Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

24.5--We Are All Gathered Here Today...

Once the posse and all its volunteers had been teleported out of the cave and to a nearby glade, Twilight and Destiny opened the book to the page of the summoning runes. As grass was swiftly cleared and the rune circle created, Twilight teleported to the outskirts of Manehattan and back, making sure that their quarry was still within the city limits. They were, but knowing that they could leave at any moment, the group started thinking of ponies who could be a big help in this endeavor.

Tomato and friends rested around a tree. He glanced at Flora, who was giggling over an inside joke with Bananas. I wonder if either she or Bananas is going to bring their father over here; he is in the military, so he’d be a big help. His eyes drifted up to Nimbus in the tree. Would he summon his ex-Wonderbolt parents? Or does he want to spare them the news of what happened to Cirrus?

He looked away from them and down at the grass. I met a lot of ponies during the trip; who could I summon to help?

As Destiny put the final touches on the circle, Twilight looked up to the rest of the group, which had gained several more ponies since the mission started, and was destined to increase in number. “All right, everypony. Here’s how this is going to work.” She pointed to a horseshoe shape near the edge closest to the group. “One of you simply has to step on this symbol, and think of the pony you want to summon. Once I activate the runes, the pony will appear.”

“Gee, Your Highness, don’t you think them ponies will get startled just bein’ suddenly teleported across the country?” Braeburn asked.

“Being teleported is already disorienting when we are expecting it,” Little Strongheart said.

“I’m a little unsure about this myself, but given how many of those hybrids we have to fight off, I think Destiny might have a point about needing more help,” Twilight answered.

Rainbow shot into the air, raising her hoof. “Are we able to summon more than one?”

Twilight paused, looked at the book, and nodded. “If you have a few ideas for helpful ponies, you could summon them all at once. It shouldn’t be too much trouble; runes combined with my magic make this so much easier.”

Rainbow laughed. “Good! I was thinking that since we took care of Cloudsdale and the Academy, I could get the Wonderbolts over here.”

Before she could touch down, however, Comedy Gold leapt from her spot and slammed her hoof on the symbol. “Dibs on the test run!”

Rainbow was taken aback. “Hey! I was gonna have the test run!”

“Well…” Comedy Gold thought for a moment, clicking her tongue before saying matter-of-factly, “tough cookies, it’s the law of dibs.”

From the back of the group, Silk Shimmer just pulled her hat over her head and groaned, while Party Favor patted her back. “Why is she like this?”

Rainbow’s face had started turning red and she made a motion to grab the strawberry blonde party pony, almost letting out a curse in the process, but she was pulled back by Applejack, who simply told her, “Look, I know what she did was a mite unfair, but we shouldn’t waste time with an argument. You’ll get your turn.”

Rainbow just huffed in reply.

“Okay…” Twilight turned to the one with her hoof on the symbol. “So, what’s your name?”

“Comedy Gold, but you can call me Goldie.”

“Well, okay, Goldie. Just picture an ally that could be a big help while I cast.”

Goldie squeezed her eyes shut, concentrating on the image in her mind. While she did so with a confident smile at first, soon enough her lips started to purse, pout, and fidget, as if she realized just how unsure of this she was.

Twilight didn’t really notice, and zapped the runes. They glowed for several moments, humming with a low melody, before there was a flash of light. All in the area staggered from the sudden brightness and had to take a few moments to blink spots out of their vision until they could behold who Goldie had summoned.

It was a short, gray stallion with an underbite and a powder-blue mare in a dentist uniform, both looking around the area with panicked confusion.

Twilight tilted her head. “Um…”

“What the hay just happened?!” the stallion asked. He turned to Goldie, who just stood there wide-eyed and biting her lip. “Huh? Goldie? What are you--how did you--what is going on?!”

The mare just pulled at her curls. “Have you been messing with magic stuff again?!”

Goldie rubbed the back of her head. “Oops.”

Rainbow Dash fell into laughter at who Goldie had summoned, while everyone else groaned and put hooves to their own faces. Tomato Sandwich looked at the duo--who he recognized as Silver Shill and that one dentist lady from Peanut Butter’s wedding, and just thought about how doomed the both of them were. The mare was slightly less doomed, having once helped catch a changeling, but still doomed.

Silk Shimmer trotted up to her, inhaling and exhaling sharply. “What do you mean, ‘oops’? Are you saying that you didn’t mean to summon your brother and sister here? Well, I can be glad you didn’t actually think that they’d put up a fight against vampires and werewolves, but… who were you intending to get, anyway?!”

Both Silver’s and the mare’s eyes widened. “What?!”

Goldie sighed. “Ugh… that Trixie pony you worked with when Las Pegasus happened. But, then I remembered that I don’t know what she looks like, and I wondered if that would affect it at all. And then my mind jumped to my sister Penny, and how I was supposed to tell Silver and Pearl about how she might be a blood-sucking vampire right now, and… well…”

“Pfffft, you were going to summon Trixie?!” Rainbow laughed harder.

Twilight facehoofed. “I didn’t think I needed to mention this, but you need to keep your mind on the pony you want to summon, or else we might end up with the wrong pony! Then again, you should have thought of someone you actually knew in the first place. And now we’ll have to waste time sending them home.”

“Pardon me, but…” Pearl said. “Did I just hear that our oldest sister might be a vampire?!”

“What about Coppersmith?! And Noble?!” Silver gasped. “Did the Kazam guy break out? Is that why everything’s getting wacky with the eclipse and whatnot?!” He turned to Silk Shimmer. “You know magic stuff, Silk Shimmer, please tell me what’s going on!”

"For goodness’ sake, Silver, please calm down!” Silk Shimmer exclaimed. “It’s not my big brother this time, it’s actually our crazy ancestor that broke out of Tartarus.”

“Whaddya mean your crazy ancestor?!” both Silver and Pearl yelled.

Goldie growled, and then slapped them both in one stroke. “Get a grip, you babies!”

Applejack stood up and got in between them. “All right, that’s enough!” She looked at Silver quizzically. “Right, I think you’re that pony that worked with the Flim Flam brothers that one time…”

“Silver Shill,” the stallion replied. “Pearly Whites and Comedy Gold are my sisters. Goldie right there is why I did it. I was desperate to pay that hospital bill and, well…”

“I getcha, we were both blackmailed.” She patted his head. “Now, you don’t have to fight this baddie with us, we just need you to calm down right now. We don’t have much time to draw another circle to send you home, but we’ll do so after we take that varmint down. I reckon you have another sister in trouble?”

Pearl nodded. “That’s what Goldie said. What’s happening in Manehattan?”

“Well, Silk’s ancestor is enchantin’ water to turn ponies into vampires or werewolves. We’re workin’ on fixing this, so don’t you worry. Now, uh… we need you to get off the circle.”

Goldie grabbed their hooves, and pulled them back to the group. “Yeah, you two can sit with me, Silk, Silk’s not-evil brother, and the rock mare right there that out-deadpans Penny.” She leaned closer to them and whispered, “She doesn’t even have the eyebrows going for her.”

Silver and Pearl just looked at each other as Goldie plopped down next to Maud Pie, and just followed her lead in sitting in the grass. Silk Shimmer plodded by them, rubbing her temple and taking her seat in between them and Party Favor. Glancing between stallions, she said, "Oh, by the way--Silver Shill, meet my brother Party Favor, and Party Favor, meet my co-manager for the Pirate Pizzeria."

The two stallions stared at each other for a bit, before reaching across Silk's vision to shake hooves.

Twilight brushed away hoofprints and redrew a couple of lines to neaten the circle. “Okay, now let’s see if we can actually get someone useful,” she said, a slight edge in her voice. “Let’s do one at a time for a couple more turns, just to make sure it’s working all right.”

Rainbow groaned and plopped back first into the grass.

Fluttershy raised her hoof. “Maybe Discord?”

Rarity looked at her funny. “Would he help?”

Twilight grimaced. “Well, he does have a lot of power and could snap plenty of ponies back to normal… still, after the Tirek incident and what happened at the Gala, I’m still not sure if it's a good idea.”

“Well, it’s worth a shot; we are his friends, he could want to help us,” Fluttershy said, hovering to the circle.

She put her hoof on the horseshoe mark and closed her eyes. Twilight zapped the circle to activate the runes, and they hummed and glowed once more. One flash of light later, the ponies rubbed their eyes, blinked to adjust, and beheld what was within the circle.

A piece of paper. A letter, to be precise.

Fluttershy tilted her head. “Did I do something wrong? I know I thought of him.”

Twilight levitated the paper close enough to read. She cleared her throat.

“‘Dearest Pony Friends,

‘As much as I, the Lord of Chaos, would like to help out in your mission to stop Mr. Looney, I’m afraid that my scheduled vacation to my Hawaii volcano vacation house just gets in the way of that. After all, powerful spirits like moi also need to get away from it all every now and again!

‘I’ll send you pictures of my adventures in lava surfing, scuba hulas, and picking on that alien on the other island. Have fun kicking vampire and werewolf tail! :D

‘Your friend, Discord.’”

Twilight looked up with a scowl. “I guess he doesn’t want to be bothered. And he spelled Haywaii wrong, that’s really bugging me.”

From the tree he leaned against, Tomato remarked, “And here I was hoping that I’d finally get to see Discord in person… and maybe not have to waste time going through this the hard way when he could just snap his fingers and everything’s back to normal.”

“Well, I suppose if he needs some time off from… chaos-ing here, I’ll let him relax,” Fluttershy said in a puzzled tone. She backed away from the circle. “Perhaps I should let someone else summon a friend of theirs.”

Silk Shimmer, who had been poked and prodded by the ever-moving Goldie throughout the attempt to summon Discord, stood up. "Well, we still have that Trixie idea to fall back on."

Then Rainbow shouted, “Pfft, what can that loudmouth do without the Alicorn Amulet?”

Silk Shimmer glanced at her. "You’d be surprised at how well she can deflect vampires with smoke bombs and a frying pan! Plus, she’s a magician; maybe a skill in misdirection could be useful.”

Twilight shifted her eyes to the side and said through her teeth, “I don’t know, I’m not sure I can trust her to not do something stupid.”

“She was the one who came up with the plan to stop Kazam back in Las Pegasus.”

Twilight blinked. “Really?”

“Yes! Plus, she was my minder when I kept falling under the ‘absolutely nothing to be afraid of’ hypnosis. So, don’t worry, she can stay focused in a crisis.”

Tomato sat up and raised his hoof, and all eyes went to him. “And she saved me and Cheese from being obliterated by Kazam, so…”

Fluttershy, who had sat down, then said, “I guess that’s argument enough.”

Twilight sighed. “Fine.”

Silk Shimmer rose from her spot and daintily trotted to the circle. She put her hoof on the symbol, and Twilight zapped the runes. A glow and a hum and a flash of light later, the Great and Powerful Trixie was revealed on the circle.

“Behold, citizens of Chestnut, for I am here to put your minds at ease with--” She opened her eyes, which widened even further on seeing her surroundings. “Eek! Who are you ponies?!” She looked to the familiar face of Silk Shimmer. “What are you doing here?! What am I doing here?!” She turned to Twilight, who backed up in discomfort, and scowled. “Oh, so are you going to arrest me for the Amulet incident, Prin-cess? I thought you forgave me for that!”

“It’s been more than a year, Trixie,” Twilight said coolly. “Besides, that’s not what I summoned you for.”

"Then why..." Trixie blinked, and then smiled smugly. “Oh? So you have a task that only the Great and Powerful Trixie can perform for you? I’m flattered that Silk Shimmer recommended me to you.”

Comedy Gold hopped up. “Oh, so that’s Trixie!” She stared at Trixie intently for a few seconds, processing those first moments of seeing her, and then asked Twilight, “Can we send her back? She’s kind of annoying.”

"I wish," Twilight muttered.

Trixie whirled around to glare at Goldie. “Oh, how dare you insult Trixie! If I could, I'd remove your mouth!”

"Then I'd hit you with a giant flyswatter!" Goldie shouted.

Silver and Pearl pulled her down by the tail, saying in unison, "Stop that!"

Before Trixie could retort, Destiny came forward and tapped her shoulder to get her attention again. “Hey, now, let's not waste time fighting! Don't listen to her, Trixie, of course we would like you to help us.”

Trixie still held a sharp glance toward Goldie for a few moments before focusing on Destiny with her prideful smirk. “Well, no matter what any hecklers say, I am both great and powerful. You'd better believe that I have tricks up my sleeve; so, what’s this task of yours?”

“We just need all the help we can get to fight vampires and werewolves in Manehattan.”

Trixie’s smile was wiped away and she paled into a lighter blue. “I’m sorry, what?”

“See, we have to protect Tomato over there while he--”

“I have to fight what in where?!” Trixie backed up swiftly, looking ready to turn around and just sprint away. She glanced between Twilight and Destiny while addressing the former. “Oh, heck no! Heck no! You and your mother must be insane to suggest that! It was bad enough dealing with vampires in Las Pegasus, and you want to put Trixie through that again?!”

Twilight gave her a weird look. “Destiny’s not my mother!” She looked at the older mare. “The resemblance is just a coincidence.” Then, sighing and stepping toward the showmare, she said, “Trixie, if we play our cards right, it won’t take very long.”

“Oh, what do you know, Princess?!” Trixie spat. “You weren’t there! You didn’t have to dodge a bajillion vampires and hit them with a frying pan in hopes they don’t bite you! I bet you wouldn’t even have had to worry about that because you’re an almighty alicorn now. Sometimes I think that Kazam’s going to escape prison and take revenge on me for blocking his magic! And you have the nerve to say that Trixie not only fight vampires again, but werewolves too?! In a bigger city?! Nothing you say can change Trixie’s mind, she’s not going! Go call Cheese Sandwich, I recall from the trial that he doesn’t even remember it, so he can do his crazy party pony thing just fine!”

It fell silent, and everyone else just glanced and grimaced at each other. Trixie heaved a few moments, her eyes screaming her fearful rage right at the princess and her exhales loud and wheezy. It was only when she glanced at the others’ reactions that her face softened to a puzzled unease.

Tomato might have been ready to jump and chew her out, but Silk trotting over to Trixie and reaching out made him decide not to.

Silk sighed. “We would call for Cheese… if he wasn’t the linchpin of this sorcerer’s operation. Not only is he a werewolf, he’s the alpha wolf that’s setting the standard for everypony else’s condition--amnesiac, confused monsters with no sense of self or even equinity. Tomato’s got to return Cheese’s memories so that everypony can be saved, but we have to make sure he isn’t attacked.”

Trixie blinked and looked at Tomato, who held up the memories on cue. Pursing her lips, she asked, in a wavering voice, “Please tell me that Kazam didn’t escape from prison and is doing that stunt again.”

Silk grimaced and rubbed the back of her head. However, before she said anything, Party Favor trotted up to her side, and answered for her, “No, it’s not our brother this time. It’s our ancestor, straight out of Tartarus.”

“Uh… wait. Silk, you have two brothers?”

“Yes,” Silk deadpanned. “I thought I mentioned Party Favor.”

“Kind of hard to remember when the other one did the vampire thing.” Trixie snorted, some slight anger returning to her face. “Did he say your ancestor? The one who inspired Kazam to do that? Well, if he’s back and bringing back werewolves, why did he choose Cheese Sandwich for his stupid plot?”

Twilight stepped in. “If I were to hazard a guess based on his past actions and current methods, I think Wayer Rune just wanted to use somepony harboring mental trauma, who is generally an out-of-the-way loner--somepony to secretly work on with as little suspicion as possible.”

Trixie scoffed. “Well, he clearly made a wrong choice, because he was traveling with his brother!” She pointed as hard as she could to Tomato, who just waved back. “Was he scoping out ponies who were in Las Pegasus during the vampire disaster? It's not like Cheese Sandwich was the only one there! Trixie was there, too, you know, and fought valiantly! Does this Rooney guy think Trixie is not worthy to be part of his little plot? Does he think she would not make a Great and Powerful werewolf? Well, it's not like Cheese Sandwich was a better candidate! He certainly didn't deserve that 'honor'!”

She choked a little, and took a breath before she continued. “Not even at his most annoying, or when he steals my spotlight, or even when he takes the last peanut butter bar… he’s not werewolf material.”

She stared at the grass for several moments, while the others remained mostly silent to let her think. Some might have whispered, but not loudly enough for anypony to understand. After a few more breaths and swallowing a lump in her throat, she stood erect.

Then, with a forcefully proud tone and smirk, she said, “Still, thinking it over, I’d be screwed over anyway if you guys lost, and I’m sure you’d be grateful for my contribution. I did save Las Pegasus, after all. What’s another city to save for the Great and Powerful Trixie?”

Twilight sighed. “I suppose I should say ‘welcome to the club’ and invite you to sit down… anywhere. Probably next to Silk Shimmer and her friends.”

Silk beckoned Trixie and said, “Just don’t sit next to Goldie; I don’t think you’d get along.”

"I'll distract her," Party Favor whispered.

While Trixie headed to sit down with them, Twilight went back to the rune circle to dust away hoofprints and refine the lines again. She took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. “Well… we got one--technically three--but one who might be useful. Who’s next?”

She looked around at the group, some of whom were whispering to themselves and each other about possible other candidates, along with an antsy Rainbow in the air. There was bound to be some good ideas, but everypony else could see Twilight fidget a bit, looking at the horseshoe symbol just within reach, and wanting to put her hoof on it.

Destiny noticed and said, “You know, Your Highness, whoever you’re thinking of, you can just summon.”

Twilight put her hoof on the symbol, but drew back again. “What if it’s too late for them? What if they’ve transformed?”

Destiny pursed her lips. “Only one way to find out.”

Twilight took a breath, put her hoof on the symbol again, and then cast the spell.

Everyone covered their eyes just before the flash, though they jumped when they heard an extra crackle and a high screech this time. Several yelped, and some others clamored about how that was new. Regardless, they heard the humming die down, and once they heard the voice of a stallion, they looked up.

“--and we have a messenger on the way to Canterlot for...” The sturdy, white unicorn’s sentence died as his eyes widened. He still held his rigid, authoritative stance, but his stern face swiftly dropped into confusion, pupils darting around to scan the area.

Twilight formed one of the biggest, quivering smiles that anypony had ever seen. “Shining Armor!”

Shining Armor whirled around to face her. “Twily?”

He was suddenly caught in her hug, which had a slight squeeze to it that made him go bug-eyed for a moment before returning it. It didn’t last long, but as he peeled her off him, he still had his hooves on her shoulders and said with a warm smile, “Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.”

“I could say the same about you…” Twilight’s smile evaporated. “But, I was meaning to summon both you and Cadance.”

“Is that why I’m suddenly here and not in the bunkers with the Crystal Ponies?”

Twilight had a sharp intake of breath, tired eyes dilating upon hearing a confirmed fear. “So he did attack the Empire. He must have gotten Cadance!”

Shining’s brow furrowed. “Wait, who?”

“Wayer Rune!” Twilight shouted, stomping her hoof. “He escaped from Tartarus, experimented on an innocent pony to revive and revise his werewolf spell, cast said spell into water supplies, is trying to destroy Equestria by removing everypony’s equinity, and I gotta check to see if he’s still in Manehattan!”

Before Shining could say anything, Twilight zapped herself away. He looked around awkwardly at everypony, trying to read them for any implied thoughts. He was briefly curious about the glowing necklace Tomato held, but stopped once Twilight poofed back.

“Okay… he’s still there…” Twilight heaved.

Shining patted her back. “So, that werewolf guy’s attacking, huh? I should have guessed that when Crystal Ponies started turning into werewolves. Say, did his, uh, revision have anything to do with vampires?”

Twilight nodded.

Shining pursed his lips and stood up straight. “Me and the guards herded the remaining Crystal Ponies into the palace’s underground bunkers, but in the process, Cadance disappeared. We’ve been trying to find her or anyone who escaped the spell, but nothing! We were just sending for help when you summoned me.”

Twilight looked down at the dirt. “Canterlot’s busy with its own monster problem. In fact, Wayer’s been striking every major city, and we just managed to locate him in Manehattan. I was summoning you and Cadance to help us."

"Then why isn't Cadance here?"

Twilight sighed. "I can’t summon a pony who’s been transformed.”

Shining’s eyes narrowed into a glare. “You believe he did that to my wife?”

Twilight’s expression mirrored his. “Shining, I know he did. Fortunately for us, we have a tool that can help us get the root of the problem...” She turned and pointed to Tomato, who just held up his necklace again for Shining Armor to see.

Again, Shining was confused. “Is that the guy that turned the Shining Vocals into a gladiator ring?”

As Nimbus burst into laughter above him, Tomato rolled his eyes and replied, “Yes, I am, thank you for reminding me.” He proceeded to chuck a pebble at his pegasus friend to get him to shut up.

Twilight turned back to her brother. “Wayer made a mistake in establishing a link between the Alpha--Tomato’s brother--and all the other wolves so that they collectively suffer what he’s suffering--he gets amnesia, every vampire and werewolf is afflicted with a similar amnesia. We return the memories to him, everypony gets their memories back, Wayer loses his power over them. We have to make sure that none of them go after our memory carrier and, well, there’s a lot of monsters in Manehattan to fight off.”

She gestured to everyone else. “All of the allies that we have so far have had at least one friend or family member affected by this spell, and they’re going to fight to get them back.”

Shining Armor scratched his chin. “Okay, I think I get it. If you need my help, then I’m happy to give it to you to end this madness and get all our friends and family back.”

Most of the large group whooped and clapped, while Twilight just smiled. “Thanks.”

Shining smiled back, though the warmth turned to sheepishness when he added, “Though, I might have to be a little short-hooved. I need the Crystal Guard to stay home and protect the remaining citizens.” He looked around at the others with a bit of concern. “Still… isn’t there any other military personnel you could summon, Twily? I know you're desperate, but I’m not so sure it’s wise to send civilians instead of trained soldiers into this.”

Twilight rubbed the back of her head. “Well… the spell works better at summoning specific ponies, and I don't think I can summon much of any military personnel that I know personally. Plus, I don't know if anyone you know in Canterlot has been cured yet."

Shining groaned. "Well, I’ll see if I can get a few of my buddies to help. Normally, I’d have to go through a process, but… not quite an option right now. Otherwise… I guess I have little choice but to make do. They can fight, right?"

Tomato just looked at Flora and Bananas again, pondering about their father.

---

After Shining had managed to summon a few friends, Rainbow at last got her turn. The Wonderbolts were summoned in a flash of light like the rest, and Rainbow wasted no time in bringing them up to speed about the situation. Their leader, Spitfire, then chewed her out for summoning them when they were busy dealing with a recovering Cloudsdale and the situation in Canterlot. Twilight had to calm things down between the two parties, and Spitfire and the team begrudgingly agreed, since this battle was where the root of the problem was and getting back to their original cities was a long flight.

Little Strongheart had thought about some braves she knew at home that could provide some muscle, citing that when Cheese first transformed, most of them had driven him away from the youngsters, and most that had fought him off escaped without being bitten. Granted, it had only been one werewolf instead of a city full of them, but she knew her kind had fought many other kinds of battles and braved many other obstacles. So, she was allowed to summon members of her tribe.

Applejack took a bit of time to think before she thought of someone. She knew this pony was a good roper and fighter, and thus Cherry Jubilee was summoned.

Fluttershy decided she wanted to try a different approach. She summoned Tree Hugger, Fallow Track, and Grapevine, and explained the situation--as well as her idea for them to try to talk some of the werewolves and vampires down.

“After all,” she said. “They are animal enough for us to communicate with them, and well…” She grimaced and blushed. “The Stare worked on Cheese Sandwich…”

Fallow nodded, and looked up at Tomato. “Well, I’m on board to help my nephew. It’s fair after all the trouble he went through to help me.”

“And I’m definitely willing to end all this useless violence, man,” Grapevine said.

From their tree, Nimbus looked down at Tomato, Flora, and Bananas. “Uh, any of you guys know what a ‘man’ is?”

Tomato rolled his eyes. “It’s just a random thing he says.”

Flora pursed her lips, staring oddly at Grapevine. “I can’t believe that’s your cousin.”

“Not like we don’t have a cousin that surprised Tomato,” Bananas said with a grin. He received a hard nudge in the ribs from his sister for that.

Shining Armor would grimace and fidget with each summon, having to be reassured by Twilight that they wouldn’t have been summoned if the pony doing the summoning didn’t think they could handle it. Still, given that he was seeing mostly civilians volunteered for this dangerous mission, he still couldn’t help his discomfort.

Evidently, there were others that felt the same to a lesser extent. Party Favor didn’t come up to summon his friends, nor did Maud Pie summon her parents or sisters. There were many members of the Apple family across the country, but neither Applejack nor Braeburn attempted to summon them.

Tomato noticed those bits of discomfort. Seeing all the ponies being summoned, and surprisingly accepting the mission, all to protect a pony they barely knew only because he had the key to stop the whole mess, he started to wonder if it was really necessary to have this many. Maybe he and Twilight could just slip in and out, smashing the memory orbs within range of Cheese and solving the problem in a snap.

His eyes stopped at the sight of Flora, and worried that her combat capabilities might not be enough. Sure, she could take down a gang by herself, but could she continuously fend off actual monsters aiming to literally rip her apart? The thought of her dying or even turning monster made him sick--just as much as the thought of Cheese suffering either fate did.

Regardless, he proceeded to walk to the runic circle, put his hoof on the main rune, and think of ponies that he believed could help. He thought of Flora’s father, who he heard had scared off rogue teenage dragons from various Equestrian villages. He thought of Nimbus’ parents, ex-Wonderbolts who at least had some combat training. He thought of Sedimentary Rock, who could wrestle Bighoof into submission, and Summer Wind, who had unusual super strength.

He had a couple more ponies in mind, who he tried to mentally cross out. He thought of Peanut Butter’s wedding, where he, his bride Jelly Jubilee, and a few of their friends captured some changelings. He wondered what tricks that Uncle Acorn or Aunt Cocoa would have up their sleeves, and if Creamy could do anything. Would any of them be able to help, or was he overestimating their abilities?

He also wondered how Lemon Zest and Toola Roola were doing, since their father and brother had suddenly disappeared on them.

Twilight didn’t give him much time to settle, and she cast the spell before Tomato could protest that he wasn’t done deciding yet. The result was a pile of very confused ponies on the circle, all of whom were those Tomato had thought of. From a wide-eyed March buried by several ponies to a blinking Summer sitting on top, each pony that Tomato had considered was there. Even the side thoughts of Lemon and Toola Roola had caused them to appear. He watched them process what had just happened, while he himself felt eyes behind him judging him for his pony pile.

Summer’s eyes fell on Tomato and her face broke into a grin. She spread her wings and zipped forward with a shout of, “Tomatoooooooooo!”

Tomato was nearly knocked back from her impact and caught in a crushing hug. “Ack! Hi… Summer…”

Also on top of the pile, Lemon and Toola Roola had started to slide off as it was starting to pull apart into individual ponies. Tomato just watched as the two--those he really didn’t want to summon--looked around for a familiar face. They spotted Summer hugging him and grinned before locating their father and bolting toward him.

Summer broke free and hovered around him. “I can’t believe we’re seeing each other again so soon! I mean, given how we have semesters starting soon on opposite sides of the country, I thought it’d be a long time before one could visit the other!” She looked down at the summoning circle, where ponies were climbing off each other, getting up, stretching, and looking around in confusion. “But I guess summoning is a thing now...”

She glanced up when facing the opposite direction of Tomato and nearly fell out of the air at the sight of Twilight. “Holy cow, it’s Princess Twilight!” She whirled back to Tomato. “How do you end up with friends in high places?”

“I have no idea,” Tomato deadpanned.

Flora got up and trotted to Tomato’s side. “Who’s your friend?”

Tomato glanced between them and grinned nervously. “Flora Peace, this is Summer Wind… Summer Wind, this is Flora Peace.”

Summer stopped beaming, coolly staring at Flora as the little green earth pony waved. “Ah, so this is the Flora you were talking about.”

“Aw, he mentioned me? I’m flattered.” Flora giggled. “And I’m guessing you’re that Summer that he mentioned working at a bookstore with. I’m glad someone in his foalhood was willing to reach out without assuming his cutie mark meant wealth.”

Summer shrugged. “We’re both book nerds. So what’s the basis of your friendship?”

Flora was taken aback by Summer’s comment and the blunt way she delivered it, but before she could answer, Bananas slipped in behind her, tapped her shoulder, and then pointed forward when he got her attention. It was that moment that she realized that her father was right there, and that he just noticed his daughter and son.

With a gasp, she grabbed Tomato’s collar, and squeaked, “Tomato, why did you bring my dad here?!”

Tomato blinked. “I just thought he could help.”

Flora opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by March saying, “Flora? Bananas? You mind telling me where we are, how I got here, and why there are so many ponies gathered here?”

Flora and Bananas glanced at each other. “Uh…”

Above them, Nimbus’ parents had darted to the tree where Nimbus had sat and grabbed him in an embrace. His mother, Raincloud, cried, “Oh, my baby! It was such a close call! Cloudsdale was attacked just after you and your sister left!”

“Yeah, wouldn’t you believe it?” Blazing Silver said. “I was a vampire for several hours!”

“I was taking sanctuary in the break room, the uncertainty eating me alive!” Raincloud looked around. “Sweetie, where’s your sister?”

Nimbus grimaced. “Uh…”

Rainbow Dash gaped upward at the exchange. “Wait, two of the best former Wonderbolts really are the parents of Tomato’s friends?”

Spitfire, who sat nearby, shrugged. “The kids are why they retired.”

Rainbow was about to comment further when she spotted a certain pegasus among the recently summoned. In a flash, she was in the air and shouting, “What?! Tomato, you met Lightning Dust?! How in Equestria did you meet Lightning Dust, and why did you think it was a good idea to bring her here?!”

Lightning hovered toward Rainbow, looking at her coolly. “Clearly, he recognized a great flyer when he saw it. I’m surprised that he knows you.” She smiled smugly a few moments, before it sank into a confused frown. “Okay, who are we talking about?”

Rainbow pointed to Tomato. Lightning pursed her lips and said, “Right, Peanut’s cousin. The one that didn’t yell at us.”

Rainbow blinked. “Who’s Peanut?”

The mentioned stallion and his wife walked off the circle, the former answering, “I’m Peanut, and what the hay is going on here? Can’t Jelly and I enjoy our honeymoon in peace?”

Uncle Acorn adjusted his glasses and looked at the circle beneath him. “Okay, I think we just got summoned via magical rune circle…” He whirled around to look at Twilight. “...by one of the princesses, and we’re surrounded by a bunch of ponies we don’t know…” His eyes scanned across the group to see Peanut, Jelly, Creamy, and Tomato, as well as some of the other guests from the wedding. “Aaaaaand a few we do! Hey, fellas, how’s life?”

Creamy shrugged. “It’s alright. The cows have been arguing with the sheep next door, but it’s not serious.”

The last of Peanut’s friends, Victory Screech, flexed a front leg. “Been keeping up with the workouts.”

Jelly smiled at her in-laws. “Our honeymoon in the San Palomino Rock Parks was a blast! I’d show you pictures of the canyons, hoodoos, and arches, but they’re kind of in our suite, and I don’t know where we are.”

Tomato started sweating. “Uhhhhhh…”

Aunt Cocoa blinked. “Okay, why are we here? I was in the middle of planning lessons for the upcoming semester!”

Before either Twilight or Tomato could answer, Fallow Track stood up, gesturing to his daughters. “Tomato, why’d you think of Lemon and Toola Roola?! I really don’t appreciate them being brought on this dangerous mission!”

“Yeah, man!” Grapevine said. “They can’t talk to animals, and Lemon’s kinda scared of them.”

Lemon frowned. “Okay, I don’t like where this is going…”

“Dangerous mission?” Sedimentary Rock trotted out of the circle. “What kind of dangerous miss--” She spotted Maud. “Oh, lucky me! The niece I haven’t met yet is here! She looks just like her picture!”

Maud blinked. “You must be Aunt Seddie.”

Seddie grabbed Maud’s hoof and shook vigorously. “Yes, I am! I’m guessing you’re here for the dangerous mission too, sweetie?”

Maud leaned to look at Tomato. “I hope you know what you’re doing with who you’re summoning.”

Tomato laughed nervously. “Maybe I was still deciding who’d be the most help and well…”

Twilight groaned. “Tomato! Did you not learn from Comedy Gold’s blunder?”

Nearby, March had finished talking with his kids, and turned to the princess, barely keeping his composure. “Your Highness… is it true? Are you really summoning citizens--untrained, unarmed citizens--to fight a horde of werewolves and vampires? Pardon me for saying this, I mean no disrespect, but… why are you summoning civilians?! Why couldn’t you have summoned actual military personnel trained to fight threats like these?!”

Flora jumped to his side. “Dad, it’s all right! Between you and Master Balance teaching me, I can fight! And with his magic, Bananas can--”

March snorted. “Flora… I told you, I can’t let you two go out and get yourself hurt or, dare I say it, killed. Do you even know what those things are capable of?”

Bananas hopped in. “Come on! Cheese is my buddy! I can’t let him be a monster!”

“Sorry, kiddos, but I’m with your dad,” Raincloud interjected, with her husband by her side. “Blaze and I already lost our daughter to this stupid curse, and I spent the last few days hiding out in a break room with a coworker because it attacked Cloudsdale!”

“I was a vampire the past few days!” Blaze snapped. “And you want us to put our son on the front lines?! I don’t want him to suffer the same thing that me and his sister did!”

“Well, maybe I want to fight to get my sister back!” Nimbus shouted. “She’s not dead!”

Summer blinked, hovering in place. “Um, forgive me if I’m not hearing correctly, but… did you say ‘curse’? And ‘vampires’ and ‘werewolves’?”

Cocoa was taken aback by the revelation. “Wait, what?! Why are me, my husband, and my kids here, then? Acorn and I are scientists! Peanut’s a basketball player, that’s not equivalent to a soldier! His wife works at a farm! Creamy’s a dairy farmer! We’re not trained for this kind of thing!”

Cherry Jubilee looked at Jelly, whose cheery demeanor had faded. “And now I’m having second thoughts--I don’t want my darlin’ niece to be fightin’ those varmints!”

Silver Shill raised his hoof. “A-and I don’t know if Goldie should be fighting, either. She just recovered from surgery!”

Goldie groaned. “Seriously? We talked about this!”

One by one, ponies were starting to object, having second thoughts about going in to fight actual monsters. Those with military training expressed their concerns about civilians getting involved, while others had their own objections. Why should they be okay with this friend or family member getting involved? How many were destined to fall quickly because they weren’t fast enough? Why were they being summoned to fight what was clearly a losing battle? Princess Twilight’s wing was injured, she was down one friend, and they were relying on some skinny business student from Manehattan to save the day.

Sure enough, there then came arguments between parties. Rainbow and Lightning Dust were on a tiff about who would stay and fight, and who’d fly away at the sight of the first vampire; also not helping was when Peanut and Vic tried to get them to stop. Goldie’s siblings were getting on her case, and Silk Shimmer and Party Favor were getting annoyed with Trixie’s bravado. Someone made a snide comment about Tomato, to which Summer got in their face in response. The rest of Twilight’s posse tried to keep the peace, but to no avail. Some parents argued with their children, while other parents tried to shield theirs.

Tomato slinked away from the increasingly restless crowd. Now making himself sit against a rock, he let out a deep exhale. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, his mother had been right about something. Why were they leading innocents against the entire monster-fied city of Manehattan?

He looked at Cheese’s memories. He didn’t want to fail Cheese, he really didn’t. But at this point, he wasn’t sure if he could rally everyone else to help him.

Then, he overheard Twilight, Destiny, and Shining Armor nearby, and turned to look at them.

Destiny had a hoof to her mouth. “Perhaps I should not have suggested getting more help.”

“Ponies! Please, calm down!” Twilight pleaded. “Nothing will get done if we panic!”

Shining Armor sighed and turned to his sister. “I figured someone would object sooner or later. You should just go and cure the Crystal Empire, and my soldiers will be free to fight. Then, we’ll get every available soldier that we can--”

“We’ve already wasted enough time, Shining Armor!” Twilight snapped. “If Wayer Rune escapes now, we won’t be able to catch him in time to stop him from cursing all of Equestria!”

“Well, why hasn’t he already escaped? You’d think he’d have left by now.”

Twilight blinked, and teleported away. It wasn’t long before she returned and confirmed that Cheese Sandwich was still there, and thus, so was Wayer. She rubbed the back of her head. “He could just be tired and recharging; I’m sure his teleporting of long distances and enchanting water supplies would take a lot out of him.”

“Are you sure it’s not a trap?” Shining Armor said.

“His last trap trapped us in Cheese Sandwich’s memory, and I don’t think he knows we got out.” Noticing Shining Armor giving her a funny look, she said, “It’s a wild story to tell later. Still, I don’t think we have the time to amass a proper army!”

Destiny sighed. “I’m sorry, my idea was a terrible one. I thought that there’d be more actual warriors in our ranks, but maybe I still hold a small part of a grossly outdated mindset. Still… I don’t know, I want this over quickly as much as you do, since my cave can’t support all the refugees forever.”

He looked from that conversation to the argument between Flora, Bananas, and March, and from that to Nimbus’ argument with his parents, and from that to Trixie caught in a three-way quarrel between her, the Rune siblings, and the Metal siblings. His glances kept jumping between the fights taking place between nearly every party there, and just about nothing was getting done about the crisis.

This is a mess, Tomato thought. Shifting the memories in his hoof, he wondered if they’d react in some way if he drew closer to Cheese. Surely, if they’d return to him when broken within a certain distance, they’d give Tomato some indication that they’re almost home. It was enough to make him wonder if he could slip in alone and get the job done.

That is a stupid idea, he thought. After all, there were over eight million who lived there, and Destiny was only able to rescue a crumb of that. The rest were now vicious monsters that’ll jump him the moment they see him.

Still, he had a few things at his disposal to help him: he could navigate the city fairly easily. Cheese’s memories would shock any monster that touches him, he still had a couple leftover vampire powers, and he had his own little pool of jester magic to help him out. Cheese was alone when facing Kazam’s vampire army and did pretty well, from what he heard.

Then again, Cheese ended up falling out of the sky.

Going back and forth on it for a bit, he ultimately looked up at the rest of the arguing ponies and decided that everyone was wasting time, and maybe he shouldn’t drag others into what was his problem to begin with.

Seeing as everyone was distracted with their arguing, he slipped away.

---

Several more minutes of arguing had passed, and that was when Summer, gesturing at the spot where he once stood, did a double take. After staring at that spot for a good ten seconds, she glanced around to see what spot he could have moved to. She saw that he didn’t move to Flora or to Nimbus, or to Silk Shimmer or to Twilight. He was around none of Twilight’s posse, or any member of his extended family. He just disappeared.

She shot up into the air. “Everypony, shut up!”

A sudden silence sprung up as the sound of Summer’s strong voice caught everyone off guard. On seeing all eyes turn to her, she swallowed to get the choking feeling out of her throat.

“Does anyone know where Tomato went?”

Seeing their necklace-bearer gone, ponies started to murmur to each other, asking companions if they had seen him go off somewhere. Most of those who didn’t know him simply shrugged, muttering things about whether he went off on his own or got kidnapped under their noses.

“Wait, what?!” Twilight exclaimed, turning to a rock. “Okay, he was right there when I last saw him! How the heck did he disappear without anyone noticing?”

From where she sat, Maud said, “You all were getting very into your arguments.”

Flora trotted forward. “Did you see what happened to him?”

“I think he might have gone somewhere to think.”

Then, from the large hill behind Twilight, they heard cackling that sent shivers up nearly everyone’s spine. Turning to look up the hill, there stood a unicorn stallion of royal blue, his raven hair and maroon cape blowing in the wind, and his violet eyes gazing wicked at them. He would have looked a lot more intimidating if he hadn’t been covered in bandages.

Silk Shimmer and Party Favor shot up. “Kazam?!”

Trixie yelped and hid behind Maud. “He’s here for revenge on me!”

Twilight glared at him. “What are you doing here?”

Kazam levitated and lowered himself down to their level. “Well, thanks for the warm welcome, everyone, I very much appreciate it.” He turned to a glaring Silk. “Well, well, sis, glad to run into you here. And I see you found our brother.” He shot a smug smile at Party Favor. “Long time, no see, little brother. Did the balloons keep you happy while you were… wherever you were?”

Party Favor scowled, wearily saying, “Hello, Kazam.”

Then Kazam turned to Twilight. “I guess I should answer your question of what I’m doing here… I’m simply here to help you against Wayer Rune.”

Twilight blinked. “Um, what?”

“Huh?” Silk and Party Favor said in unison.

Trixie popped up from her place behind Maud. “He speaks lies! He’s clearly working for the monster causing this mess, and he must have kidnapped the cranky red guy!”

Comedy Gold stood up and drew a frying pan from her cape. “I got this.”

Kazam gave them a side glance. “I can’t believe you recruited the loud mouth. Regardless, you must hear me out. I simply don’t like being someone else’s lackey, nor do I want to become a monster under his influence--even if he is my ancestor.”

“What?” Party Favor said. “You idolized him growing up. How do we know that you really aren’t working for him?”

“Oh, hush, Party Favor. Anyway, I had vampires and werewolves attack my hospital bed, and I was lucky that my inhibitor ring broke so I could escape. After I left Canterlot, I just so happened to see you, Princess, when you were fixing Ponyville’s water supply. So I followed you, hoping I could discreetly catch some information.”

Twilight still glared at him. “You really expect us to trust you?”

“Not really, but I would be a valuable asset, being a talented wizard myself. I’m sure you’d like to have more magic muscle to help break the spell on all those ponies.”

“So would Starlight Glimmer,” Party Favor deadpanned.

“Why not get her?” Silk asked.

“Are you kidding? They’d try to kill each other.”

Summer snorted. “Oh, how do we know you don’t have Tomato held hostage?”

Flora’s face turned red. “If you turn him back into a vampire…”

“Calm down, ladies, I didn’t touch him. He just got tired of your big debate, so he decided to go handle things alone.”

“He what?!” Twilight shouted.

“Hey, the madness technically stops when Cheese gets his memories back.”

“But going in without someone to back him up?!” Flora looked at the rock and the woods behind it. “Why sneak off when we’re still busy planning our move?!”

Nimbus hovered to Flora. “Were we really planning?”

Applejack came away from the group of cowpokes and buffalo she had been trying to placate before this came up. “No, we weren’t, we were too busy fightin’.”

“Because a lot of us are scared of what’s happening,” Fluttershy said, looking at some others. “Do we really know if we’re going to win?”

“Well, we have to win, or Equestria is doomed!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“I still wonder if we’re asking too much of these citizens,” Rarity said. “After all, not everyone has the experience of saving Equestria multiple times as we do.”

Kazam, Summer, Flora, and Nimbus moved aside to let Twilight approach her friends. “I know, girls… it’s usually just the six of us overcoming these obstacles. I don’t know how Pinkie’s absence is going to affect this one. I guess maybe I was hoping that by taking Destiny’s suggestion, friendships outside of our circle--other friends we have, friends that Cheese and Tomato have, friendships these ponies have with each other--could, well, add to the magic of friendship and save all our loved ones. Perhaps we’ll just need a few key friendships in this endeavor.”

Flora waved a hoof to get their attention. “Would my friendship with Tomato be a key one? Because there’s no way anypony’s hurting him without dealing with me.”

March raised a hoof in objection. “Flora, I told you, this is too dangerous!”

“Dad! I know it’s dangerous! That’s why I want to help protect him!”

March fumed a moment before sighing. “I swear, I have no idea where you get your stubbornness from… but, if you insist on doing this, I might as well make sure my daughter doesn’t get hurt.”

“Hey! Don’t leave me out!” Bananas exclaimed.

Nimbus shot a look at his parents. “And I want to get my sister back, too. Plus, Tomato could use a little more backup.”

Blaze and Raincloud hovered to him, the former saying, “If that’s the case, you could use some backup too.”

“And let’s not forget me! I’m a friend!” Summer exclaimed. She prodded Flora and said, “It’s not like any of us could fight off an entire army on our own.”

“Hey, I’m a friend, too!” Silk Shimmer said.

“So am I!” Party Favor said. “Tomato helped endear my town to some influential ponies!”

“Really?” Fallow Track said, stepping forward. “Well, I’m his uncle, and he helped me pay a debt and convince a businesspony to invest in our little town.” He gave Grapevine a look. “As long as we clean up our messes.”

Grapevine, with a sheepish grin and a nod, said, “He helped open my eyes to how my irresponsibility was hurting others.”

“Hey, now, I’m his uncle, too!” Acorn Compound said. “And I think I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve.”

Cocoa Butter chuckled. “Don’t leave me out, honey.”

“Or me!” Ice Cream said.

“Well… maybe I have a few moves that I can use,” Peanut Butter said with a grin.

“Same here, sweetie!” Jelly Jubilee said, coming up to her husband’s side.

Cherry Jubilee noticed her niece’s volunteering and said, “I reckon I oughta make sure you’re alright, hon.”

Victory Screech tackled Peanut. “Hey, I’ve got your back, buddy.”

Lightning Dust looked down at them, and then up at Rainbow Dash. “Well, I can’t let Dashie over there have all the fun of being an epic flyer. Besides, Peanut, you need air support.”

Rainbow Dash snickered at her. “So, there is someone you care about?”

“Hey, I have a life outside of flying! Heck, I’d say that I don’t need to be a Wonderbolt--I’ll find my own path.”

It was then that Silver Shill stood up. “Tomato helped me too! Not only do I have a job, I run a business! And I won’t lie, ponies really eat pizza up, haha! So… maybe, uh, I could help?”

Applejack looked at him. “Well, good for you! Though, I dunno how you can help…”

“He can be my assistant while I do my thing!” Comedy Gold hollered. “Also, the Sandwiches saved me from being kidnapped, so this’ll be a good way to repay them.”

Pearly Whites stood up as well. “I just want to make sure my younger siblings and my best friend Jelly don’t kill themselves. I did help beat up Changelings, so I guess I could help?”

Braeburn stood up. “I’m still goin’ because Cheese is my friend, and some of my neighbors are in trouble.”

Little Strongheart stood up. “And so are members of my tribe!”

Maud Pie stood up. “I’m here to save my sister.”

Surprisingly, one by one, each pony and buffalo stood up, announcing either a friendship with Twilight’s group, either Sandwich, or another who volunteered before, or at least a personal motivation to join. Some fought for friends, some for family, some for country, and some just for peace in general. What was once a mass of fighting was now a crowd ready to fight for freedom.

Shining Armor was last to speak. “As much as I have my reservations about this... I’m here to help my little sister, and get my wife back.” Patting Twilight on the back, he asked, “So, what’s the plan?”

Before Twilight said anything, Bananas hopped in. “If I may, can I suggest enchanting pies so that when we throw them at the monsters’ faces, they turn back?”

“Um, pies?” Twilight said, blinking. Looking around at her friends, who all seemed a little perplexed as well, she said, “You know… that’s not a bad idea.”

“Oh, I’m all for it!” Destiny said. “And I still have some magic candy to replenish energy if needed.”

Party Favor raised his hoof. “Can we add water balloons?”

“And water guns!” Comedy Gold shouted.

Twilight smiled. “Sure--in fact, keep thinking of anything we can throw.”

She turned to Kazam, her eyes narrowing and horn lighting up. “All right, I’m going to test to see if you’re telling the truth about Tomato, or if the memories he should be wearing are where he logically shouldn’t be. If what you say is true, then I’ll trust you with the cure and the use of it in our… er, weapons. But you better not be planning anything.”

Kazam nodded. “Hey, I’ve got nothing to gain from betraying you mid-battle; if you lose, I’ll lose too.”

Twilight nodded, let the pulse radiate out from her horn, and stood still a moment to gain the knowledge. She slouched forward and groaned.

“So, you weren’t lying; he is moving in. Ugh, what is Tomato thinking?”

Author's Note:

Guess who finally updated after a year of slow progress on this nightmare of a chapter!

Between work, personal art stuff, getting interested in a show from the early 90's (Darkwing Duck if you're curious), family matters, and even during quarantine having to take care of our new lambs among our other animals (dog, goats, chickens), time really passed by quickly before I even knew it. That's not even going into how frustrating it was to write this thing since it's mainly standing around and talking and just adding characters to help with the final showdown (which should finally start next chapter, sheesh).

Anyway, hope future chapters aren't nearly as tedious as this, and that the waits for them aren't as long.

Comments

[Chromio]

Quite the large cast we have here!
I can't wait for what's gearing up to be a giant food fight against werewolves and vampires

[Godslittleprincess]

Okay, this is getting good. Man, I can't wait to see the look on Tomato's face when he sees all those ponies charging in to help fight for him and Cheese. It's amazing how the right motivation can turn a mess of chaos into an organized fighting force.

[Goldfinch142]

Ooh, the anticipation is real. So close to the epic final battle for the fate of Equestria!

I wonder if the Resistance will try to go after Tomato directly, or just summon him back with Destiny's rune circle? Both options have their downsides, I suppose--either spending time setting up the circle again, or spending time trying to find him.

It does seem rather difficult and tedious to write the "set-up" chapters of the story, but rest assured it's very much appreciated! Keep on keeping on! I hope to see more from you soon!