6.4--Disaster at the Expo
Cheese's first plan was simple--do what Comedy Gold had done to Silk Shimmer back in Halterside. He hated to hit ponies, he really did, but perhaps banging a frying pan on her head would break the spell. And if it worked, the frying pan could work on Tomato as well. And after that, they'll take the train to Ponyville and have Twilight fix him.
So, with a tight grip on the frying pan, he snuck around her, climbed the trailer's rooftop, and leapt.
Silk Shimmer had turned just in time, took a hold of him with her telekinesis, took his pan, and threw him into the same dent in the wall as before. Then she casually bent the handle of the frying pan and threw it away.
Growling, Cheese went elsewhere to come up with a new plan.
The next plan was a pie in the face. As he ran around her to figure out how to unlock it, she had used her magic to wipe the pie off her face, turned around, and threw it in Cheese's face. And then she threw him into that same dent again, and a dazed Cheese went away to come up with another plan.
"Just let yourself go floppy, for now this is your chance
Pretend you have no bones and do the rubber chicken--"
ZAP!
CRASH!
"...ow..."
He successfully parachuted onto the trailer, and pulled out a saw to work a hole into the roof.
However, as he started, Silk Shimmer heard him, levitated him again, and threw him into that same dent in the wall. Tired of being thrown into a wall, Cheese growled at her and snapped, "Come on! Why do you always throw me into this spot?!"
He regretted speaking about it as he was tossed face first into a fresh spot on that wall.
Surely dressing up like Kazam would work.
Wearing a full body suit of the royal blue unicorn, he proudly marched up to Silk Shimmer, and said, "I have returned sister--and now I'll go into my trailer, and check how my new pet is doing." Cheese tried hard not to cringe at saying that disgusting phrase and kept on forcing Kazam's usual smirk.
Of course, she quickly pulled off the mask, revealing Cheese's poofy brown mane and his dimpled brownish-gold face. He groaned and asked, "Oh, come on! How did you see through that?!"
"I am unable to sense the powerful magic of my fantastic brother, clearly telling me that you are an imposter," Silk replied in a monotone.
Cheese blinked, and then went to a half-lidded expression. "I forgot the horn, didn't I?"
He was thrown into that wall once again.
He tried squeezing through a window--it failed, and ended with him on that wall. He tried distracting her with balloons--it failed as well, and he was on the wall again. He tried playing his accordion for her, in hopes that music would break the spell. And to his dismay, she had taken it, crushed it on the pavement, and then tossed him into the wall yet again. Every time he tried to get past her and break into the trailer, he ended up on the wall. The only thing he managed to succeed in was knocking off her hat and grabbing the anti-magic cone before he was thrown into the wall again.
He was just thankful that she didn't think to throw him off the mountain and send him tumbling to the ground. That would have hurt a lot.
Hours had passed, and every plan that he had done had failed, and it was frustrating. All the while, he couldn't help but worry about what experiment that Kazam was planning to do with Tomato. Was Tomato truly Kazam's pet now? Was he going to be sold to a circus and billed as a freak show? Or was he just a successful test of some sort of fusion spell that he was going to show off in his magic shows? Cheese didn't know about that last one--he was no expert on unicorn magic, being a simple earth pony and all. Still, he hated the thought of Tomato just being exploited like that.
As he drew up his next plan around the corner from the trailer, he snorted. He hated it when his party pony magic couldn't aid him--instead work against him because his pain was hilarious. It was especially aggravating now, when he seriously needed to rescue his baby brother from a nutcase.
He sighed. "Stupid Kazam hypnotizing Tommy... putting words in his mouth... calling me a fool for my special talent..." He erased a few stray lines and brushed the bits of eraser off. "And I never said his special talent was evil! I just said that ponies just get a little too nuts over bits so that they become greedy and selfish jerkwards. And how dare they imply I don't care? Come on, I do care, that's why I'm trying to rescue him! Why would I try if I didn't?" He shook his head, wondering where those came from.
He finished the drawing and looked at Boneless 2. "What do you think? You think lassoing her would work?"
Boneless 2 flopped to the side.
Cheese groaned and crumpled the piece of paper. "Ugh, you're right. At this point, I'm afraid the only way we can defeat Silk Shimmer is if we disable her horn, and that's a pretty tough job for an earth pony that can't even get close to her." He threw away the paper, and then grabbed the cone and looked at it. "We have this dumb thing but we can't put it on! I swear, this would be so much easier if I was a unicorn!"
He got Boneless 2 to sit up, and then the rubber chicken flopped forward.
Cheese blinked. "Wait... are you saying that I should get another unicorn to put it on her while I distract her? But... who am I going to..." His eyes widened as he hit a realization. He grinned and smacked his knee, laughing it up. "Of course! Why not Trixie? She'll help!"
The small group oohed and aahed as The Great and Powerful Trixie swept up the ashes (from a fire trick she did earlier) off the stage, and then brought them all together and made them glow and then explode, creating a bright, purple firework. The sky blue unicorn grinned as the ponies stomped in applause and cheered for her. Puffing her chest out and sticking her muzzle in the air, she took a moment to soak in the adoration.
"Trixie is flattered that you found her tricks amazing." She took off her wizard hat, and held it upside down with her magic. With a slight twist of her neck, a bouquet of flowers popped out of the hat, and she threw the flowers at her audience. "A reward for your correct answer."
Next thing she knew, Cheese Sandwich's head popped out of the hat as well, asking, "Hey, Trixie, I need your help!"
The sudden appearance made her scream, drop the hat, and stumble back, watching as the hat and Cheese dropped to the stage. Cheese's cheek and temple hit the floor, and he yelped in pain. Dazed, the stallion couldn't help but groan.
"I've already slammed into too many surfaces today..." he complained.
Trixie's face turned red as the audience laughed. "Cheese Sandwich! You better have a good explanation for this!"
Cheese shook his head, and crawled out of the hat. "Trixie, it's urgent, and I need you right now!" Looking at the audience, he announced, "Listen folks, Trixie's show is going to have to take a break! Go replenish your snacks or something!"
Trixie jumped. "What?!" She stared in disbelief as the murmuring crowd dissipated. Then she turned to him and snapped, "What do you think you're doing?! I was in the middle of a show! Who gave you the right to interrupt the Great and Powerful Trixie?!"
Cheese put a hoof on her shoulder. "Look, I didn't want your audience to panic, but one of the magicians is a complete nutcase! He turned my brother into a vampire bat-pony, and is planning some sort of crazy experiment with him! Tommy's locked in his trailer, while the magician's sister has been hypnotized to guard it, and she's impossible to get past! I have to get Tommy out soon--his condition is getting worse, he's starving, and there's no telling what kind of trouble he will cause in this expo as a crazy bloodthirsty monster! So, please, please help me!"
Trixie raised an eyebrow. "A vampire bat-pony."
Cheese nodded.
Trixie groaned and walked away. "I don't have time for this. What makes you think I'll be concerned for your cranky brother?"
Cheese bit his lip. "Well... will you help if I said that you were right about Kazam?"
Trixie stopped and glanced back at him. "What do you mean?"
"Kazam's the nutcase that turned Tomato into a vampire. I knew he was creepy, but... I learned today that what he did with my brother yesterday was meant to turn him into a vampire. I don't know what he's up to and it scares me, especially seeing my baby brother as a monster. So... please... please help me."
Trixie tapped her chin. "So... you want to stop Kazam?"
Cheese nodded.
"Very well then, Cheese Sandwich," Trixie said, turning around. "What would you have me do?"
Silk Shimmer stood in front of the trailer, the afternoon sun beating down on her. Her body was still like a statue, and her eyes were cloudy like an overcast sky. She stared forward with those glazed eyes, blocking the door of the trailer, protecting the treasure instead. Her master had ordered her to stay there, make sure that nuisance Cheese Sandwich didn't break into it and steal the master's prize. And so far, she had succeeded in her task, seeing through each of the party pony's tricks.
It was no surprise that Cheese returned, casually trotting up to her.
"Well, howdy, Silk Shimmer!" Cheese said, grinning. Swinging one hoof around her shoulders, he asked, "You know, the sun is hot--don't you want some water?"
"And leave my post?" Silk Shimmer said in her monotone. "Negatory--I have a duty and I will not abandon it."
Cheese gestured to the sun, which was lowering toward the western horizon, though it was not quite sunset yet. "Silk, you could get heat stroke. Believe me, it's not fun--I've gotten hot and sweaty plenty of times in my travels. Thankfully, I've been lucky enough to run into some nice rivers and springs and stuff like that. You know... water?"
"Your trickery will not work."
"What trickery? I'm genuinely concerned!" Cheese pulled on the collar of his shirt. "Whew... if I was in Princess Celestia's place, I'd find some way to turn the heat down."
"Basic science tells us that turning the sun's heat down will negatively impact all life on this planet."
"I've never really been that good at science," Cheese said. Then he sped off, and quickly returned with a fire hose. "Now... allow me to cool you down, my dear..."
With that, he started to spray Silk Shimmer, singing, "Just drink it! Just drink it! Don't want you to get too heated!"
As he hosed Silk, Cheese looked up at the top of Kazam's trailer, where Trixie had climbed up and held the anti-magic cone in her magic. He winked at her, and Trixie nodded back. She crouched down, levitating the cone toward Silk's horn.
However, the cone ended up being caught in the spray of the hose, and was launched elsewhere. Trixie blinked, and then scowled at Cheese, who grinned sheepishly as he turned off the hose. With a facehoof and a silent groan, she levitated the cone back to herself, and dried it off with her cape.
Cheese looked at Silk Shimmer, who was soaking wet and glaring at him. Using her magic, she snatched the hose from him and pointed it at him. Wide-eyed and blinking, he squeaked, "Don't hurt me."
"You are annoying--of course I am going to hurt you," Silk growled.
As she turned on the hose and blasted Cheese into the wall, Trixie saw her chance, and quickly levitated the cone to Silk's horn. By the time Silk had noticed, Trixie had sealed the cone on her horn, and the hose stopped spraying as it was dropped to the pavement.
Silk stared at her horn, and attempted to use her magic to remove the cone, but she was only met with no sparks and backed-up magic giving her a headache. Then she tried to remove it with her hooves, where she found that she was not very dexterous with them, since they kept slipping.
Meanwhile, on the roof of the trailer, Trixie stood up and announced, "Ha ha! You have fallen for our trick! Cheese Sandwich was right to seek the aid of The Great and Powerful Trixie!"
A dripping wet Cheese Sandwich ambled back to the trailer, rubbing his back. "Ugh... I've had enough of slamming into hard surfaces today..."
He shook the water off of himself, and then trotted to the trailer. He felt the door in front of him, and grabbed his tail. His heart was pounding, and he prayed that he'd get through to Tomato once inside. Taking a deep breath, he picked the lock with his tail, telling Trixie, "You mind finding a way to break her hypnosis while I'm in here?"
Trixie smirked. "Oh, I've got a few tricks under my cape..."
Cheese opened the door, and stepped inside, still feeling the pounding of his heart. Don't worry, baby bro... I'm here to save you. We'll turn you back to normal, and get that madpony arrested, and then the rest of this summer will go smoothly.
However, he froze at the shocking sight of nothing.
He blinked, wondering where Tomato was. He looked left and right, noting all the tarot and go fish cards scattered on the floor, the crystal ball, the dreamcatcher, all the books, the bowl of fruit, and the pineapple frog in a bird cage beside him. He turned to the pineapple frog, and asked, "Uh... do you know what happened to the vampire in here?"
The pineapple frog ribbited, and pointed to the dresser, where a note lay. Curious, Cheese trotted toward it, and picked up the note.
Dear Cheese Sandwich,
Nice try.
~Kazam
Cheese's eye twitched, and he screamed, "What the fudgesicle?!" He threw the note on the floor and started stomping on it. "Of all the lousy, no-good things I could have run into in this stupid trailer, I find that that stupid unicorn was one step ahead of me!"
Snorts were sharply exhaled as he grinded the note into the floor. After a few moments of panting, Cheese sighed and mumbled, "What do I do now?"
He heard a clang outside, and Silk Shimmer yelled, "Ow! What'd you do that for? I didn't do anything to you!"
"I know. But it's the only way I know how to stop hypnosis."
He walked to the door and looked out, seeing Silk Shimmer rubbing her head and glaring at a smug-looking Trixie, who held a bent frying pan--the same one Cheese used before--in her magic. They looked to the door to see Cheese standing there, looking glum.
Trixie sighed. "Don't tell me. The vampire's not there?"
Cheese shook his head. "Kazam was one step ahead of me. I don't know where he took Tomato!"
"Well, this was a waste of time."
Silk stood up, and winced. "Well... maybe you could find clues as to what he's planning to do. After all, nobody just turns somepony into a vampire for no good reason, right?"
"What good reason is there for that?" Trixie asked, her muzzle wrinkling in disgust. "How could a blood-sucking demon be any good for Equestrian society? As far as I know, it's to show off how powerful of a unicorn he is and oppress those around him--that is what crazy, power-hungry unicorns do, after all."
The pineapple frog leaned out of its cage and tugged at Cheese's shirt, ribbiting and pointing at the dresser once again. Cheese blinked and looked back, and asked, "What's over there?"
He trotted to the dresser, while Trixie and Silk entered the trailer. Looking at some of the things scattered on the top, he wondered just what he was supposed to be looking for. The only thing of note was a page about werewolves, but he opted to ignore it, since they had a vampire problem. However, Silk Shimmer took the page and started to read it. Her eyes widened as something clicked.
"Guys, guys! I think this werewolf thing gives me an idea of what he's doing!"
Cheese turned to her. "Really?"
Trixie raised an eyebrow. "That's a completely different kind of monster."
"But listen to this:
"'General Wayer Rune is a unicorn that had gained infamy by using dark magic to create the first werewolf. Equestria was involved in a savage war with the Minotaurs at that time, and he wanted a way to make his soldiers stronger. He utilized the fusion spell to fuse himself with a wolf, and when he found that he hadn't killed himself, he cast the spell on each pond his army came across and drank from, causing them to develop the 'Wayerwolf' curse.
'He modified the spell to hide the curse so that it only appeared every full moon. And while this spell did aid in the defeat of the Minotaurs, the trauma suffered by the soldiers mixed with the dark magic took its toll, driving them insane and reverting them to a corrupted version of a wolf's instinct, leading them to kill their families and other innocents. Anypony who survived these attacks but got bitten ended up with the curse as well, spreading it further.
'When Princess Celestia got word of the curse, she and the archmage at the time quickly developed a spell to break the werewolf curse. They used it en masse in every town, and got the Royal Guard to arrest Wayer for his unlawful experimentation. They got him to confess about the ponds, and Celestia evaporated every one they found, so that the werewolf may never be born again.'
Silk set the page down and looked at the other two grimly. "Guys, I think he might be testing to see if Tomato can spread the vampire curse."
Cheese jumped. "What?! You mean he's using my brother to create a curse that's like a virus? Why?"
"Because he's insane?" Trixie said.
Silk sighed. "Ugh... Party Favor was right when he said that something was not right in Kazam's head. I thought he was just jealous because Kazam's the magical prodigy and the favorite of our father, while Party was the outcast for not being able to even use his horn." She felt her own horn, still wrapped in the anti-magic cone, with an idea of how he felt. "But nope, apparently Party Favor complaining about Kazam trying to fuse him with something was a warning."
Trixie rolled her eyes. "I have a sister who's insane, I know what it's like."
She slammed her hoof on the dresser. "Kazam was a bully to me, too, so Party thought I'd believe him. But I didn't listen!"
"Guys... as much I'd like to hear about Silk's childhood, we still have to stop Kazam from using Tomato," Cheese said. "I don't want anypony to be a vampire! Thing is... how's Kazam going to go about doing that?"
Trixie pursed her lips. "You know... I believe he might use his audience in tonight's show as his test subjects."
Silk bit her lip. "And when was the last time Tomato ate?"
Cheese's eyes widened. "Oh." He slammed his face onto the dresser. "I'm so stupid."
Backstage, Kazam looked over the cage which held the bat-pony that was once Tomato Sandwich. What was once a normal stallion was now a raging and starving monster, with a hoof on his belly and hissing and screeching in complaint about his own hunger. Already, he had popped off one of the bars, and nearly snagged the janitor, who Kazam had paid to keep his mouth shut. The unicorn only watched as Tomato tried to hop and fly, only for the top to block his path and send him crashing back down onto the cage door.
Kazam shook his head and clicked his tongue. "Calm down, Tommy. There's absolutely nothing to be afraid of. Your dinner is coming soon."
Tomato turned to him, blinked, and then looked forward at the curtain, licking his lips. He hopped to the top of the cage, and used his tail to hang from one of the bars there. He wrapped himself in his wings, awaiting the moment where he could satisfy his hunger.
Tightening the tie on his cape, Kazam chuckled, and strode to the stage as the lights went down.
He gazed at the large audience before him, pleased at the number of unicorns wearing the anti-magic cone on their horns. He smirked, thinking of how less resistance there will be.
"Fillies and gentlecolts... I welcome you to my final show!" He declared, lighting up his horn and creating a ball of green lightning. The audience roared as the lightning ball was thrown upward and hit the ceiling, creating a neon shockwave from the ceiling to the walls and finally to the floor. The doors and windows lit up and crackled, and the members of the audience whooped and giggled as the electricity tingled them.
Kazam laughed along with them. "My, my, you're an excited bunch. Well... I hope you enjoy the biggest and most amazing trick that I have ever done!" He paused for the short applause. "I've been preparing this one for a long time, and believe me when I say it'll be the one that change lives!"
The audience applauded once again, and Kazam chuckled. "But... I wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of a very special assistant..." He backed up, and opened the cage from his spot in the front of the stage. He grinned as his pet's eyes glowed. "So please give a special round of applause to Tomato Sandwich!"
The crowd roared and stomped at first, happy for the special assistant. However, once a bat-pony burst out of the curtains and hissed at them, they all gasped, and stared at Tomato in stunned silence. They looked at each other nervously, unsure of what was going to happen next.
Kazam laughed again, with a more sinister vibe. "Okay, Tommy... you may feast."
Ponies shrieked as Tomato leapt toward the audience.
A security guard heard the screams, and opted to bust down the door to see what was going on. Unfortunately, contact with the door zapped him, and he stumbled back in a daze. Shaking his head, he quickly realized that the door had been enchanted.
Hearing the screams of both fright and agony, as if there was a monster in the room, the guard called for backup.
At a different door, Cheese Sandwich had tried to open it as well, and was electrocuted by the enchantment that the door held. He stumbled back and was caught by Trixie and Silk Shimmer, who looked at the crackling door, and were cringing at the screams inside and the banging on the doors followed by desperate pleas for help.
"Those do not sound like screams of adoration," Trixie said. "At least they finally realized what a creep Kazam is."
Silk smacked her on the back of the head. "Trixie, there are ponies getting attacked by a crazy and brainwashed vampire! They're a little too busy trying to escape the monster in the room to be pointing hooves at the unicorn responsible."
They got Cheese to his hooves, and he slowly walked to the door again. Trixie turned to Silk. "Isn't the unicorn responsible your brother? Why didn't you control him?"
Silk huffed. "Well, excuse me for getting hypnotized by him! Besides, he wouldn't listen--he's older than I am, and he always plays that card."
Both mares jumped as the screams were joined by inequine screeching and hissing, and the cracking sound of multiple wings growing. With wide eyes, Silk said, "Well... we know that it can spread now."
Trixie nodded. "I can't decide if it's better or worse than dying."
A wave of screeches erupted, and the flapping of wings joined in with the cracking and the screams. Grimacing and looking at each other, Silk and Trixie backed away from the door, even as Cheese still stared at it, still trying to comprehend what was happening.
He tried to touch the door, but the zap made him recoil. Holding his hoof, he sat on his haunches and continued to stare, feeling alone with his thoughts. His brother was in there. His brother was the one drinking the blood of other ponies. His brother was the one biting ponies and turning them into vampires. And his brother had lost his mind, because he dared to trust the wrong pony.
He squeezed his eyes shut and hung his head. His brother had turned into a monster.
The three of them were startled by shattering glass, and Cheese didn't hesitate to bust down the door, which had its enchantment worn off. When they entered the hall--as well as several security guards through the other door--they found everything in the room destroyed, blood splattered on the floor and walls, and the windows broken and glass scattered around them. Under the large stage where Kazam had done his shows, a few stragglers were crawling out, shaking and wide-eyed from the horrors they had witnessed.
The stragglers galloped to the security guards, telling them what had happened, explaining the vampire surprise that Kazam had presented them with and the carnage that turned most of the audience into vampires as well. One stallion cried about his fiancee; a mother cried for her son. A few small foals sobbed about their grandmother, a mare about her sister, and a teenager about all his buddies, all having grown wings and fangs, being brainwashed by the crazy magician, and flying out of the building.
Cheese still looked up at the windows, slowly walking forward and letting the pink light of the sunset wash over him. As much as he wanted a thought about Pinkie to comfort him, he couldn't help but feel a heartache and a sense of failure over Tomato.
He clenched his teeth, and despite his best efforts, squeezing his eyes shut did not hold back his tears.
What? Another chapter so soon? What is this madness?
I'll tell you what happened--I was bored. Oh, yeah, and anxious to continue this thing--because I love it when kids' shows have their monster episode and play it seriously (when they play it in a comedic manner, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth).
I wonder if I'll have to bump up the rating to Teen after this. 
And lastly... here's a pic of "TommyBat" that I drew recently:
Stats
Page generated in 0.041 seconds
Total duration
656 users online
753,869 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Not listening is an ongoing theme with that family.
I would think Silk would be a bit more overtly outraged when she realized her brother
enslavedhypnotized her.Dang. Things just got serious.
Oh dear. That isn't ketchup...
Welp, I think Kazam is pretty officially an enemy of the state at this point. Still, I'm not sure if or how Cheese and company can stop him. Between his hypnotic abilities and his vampire army, the only things that might be able to stop him are regal intervention and his own hubris.
Poor Cheese.
I don't know what to say other than THAT EVIL UNICORN IS GOING DOWN! Holy cow, this is a national crisis! Someone get the princesses! And the Royal Guard! And the Wonderbolts!
I do so hope Kazam goes to jail for this. He just endangered the lives of countless ponies. And I'm willing to bet he made that army to try to overthrow the princesses or at least establish himself a place of power.
This light hearted story of a brotherly road trip just got really dark really fast. I like that.
With that, he started to spray Silk Shimmer, singing, "Just drink it! Just drink it! Don't want you to get too heated!"
I see what you did there
Cheese's eye twitched, and he screamed, "What the fudgesicle?!"
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wW9gjDJ2-pU
Dang you Kazam
Now i really want to know how Trixie's sister is! Can't be Starlight Glimmer or Sunset Shimmer So I'm going to guess Lyra Heartstrings.
Aww, poor Cheese. What is it with these two repressing their personal problems to the point disaster is almost inevitable?