Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

8.8--Resurrection of the Summer Sun Fair

When she and Spike had made it to Lemon Hearts' house, Twilight knocked on the door. She was quite surprised when Twinkleshine answered the door, and a peek in the house told here that Minuette and Moon Dancer were in the house as well, comforting Lemon Hearts. Twinkleshine invited the alicorn and dragon in, and they sat by Lemon Hearts as well.

"Hey, Lemon Hearts..." she said. "I heard about what happened to the fair."

Lemon Hearts held a tub of ice cream and was spooning it into her mouth. "Months... been planning it for months... and it was destroyed in a matter of seconds..."

"And we were all going to have fun together as a group," Twinkleshine said, leaning in a throw pillow. "It'd be the first time in a long time that we would have Moon Dancer with us, too."

Moon Dancer had a book in hoof, with a picture of Princess Celestia in her fire form. "We've been trying to reason why Celestia would even do this. It says here that when she when she had barely learned the fire form is that she had to have the utmost emotional control. Factors like anger, stress, lingering trauma, or even getting too excited could have accidentally activated it."

"Or maybe she was possessed!" Minuette suggested.

Spike scoffed. "Or maybe she had sw--"

He was interrupted by Twilight giving him a hard nudge, and he remembered that he wasn't supposed to reveal the real reason why the fire form had been activated. He sheepishly cleared his throat. "I-I mean maybe she... yeah, maybe she was possessed..."

Lemon Hearts sighed. "Like it matters why it happened--the fair's destroyed, and the Summer Sun Celebration has been ruined."

Twilight smiled. "Oh, I wouldn't say it's been completely ruined."

Lemon Hearts gave her a tired glare. "Oh, really?"

"Really, Lemon Hearts--the fair can be fixed!"

Moon Dancer shut the book and pushed up her glasses. "You do realize that a bunch of stalls, stands, carnival games, and some rides can not be cleaned up and rebuilt in a few hours, right?"

"Oh, when it comes to most ponies, that's true." She and Spike looked at each other and smiled knowingly. "But I know a couple of ponies that can revive the entire fair in at least a half hour."

---

When Twilight had brought her group of Canterlot friends to the fairgrounds, Cheese and Pinkie had set up the party cannon on one side, the party tank on the other, and a party bomb right in the center of the grounds. The two party ponies were making adjustments to their respective party weapons, while everypony else was gathering the splintered wood and debris from the field.

Lemon Hearts jumped at the sight of the artillery. "That's their solution? Blowing it up does not equal fixing!"

"What are they, trying to wage war?!" Minuette exclaimed.

"After what's been happening with Celestia all day, I'm not surprised," Twinkleshine muttered.

"Guys, don't worry! Pinkie and Cheese Sandwich know what they're doing," Spike said. "They both have a history of quickly setting up parties."

Moon Dancer looked between the cannon, the tank, and the bomb. "The way they're going about it is highly impractical and dangerous, and it'll only make this Summer Sun worse than it already has been. And that's an understatement." She heard a sneeze, and then looked up at Cheese Sandwich blowing his nose while surrounded by confetti. "Plus, I don't trust a pony with a cold to work complicated machinery."

"Actually, he had an unfortunate incident with pepper," Twilight said, looking up at Cheese from his perch. At least, she hoped that it was just the pepper. "But I've seen those two work together before. I trust them that they can pull this off."

Moon Dancer gave her a funny look. "Look, I know Pinkie Pie is your friend, and that other guy is apparently another friend of yours, but last I checked, any one of those will actually kill ponies, not to say the type of damage they'd make when combined. How are you okay with this?!"

Tomato Sandwich passed by, carrying some wood with his tail, and answered, "She has accepted that they're insane and run on nonsense magic."

Moon Dancer blinked, and then gave him a funny look. "Nonsense magic?" She looked at the way his tail was wrapped around the wood, holding it steady on his back. "I suppose that guy's full of nonsense too."

Lemon Hearts grimaced. "Nonsense magic or not, I don't feel comfortable with this."

That was when Cheese popped up next to her and said, "Don't worry, little filly, I assure you that there won't be any damage done." He held out a hoof to her. "Name's Cheese Sandwich, premier party planner in all of Equestria. You must be Lemon Hearts."

Lemon Hearts nodded. "Yes, I am."

"Heard about what happened to the fair..." He looked at the field before him with a grimace, and sighed. "...and I'm really sorry. All that hard work ruined like that. Ruined parties are just some of the most painful things, with a lot of disappointed ponies and a gut-wrenching sense of failure. Makes you just want to forget them, huh?"

Lemon Hearts looked away. "I know... I'm still trying to understand why."

"Well, don't you worry, Pinkie and I will fix it right up!" He backed up and hollered to Pinkie, "Is it all clear?"

Pinkie waved back and shouted, "Rainbow Dash just took the last piece of wood! We're good to go!"

Cheese clapped and rubbed his hooves together. "Good, now we can get to the fun part!"

Moon Dancer glared at him. "The 'fun' part? You mean blowing up Canterlot?"

Cheese glanced at her, and then groaned. "Oh, goody, somepony else who'd want a detailed explanation of how party ponies work. Look, it's impossible to explain to you 'logical-minded' folks, and frankly, I don't want to waste any more time. So..." He pointed behind them, and the others turned to want looked like a bomb shelter, which already had the cleanup ponies in it. "You might want to go in there, this fair-fixing might be a little... violent."

"What?!" Lemon Hearts cried. "But, but, but--"

Twilight had already emcompassed her Canterlot friends in her magic and was carrying them toward the shelter. "Let's listen to him, I don't want to deal with any comical repercussions that may arise out of this."

"Eh... comical repurcussions?" Twinkleshine asked.

"The repercussions of a cannon, bomb, and tank combo would not be comical!" Moon Dancer snapped. "I can't believe you're being so nonchalant about this!"

Twilight sighed. "I've tried studying Pinkie... went through a lot of pain and learned nothing."

She made it to the shelter, went inside, and then dropped her Canterlot friends. Her Ponyville friends--sans Pinkie--were at the window, watching as Cheese and Pinkie prepared their party weapons. On the other side of the bunker, Tomato was reading a novel, casually holding himself up with his tail as if he sat in a chair and seemingly not caring about what was about to happen outside.

Minuette laughed nervously. "You know, I like Pinkie Pie and all, but this is crazy, even for her! Or was this Cheese Sandwich's idea? He's known for doing things big! And this is definitely going to be a big disaster!"

"As if this day could get any worse," Twinkleshine mumbled.

Lemon Hearts sat in the corner and sighed. Sniffling, she muttered, "I don't even think that plan would work..."

"You are seriously underestimating them," Tomato stated, turning a page in his book.

Moon Dancer stared at Tomato's tail for a long moment. Then she glanced at Twilight and grumbled, "Or maybe he's overestimating them. For that matter, if he's brothers with this Cheese fella, why didn't he try to talk sense into him? Is he made of crazy, too?"

Tomato looked up and glared at her. "I can hear you. And if you're going to talk smack about me, say it to my face."

That was when they heard a loud explosion outside, causing all to cover their ears. Those at the window covered their eyes from the flash of light, and everypony felt the ground rattle from from the blast. The Canterlot unicorns screamed, Tomato dropped his book, and Spike fell over. It was a few moments after the rattling was done, and everypony took a moment to breathe.

The moment was short lived, for a smiling Pinkie Pie opened the door. "All done."

Everypony gathered outside, joining a bunch of other curious ponies that had felt the blast. They all gaped at the sight of the renewed fair, which seemed to glow with the utter glory of the sun and ring out beautiful music inviting everypony to play. All the food stalls and stands, carnival games, and thrill rides had not only been recreated, but they were in the same exact spots that their destroyed counterparts had stood. Above the ponies was a banner, welcoming them to the fair with a picture of a smiling sun.

Lemon Hearts especially was in awe. She still stared, even as Pinkie Pie trotted up to her and asked, "You like it?"

She smiled, and tears started to streak down her face. "It's... it's... exactly how I planned it, but with more pizzazz!"

"Of course! I memorized the entire layout of all the food and souvenir stands and activities so that it could go according to your plan. The pizzazz thing... that's Cheese being a show off."

Cheese ambled to where they stood, presumably walking from his party tank, and sneezed. Wiping his nose, he shot a mock glare at Pinkie and said, "I heard that. How dare you deride me like that."

Lemon Hearts giggled and beamed at them. "Thank you. Thank you both! Now everypony can have their Summer Sun fun before the sunrise ceremony!"

Meanwhile, Moon Dancer was staring at the sight in shock. "But... that's impossible... h-how are they able to do that...? They shouldn't be able to do that!"

Tomato rolled his eyes. "Told you. Nonsense magic."

Moon Dancer rubbed her head. "I'd accept it if it was Discord but... but..."

Twilight patted her back. "Don't worry about it, Moon Dancer--what matters is that the fair is back and we can all spend time together tonight!"

Pinkie zoomed to under the banner, pulled the microphone out of her mane, and told the crowd, "Hello, everypony, and welcome to the Summer Sun Fair! We're really sorry it's late, but better late than never am I right? Anyway, my friend Cheese Sandwich and I set up this fair according to the layout of Lemon Hearts, who planned this thing for months! Now, are you ready to party all night?"

At the sight of Pinkie cupping her ear, the crowd cheered.

"Great! Now, what are you waiting for? Get in there and have some fun! We've got several hours 'til sunrise!"

The still cheering ponies all dashed to the fair, and everypony quickly went to work on going to some of the activities or on a ride. Pinkie smiled as Twilight and Spike gathered their Canterlot friends to have some fun together, Rainbow Dash and Applejack went off to competitively play some carnival games, and Rarity and Fluttershy went around to see the sights. She turned to the Sandwiches, and frowned upon Cheese laying on the ground, and Tomato prodding at him.

Pinkie dashed toward them. "Oh, my gosh! Cheese, are you all right?"

Cheese looked up and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, guys... I'm just exhausted. I think I put a little too much of my magic in rebuilding." He sneezed, and bubbles floated away from his person.

Tomato stopped poking him. "And Celestia's sneezing must have taken a lot out of his body, too. Guess that nap earlier didn't quite recharge him. I've never seen him this tuckered out, even when he was a more tired pony as a colt." He sighed. "And I was looking forward to some family time with him."

"Aww..." Pinkie sat down and patted his head. "You need some time alone to recharge? It's okay if you need to."

Cheese tried to stand up. "Oh, no... no, I'm going to have some fun with my brother, and--" He fell back down. His face was in the grass, and he groaned. "Okay... yeah, I need some rest."

Pinkie patted his back. "I'll keep an eye on him for you, okay, Cheesy?" She crossed her heart and put a hoof over one of her eyes. "Pinkie Promise."

Tomato held a half-lidded look. "Yay..."

---

When they had let Cheese rest in the bomb shelter, Pinkie did not hesitate to drag Tomato around the fairground, showing him all the things to do and stuff to eat. Although it wasn't quite either's plan for that night, Pinkie was determined to make the most of it and make sure that Cheese's brother had fun. After all, she didn't want to disappoint her friend! Plus, it would be a chance to be better friends with Tomato.

The first thing that she dragged him to was a spinning teacup ride, which made her feel a little dizzy just watching them. After staring at them for a moment, she turned to Tomato and examined the look on his face. His eyes especially told her that he secretly yearned to go on a ride.

"All righty, then, let's have some fun on the teacup ride!" she exclaimed.

Tomato raised an eyebrow. "What if I get dizzy?"

Pinkie rolled his eyes at his denial. "Tomato, you said you don't get sick easily. I can tell you're lying." She grabbed him and dragged him to the teacup ride. "Now, let's go!"

"I don't even get a say in this?"

---

After they got off the teacup ride, Pinkie noticed the look on Tomato's face, and said, "Looks like somepony's smiling..."

The little smile that had been on his face fell into a scowl, and he retorted, "I am not!"

"I saw it with my own eyes. I know a smile when I see one!"

"Trick of the light, let's go somewhere else."

Pinkie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You totally smiled."

---

After going on a couple more rides, they decided to eat something. Pinkie got two of everything for her and an indecisive Tomato, and they sat down at a table. There, Pinkie goaded him into an eating contest, to which he reluctantly complied. A lot of ponies had heard their conversation about this, took one look, and some from Ponyville decided that it wasn't worth watching, since Pinkie Pie was participating, and her equal, Cheese Sandwich, wasn't against her.

A few munches and gulps were heard, followed by Pinkie exclaiming, "I wo--huh?"

"What?" Tomato said.

"Did I accidentally eat your food? I'm so sorry!"

"Eh, no, you didn't. I ate my own food."

"Oh? My mistake, I just had my eyes closed." There was a pause and Pinkie then said, "Unless you're lying."

"Why would I be lying? I'd be complaining if you ate my food."

"How do I know you're not just trying to make me feel better?"

Tomato groaned. "Believe me, I wouldn't do that. I'm trying to keep you from wasting an apolo--"

A loud burp was heard, and everypony snapped their heads around to the table where Pinkie and a blushing Tomato sat. Covering his mouth, he sank in his seat, and muttered, "Excuse me."

Pinkie sniffed the air. "...okay, you did eat your food." She leaned on the table. "So... who won?"

---

They participated in a few carnival games. While they were standard hit-and-miss games, the fact that just Pinkie Pie was playing them was enough to win them prizes. Soon enough, she had a load of stuffed animals, inflatable bats and hammers, and rubber birds all perched upon her back. Tomato questioned why she didn't stuff them into nowhereland, but thought it best not to comment.

"Cheesy's going to be so surprised to see all these prizes we won!" Pinkie squealed. "I had no idea you had such good aim!"

Tomato scoffed. "I've blown a few spitwads when I was a colt to get attention from my friends. Got in trouble for that. My mom would always scold me on how I needed to behave like a straight-A student, being quiet like Cheese, obedient like Dad, and polite as she..." He stuck his tongue out in disgust. He then chuckled. "She had no idea how I turned out to be some booksmart kid after being the idiot that nearly got himself killed all the time."

"Did Cheese save you from dying all the time?"

"Who else? He was willing to risk everything to make sure I was safe."

"Wow... then he definitely deserves these prizes! He's a great big brother!" Then Pinkie gasped. "And I should give some to my sister Maud, too! She used to save me from the dangers at our farm when we were fillies!"

"Well, good. They at least need to know that they're appreciated." Tomato looked away, and sighed sadly. "I may have not gotten my appreciation across correctly in my case."

"It's okay, Tommy... you're doing better..." She tapped her chin. "Funny how Cheese is a lot more like Maud than I thought, and you're a lot more like me than I thought."

Tomato rolled his eyes. "Crazy talk."

"No, really, Cheese has said that you liked to have fun when you were little, and you liked to run around and explore and talk and stuff like that! You even have curly hair!" Pinkie said, pointing to his head.

Tomato snorted. "Yeah... but I was little. I've grown out of that, since after all, it's not like anypony will take me seriously if I'm a weirdo." He turned and pointed at his cutie mark. "See this? My Mom tells me that this cutie mark is for serious ponies only, and absolutely nopony would ever want to associate with a silly businesspony, who will be nothing but a laughingstock if he acts weird in any way whatsoever. That's why we're not alike, and can never be alike--you're a party pony."

Pinkie gazed at the mark, and tilted her head. Scratching her chin, she remarked, "I don't know, it seems sillier than the cutie marks of most businessponies I've met."

Tomato backed away, covered his flank with his tail, and then walked away. "Aw, forget it. Just take the prizes to Cheese, and do whatever you like. Don't need me holding you back from anything fun."

Pinkie blinked as she watched Tomato leave, and then hollered, "I didn't mean it as a bad thing!"

When Tomato didn't answer, she sighed and walked off.

---

Tomato didn't know how long he'd been walking, thinking about what he had said, but he stopped when he came across a curious attraction in a large tent.

He looked up at the sign, which read, "A Trip Down Memory Lane", and figured that there was something to look at in there. So, he went in, finding himself in a curious room with several other ponies.

He looked around at the shelves that had been set up along the walls of the tent. Orbs and necklaces were on the shelves, softly glowing every color in the rainbow. A closer look told Tomato that the necklaces were made of smaller versions of the orbs, and that the orbs played moving pictures within them. The particular orb that Tomato stared at played a little movie of some foals playing in a pond.

"Welcome, welcome, everypony!"

Tomato looked up, and there, by a white screen that was place between shelves, was a excited looking unicorn mare. Several steps away from the screen was a large something hidden under a cloth. "Good evening, ponies. My name is Professor Wanda of the Memory Magic Department from Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns. Oh, aren't we all lucky to be here!"

Some of the ponies chuckled, and a couple others groaned. Tomato stayed silent.

Wanda cleared her throat, and levitated one of the orbs from the shelves. "Anyway, I bet you're curious about what all these orbs are. Well, these are the memories of my ancestors, having passed long ago. When each had passed on, they had granted permission for them to be removed in order to leave something for their descendants to remember them by."

Tomato blinked, and walked further forward to listen more intently.

"Memories are precious things..." Wanda said, stroking the orb. "They are replays of the events that shape who we are. Some memories provide fun stories, some provide lessons, some continue to inspire us, some protect us, and some help us recognize those we love."

"Or hate," some random pony said, eliciting a few chuckles.

Wanda raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "Anyway... the purpose of memory magic is to fight against memory related disorders, or to provide a window to the past from those who passed on. Of course, we're not allowed to do anything unless the patient grants his or her permission for us to do so. We're not allowed to alter any memories so that everything is all sunshine and rainbows, or remove any memories of mistakes that a pony would have made--those that forget history are doomed to repeat it, after all."

"Why not? What about those suffering from trauma? Wouldn't they like the offending memory removed?" another pony asked.

"We haven't gotten anypony suffering from trauma coming to us yet--but we're developing a method that helps them deal with the trauma without leaving a gap in their collective memory. See, removing memories is dangerous, and quite often changes a pony because they don't remember their experiences. Memory removal spells are only done with ponies on their deathbed who want to leave their memories with their families, and are not to be used without caution."

"Why are they orbs?" someone else asked.

"Oh, because the one who invented the memory spell made it that way... for some reason." She shrugged. "I don't know, really."

"Who invented it?"

"Oh... a pony by the name of Wayer Rune did." That was followed by a cry of dismay, and Wanda sighed. "Yes, I know, the werewolf guy. Anyway, he invented it when his son was dying of a terminal illness. As the colt was passing on, the memories were removed so that they could still have their son-slash-brother with them. This was before cameras, you know."

That was when Wanda smiled. "Speaking of cameras..." She galloped forward and removed the cloth, revealing a projector with a helmet attached. "Okay, this isn't a camera--but you have the opportunity to watch a memory like a movie! So... who's going to be our volunteer?"

Nopony raised their hoof, so Wanda just pointed to Tomato, and said, "How about you, you handsome stallion?"

Tomato jumped. "Uh... me? Are you sure you want to see any of my memories?"

"Well, did you commit a crime?"

Tomato blinked. "Eh... no."

"Well, then, come on up!"

Tomato sighed, and then walked to the front. He sat on the stool beside the projector, and had the helmet attached to his head. After a few adjustments so that the helmet was comfortable, Wanda asked him, "How old are you? When's your birthday?"

Tomato answered with March fifth and the year he was born. Wanda nodded, and flipped some switches and punched in the date. Then, she turned on the projector, and static appeared on the screen. After turning a couple of knobs, the image became clearer, and Tomato beheld the faces that he had only seen in pictures.

The brown, balding, wrinkled stallion that he recognized as Grandpa Beans was on the screen, joined by his grayish yellow wife Panini, with her mane in a bun and a pair of glasses. He blinked in astonishment, seeing his long dead paternal grandparents actually moving.

"Hey, looks like the new munchkin's awake!" Beans said. He laughed, and said, "Hey, little buddy... looks like you's seeing your ugly Gramps' face, huh? I'm surprised you're not crying yet."

Tomato heard cooing, and it had confirmed that he was watching an image of when he was a baby. Blinking, he asked Wanda, "...hey, how'd you get something from when I was a baby?"

"Oh, we've figured out how to find tiny foal memories that are buried under the many memories of your years."

Tomato turned back to the screen to see Grandma Panini tickling his baby self's chin. "Well, ain't he just the li'l doll? He's cuter than a litter of puppy dogs learnin' how to howl! Shoot, he looks so much like his Pa!" She turned to somepony offscreen. "Hay Burger, get away from the window and say hi to yer young'n!"

He heard a grunt, and Panini's face went sour. "Why's he bein' like that? He was happy when Cheese was born, and now he won't look at little Tomato."

Beans shook his head. "At least show respect for your flesh and blood."

Tomato heard the groan of his mother, who said, "How do you expect to be a good father if you can't even bear the thought of a second foal?"

Tomato's heart sunk, and he held himself. He looked at the other ponies, who were looking at him with concern, and then hissed, "Don't pity me. My brother says I'm the favorite." He turned back to the screen and muttered, "...am I?"

He heard his father scoff. "You wanted a filly. He wouldn't be pleased to learn that."

Tomato glowered at the screen. "Well, I learned it. Thanks a lot."

On the screen, Beans groaned. "Stop spoiling this day, you two. We have a new member of the family, and you just treat it as some excuse to insult each other. If you don't clean up your act, both of your sons will not grow up very happy. Geez, you're acting like my parents, and I was a miserable colt growing up under them!"

There came the sound of the door opening, and Panini said, "Looks like Pizza and Mel brought little Cheese. Let's see what Tomato's older brother thinks of him."

That was when the voice of Grandma Cucumber Melon came and cooed, "Oh, my! Look at that precious little baby! Cheese, do you see that baby? That's your new brother."

Grandpa Pizza Pockets' voice chuckled. "Well, well, he looks a lot like his dad."

Hay Burger groaned and said, "I know..."

"Well, don't just stand there, let little Cheesaroo take a closer look!" Panini said.

Tomato snickered. "Cheesaroo? Never heard that before..." He leaned forward, and watched as a tiny orange colt was placed onto the bed, and stared at him with big, bright green eyes, tilting his head. Tomato was astonished to see a toddler version of his older brother, and leaned back as Cheese crawled toward him.

The point of view moved as baby Tomato was moved into Cheese's front legs, and Mozzarella said, "Careful! Cheese is only three, he might drop him!"

The screen showed little Cheese's face again, and Tomato could clearly see the awe on the toddler's face. Having received accounts of Cheese's reaction to first seeing him from his maternal grandparents and Cheese, he wondered if they had been accurate, or were just romanticized. He continued to watch the face closely, wondering how he was going to react.

Cheese's awe gave way to a smile, and he said, "Hi! I'm big brother Cheesy!"

Tomato heard a delighted coo from his baby self, and Cheese nuzzled him in response. He looked up at his parents and grandparents, and announced, "This my baby. This my baby forever and forever."

The ponies behind him all sighed, "Aww...." and some of the mares giggled at him. He heard some whispers about how his brother was cute, and some other whispers about how Tomato must have been a cute baby, since he was a cute stallion. He turned away in embarrassment at the latter.

He heard Beans laugh. "Looks like Cheese likes him. You gonna be a good big brother?"

Cheese nodded, and Beans continued, "Well, at least somepony's happy he's here. Heck, most of us are happy Tomato's here. I can just imagine these two being the ultimate musical team!" He paused as he popped into view and looked at Tomato for a brief moment before zooming back out of view. "Looks like they both have the pipes. So, accordion, piano, and both singing voices will be a winning team. Can't wait until Tomato's old enough so I can start teaching him my craft."

Tomato blinked. He was going to teach me how to play the piano? He knew that Grandpa Pizza Pockets had intended to teach Cheese accordion for a long time--and got to do it. Tomato felt himself feeling even more disappointed that Grandpa Beans had died when he was a baby.

The projector was shut off, and Wanda said, "As you can see, we have reached through the darkest depths of his memories, and pulled up the day he was born. Good thing we didn't show the actual birth... that's a messy process, you know!"

Tomato shuddered. No, no, I don't want to think about my mom giving birth... aw, dang it!

---

Cheese sprung up from his tarp in a cold sweat, and started to rock back and forth. "It was just a bad dream... just a bad dream..."

"What's a bad dream, Cheesy?"

Cheese turned, and found Pinkie sitting beside him, watching him. Blinking, he asked, "Uh... how long were you sitting there?"

Pinkie gestured to a pile of prizes. "Tomato and I won a bunch of these at the fair, and we thought it'd be nice to give them to the best big siblings we know! You get half the prizes, and Maud gets the other half!"

Cheese blinked, and then chuckled. "That's very thoughtful of you two..." He looked around the bunker, noticing that it was just the two of them. "Uh... where's Tomato?"

"Still at the fair." Her mane started to droop. "He got upset with me and stormed off."

"What? Why?"

"All I said was that he and I might be more alike than it seems."

Cheese shook his head. "That's a silly reason to be mad. I'm going to have to talk to him about that. Besides... I don't see what's wrong with him and you having things in common. Common ground is often basis for friendships, am I right? I'd like for you two to be friends!"

Pinkie looked away. "If so... does that mean if I get annoying enough, you'll stop being my friend and start hating me and wanting to avoid Ponyville? Would you want to forget I ever existed?"

Cheese nearly jumped. "What? No, never! Why would I hate you or even want to forget you? Come on, Pinkie, don't you realize you saved me?"

Pinkie sighed. "I know I'm the reason you're a party pony. But... I don't want to lose a friend. I don't like the thought of losing any of my friends! But... it makes me really sad to think of a fellow party pony hating me. I already came close with the Fall Festival."

Cheese took her hoof in both of his. "Pinkie, I could never hate you. You lead me to my destiny, we worked on the greatest parties together, you helped me and Tomato reconcile... honestly, I can't think of a better pony in the world. I just wish I could do more to thank you."

Pinkie lit up and then caught him in a hug. "Aww, really? I did that much for you? That's really nice of you to say, Cheesy!"

Cheese hugged back. "Yeah... your friends and all of Ponyville are lucky to have you around. You're amazing."

That was when he felt a sharp pinch in his flank, and he felt his tail point in the direction he was to go. "Hello! Cheesy Sense alert!"

Pinkie released the hug, and then sighed. "Darn... I was hoping you and Tomato could stay long enough to see the sunrise!"

Cheese twiddled his hooves and blushed. "Well... I suppose I could stay a few more hours... just long enough to see Celestia raise the sun..."

Pinkie perked up. "Great! But first, I gotta find your brother. Who knows where he wandered off to, that little rascal!" With that, Pinkie sped out of the bunker, leaving Cheese alone with the toys.

Cheese was grinning and waving goodbye. However, that was interrupted by a rasping cough. He coughed for a good ten seconds, and then felt his throat, groaning, "Ugh... darn tickle in my throat..."

Author's Note:

Aaaaaaand... I have finally finished the Summer Sun arc! Ugh, took longer than I thought it would...

So... what place do you suppose is next?

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

Well-executed partillery strikes can make or break a party. Sometimes one, then the other. And Moondancer may have a new field of study to investigate. Also, very interesting to have external observers note Tommy's own casual use of "nonsense magic."

Huh. I was not expecting something out of Fallout: Equestria in this story. In any case, Tomato has something to think about. Well, a few things to think about, but let's not focus on one of them.

And I find myself very worried about that cough. Probably more than I should be, but still.

[Sketcha-Holic]

6430390 What is the thing that reminds you of Fallout: Equestria? Because I haven't read that fic and I'm not interested in reading it, so I'm completely clueless.

[FanOfMostEverything]

6430559
It makes heavy use of memory orbs to fill in the backstory. If you didn't intend that parallel, then it's a stunning coincidence.

[Sketcha-Holic]

6430580 Ah. I was thinking of Inside Out when writing the Memory Magic scene.

[Goldfinch142]

Looks like Cheese is getting sick.

"She has accepted that they're insane and run on nonsense magic."

Silly Tomato, it's not "nonsense magic." It's "cultivating joy."

Interesting scene the memory machine displayed. Never knew that Mozzarella wanted a filly. Or that Beans' parents acted similarly to the Sandwiches'. I wonder if Tomato will tell Cheese about it or bring it up with their parents.
And if I recall, Tomato was interested in the piano anyway.

Aw, look at Cheese and Pinkie having a moment.

It's near impossible to guess where they go next; so many cities to choose from. Then again, they may have to make an emergency stop for Cheese if things get worse.

[howard035]

I feel kind of sad for Lemon Hearts. Being an event planner and not having party pony magic must be like being a farmer and not being an earth pony. You can still do the job, but you're working at a huge disadvantage compared to most of the rest of the industry.

I love those memory orbs, Cheesaroo was adorable! I wish we knew exactly what it was that broke Hayburger inbetween the birth of Cheese and Tomato.

[Chromio]

Hah, March 5th is my birthday!

[ChaoticKindness]

Oooh, that mind magic stuff seems very foreboding

It was super cute to see Tomato and Pinkie spend more time together~

[Sugarcookie29]

Tomato looked up and glared at her. "I can hear you. And if you're going to talk smack about me, say it to my face."

OHH SNAP!

[Godslittleprincess]

Okay, that cough can't be good. Also, it's horrible when you can't get that little voice in your head talking smack about you to shut up.