24.4--Standing Up
Rolling hills overlooked the Hoofson River, their normal green color hardly visible thanks to the dimness that the eclipse evoked. They lay just across the river from the urban jungle of Manehattan, the sounds of which yielded more howls and screeches as minutes ticked by. It was on these hills that the group appeared in a flash of light, and stumbled into individual sprawls onto the grass. They took a couple of seconds to pick themselves all up.
Rainbow Dash was the first up, hovering to look at the city, which was half-lit with sparse dots that flickered. “Okay, why are we just outside Manehattan? I thought we were gonna kick some butt!”
Twilight, in the middle of it all, laid face first in the blades, only to raise her head at Rainbow’s statement. “I need to find the exact location of Cheese, and we need to form a game plan!” Her head plopped back down. “Ugh… I wanna hurry but I’m getting tired…”
Applejack sat up next to her and rubbed her back. “S’alright, Sugarcube… you’ve been teleportin’ and castin’ cures a lot--remember what happened back in them Macintosh Hills? We probably need a rest before chargin’ in like a stampede.”
Twilight’s head popped up, and she jumped to sitting position. “It’s not alright! I don’t know how long it’ll be until we lose him! And we’ll have to ask the Map again, and poof to that city, and take even longer to cure everypony--especially our loved ones!”
Fluttershy had hovered from her spot to beside Twilight. “Still worried about Shining Armor and Cadance?”
Twilight whined like a dog. “He could have gotten to the Crystal Empire by now… not knowing what became of them is killing me!”
“We know, Twi,” Applejack said. “Us all havin’ families and friends bein’ caught in this plague… it’s mighty painful. We just need to remember that we can fix this in one fell swoop.”
Twilight took a deep breath, though she still held a deep frown. “Right. Gotta remember that.” She turned to where she remembered Tomato stood. “Now, Tomato, let’s go over…”
Her sentence died as she realized Tomato wasn’t in that spot, and her eyes trailed up to the dark shape of a lanky stallion, staring over the hill and across the river to the city. A cold wind blew through his fur and tousled his mane, but that was nothing compared to what he must have been feeling looking at his hometown. Hearing the chirps and screeches of the vampires, and the howls and barks of the werewolves, some of whom may have been ponies he knew, and wondering if he could have somehow prevented this.
On some level, Twilight had an idea of what he felt. They had all felt it between Appleloosa, Canterlot, Cloudsdale, and Ponyville. She stood up, and walked to his side. Closer to him now, she could see the weary, sullen face he held.
She took a breath. “I guess it’s come to this… fighting for your hometown. I’m sorry that it ended up this way.”
Tomato glanced at her. “We’re fighting for yours, too.” He sighed. “It’s strange, really. I can’t really say that I have warm and fuzzy feelings towards this place, given how many jerks I grew up with, the crud I’ve been through, and the feeling of being alone in a crowd… but, it still hurts to see a familiar place just… destroyed by some madhorse with a vendetta. I grew up here; for some reason, it felt like it was indestructible. Now, just trying to imagine my former classmates, my neighbors… my parents…” He shuddered. “Just my brother was bad enough.”
Silk Shimmer came to his other side, watching some of the city’s lights flicker into pitch black. “I hope we aren’t too late, and they didn’t leave as soon as we showed up. Hopefully, he’s still in the middle of working on it, knowing how big this city is.”
Hearing that, Twilight cast the tracker spell, and the bubble expanded from where she stood all the way to the East River. With a smile, she nodded and said, “Yep, they’re still here. Perhaps he has to track the progress of the spell.”
Tomato’s eyes swept the entire island. “Or he’s just tired. He’s old and has been cursing water for the past few days now, after all.”
Silk Shimmer stifled laughter, while Twilight looked at him incredulously and shook her head. The princess said, “I’m sure he’s had some rest times between the cities.”
“Yeah, and now’s a rest time.”
“I thought you were the serious Sandwich.”
“I tried to be, but the humor in my blood is a little too strong.”
“Ugh… well, for whatever reason it is, I hope he sticks around long enough for us to stop him.”
They heard Rainbow whistle behind them. “Hey! Are we going to prepare for battle or what?”
The three looked at her and then back to each other.
Silk shrugged. “Well, we might as well sit in a circle and yammer on about an actual attack plan… hopefully this’ll go smoother than Las Pegasus.” She turned and trotted to the group.
Tomato noticed Twilight staring at him, expecting him to expand on Silk’s statement. “Uhh… I can’t remember much of Las Pegasus… all I remember is the part where Cheese almost went splat.”
“Oh, right, I think you said that at the trial.” Still, while the Las Pegasus would be the first comparison that came to mind, a smaller experience from the beginning of that summer came to Twilight’s mind. “But, this does kind of remind me of the vampire fruit bat thing when you and Cheese first stopped at Ponyville. Funny, we just dismissed you that day, because frankly, we didn’t think you’d be any help…”
She pursed her lips, staring at the memory necklace around Tomato’s neck. “And now... it doesn’t seem like we can stop this much bigger disaster without you.”
Tomato glanced down at the necklace, and took a deep breath. “Well… let’s just do it already. It can’t be any scarier than facing my mo--” He stopped, and his ears twitched. “Wait, did you hear that?”
Twilight blinked. “Hear what?”
“Hoofsteps. Someone else is here.”
“Wayer Rune’s in the city, so it can’t be him. So… who… or what--”
Before they could finish, a large lasso made of magic swung over the entire group of nine, and nabbed them like lightning. Tomato and Twilight, being the furthest away from the rest of them, had been rammed right into a couple of heads. The pain in Twilight’s broken wing shot through her spine, and she couldn’t hold in her cry. Everyone’s heads felt like pudding, and the dim landscape suddenly sparkled in their view. They were rotated slowly, so that each of them could look at the pony who had caught them.
It was a cloaked, middle-aged mare, whose colors they could not see in the dark, but the glow of magic on her horn did highlight a pair of stern, magenta eyes.
“How did you tourists get this far?!” she scolded. “The city is closed off! Neither me nor the officials want anypony in Manehattan right now, it’s having a major crisis!”
The ponies groaned and moaned from the sudden whiplash they had just received, but Twilight tried to sputter out, “Miss… listen… we…”
The mare shook her head. “Oh, don’t you ponies…” She paused to look at Little Strongheart. “...and buffalo, give me any excuses! The monsters in that city will tear you apart! I’m going to take you to my shelter right now!”
Twilight shook her head. “No, wait, we--”
And they were teleported elsewhere.
The next thing the group knew, they were in a spacious cave. The walls looked as if a giant mouth had bitten chunks out of the cave, though with the smooth cuts that suggested magical removal and some makeshift beds, benches, and lamps made from the removed rock. There was large opening in the ceiling, showing the eclipse in full view, with a pool of sparkling water right beneath it. All around them were ponies, clearly rescued from Manehattan, who had paused their respective conversations to see who the rescuer had brought. Not recognizing anyone in the new group, the refugees turned back to their companions and continued talking.
The ‘rescuer’ released them from her rope. “There. Hopefully I can find a spell or potion book to multiply my food supply…”
Tomato rubbed his head and looked up. He pointed to the opening. “Weird… I think I’ve seen that hole in the ceiling before--” His eyes drifted down to the pool. “--and that spring?” He looked around. “But… not in this cave?”
“Another cave?” Rarity groaned. “Haven’t we been in enough of those this past week?”
Rainbow shook herself out of her dazed state and shot into the air, barely missing the ceiling. “Hey! We were just about to go and rescue Manehattan, lady! Who do you think you are?”
“The magical hermit of this cave, who’s been running herself ragged rescuing Manehattanites since her last shopping trip,” the older mare sighed. “I made myself some magic candies to keep me going on full magic, but I’m running out of the ingredients for those, so I’m not sure how much longer I can do this.” She jabbed a hoof on Rainbow’s nose. “So count yourself lucky! Seriously, what makes you think you can save that town?!”
Twilight slipped through the group and emerged to face the mare. “Well, they have a princess on their side.”
The mare’s eyes widened. “Wait… a princess? And it’s that young one that looks kind of like me!”
Twilight paused to see that the mare did indeed look a lot like an older version of herself. Though she was still just a unicorn, her mane alternated between two tones of blue, and her eyes were magenta, there was still enough resemblance for her and the others to wonder if they were somehow related.
“Well… yes.” Twilight cleared her throat. “We were just making plans to track down the one responsible and foil his plans, but… you interrupted us.”
“Oh, and I didn’t let you explain! I’m so sorry, I didn’t notice that there was a princess in this posse, I just saw a couple of cowpokes--” She pointed to Applejack and Braeburn. “--and a buffalo--” She pointed to Little Strongheart. “--and their friends and thought, ‘Tourists’.”
“Oh, it’s all right,” Twilight said. “Though… I won’t lie, you’ve got some great magical skill. It could be a lot of help in stopping the madhorse doing this. So… what’s your name?”
“Name’s Destiny Star.”
Silk Shimmer was dusting off her hat, and her ear quirked at the sound of the name. “Wait, what? Where have I heard that name…?”
“Oh, there’s only so many words in the Equestrian language, dear,” Destiny replied to Silk. Then she turned back to Twilight and shook her hoof. “It would be nice to get these ponies back home, Your Highness, so that I don’t worry about somepony drinking from or falling into the Fountain right there.”
Twilight turned to the pool. “Fountain?”
Tomato shoved his way to the front to hear that, turned to the pool, and his eyes widened as it finally clicked. “Oooh! That’s why it feels familiar! That’s that Fountain of Youth thing that Cheese threw me in that one time!”
Destiny tilted her head. “Hm?”
Tomato looked around the chamber, noting the smoothly carved walls. “The remodeling really threw me off, because it looked like an actual cave before…”
Rainbow looked at the pool and gasped. “That’s the Fountain of Youth? Whoa! It’s just like it was in the new Daring Do book!”
“Oh, I can’t imagine why,” Rarity deadpanned.
Destiny narrowed her eyes at Tomato and scratched her chin. “Say… were you that little red baby I rescued? Huh, now that I think of it, your face looks awfully similar to that wild-maned brother of yours!” She laughed, scanning the tall stallion up and down. “Though, I think you might be a little more handsome.”
Braeburn leaned over to look at Tomato. “Wait, Cheese threw you in there and you turned into a young’n?” He snorted and started giggling. “Wow, how’d it feel to be a foal again?”
Tomato’s face turned redder than normal, and his head sunk into his collar. “I can’t remember. I was thrown in that pool one moment, and then suddenly on a Manehattan street the next, punching out Cheese for it!”
“Oh, don’t be ashamed, you weren’t the first one to take a dip,” Destiny said. She looked at the pool, briefly skimming the edges to make sure nopony was too close. “You were only number two out of three this summer. The first was an intrepid explorer who was pushed in during a scuffle.”
Tomato heard Rainbow squeal at that, and glanced back to see her hovering over her friends with a knowing expression. Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy just wearily nodded, getting her silent message of… whatever it was. Was it similar to that Daring Do book? Whatever it was, that reaction seemed a little disrespectful to him.
Destiny continued, “And number three was a geology student exploring the cave just last week, thinking that it was a good place to take a bath. Thankfully, she’s a pleasant guest no matter the age, even if she’s a little odd. I was getting some food to restock her supply for her trip, but that’s when disaster struck. She helped me carve this cave for the refugees safely.” She stood on her tiptoes to look over the group. “Speaking of whom, here she is now!”
Everyone in the group whirled around to face Destiny’s helper, who had just walked through the clearest route through the crowd. Gray as a rock, with shoulder-length purple hair and a slate blue frock, she stared at the group with the stoniest stare that Tomato had ever seen.
“Maud?” Rarity asked.
Maud’s eyes just flicked to Twilight and each of her friends. “Hey.” She just marched past them and to Destiny. “I marked the spots where it’s safest to carve.”
“Oh, thank you, Maud,” Destiny said. “Though, we have Princess Twilight here, so this crisis should hopefully be averted soon.”
“I noticed them. They’re my sister’s friends.”
“Oh, really? Wow, what a coincidence!”
Her sister’s friends? Tomato glanced at Twilight and the others, noting the increasing dread on their faces. That dread, the lack of resemblance between Maud and any of those ponies, and the memory of meeting Pinkie’s mostly gray family in Nickerlite, had him coming to the realization: This was Pinkie’s sister, and they were going to have to tell her what happened to Pinkie.
He gulped. He had to tell himself that no matter how scary this mare was--and she was plenty scary, since he couldn’t read her--it couldn’t be any worse than telling Cheese in the Mind Realm.
Maud then turned around to face the group. She glanced at the extra ponies and buffalo that they had brought--Tomato’s heart skipped a beat at that stare--and then went back to the main mares. After a good, long minute of examining the group, she finally asked the question, “Where’s Pinkie?”
And the mares froze again, looking at each other in a panic. Oh, how they wanted that other girl to spill the beans. Tomato could see them nudging each other, Fluttershy trying to hide behind the others, Rainbow pushing Applejack to bear the bad news, Rarity not wanting to look Maud in the eye, and Twilight looking down, probably thinking of what to say. All while Maud just bore into them with her stoic stare.
Tomato looked at the memory necklace he wore, and sighed. “Hey, girls? Why don’t I just tell her?”
Maud turned to him, the stare giving him a chill. The other girls just looked at him with quirked eyebrows.
“No offense, Tomato, but Maud don’t know you,” Applejack said.
“I know, I know… but, uh…” He noticed Maud’s stare again, and he instinctively leaned back. “Sibling of a party pony to sibling of a party pony? Brings a unique perspective, methinks.”
While most in the group rolled their eyes, Maud just blinked. “Fair enough. I’m listening.”
He had no idea how that worked, but at least he managed to find a little common ground with her. Hopefully, how he said this would keep her from wanting to kill Cheese over biting her sister. “So… Miss… Maud, was it? Okay, Maud, the name’s Tomato Sandwich, nice to meet you, I’m brother of Cheese Sandwich… Pinkie told you about him, right?”
“Yes,” Maud said.
“Okay, I’m an acquaintance of your sister because of that.” He cleared his throat. “You know the big werewolf and vampire crisis in Manehattan right now?”
Maud gave him a curt nod.
“Eeyeah… it started because some wackadoo from last millenium stole my brother’s memories and turned him into a werewolf. And he, in turn, bit other ponies and turned them into werewolves. I’m afraid that Pinkie was one of them.”
Maud blinked, and turned to Twilight and the others. “Is this true?”
Twilight hung her head. “Yes, it’s true. We were trying to help him, but we were fought every step of the way by that warlock, and he took her. He even set a trap so we couldn’t rescue them, and stop him from striking several cities.”
Destiny had a hoof to her mouth. “Oh, no… it really was him...”
Fluttershy hovered toward them, holding the necklace of Pinkie’s memories up to Maud’s face. “She lost her memories when the curse kicked in. We hope we can return them to her as soon as we can.”
Maud touched the glowing blue beads, and watched as they played images of days past, from she and Pinkie making rock candy necklaces, to ice skating on a pony, to a “water” party--a tea party but with water--with the two of them, their sisters, a pet rock, and Gummy the alligator. Her face did not change, so Tomato had to guess that yes, she was sad.
Tomato held up his own memory necklace. “I know. You hate to see her reduced to those… I have my brother right here. But, we’re going to restore them, because I want my brother back as much as you want your sister back. It… might take a little fighting to get there, though.”
Maud looked at the memories Tomato held, looking at the images of him and Cheese having their own bonding moments. She looked up at him, and said, with a slight growl in her voice, “I’m ready to help take this monster down.”
Destiny stepped forward, with a sad smile. “As am I… so, Princess Twilight, shall we draw up a plan?”
Twilight smiled. “As a matter of fact, we should probably get you two up to speed first. Because, well, this monster, his name is--”
“Wayer Rune.”
Twilight blinked. “Well… yes… how’d you know?”
“I saw him earlier. I don’t know if he saw me, or if he did, he recognized me… but for me, but it’s hard to forget your own father’s face.”
While the others froze at that revelation, Silk jumped. “Holy mother of eek! That’s why that name sounded familiar!” She paused when everyone turned to look at her, silently inquiring of her knowledge on the subject. “What? I was told the story of Wayer Rune as a kid, of course I know stuff like that! Just… needed a little jog of the memory.”
Destiny looked at Silk quizzically. “I had no idea they still told his story.”
Silk fiddled with her braid. “Well… I was only told because I’m descended from the guy, and it was a warning not to mess with dark magic.”
Destiny lit up and jumped to her. “Ooh, my relative! Tell me, out of me and my siblings, who are you descended from?”
Silk held her hooves up and grinned sheepishly. “Silver Rune?”
“Oh, my eldest brother!” Destiny took a deep breath, her eyes now focusing somewhere in space as she reminisced. “He was such a good stallion, and had he not been brave enough to tell Celestia of our father’s wicked deeds, who knows how far that first plague would have gone? After father was banished and mother died, he was my magic teacher. I have to say, it’s awfully nice to meet his descendant; you’re like a pretty little porcelain doll, and I can tell that you’re so sweet.”
“Well, I’m not as fragile as a porcelain doll, but thank you.” She tilted her head. “Why are you still alive?”
“Been busy guarding that.” Destiny pointed to the Fountain, her tone dripping with disgust. “Darn Fountain can keep a pony alive for centuries with frequent drinks, but it has killed unsuspecting swimmers by regressing them into nothing. Somepony has to keep that from happening! I’ve rescued plenty of ponies out of that thing for centuries, though I wish it’d just go away so I don’t have to deal with it anymore and finally die in peace.”
“Can we get back on track?” Twilight asked. “We could lose him at any moment.”
“Oh, right,” Destiny said. She looked at Tomato. “So, I get the sense that you’re the main crutch of this plan, huh? Memories are what ultimately separated pony from beast; without those, the werewolves were just animals, killing without remorse.”
“I take issue with using ‘animals’ as a synonym for ‘monsters’,” Fluttershy huffed.
Destiny glanced at her. “I’m sorry, dear, I’ll try to think of other words.”
Tomato looked at the memories, and nodded. “Well… yeah, I’m the VIP here. Right now, I’m the only one that can carry these. Need to return these to Cheese to stop all the madness.”
Destiny frowned, and turned to Twilight. “Dear, what did he do to the spell that makes the memories that important?”
Twilight began, “Well…”
Suddenly, a voice familiar to Tomato echoed, “Oh, my gosh!”
All had barely turned to the direction the voice came from, which was just across the Fountain, when a gray blur zipped above the water and right at Tomato. The stallion found himself hoisted up in a quick toss, and caught by a bear hug that could only belong to one pegasus.
“Tomato!” Nimbus shouted. “I can’t believe it! It’s so good to find another friend in this crazy time! Let me tell you, I’ve had a really bad day… night… week… whatever!”
Tomato managed to loosen the grip on himself just enough to breathe. “Nimbus! It’s… ack! It’s good to see you, too. Where’s Cirrus?”
Nimbus frowned, and looked him straight in the face with a pained look. Before he could answer, however, they heard someone calling Nimbus’ name, and looked to the voice’s source. And sure enough, just a few steps short of the Fountain, there was Flora, waving and calling Nimbus down. The very sight of her made Tomato’s mouth automatically perk up into a smile.
Nimbus held Tomato further out for her to see. “Hey! Look who’s here!”
On seeing Tomato wave, Flora’s face lit up. “Tomato? Nimbus, bring him down here so I can say hi!”
“Will do!”
As Nimbus readied to take him across, Tomato shouted to the group, “Uh, excuse me, I’ve got a little friendly reunion! You guys keep bringing them up to speed, I’ll be right back!”
As Tomato was being kidnapped, they just stared up for a few seconds before several ponies sighed.
“Well, it’d be rude to not let him catch up with his friends,” Fluttershy said.
“I bet they’re gonna end up helpin’ us too,” Applejack said.
“Hey, the more the merrier,” Braeburn said.
Twilight rubbed a temple. “Well, when we need him, we can locate the memories he’s holding and grab him then. In the meantime, let’s get Destiny and Maud all caught up.”
Tomato found himself unable to be angry when Nimbus practically tossed him into Flora, hard enough for the two to roll in a ball about a dozen meters on the cold cave floor. Everypony else saw Twilight as the bright spot in a bleak time, and he didn’t fault them for it; but for him, it was Flora, bright enough that his anger, fear, and weariness had evaporated, even for a moment. A floor of stone was hard on a pony’s back, but he didn’t care; this good friend of his was with him, bringing comfort just with her presence--this time, instead of a mind projection, this was the real thing.
It was a few cycles until they finally unrolled, Tomato finding himself right over Flora, the two locking eyes for a few moments more. Once he realized that was happening, a blushing Tomato scrambled off, and let her sit up, mumbling, “Sorry, that wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Of course, she then threw herself into a hug with him, something Tomato gladly returned.
Once they broke the hug, Tomato asked, “What are you doing here?”
Flora raised an eyebrow. “We’re about to start another semester… well, we were, but the apocalypse is upon us. My train was stopped at the station before Manehattan.” She glanced to where Tomato had been before and counted the ponies there. “Where’s Cheese?”
Before Tomato could answer, Nimbus glided over and landed by them. “Cirrus and I were on our way when the eclipse happened, and after we made it to Manehattan and got a bite to eat, ponies started growing bat wings and fangs and also some turning into weird dog things… and they attacked anypony who didn’t turn into some weird monster!” He flailed his front legs, and started throwing soft punches in the air. “I lost count of how many jabs and crosses and hooks and uppercuts I threw before the weird unicorn lady grabbed me and teleported me here!”
“Figures that Manehattan would just keep going, even with an unscheduled eclipse.” Tomato deadpanned. He returned his attention to Nimbus with concern. “What happened to Cirrus?”
Nimbus slumped forward, his wings and ears drooping. “One of the dog things jumped her and chomped on her wing. I grabbed the thing and chucked it away, and I was gonna take her to a hospital…” He snorted, glanced at Destiny across the Fountain, and growled through his teeth. “But weird unicorn lady took me, and not her! I can’t believe she left my sister to fend for herself with an injured wing!”
Tomato grimaced. “Oooh… uh, Nimbus, you know what werewolves are, right?”
Nimbus scoffed. “Yeah, that old Nightmare Night tale, what does that have to do with--” His eyes widened in realization, and his mouth took on an O shape. It wasn’t long before he started to pull on his ears. “Oh, no no no no! My sister can’t be that!”
Flora pursed her lips, rubbing her left temple. “Well, if vampires happened in Las Pegasus, I guess both that and werewolves can happen in Manehattan. I hope Bluejinx didn’t get there first.”
“Haven’t seen him?” Tomato asked.
Flora shook her head.
Tomato fell back like he had been punched in the chest, nearly lying down, but caught himself. “Aw, man, and I was hoping that all of you could have been spared. It was bad enough that I had to witness the beginning of this madness with Cheese’s transformation, I didn’t want to lose any of my friends!”
Flora’s eyes widened. “Wait, you mean… Cheese is patient zero?”
Nimbus’ jaw went slack. “....huh?! But… what… how?!”
Before Tomato could explain, someone from above hollered, “Aha! So that’s why our senses went off!”
Tomato flinched at the sudden random voice from above, and looked up to see a trio of ponies clinging on to large stalactites. A stallion of yellow, a stallion of blue, and a mare of cream looked down at them, and then proceeded to leap off. The mare used her teal, pink polka-dotted cape as a parachute, the blue stallion pulled a balloon from behind his back and inflated it to cushion his fall, and the yellow guy just smacked face first on the floor. But, he got up just fine, and the other two landed just behind him.
Flora wasn’t impressed. “Bananas, you show-off.”
Bananas raised an eyebrow. “Tell that to these two, they did the tricks.”
“Get good, you crazy fruit!” the mare, Comedy Gold, shouted.
Nimbus turned to Tomato. “Oh, hey, have you met Flora’s brother yet?”
Tomato’s eye twitched. “Are you kidding? I met all three of these guys! And Flora, why didn’t you mention that your brother was here?”
“I was going to,” Flora deadpanned. “Bananas followed my train by balloon, and then the other two just popped out of nowhere. They’ve been going around the cave, keeping spirits up for the past few days.”
The blue one, Party Favor, waved at him. “Hi, Tomato! I know that you weren’t really expecting me here… granted, I wasn’t expecting you either, but when you get a weird dream from your big-number-great-grandma that tells you that something’s wrong in the order of things, and you need to help fix it… well, gotta listen, you know?”
“Uh, okay,” Tomato said. “It’s still really nice to see you again, Party Favor. Is the town doing well?”
Party Favor nodded. “Railroad’s done, ski resort’s getting built… and quite a few ponies came to see the ‘balloon wizard’!” He giggled and winked. “It’s… weird, getting some attention that’s, well, positive.”
“Good to hear!” Tomato looked at Goldie. “And it looks like you finally healed.”
Goldie nodded and waved a hoof. “Psht, yeah, I’m a fast healer if you don’t baby me. Good thing, too, ‘cause Goldie Sense was really chewing my flank the past few days! It was telling me that we’re down two party ponies!”
Bananas sat down and looked straight at Tomato. “And Banana Sense told me the same thing. So, Tomato, since you know what’s going on, give us the details.”
Flora pulled him out of Tomato’s face. “Bananas, don’t be aggressive, he was going to tell us anyway.”
“Well, yeah,” Tomato held the memory necklace up. “So, something awful happened to Cheese.”
“He turned into a necklace?!” Goldie shouted in disbelief. She leaned forward to poke it, and was promptly zapped. “Ow! An electric necklace, too!”
“Wow, he kind of matches Flora’s,” Nimbus said, looking between the memory necklace and Flora’s magenta beads. “Flora’s just needs to glow, and it’d be like… a watermelon glow.”
“If he’s electric now, how are you not getting shocked?” Party Favor asked.
Tomato chewed the inside of his cheek for a bit and snorted. “No, this is his mind… memories… whatever, we keep conflating those. As for why I’m not getting shocked, I think it’s a matter of trust, really. Somepony that he loves, and knows for sure he can count on to carry him.”
Party Favor blinked. “Mind-memory things? Oooh, I think I know what you’re getting at.”
Bananas looked at his sister. “It’s like those orbs at the family history library… except, Cheese is still alive! Wait, is he?”
“Well, the library’s instructions of handling memories do say that the living ones zap you, unless the pony is worthy or a powerful magic user,” Flora said. She turned her attention to Tomato, brow creased in worry. “What happened to him?”
“Well… he is alive, but right now he’s an amnesiac werewolf.” He looked at the beads, the memories running around in them, and sighed. He looked at Party Favor. “Ever since we were at your town, there was this sorcerer, who was convincing Cheese to let him take his memories…”
Once again, Tomato told the tale of how the disaster came to be. From the first incidents of Cheese’s headaches to when he learned the why of those headaches, and from the first signs of doglike aggression to the moment of transformation, Tomato just spoke, gauging their reactions. Nimbus winced in realization of why Cheese hadn’t been doing so good at the Crystal Empire. Party Favor was getting more pained as the tale went on, especially at the revelation that it was his ancestor’s doing and the part where Cheese tore into Kazam. Bananas and Flora looked at each other, their minds on his freak out in Salt Lick City. And Goldie was just shocked, trying to process Cheese Sandwich, a fellow party pony who tried to save her from kidnapping and exploitation, as a monster.
“...and… I feel like I could have done something to stop it sooner,” Tomato said, looking at the ground. “But I got so worried about setting Cheese off after Las Pegasus, I just kept quiet and let him avoid it.” He brushed his hoof over the beads. “I don’t really know why I’m worthy of carrying these, and… I’m kind of... scared of what could go wrong in town.”
A moment of silence between the group passed, allowing them to let it sink in. Then, Flora reached forward and put her hoof on his.
“Tomato, I don’t fault you for being afraid in your position,” she said. She tilted her head towards her brother. “If Bananas was in the same position Cheese is, and I had your burden, I sure would be scared.”
Tomato scoffed. “You wouldn’t let it happen, you’re Little Miss Easing-Whoever’s-Distress-Comes-Your-Way. Didn’t you help him emotionally recover from a terrible accident?”
Flora shrugged. “Well, I did all a kid could do.”
“And then some,” Bananas chimed in. “You earned your cutie mark from it, remember?”
Flora hummed, drumming her hooves on the cave floor. “Regardless, conversations between the two of you would have helped the both of you process what happened in Las Pegasus and move forward. But, here we are.”
Tomato snorted. “Yeah, it’s too late for conversations now.”
Flora chuckled. “Don’t worry, it’s not. He might act all independent and such, but things like this are why we need good friends, and a brother can be one of the best a pony could have. We might have to get Cheese back to normal first, but you must be willing to talk, listen, and support him any way you can. You can’t read his mind…” She made a motion to touch the necklace, but stopped when remembering that it wasn’t a good idea to do so, and drew back. “But, I can see he loves you, trusts you… but most of all, he needs you. You’re worthy to help him carry this burden.”
Tomato still wondered what made him worthy. His mind drifted to the Mind Realm, hoping that the answer was there; all he could think of were the final words that Cheese said before they got out of the realm:
"Tommy... you need to know that I'm proud of you."
But why? Thinking over his accomplishments over the summer once again, he pondered on how most of them weren’t really things a party pony would care about. Even the parties he was involved in had him being more behind the scenes managing, negotiating, or checking funds. All Tomato was doing was just helping in a way that his talents allowed.
And yet, Cheese was proud of him.
“Well… if you say so.” Tomato rose to his hooves. Everypony else followed suit. Then, he turned around, and said while looking back, “Well, I need to get back with those guys over there. Last we checked, Cheese was in Manehattan.”
Nimbus jumped up. “If you’re gonna fight, I’m in! No way I’m gonna sit this out while my sister’s still there!”
“Mine too!” Goldie said. “Not to mention my brother-in-law and nephew! Mr. Crazy Warlock Guy’s gonna pay for hurting them!”
“And you’re not gonna leave me out,” Flora said with a smirk. “It’d be a crime to leave this master butt-whooper out of the action.”
“And I’m here to backup my sister!” Bananas chirped.
Party Favor rubbed his leg. “It is my ancestor causing the problem…” He looked up at his horn, and then to his hooves. “I’m not a fantastic sorcerer, but I hope you don’t mind having a good Rune on your side.”
Tomato chuckled. “Well… two, actually, your sister’s here.”
Party Favor jumped at that statement. “Wait, what?! Silk Shimmer?” He stood on his tiptoes to look over the chattering groups of ponies to try to spot her. “What’s she doing here?”
“We… uh… picked her up in Canterlot. She volunteered to help.”
Goldie raised an eyebrow. “Does anyone else have sisters involved?”
“Well, there is Maud over there…” Tomato mumbled. He took a deep breath. “It’s going to be pretty dangerous, guys. One bite from either and you’ll completely lose your equinity and forget everything. Are you sure you guys want to come?”
Flora stepped to the front of the group, a warm smile on her face. “Tomato, we’re your friends. No matter what, we’re all behind you.”
A part of him did want them to stay behind in order to stay safe; but, at the same time, he knew he needed them. Even though it hurt to know that Cirrus was a victim in Manehattan, and nopony knew where Bluejinx was, what Tomato did have was good to have behind him. Nimbus was strong and could throw mean boxing punches; Flora was a proficient martial artist, having a way of placing jabs and kicks in just the right spots to take anypony down; and the other three were party ponies--they were guaranteed to have some crazy stunts under their belts. They, along with the others, could keep the many monsters of Manehattan at bay.
“Thanks, guys, you’ll be a lot of help. Just try to be careful.” He started walking across the chamber, still looking back at them. “Now, let’s get back to the main group so we can pitch in on that battle plan.”
Just as they started to follow, a pony stepped out in front of Tomato. He bumped into this other pony, and was ready to complain to them about watching where they were going. But on taking one look at that pony, he staggered back, he held his tongue, and he could feel the color drain from his face.
Of all ponies to bump into during this crisis, it had to be her.
Knowing that he was likely in trouble, his head sank into the collar of his shirt. “Hi, Mom.”
Mozzarella tapped her hoof. “Tomato… did you just suggest leading ponies in a charge against those beasts?”
She practically bit him with those words, making him seem like some bloodthirsty warmonger. There was a strange relief in seeing her as not a vampire or werewolf, but being either one of those beasts would make her less imposing. As a pony, she still held memories of the majority of Tomato’s mishaps and wrongdoings, and would wield those like a whip. Remembering their last talk, his mind screamed about how not ready he was to face her again.
Mozzarella rubbed one of her temples. “Of all the stupid, reckless ideas that entered your brain, this has to be the worst yet!” She gestured to the ponies behind Tomato. “Do any of those ponies look like soldiers to you? Or even remotely combat ready?!”
Tomato hated that she sounded rational this time around. If it was Flora facing her parents, they’d probably say the same. Already, he felt like he was losing.
Flora piped up, “Hey, I’ve beaten up thugs who harassed us! And I kicked a mountain lion in the face once.”
Goldie laughed. “I like you!”
Mozzarella gave her a funny look, and then looked down at Tomato. “Why do you make such weird friends? Why are none of them questioning your inane plan to face off against several million monsters that infest the city?!”
“It’s not really my plan… it’s Princess Twilight’s,” Tomato answered. He touched the necklace. “See, I have to go because this necklace is the key to stopping it quickly; I just need some allies to keep the monsters from killing me as I return the memories to the alpha wolf.”
Mozzarella blinked. “You can’t be serious. How would you even know Princess Twilight?” She reached forward and grabbed the necklace. “And how is this supposed to--ouch!”
After sparks popped from the necklace and she quaked for a few moments, she staggered back and shook her hoof, gritting her teeth. Smoke wisped from where she had grabbed, carrying a smell of singed flesh.
Tomato grimaced at the sight, but at least she couldn’t just snap the memories off his neck. Still, he couldn’t help but murmur to the necklace, “Cheese, be nice.”
Mozzarella’s ears perked on hearing that. “Did you just call the necklace ‘Cheese’?” She straightened back up to her stiff, towering stance. “And speaking of Cheese… where is he? I need to have a talk with him about his courtroom incident.”
A inward tremor ran through Tomato’s body on hearing that. How fast did the news of Kazam’s trial spread? How much detail about him and Cheese had been displayed on newsprint? And as the glare deepened, Tomato felt himself sinking over the realization that reading about their involvement in the trail meant that their mother was now aware of their involvement in Las Pegasus.
She grabbed him by the ear and dragged him aside, slipping between ponies in the process. Weaving between ponies and squeezing between groups, there was this sense that she was taking him to a private room, where a punishment no doubt lay. He felt an urge to cover his rump, half expecting a spanking.
There was a little “room” of sorts that she dragged him to, with a lower ceiling than the rest of the chamber and somewhat isolated from the crowd. She planted him on one of the rocks that lay in it, and drew back only for her predatory back and forth pacing to begin.
“It seems awfully convenient for you that ponies remember the perpetrator’s name better than the victims’,” she started. “The news plastered with Kazam this, Kazam that, wailing about how he terrorized the city of Las Pegasus with his insane vampire spell! But, they barely mention who his first victim was, usually referring to him as an ‘assistant’, and just have him get lost in the hundreds of others that got bewitched. Imagine my horror to find out that not only were both my sons involved, but that that first victim was you.”
Tomato’s head sank into his collar. “Mom, I didn’t know that he--”
“Yeah, sure, you didn’t know. But it’s clear proof that sneaking off to spend the summer with your wayward brother was a terrible idea!” She stomped her hoof, with an echo that nearly sent Tomato falling back. “How can you be so naive?! You could have spent your summer safe at home, away from any bad influences, and certainly not subject to your brother’s irresponsibility. If I had known that he’d leave you with some random pony, and frolic off to his stupid parties, I’d have locked you in the house, and just banned Cheese from ever coming back! If his assault on Kazam is any indication, he can’t control himself! And that’s poison to you, a boy who still struggles with self-control!”
Tomato nearly jumped off the rock, but his hooves clung on as his neck stretched forward. “Excuse me?! And just how do you know he’s ‘irresponsible’? Because of what happened in Las Pegasus? Well, gee, how could anyone have known the vampire thing was coming besides some heebie-jeebies we got from the creepy Kazam? Cheese almost got killed trying to clean up the mess and save me, and you have the gall to blame him for not preventing it?!”
Mozzarella was unmoved. “Believe me, I’ve known a lot of party animals in my teenage years. Some of the dumbest, hedonistic spoiled brats just ill-prepared for the world. Are you seriously defending that kind of pony?”
Tomato stood up. “I’m not. I’m defending a pony who dedicated his life to spreading joy. I’m defending a pony who puts so much effort into making his parties fun for all ages, not just stupid teenagers. I’m defending a pony who is actually concerned for others’ health and safety, mine especially! And I’m definitely defending the one member of my immediate family who actually gives a crap about who I am, not what I am. You hardly know who he--may I remind you, your eldest son!--is, and you don’t even bother to try because of your stupid preconceptions!”
Mozzarella blinked, but her dull glare fell into a deeper scowl. She started to walk forward, driving Tomato back. “Even if Cheese is as responsible as you claim, which I highly doubt, that doesn’t change the fact that you have a knack for stupid situations! How do I know Las Pegasus isn’t the only disaster you’ve been in? How do I know that you and Cheese didn’t cause the current situation in Manehattan? Did your so-called responsible brother get himself bitten or did he drink the water? Or should we take it a step further and say he brewed it in a coffee, like what happened with your unsuspecting father?” She pointed to the necklace. “And you think you can stop it quickly with a magic necklace?! What makes you the supposed ‘Chosen One’ to stop that madness?!”
Tomato shrunk a little. “Well… uh… let’s just say that the owner of these memories is the one who… chose me, only by way of actually letting me carry them. See, this pony loves and trusts me enough to know I’d go through Tartarus to return them to him. If I return them, he remembers, everypony else remembers, the day is saved!”
Mozzarella gave him a funny look, looked down at the memory necklace to stare at it for a bit, and on seeing familiar images of two familiar colts, and then her eyes widened as it clicked. “You can’t seriously be the only one he trusts, can you?”
Tomato rubbed the back of his head. “No, but he bit the only other pony I know he’d let carry them.”
She narrowed her eyes, and marched forward again to make Tomato shrink. “Tomato, even disregarding everything else about him, Cheese is an absolute fool for trusting you of all ponies! You can’t take care of yourself, much less others! You just make everypony’s life hard with your impulses! The fights, the outbursts, the near-death situations, the coffee incidents…”
Then she pointed at Tomato’s cutie mark. “And of course, the ridiculous cartoon magic that doesn’t fit your cutie mark at all! Why couldn’t I have a foal who didn’t have that magic? Why couldn’t you be what a businesspony should be? Why couldn’t you be normal? Do you not understand that the world does not care about your feelings and would just see you as a monster? If it wasn’t for me, you’d be rotting in jail with no hope for your future because nopony wants to associate with a freak!”
Tomato had just about enough. He reared up to startle her into backing off, and then landed back on all fours with a resounding thud. Standing erect, he marched forward himself, now realizing that he was actually taller than his mother.
“Mother… don’t you think I know the world doesn’t care about my feelings? Let me tell you, I do know; and that’s why I needed somepony at home to care! Don’t you think I needed some affection from you? Don’t you think I needed some comfort after I had a hard day full of bullies, or one of my mishaps, or even stressing out over a missed assignment? Don’t you think I needed some actual advice to navigate a problem instead of being told to just ‘work harder’, or just grounding me every time I get a bad grade or do a bad thing?
“And speaking of bad things, why is your definition of ‘bad’ so broad? You always told me, ‘don’t sing’, ‘don’t play hacky-sack’, ‘don’t work in fast food’, ‘don’t take that elective’, ‘don’t roughhouse with the other colts’, ‘don’t go to parties’, ‘don’t cook anything’... might as well just say I shouldn’t do anything outside of reading, academics, and business… you know, what you think a businesspony should be. Is there some unspoken rule that a pony can’t have harmless hobbies outside of their special talent? What, are you afraid that my cutie mark would change? It’s not going to change, all you did was cripple me to the point where I have no idea what business I should go into because whatever I do might displease you!”
Mozzarella pursed her lips. “Tomato, you’re being ridiculous! All I’m doing is trying to protect you, and make sure that you’re the responsible stallion you should be instead of some spoiled brat.”
Tomato snorted. “Controlling my life doesn’t make me responsible on any level, and giving me basic affection is not spoiling me! You think I survived all the crud on this vacation on my own? No, I survived because Cheese cared. I stuck through my teenage years because Bluejinx cared. College was only not a waste of time because Flora, Cirrus, and Nimbus cared. But you? You only cared for me as an extension of yourself!”
Mozzarella was taken aback by that statement. “How dare you make that accusation! I care for you because you’re my son, and it’d benefit you more to actually try to live up to your talent and make a name for yourself.”
“That shouldn’t involve metaphorically beating everything that’s not you out of me! Is the whole package not good enough for you? Why do you insist on keeping me on a leash and pushing me to your agenda? Wouldn’t it actually benefit me more to explore my business options so I really know what I want to do with my life? Self-discovery is how cutie marks come to be; I know I didn’t earn my cutie mark your way, I earned it my way.”
“Oh, please,” Mozzarella said, waving a hoof. “You wouldn’t even have earned your mark in the first place if I didn’t convince you to participate in that fundraiser. Are you saying that I should have just let you do whatever you want like so many other parents in the neighborhood did? I think that brother of your former friend went to jail because his mother was a careless floozy that thought foals could regulate themselves; do you honestly think you wouldn’t have ended up like that?”
Tomato smacked his forehead. “Mom, I’m not saying that my life should have been rule free!” He slid his hoof down his face, stretching his cheek until it snapped back upon release. “Look… I found out what happened to Aunt Honeydew.”
Mozzarella blinked, her hard features softening for once. “What? But how--”
“I don’t know, it was coincidence. I will concede that you were right about her, that she was an irresponsible, spoiled brat. From what her husband told me, her lax parenting turned her son into a stuck-up pain in the butt that let animals ransack a town because ‘rules are oppressive’, and nearly killed her daughter because she wasn’t taught how to be careful. I do know how dangerous overly lax parenting is, but just because Aunt Honeydew was wrong doesn’t make your dictatorship right.”
Mozzarella sighed. “Sounds just like her to parent like that. From the way you’re talking, it sounds like one of those animals must have killed her because she trusted nature too much.”
“Actually she died giving birth to twins. One of them survived, and she was lucky that her father could give her the boundaries that her siblings needed from the start. But, still, even if I needed boundaries to keep me from commiting crimes or killing myself, I also needed room to explore who I’m meant to be and become my best self. Mom, you were only hurting me in the long run, and it only really hit me when I stepped out of Manehattan and found myself utterly useless at the beginning of it.”
“Oh, I’m hurting you?” Mozzarella’s face was in her hard glare again. “No, I was trying to prevent another Honeydew situation! I wasn’t going to fall for any crocodile tears like my parents did, or let you be an idiot who mooches off others’ hard work! I wasn’t going to let you indulge in stupid fantasies that would turn you into some stuck-up brat that thinks everyone should bow to their whims and start crying when somepony disagrees! You think you can do better on your own? What could you possibly accomplish without any of my influence?!”
Tomato raised an eyebrow. “I may have been useless during the beginning of the summer, but not the entirety of it. I helped somepony start a business, I’ve helped ponies with debt, I ran a fundraiser, I convinced businessponies to build in struggling towns, giving hope for those towns’ recovery! And I’ve made a lot of friends, which is a good lesson on making business connections in the future--heck, I’ve probably made connections then! All of those without you around to nag me into shape! Clearly, I don’t need your help at being an adult.”
Mozzarella’s scowl deepened, and Tomato could hear her teeth grinding beneath that closed mouth. Then, she said, “So, you claim to be an adult now? I suppose age-wise that’s true, but you’re still one of the most immature--”
“Insulting me is not going to make me that perfect son you want!” Tomato snapped. “I’m not perfect; nopony is! Would it have killed you not to expect either me or Cheese to be so? Has it ever occured to you that maybe Cheese ran away because you put way too much pressure on an eleven-year-old, and my breaking his accordion was just the final straw? Will you ever realize that just because Grandma came from the Canterlot Elite doesn’t mean we have to act like them? News flash, we’re lower-class Manehattanites!”
Mozzarella growled before composing herself. “We don’t have to act like lower-class Manehattanites. I sure don’t want to prove your great-grandparents right by acting like the mongrels they called us.”
Tomato blinked at that statement, and took a deep breath. “Just because I don’t act like some Canterlot snob--or even Manehattan snob--doesn’t mean I’m an animal. And speaking of animals, there’s still a guy poofing around Equestria turning ponies into demon animals, so I need to go and fix that!”
“Tomato, that’s enough. You’re sounding like a bratty foal again.”
“No, I’ve been dealing with a lot of horseapples thanks to the current situation, and I don’t want your naggity nagginess getting in the way of saving my brother, my friends, my groups’ friends and families… oh, yeah, and your husband. Or do you just not care about him? Never really seen anything but the occasional argument between you two.”
“Tomato, just hoof that necklace over to somepony else and let them take care of it; you’re not cut out to save the city!”
“Maybe I’m not cut out, but I’m the one who can hold them without getting shocked or magic-drained. Should I take this up with the Princess of Friendship?”
“This does not need a princess to intervene.”
“It does if you’re prolonging a national emergency!”
“Well, considering that Cheese’s memories are needed to stop this, maybe it could have been prevented if neither of you were so stupid!”
“Oh, blame us instead of the sorcerer who took advantage of him? How would you like it if I played the long-term blame game and said that you were ultimately responsible for Cheese being reduced to this necklace of memories? After all, maybe if you had been a kinder and more supporting parent--”
Mozzarella wound up her front hoof. “Stop suggesting that I’m a bad mother!”
Like lightning, the hoof flung itself across Tomato’s face. The slap echoed like a clap of thunder, and it felt like a meteor impact. He nearly stumbled to the ground, but caught himself. Still, his cheek stung and throbbed, and he caressed it to make sure it wasn’t swelling.
He looked up at his mother, with a lump in his throat and his eyes welling up. His heart crumbled, leaving behind only a cold, empty feeling toward her. There was no more energy to even try to reach her after that.
He noticed from the corner of his eye his friends, gaping with either hooves to mouths or slack jaws at the sight, and some bystanders who curiously looked on, wincing at what they just witness. And looking forward, he could see the dawning look of horror in her eyes, as she froze in her post-slap stance.
Tomato stood erect and held his composure. “So… I guess it was only a matter of time before you resorted to that.”
Mozzarella slowly put the offending hoof down.
He pursed his lips and sighed. “You know what? I’m done. I don’t care what you say anymore; it’s my life, and I’m going to live it on my terms.”
He turned around, and walked out of that smaller shelter, moving toward and then past his friends and the party ponies. “You can go on with your life; just leave me alone.”
As he left, and the others followed him, Mozzarella just sat on a rock, and held her face in her hooves.
Tomato was quiet while walking back to the main group, slumping forward in a somber manner. They just weaved around ponies and groups, the only conversation being held by said groups, with hardly a word being said between him and the five that accompanied him.
They were about halfway there when Flora trotted faster to get to his side. “Tomato, are you okay?”
Tomato took a breath. “I’m fine.”
Party Favor trotted closer as well. “You weren’t kidding when you told me your mom had no respect for you. My dad’s disappointed in me, but he never used words like that. Or slapped me.”
Nimbus hovered to him. “You need me to cheer you up, buddy? I can do an impersonation of dolphins, that gets everyone laughing.”
Tomato lightly chuckled at the thought. “Thanks, but no. I’m just… wondering if I did the right thing.”
“Honestly?” Flora said. “I think you did. There are just some ponies you need to break away from to heal and pursue a happy and healthy life. Sadly, sometimes those ponies are your parents. But, just know that we’re still behind you.”
Tomato glanced at her and smiled. “Well… I do have good family left--and not just the one I’m hoping to save. Some of them aren’t blood related, they just go to college with me and be my friends.”
Flora beamed at him, while Nimbus wiped his eye.
Tomato exhaled. “Okay, I want to get on with dealing with the crisis. Are you guys still in?”
A chorus of affirmations got him walking faster, as well as the others to keep up with him. It wasn’t very long before they passed the Fountain, and went on to find Twilight, her posse, and their allies cramped in a circle against the wall. It appeared that they had finished explaining the situation to Destiny and Maud, with the former being absent for some reason.
Tomato cleared his throat and announced, “Okay, we’re back.”
They all turned to him, and counted the allies he picked up. Fluttershy perked up and waved to Flora, and said, “Oh, hi, Flora! How have you been doing?”
“Oh, pretty good! My last semester was great!” Flora said, squeezing next to her. “How about you? Your animals doing good?”
“Oh, they’re as happy and healthy as ever,” Fluttershy said. “I even made some new friends.”
“Like a vampire bat?”
“Oh, I guess Tomato told you about…”
“Well, he had to bring us up to speed about this whole thing if we’re gonna help.”
Meanwhile, Silk Shimmer and Party Favor, once they spotted each other, had sprung to their hooves and jumped at each other in a hug. They laughed and squealed and bounced in a circle for a full minute before breaking apart.
“What are you doing here?!” Silk exclaimed.
“I had a dream telling me that we’re down two party ponies and I needed to come here to help save the day!” Party Favor said semi-seriously. He then grinned. “I also met these other two party ponies who sensed that same thing, and we’re gonna make this battle wild.”
Silk glanced at Bananas and Goldie waving. “Well… I guess some party ponies would be a lot of help. In Las Pegasus, Cheese Sandwich did do pretty well on his own with just an accordion. Just be sure to stay away from Wayer Rune.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I will. I’ll just fight with a balloon sword.”
“...okay.”
Twilight looked at the ponies Tomato brought, from Goldie getting fascinated with Maud, Bananas getting fascinated with Little Strongheart, and Nimbus flying around to find a place to sit. “Well, I’m glad that you guys are willing to help. Though, as soon as Destiny comes back out of her room, we’re going to take this outside so that there’s more room for all of us. I sure hope you have some skills that could help.”
“I can box!” Nimbus chirped.
“Plenty of martial arts,” Flora said.
“Party pony!” Goldie exclaimed.
“Same!” Party Favor and Bananas said.
Twilight nodded. “Well, all right, I guess we need our battle plan and we’re ready.”
Destiny came out of her room with a couple of bags to hear that. “Oh, I don’t know, Princess, are you sure this is enough ponies? We’d probably need an army to face all those vampires and werewolves, not just a rag tag team. Don’t you know anypony else who can help?”
Twilight rubbed her leg. “Well, my brother’s Captain of the Guard, and my sister-in-law is Princess of the Crystal Empire. Thing is, I fear Wayer Rune got to the Crystal Empire before now, and they could be under the spell. And even if they weren’t, it’s not like I can summon them!”
“Oh? How did you get to this area so fast again?”
Twilight sighed and pulled the spellbook out of her saddlebag. “This has alchemy circles, one of which we used for long distance teleportation. Why?”
Destiny peered at it. “Well… if I remember correctly, there is one in there that can summon allies from anywhere.”
Twilight grabbed the book and pulled it close. “Uh, that sounds tempting, but I’m a little worried about sending more ponies into danger. As a princess, I’m supposed to protect the citizens of Equestria, not just send them into battle against monsters!”
“Oh, I know. It’s just that I’m worried that a group this small would get whittled down too quickly for Tomato to do his job. Werewolves were designed to be smart and strong enough to take down minotaurs, and those vampires have air advantage. Do you know ponies who could defend against that?”
Rainbow Dash hovered to them. “Wait, there’s a summoning spell? Why not just summon Cheese and we can fix him here?”
“Uh, maybe we shouldn’t poof a werewolf in here,” Applejack said, pointing to the many other refugees in the cave.
Rainbow pouted at her, and then turned back to Destiny. “Okay, fix him outside?”
Destiny rubbed her chin. “Oh, that would be a good idea… if it didn’t have a failsafe that prevented any creatures full of dark magic from being summoned. Believe me, I’ve tried. Werewolves sadly fit that bill, so we still have to cure him the hard way.”
Party Favor looked up in alarm. “Why were you trying to summon demons?”
“To see if I could. I was a curious foal.” Destiny turned back to Twilight. “So…”
Twilight pursed her lips. “Well… each of us might know ponies who can help. Let’s continue this outside, I think some ponies are getting uncomfortable.”
Special thanks to Chromio for editing this chapter! 
I had a goal to get this done before February was over, and I made it with two days to spare! Yeesh, whenever I get a word count this high I feel like I'm overdoing it. 
Aw, well, I least I got to Tomato's Calling the Old Mare Out scene.
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Been waiting a long time for that inevitable argument; I gotta say, it was kind of a bittersweet satisfaction - Tomato made his own point about being more capable than he originally thought he was without his mother jerking his strings and Mozzarella fell on her own sword and proved she was no better a mother than her sister
You tell her, Tommy!
If you weren't a bad mother before, you are now, Mozzarella. Also, it should be lightning.
9481024
Fixed.
...Dang, that word hid from two pairs of eyes.
I was so excited when Tomato started calling Mozzarella out. What he says is true though, both extremes are really bad, you want to have just the right amount of rules.
Too bad Mozzarella didn’t listen.
Now the delayed Draconequus ex Machina can aarive and put things in order which is the opposite of what he usually does. Smooze can deal with the wolves and the bats might that be necessary.
It was at this moment, Mozzarella knew...she yayed up.
Calling the Old Mare Out was indeed very satisfying.
Nice to see at least most of Tomato's friends are (relatively) safe. I feel like Bluejinx is either going to come swooping in to save the day when all hope is lost, or literally come swooping in along with Cirrus to make things even worse at a pivotal moment--either way, very dramatic!
Man, that brutal confrontation with Mozzarella was a long time coming. I wonder if Cheese will be aware of this conversation what with his memories hanging around Tomato's neck?
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Anyway, I'm mostly just tolerating the latter, and basically just... not focus on it in any stories that I might write.
Well, I wrote this before Season 7, so it's not like I knew that tree was going to replace the hut, or that SugarMac was gonna be a thing.
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Sorry, I made up the very vague idea of the snapping turtle song, it's only a ditty in this storyverse. As for the other question... no, haven't seen Frozen 2 yet. I'm curious about it, though.
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Ah, I see. Umm, so, is there a limit on how "adult" a party pony is allowed to make his/her parties?
Party ponies, assemble!
Something I've been wanting to ask since Tommy and the Mane 6 started seeking to undo Wayer's damage. Did Twilight have to modify the cure spell so that the victims got their memories back? I'm assuming that she did because of what happened in Ponyville, but I just wanted to clarify.
Eeeeeeeeeek!!!
I can't wait for the next part!!!!!