Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

6.3--The Experiment

Sunlight spilled into the motel room the next morning, bathing the three beds with it's warmth. The beam shone directly into the face of Cheese Sandwich, sprawled out over the sheets with his tongue lolling out and snores sounding from his muzzle. The light on his face made him scrunch his face and squirm. He sat up, yawned, and stretched, smacking his lips in an attempt to rid himself of a bad taste in his mouth. He opened his eyes and blinked several times to adjust to the light.

He looked forward, and yelped at the sight of an upside down face with fangs and red eyes.

"Glad to see you're awake," the fanged face deadpanned.

Cheese shook his head and looked up and down the body. The creature was wrapped up in his own wings, hanging from his tail on the ceiling fan that was amazingly still. The coat was a dull-reddish brown color, and its dark hair was a mess, and he could barely make out his family forelock. With a gulp, he wondered if he was still dreaming that his brother was a vampire.

Cheese bit his lip as hard as he could, and flinched at the pain. Thinking it wasn't enough, he slapped himself with Boneless 2. His throbbing cheek told him that he wasn't dreaming, and he stood up on the bed and poked Tomato on the nose.

"Are you done being in denial yet?" Tomato inquired.

Cheese ran a hoof through his mane as his rump plopped back onto the bed. "I never thought I'd see a vampire... let alone see my own brother as one! Great Monetery Jack, I thought they were just a myth!"

Tomato rolled his eyes and spread his wings, revealing crossed front legs. "Well, technically, the true vampires still are--I'm still quite alive, can still see myself in a mirror, and I don't feel any different under the sunlight--granted, we're inside, so we don't quite know what'll happen when I go outside."

Cheese hopped off the bed. "I'm surprised you haven't bitten me!" He pulled off the sheet off the bed and wore it like a cape. He obscured his body save for his eyes and above. "Don't you vant to suck my bloooood? You were interested in it when I scraped my knee last night."

Tomato put a hoof to his face. "As delicious as you smell, I'm not risking either putting you under this curse or killing you."

"Hey..." Cheese slid beside Tomato, their cheeks pressing together. "At least you're still in a sound state of mind. Most transformations like this make a pony act like an animal!" He frowned and backed away. "Wait, did you just call me delicious?"

That was when they heard a yawn, and glanced to Silk Shimmer's bed. She was smacking her lips and rubbing her eyes, mumbling about wanting breakfast. When she finally looked up, her eyes went wide at the sight of Tomato, and she tumbled off the bed, screaming loud enough to make Cheese jump and for Tomato to hide in his wings and yell "Ouch!".

Cheese jumped from his bed to Silk's, and looked over the edge to gaze at the upside-down, frazzled unicorn, laying on the floor in an uncomfortable position. He could hear hear rapid breathing and see her chest rising and falling, and her face was stretched in a large, teeth-baring frown under a pair of wild eyes.

"Who the hay let that thing in here?!" Silk snapped.

Cheese chuckled nervously. "Well, funny story..."

That was when Tomato remarked, "'Thing?' That's not very nice."

As Cheese shot a glare at his brother, Silk hissed, "Cheese... can you please get it out of here?"

Cheese turned to her in order to answer, but Tomato interrupted, "It is the wrong pronoun; I'm a he."

Cheese groaned and said, "Tommy, can you please not interrupt when I'm trying to explain that you're the big vampire bat-pony monster in the room? She needs to know that you're not gonna bite!"

Silk blinked. "Wait... Tomato?"

Tomato dropped from where he hung, and landed on his hooves. Then he jumped on the bed right next to Cheese, folded his wings, and flashed a fanged grin. "Zhat's correct! A velcome development, don't ya think?"

Silk scrambled into sitting position, her ivory face red. "No! You look like an animal! Your eyes look evil, your hair's a mess, your coat looks sickly, those fangs are freaking me out, and that accent needs work!"

"Animals have accents?" Tomato deadpanned. He turned to Cheese and added, "Should we see that yellow pegasus Pinkie is friends with again, I'll have to ask her about animal accents and just what kind of accent a bat has."

Cheese laughed. "Her name is Fluttershy. And hey, I think she'd be more interested in you now that you're half-animal."

Silk got to her hooves. "Okay... so, uh... I just have one question..." Then she snapped, "Why is he a vampire bat-pony?! For goodness' sake, when I saw him in his bed last night, he was still a normal earth pony! And now... wings! And fangs! And... and... evil eyes!"

"I don't know why, but I can tell you the transformation hurt," Tomato said. "What, did you miss my hissing? It was loud enough to wake Cheese up even though I had locked myself in the bathroom."

Silk pouted. "I'm a heavy sleeper. Not even Kazam popping a balloon could wake me up."

Tomato raised an eyebrow. "How'd you know he popped a balloon then?"

"Party Favor always complained about Kazam stealing his balloons and doing that to scare us."

Cheese scratched his chin, the show from the night before popping into mind as he looked at Tomato's bat wings. "Speaking of Kazam... do you suppose that he goofed up his trick, accidentally fusing the bat with Tomato? I mean, he's not really a 'true' vampire, because he still has a reflection, his body's still warm, and the sun's shining through the window and he's not on fire."

"Some mythical vampires don't burst into flames, just become weaker under sunlight," Silk pointed out. Then she tapped her chin. "But your theory does have credence... Kazam did tell us before the show that the bat he was using was a vampire bat. I wonder why he didn't just use a less creepy kind though..."

Cheese grinned and hopped to his hooves. "Well, the Magic Expo's not over yet! We can get Kazam to fix Tomato before we all part ways. If he can't... well, there is Twilight Sparkle, am I right?"

Silk tilted her head. "How can you get a princess to--"

"Oh, I have a friend who's friends with her. Now..." Without warning, Cheese hopped onto Tomato's back, with the bat-pony responding with a "GAK!", but amazingly not buckling down under his brother's weight. Cheese noticed and said, "Hey... looks like you got extra strength too! Now, let's fly to the convention center!"

"Get off!" Tomato said, bucking Cheese off of him.

The elder brother smacked onto the ceiling, and stuck there for a few seconds before peeling off and landing face first on the floor. With a aching head, back, and jaw, Cheese was seeing stars in a spinning world and moaning, "Eeyup... extra strength all right..."

Silk rubbed the back of her head. "I don't think flying's a good idea. After all, bat-ponies aren't a common sight in Equestria."

Cheese quickly recovered from his trauma, and stood up. "Good point. He needs a disguise." With that, he pulled out a trench coat, hat, and sunglasses, while wearing a silly grin on his face.

Tomato and Silk stared in bemusement, with the latter asking, "...where'd you get those?"

---

As they trotted down the walkways, Tomato felt like throwing up once again, but was also simultaneously hungry and thirsty. He was also sweating enough to make his thicker fur wet, and his wings were folded uncomfortably under the trench coat, and his ears were stuffed awkwardly under the hat. He didn't like the musty smell of the trench coat, but he had to keep his muzzle in his collar in order to hide the fangs. And the sunglasses didn't really help the fact that the sun was hurting his eyes.

Everypony they came across was alarmed at the sight of somepony in a trenchcoat, some of them going around them with wider space than needed, and some wiping their foreheads as they passed and kept on giving Cheese and Silk dirty looks. Some of the strangers passing were drinking water, which made Tomato frown, wishing that he thirsted for it instead of blood.

Panting, he asked, "Are we there yet?"

Cheese grimaced. "Not quite. Still have several more blocks to go."

Tomato groaned. "Of all the places I had to turn into a vampire, it had to be Las Pegasus in the summer. I need a drink but I'd have to bite somepony to get it." He yawned and leaned against his brother's barrel. "Ugh, I didn't get much sleep last night either..."

"Hang in there, baby bro," Cheese said. "Once you're all fixed up, you'll be back to drinking water and eating good old pony food in no time! If we're lucky, we won't have to worry about anypony losing their blood." Chuckling nervously, he asked Silk, "Do you know anything about vampire bats, and can they eat anything else?"

"I'm not an animal expert," Silk replied.

Cheese sighed. "Again, I wish we had Fluttershy here to help us."

That was when another pony in a trench coat, galloping down the street, bumped into Tomato and sent him tumbling to the sidewalk. The impact had knocked off his hat and sunglasses, and his cheek slammed into the corner of the walkway, which had Tomato's face in the clouds. Even as Tomato got up on a front knee and cradled his throbbing cheek, the pony didn't even pause to say sorry as he continued to gallop.

Cheese and Silk helped Tomato up and brushed him off. The former said, "Geez... that was rude. Now... where's that hat?"

Tomato didn't listen, as he still processed what had happened. His head ached and eyes burned as he stared at the pony turning the corner, not caring for anything in his path. He stood up, still processing the event while Cheese and Silk picked up the hat and sunglasses and dusted them off.

And when it had clicked, his stomach growled, and he let out a bloodcurdling screech, which made Cheese and Silk jump. Without thinking, he dashed off in pursuit of the offender, his eyes full of blood lust.

Cheese stared for a moment before he realized what was happening and chased after him, yelling, "Tomato! Stop!"

Silk was still staring in disbelief when police officers brushed past her.

---

Heart racing, adrenaline pumping, and heat rising, Tomato felt very little control over his actions, but there was fire burning within him and an instinct urging him to take vengeance on the one who dared knock him to the walkway. His wings tried to spread so that he could take flight to catch up, but the coat blocked that action, so he was just left with his hooves. Thoughts jumbled around in his head, reminding him of how hungry he was, and how good of a meal that pony would make. His fangs were itching to sink into that jerk's neck.

Even though his coat wouldn't allow him to fly, he still weaved around and jumped over other ponies. Though his eyes still hurt, he still looked for that trench coat, knowing that hardly anypony else would be wearing one in this heat. He didn't care for any screams and shouts coming from ponies startled by the fangs; he just wanted to catch that one pony.

Finally, he spotted that trench coat turning into an alleyway. He jumped, caught a light post with his tail, and launched himself into that alley, tackling the pony and making the both of them tumble forward, tearing Tomato's trench coat apart and spilling bits from that other pony's coat. some landing on the solid walkway and some falling through the clouds.

When they had finished their tumble, Tomato had the other pony pinned down, spreading his wings, giving him a feral glare with contracted pupils and bared fangs, and hissing in his face.

The other pony--a large magenta pony with a yellow and white striped mane--had his eyes wide in shock and the color drained from his face. "What the--"

"You bumped into the wrong pony," Tomato snarled.

The pony tried to drag himself out of Tomato's grip, but to his surprise, he couldn't budge. He looked up in horror at the skinny stallion, who was stronger than he looked, and was forced to look into Tomato's scarlet eyes as the bat-pony started to chuckle threateningly.

Trembling, the magenta pony begged, "Please... please don't hurt me!"

Tomato laughed some more. "And, what? Skip out on lunch?"

He crouched down and opened his mouth wide at the neck, ignoring the other pony's frightened blubbering. His fangs still tingled from anticipation, and couldn't wait for that scrumptious smell and the undeniable taste. He was going to love this two-for-one deal--satisfying his thirst for vengeance and his thirst for blood.

However, before he could begin, he was yanked off the other pony, turned around, and slapped across the face. Tomato hissed at the perpetrator, but stopped once he realized that it was Cheese, who was giving him a disappointed glare.

"Tomato Matthew Sandwich!" Cheese growled. "What the hay was that?!"

Tomato's ears drooped. "Well... he..."

"Tomato, he was rude--that doesn't equal a punishment of sucking his blood!" Cheese ran a hoof through his mane. "Oh, dear Celestia, it's getting worse... you need to be changed back before it gets out of hand."

Tomato's heart sunk, realizing what had come over him. He glanced back at the magenta pony, who was curled up in a ball and still blubbering about having met an actual vampire. He licked at his fangs, which had nearly drawn blood--that he was actually going to enjoy drinking. He cringed at the thought, knowing that he was growing closer to becoming a full monster.

He turned to the magenta pony. "I... I'm sorry. I overreacted."

Cheese pulled out another coat and wrapped it around Tomato. "I don't want to see anything like this again. You scared me."

Not five seconds later, some police officers came filing into the alley, looked at the scattered bits on the walkway, and then pointed to the magenta pony. "There he is!" They quickly swarmed him, and a few unicorn officers levitated him with their magic.

The one of the unicorns looked at the Sandwich Bros (Tomato hid his mouth with the coat's collar), and said, "I'm amazed you survived an encounter with Pinkerton Headsmasher! Dangerous thief we've been trying to catch--guy's been robbing casinos and smashing heads for the past few months, and he just stole from Gladmane's today. Now Las Pegasus will rest knowing that he's behind bars."

Cheese and Tomato blinked, and glanced at each other. They didn't quite see that coming.

Pinkerton cried, "Officer! That's a vampire you're talking to! He's got wings and fangs and everything! He pinned me down and I couldn't move and he nearly bit my neck and sucked my blood! He needs to be arrested too!"

The officer gave Pinkerton an annoyed glance. "Ah, shut up! Everypony knows vampires don't exist. And even if they did, they'd strike at night. All right, boys, take him away!"

The Sandwiches were still stunned at the turn of events, watching as the officers took the panicking Pinkerton away and picked up the scattered bits. Then they stood up, and awkwardly shuffled away, heading back to where they left Silk Shimmer.

---

When they had finally made it to the convention center, Silk Shimmer lead them to the hall where Kazam's show was going to be held. After being held up by ushers pushing an anti-magic cone on Silk Shimmer (explaining that all unicorns watching Kazam's show need their magic blocked so they don't disrupt Kazam's special trick), which she ultimately put under her hat, and then swimming through the crowd, they finally made it to the stage, where Kazam sat and was drinking a bottle of water.

The blue unicorn finished his gulps and wiped his mouth, and then looked down at the trio with a sneer. "Silkie... care to inform me why you're late? And why Tomato's wearing all that junk in this heat?"

Silk grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, we ran into a dangerous thief on the way here--don't worry, the police caught him! That... and..." She rubbed the back of her head as she glanced at the covered up Tomato. "We'll... have to go somewhere private, so we don't freak anypony out."

Kazam opened his mouth to answer, but Cheese was swiftly in his face. "And I'd like to have a word about the danger you've been putting my little brother in!"

Kazam blinked, and then chuckled. "Well, come along to my trailer, you three--I can't wait to hear your complaints and excuses."

---

Once they were in Kazam's trailer, Cheese and Silk unveiled Tomato's new batty form.

Kazam raised an eyebrow and tilted his head. "You grew wings."

Tomato glared at him. "And fangs. It was painful."

Cheese stepped forward. "And there is no doubt in my mind that it was because you goofed up that Wings of Light trick last night. That looked like it hurt him! And I was looking everywhere for you last night, because frankly, I'm not comfortable with my brother working for you if you're putting him in situations that would kill him--or in this case, mutate him!"

Kazam turned to Cheese. "What's with this sudden overprotective behavior? Tomato said that before your only complaints were mainly about how you seem to be disapproving of how he was trying to get money to help somepony start a business. Don't tell me you believe that silly adage of money being the root of all evil."

Cheese backed up. "Well... we did run into a robber... robbing money from a casino... I mean, bits make ponies go bonkers, am I right?" He merely glanced at Tomato, who looked away with a small scowl. He shook his head. "But that's not the point! The point is, you turned my brother into a vampire!"

Silk jumped. "Cheese, calm down. I know you're upset, but yelling's not going to help anything." She turned to Kazam. "Okay, we came to you in hopes that you would fix it before Tomato goes completely nuts. He already threatened to suck somepony dry just for nearly knocking him off the walkway."

Tomato rubbed his cheek. "That corner hurt."

Silk continued, "So, you think you can find something that'll cure him?"

Kazam scratched his chin and smiled. "I don't know... I kind of like this bat-pony thing that Tomato turned into. I mean, imagine that... the first vampire that's not a myth... right down to the the blood-sucking..." He chuckled and started to pet an uncomfortable Tomato. "I think he's perfect."

Cheese felt a chill upon hearing those words, and narrowed his eyes. "Wait a minute... you did it on purpose!"

Silk recoiled upon hearing that. "What?! Okay, Cheese, that's ridiculous!"

Kazam put a hoof to his chest. "What? You accuse me of transforming your precious little brother? What do you have to back it up?"

Cheese snorted. "You just sound a little too pleased that this 'accident' happened. You're not even all that surprised that it did!"

Kazam shook his head. "Cheese, Cheese, Cheese... you are so quick to jump to conclusions! I mean... just because I'm interested in so-called 'creepy' things doesn't mean I'm a bad pony." He took an apple from his fruit bowl and chomped into it, causing orange juice to drip from it. "Is that why you're so suddenly overprotective? Hearing crazy tall tales from that amateur Trixie? Come on, we all heard about the Ursa Minor thing that blew up in her face in Ponyville. I'm surprised she recovered from that embarrassment."

"Is talking smack about Trixie really a good argument?" Cheese asked. "Besides, if you were willing to unleash a feral dog for my brother and your sister to fight, I don't doubt you'd do something this crazy. And I'm sure a true 'accident' would have actually killed Tomato."

Silk groaned. "Fusion's a difficult spell, Cheese. And as obsessed with it as he was as a teenager, even he knows its fruitless, and has given it up long ago." She turned to her brother. "Ehehe... right?"

Kazam shrugged. "I don't know... it somehow worked on Tomato." Then, he looked straight into Tomato's eyes, and said, "And even though this change seems frightening, there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of."

Tomato blinked, and his pupils shrank down to pinpricks. He nodded, and said, "You know... I think I like being a vampire bat-pony. As one, I have amazing powers such as flight and super strength."

Cheese's jaw dropped. With a gulp, he said, "Uh, Tomato... have you forgotten the part where you almost killed someone?"

Tomato turned to him, giving him a creepy stare. "He was a criminal. He deserved to have my punishment, but you foolishly stopped me."

Cheese shook his head. "Tomato! You attacked him just because he knocked you down."

Tomato's brow furrowed, and he hissed, creeping toward his brother. "You're a fool, Cheese Sandwich. Thinking that parties will solve all the problems in the world? Thinking you're better than me just because my talent's connected with an 'evil' thing? Thinking it's okay to ignore me just because I screwed something up?!"

"I-I-I never said any of that! Tomato... Tomato!" He backed up, noticing that Tomato's eyes were now glowing. With a quick glance at the smirk Kazam now held, it finally hit him. "Tommy! Tommy, listen to me! Kazam's hypnotizing you!" He looked at Silk Shimmer in desperation. "Silk, can you override the mind control, please?"

Silk Shimmer held a stony expression. "I can't do that, Cheese. Kazam's the greatest unicorn to ever live--he deserves to be an alicorn."

Cheese stumbled out of the trailer backward, and hit his head on the pavement. Silk Shimmer hopped out, with Kazam giving her the instruction of "Guard the trailer for me, sis--we don't want any nuisances trying to disturb our new pet."

Cheese flipped back onto his hooves. "My brother is not a pet!"

Kazam locked the trailer, and descended down the stairs and started to walk away. Huffing, Cheese galloped toward him and hopped onto him, pulling his cape over his eyes. "Listen, pal, I never gave you permission to turn my brother into a monster! You turn him back right now!"

Kazam bucked Cheese off, untangled the cape from his own face, and then whirled around and zapped Cheese with a beam that sent him into the outside wall of the convention center, leaving a dent in it. A dazed Cheese Sandwich peeled out of the dent and onto the pavement, looking up and seeing stars as Kazam walked away, taunting, "Can't do that... my experiment isn't done."

Shaking his head and getting up on his haunches, he rubbed his head and mumbled, "Forget Fluttershy... this a problem requiring Twilight Sparkle."

He looked up at the trailer, guarded by Silk Shimmer, and narrowed his eyes. "Don't worry, baby bro... I'm gonna break you out."

Comments

[Goldfinch142]

He did it on purpose!? Okay, Kazam just went from arrogant and reckless to downright evil. This 'experiment' of his is completely unethical (but then, he did stoop low enough to brainwash his own sister). What would he even do with a vampire pony? What's the rest of his experiment? I hope for Tommy's sake there's no time limit, like "if he's not turned back in one week, he'll be a vampire forever" or something. Would Tomato's mind even last that long? Ugh, if he starts acting like Kazam's pet dog...

And come on, Cheese, not all money is evil. How do you think non-party ponies live? Trading magic food-bearing banjos?

Cheese will have a hard time getting past not one, but two powerful unicorns, one being a hypnotist, AND overcoming an unwilling vampire (with super strength and flight, might I add). Better call in the big guns—Twilight Sparkle. Or maybe Trixie, 'cause she's closer.

Wouldn't right now be the absolute worst time for the Cheesy Sense to go off?

[FanOfMostEverything]

At this point, calling in the authorities... well, it might help. Depends on how much they'd be willing to listen, how many crackpot claims they've been getting as a result of the Magic Expo, and how much they understand about magic. After all, fusion spells do sound outlandish if you've never seen one.

Still, Cheese really doesn't have the time to run to Ponyville, and the post office probably won't get it there much faster. The Expo isn't going to go on for much longer, and after that, who knows where Kazam will go? At the very least, Cheese needs a nearby authority on hypnotism. Shouldn't be too hard to find. Of course, Cheesy Sense is still a ticking time bomb...

EDIT: And I just realized Kazam's ultimate goal. He's trying to force his own ascension through fusion. I think. It's insane, but so is he.

[Godslittleprincess]

Okay, this guy hypnotized his own sister? Really?!