the dinosaur and rodent sang,
"Oh, what a feeling it is to dance in the open air!
And make dreams a reality without judgement or care...

"But here in the Mind Realm!
In Cheese Sandwich's Mind Realm!
You have enough room to spread out your wings
Write a song to sing!
Have some joy to bring!
Limitless imaginings!"

The banner hovered through a tangled mesh of strings and yarns, and dropped both mares in screaming. When they fell through the other side and bounced on the trampolines underneath, that was when they noticed that they were dressed in festive attire--along with tinfoil hats. Once they landed in a ball pit, making a splash of colorful balls, they popped their heads out and looked up at their chaperones levitating down.

"There is no room for fear and stagnation
When you hold.... the spirit of celebration!"

The two girls looked at each other and then at each other's outfits. Rarity said, "Alright, the outfits are lovely, but the tinfoil hats are just garish!"

Applejack sighed. "This party would be fun, but we've got an emergency right now. Where's Twilight?"

Little did Applejack know, Twilight was running through the party, having escaped the couch potato and was now looking for her friends. She dodged pie throws from aardvarks, weaved through a forest of candy with swinging accordion-slingers, and barely avoided a spatula fight between party guests. As she kept looking, she didn't see a slide open up on the ground in front of her, and thus, she stumbled down it and went for a wild, underground ride.

When the slide ended, she popped from the ground onto a purple platform, where magicians showed off their fireworks--including The Great and Powerful Trixie--and wowed a bunch of Mirrors that showed alternate versions of the performers. Twilight was uncomfortable to see a male version of herself, as well as her animal selves, her younger self, and even her self from the Canterlot High dimension.

And then, she felt an arm on her shoulder, and turned to see Boneless, who started to tango with her, much to her dismay.

"Being one with a crazy mind does bring ridicule
Classmates laughed at this poor kid for being uncool..."

The mirrors changed images to show foals laughing at a little colt cowering in the corner. Twilight winced, seeing an actual image of Cheese's foalhood for the first time, and her heart ached on seeing the little guy bullied.

"But a talented pony reminded him of his magic's worth
So the greatest potential he mined from the gift that was present from his birth!"

After the mirrors showed images of a juggling Pinkie Pie and an inspired Cheese growing up, they fell back to reveal a cheering crowd. Twilight looked around the enormous crowd, unsure of what she should do. She just watched as Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy were carried forward until thrown on the stage. Fluttershy froze at the sight of the crowd, while the other three just looked around confused. And then, Boneless resumed the song, with the crowd singing along.

"Oh, here in the Mind Realm!
In Cheese Sandwich's Mind Realm!
You have enough room to spread out your wings
Write a song to sing!
Have some joy to bring!
Limitless imaginings!
Dancing to swing!
With your bells to ring!
Trampolines for springing
And many more thiiiiiiinnnngggs!"

Boneless grinned at the girls. "And even if they think you're crazy..."

"There is no room for fear and stagnation
When you hoooooolllllllld....

...The Spirit of Celebration!"

The song finished with a literal bang as fireworks burst above them, and the crowd went wild. Tinfoil and poodle hats were tossed, colorful flags were waved, and party blowers were blown. The girls waved at the crowd sheepishly--except Fluttershy, who was still frozen. They still looked around until they spotted Twosie swimming through the crowd, and climbing up the stage.

He exhaled. "Well... glad I found you. I hope you ladies had a blast."

Boneless waved a wing. "Oh, I'm sure they did."

Twilight looked between them. "It was the most wild party that I've ever attended, but it's hard to have fun when we have pressing matters at hoof. Namely, involving the very pony that this mind belongs to."

Boneless bit his lip and sweated. "W-what do you mean? Did we forget something?"

"No, no, no! You have plenty of fun stuff for Cheese to call upon when he plans a party... but he can't throw a party when he's literally lost his mind and is running around as a werewolf!"

A flash of green light painted the landscape for a moment, followed by thunder booming above the party. The crowd gasped, cried, and murmured at the deafening noise, and they started to scatter all over the place in search of shelter. The mares themselves shuddered at the sound, and looked up, seeing the cracks in the sky flashing.

Twosie grimaced. "You might want to be careful, ladies... Cheese is in a great deal of distress right now."

Boneless nodded, looking cautiously at the sky. "Yeah, he's trying to keep himself sane with his happy place. Otherwise, we'd have a nasty storm."

"Nasty storm?" Applejack asked. "Hold on, are you saying the magic mind ball is still conscious?"

They jumped when another crash of thunder sounded, and pieces of glass rained from the sky. The rubber chickens looked at each other, and nodded. Twosie fixed his tie, and explained, "Well... this is more of a dreamlike state, but he's still very much aware of what happened to him, and he's not happy about it. If he snaps, the sky cracks open, and the entire realm is in trouble."

"Oh, that's awful!" Rarity said.

"Maybe I could control the storm!" Rainbow suggested.

Twosie shook his head. "Afraid not. Cheese is the one in charge here, and you can only calm things by well, reasoning with him. The main Cheese avatar is... well, he's running around the realm somewhere. I'm just not sure where or in what form."

Twilight pursed her lips. "It sounds like a decent short-term solution to find the main Cheese avatar and talk to him, wherever he is. Still, how we can really help him is to put his mind back where it belongs, change him back to normal... and maybe get him a therapist. But we can't do that until we get out of here, and I don't know if you noticed, but I have crystals on my horn! Any ideas on how to escape?"

Twosie tapped his beak. "Well... you need somepony that Cheese has full trust in. Somepony who wouldn't have been sent here, to the 'party guest' and 'imagination' district, but rather to one in one of the deeper districts of this realm. I'll show you."

He beckoned them to follow him, and hopped off the stage. They walked past the mirrors, and weaved through more party games and rides, until they reached a curtain. Twosie opened up the curtain, revealing that the huge party had been on a ring of land, overlooking what resembled an open-pit mine, with several layers holding different districts of a city. The closest layer was clean and colorful, while lower layers got darker and dirtier, culminating in a single, domed building of jet black, with only green shining out of its windows to show activity in there.

Twosie pointed to the layer they were on. "This district represents what Cheese shows on the surface; anything involving odd thoughts, feelings, ideas, and memories involving just any random party he's thrown or wants to throw. There's a lot of party guests here because he sees most ponies as, well, party guests--he doesn't really get to truly connect with very many ponies, you know."

Twosie pointed to the next layer down. "That district is where the the memories he cherishes reside. There, you can find the ponies he feels a deeper connection to, and even see what his other interests outside of partying are. Close friends, family, mentors... for example, you'll see plenty of Pinkies around because she's the one who jumpstarted his party pony path. By the way, where is Pinkie? She could get you out."

"But we don't have Pinkie Pie! The bad guy took her!" Rainbow yelled.

Boneless put his wings to his mouth. "Oh, no!"

"Well... maybe we could use one of the Pinkies 'round here," Applejack said.

Twosie sighed. "I don't know... using the real deal is your best bet. You can't really use a shallow memory to get out."

Rainbow hovered toward Twosie and crossed her front legs. "Maybe one of us could touch the memories and get us out? He likes us!"

Twosie turned his back and shuffled forward, scanning his eyes across the ground. "I'm sorry, Rainbow, he really does think you're cool, and you know a little about his background. The thing is, he's still a little too shy to essentially trust most ponies to handle his mind with care, even if he likes them. And with his current state... he'll have a hard time fully trusting anypony."

Fluttershy pursed her lips. "Even his brother?"

Twosie looked back to see if the mares were following him, which they were. "Oh, that little problem was worked on since they made up at the Fall Festival. Maybe... just maybe, he's the one who could get you out."

"He did get us stuck in here in the first place," Rainbow grumbled.

"Well, they are kin," Applejack said.

Twosie nodded. "Eh, Cheese doesn't trust his parents, but still, Tomato's likely to be worthy." Then he turned and pointed to a lower and darker layer. "That dark place is where his negative memories reside. All his fears, grudges, regrets... even ponies he doesn't like. They range from just simple annoyances to legitimate grievances and traumas. That's a place where you have to watch your step."

He pointed to the domed building. "And that... is the memory orb storage... and your ticket out of here. The fully-trusted one must touch what are essentially the main memory orbs that hold the rest, and there you go, you're free. Of course, there are other random thoughts that run all over the place, like how Harvey can travel between here and there."

Fluttershy looked down. "Oh, dear... we have to go through that dark place?"

"Yep," Boneless said.

Twosie patted her back, and gestured to a set of stairs that descended into the next level of the pit. "Don't worry, I'll lead you girls. As a trusted friend, I know my way around. And I'll be happy to help you look for Tomato." He turned his head to face his brother. "And I know Boneless can watch the party alone, right bro?"

Boneless grinned and nodded. With that, he skipped away to calm the panicking patrons.

Twosie smiled, and started going down the stairs. "Come along, ladies."

They followed him downward single file, looking at the city that they were about to enter. It seemed strangely normal after the wild ride of the party district, so the more down-to-earth memories were something to wonder about. And even with the pressing issue of Wayer Rune and his monsters on mind, there was also the curiosity of what their own mind realms would look like.

---

It was one thing for a Manehattan park to be in the middle of a new and strange city; it was another for Tomato to end up bumping into several Pinkie Pies. The first one seemed normal, as she joked around and affectionately treated him like he was her brother, and asked where Cheese was. If it hadn't been for the news of both Cheese's and the real Pinkie's werewolf status, he wouldn't have been surprised at seeing her act this way.

But, then he kept coming across many Pinkies, each wearing a different outfit, and sometimes as a unicorn, pegasus, or alicorn--or even a dude. He thought that she was just messing with him by rounding the park and changing clothes, but when he saw two of them talking to each other, he wondered how the heck she managed to clone herself. He awkwardly shuffled away, not looking at any of them when he was greeted.

And then there was filly Pinkie, who was throwing a party in the middle of the park, with plenty of ponies attending. He had to admit, it was difficult to leave, especially when there was cake, ice cream, and sandwiches to eat, and he was hungry. He watched as the filly juggled rubber chickens as she balanced on a ball, wondering if she had been an early bloomer. She certainly seemed to be talented enough as a kid to have thrown an impressive party.

He soon moved on, out of the park, and started to wander the streets. He rounded blocks and crossed the crosswalks, noting the variety of other buildings that scattered the area. He had seen several hardware stores, joking to himself that Cheese would like those places. Every corner he came across had some talented musician playing for pedestrians. Tomato paused at the sight of that one-pony band that gave Cheese his accordion when they were small, when neither their parents would buy one or their grandparents could afford one. It would have been a shame if Grandpa Pizza Pockets didn't get to teach Cheese how to play.

Another odd thing was that many of the pedestrians he passed by looked like variations of ponies that Cheese knew. There were several Ponyaccis, both casual and in clown attire (Tomato made sure to be on the other side of the street from that guy), as the opposite gender, a younger version, and even as the other races. He saw similar instances with Braeburn, each of whom greeted him cheerfully, a stallion that he was sure was Ponyacci's adult grandson, and members of their extended family.

And then, he bumped into a mare.

After both shouted in unison, "Hey!", they paused to stare at each other and just how similar they looked. Same coat color, same hair color, same glasses, same forelock, and the mare wore a jacket similar to the one Tomato usually wore. Sure, she wore a bowtie in contrast to Tomato's usual necktie, and wore a bob hairstyle, but a quick look at the cutie mark confirmed that he was looking at a female version of himself.

Both awkwardly shuffled away from each other, and Tomato mumbled as they departed, "And I thought the Snapdragon Apple incident was weird."

He spotted a younger version of himself meeting a younger Pinkie Pie, with this exchange:

"Hi, I'm Pinkie!"

"Hi, I'm Tommy!"

"Wanna be friends?"

"Sure!"

Tomato wouldn't lie, that was probably how it would have gone down if they met as foals. It was hard not to smile at the two playing a silly game and chattering about their amazing big siblings. Of course, hearing Pinkie mention her big sister by name had him wondering what the heck this Maud character was like.

There was a strange pattern with this city: it leaned more toward ponies Cheese knew, sights that Cheese had seen, and things Cheese liked. There was no city that Tomato knew of that had studios and stages from Applewood, the castle from the Crystal Empire, or any of the manors from Canterlot, but also houses from Appleloosa, the town of Aura Springs, and that pirate ship pizzeria that Tomato helped Silver Shill start. He could see the Wonderbolts flying above in a sky that was green and cracked for some reason, a pet store full of hamsters and chickens to his side, and a zoo, one of Cheese's favorite places to visit when they were kids.

He passed the circus tent, hearing singing inside. He was tempted to peek in, but continued onward, hoping to make himself un-lost before he stumbled somewhere bad. As if anything could be bad in what was apparently Cheese's dream city. He was surprised that there wasn't an enormous shindig in sight. Still, he had no idea where he was going, and the moment he considered asking for directions, everypony just disappeared.

Except for one. He spotted something in an alley staring at him. The alley was strangely dark, but he could make the outline of a big head and small body, and he could see the bright green irises that seemed to glow.

He stopped. "Uh... hello?"

The figure jumped, and turned tail deep into the alley.

"Wait! Can you help me?" Tomato gave chase.

He wondered if it was a good idea, because that alley led into a maze that wound every which way. Left and right and left again, followed by a hall that led both ways. He was unsure of where to go, but soon an idea popped into mind. So, he closed his eyes and whistled, and listened for the echoes. He visualized the little stranger deeper in the maze, and determined that he should go right.

He repeated this method for every crossroads, turning each direction that the echoes told him he should go. Soon enough, he found the little shadowy figure, that still ran through those alleys like a pro, despite any puddles or garbage that was in his way. Tomato was starting to pant, and jumped when stepping in something, but he didn't slow down, and imagined that he was just chasing another version of himself.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Listen, I need to know where the heck I am... and where I need to go... and what this city is!"

He tripped and fell on his face. Even if his nose was now numb, he was lucky to look up and see that the shadowy figure had reached a dead end. He took a deep breath and crawled forward, even as the figure turned around, and backed up against the wall.

Tomato panted, wiping sweat from his brow. "Look... I'm not gonna hurt you... I just need direct--"

He stopped when the lights in a nearby building turned on, and revealed the face of the one he chased. This kid had green eyes and curly hair, wore glasses larger than Tomato's own, was a lighter and yellower shade of orange, and had a massive chocolate afro that the little guy could easily hide in. The kid shivered in fright, with a look in his eyes that expected to be hurt. Again.

Tomato backed up, realizing just how scary he must have seemed to the kid. Still, he sputtered out, "...Cheese?"

Little Cheese tried so desperately to squeeze into the corner and whimpered.

Author's Note:

The weird part about this chapter was how I had to look up water treatment facilities to get at least a basic idea of what the place looks like and how water filtration works. Hey, if you're gonna make the bad guy enchant the water, you should try to do your homework.

Yeah, that's the weird part about a chapter about being stuck in a weird guy's mind.

Comments

[SageBrony07]

I'm definitely seeing some parodies here. The first from the the amazing world of gumball, with both of the boneless

And from teen titans

Great chapter. I can't wait for the next part.

[Sketcha-Holic]

9001962
Well, you got the Teen Titans reference right, but I don't watch Gumball, so that one was unintentional.

[redmar]

I want the whole werewolf thing to be solved as quickly as possible it has gone on long enough already.

[Goldfinch142]

I liked the song the personified objects were singing! Much focus on the "spread your wings and be free" aspect of Cheese's life--unsurprising, considering that one of the biggest life-changing events in his life (seeing Pinkie for the first time) basically did just that.

Cheese's mind's party section is so gloriously bizarre! I especially liked the sapient, literal couch potato. I guess Cheese has a bit of a lazy side to him. Makes me wonder what my own mind realm would be like. Lots of stuffed animals, probably--I love collecting them.

I'm willing to bet that Little Cheese is the main Cheese avatar, and just needs to be coaxed out. Luckily, Tomato is the perfect pony for the job.

Of course, when they do get out of Cheese's mind, they're likely going to have a whole city of monsters to deal with. That won't be fun for anyone. Though I do wonder if the vampire/werewolf split will be 50/50, or how spells like that choose which one to turn its victim into when both monster enchantments are in the same water. Unless they turn into werewolf/vampire hybrids, which would be absolutely terrifying.

[Chromio]

9002257
That's the conflict that the story has been building up ever since the Vampire arc, you know. I imagine that once the Werewolf arc ends, the story will too. There's nothing left to do with connecting the brothers, so going back to them simply roaming and party planning isn't exactly viable anymore. This is the final arc, without a doubt.

[Sidetrack]

23.1--Sweet Dreams are Made of Cheese

Who am I to dis a brie.
I Cheddar the world and the seven cheese.
Everypony's lookin' for somthin'.

[Dashie04]

So, the Mane 6 get sent to Cheese’s mind, meet Harvey the Wonder Hamster, a T-rex (Jurrasic Park reference?), and a literal Couch Potato. They head over to carnival where literal food people are attending, and Rarity complains about how Tacky their clothes are.

Meanwhile, Tomato heads through a different area of Cheese’s mind and meets a massive amount of Pinkie Pies, to one of which he wonders Is she a clone? (this one’s probably unintentional) as well as noticing several Hardware Stores

This is how you fit several Weird Al references into one chapter. On an unrelated note, how did you even know what Harvey the Wonder Hamster is, as it’s an obscure 27 second song off Alapalooza?

Oh yeah, there’s also the Eurorythmics/Marilyn Manson reference in the title, whichever one you use depends on which version you’re familiar with.

[Godslittleprincess]

Aww, poor kid!Cheese.