Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

9.7--A Town Worth the Time

"Well, well, it seems the snow passes the test!" Peppermint Chill said, pulling a clipboard and pencil from his saddlebag with his magic and writing something down. "Not exactly powder, and has a bit of crud to it, but, all in all, it's a good ride down."

He looked up the hill to see the rest of the ponies bounding down on their skis. Beside him was Double Diamond, who had already finished his run, and was proudly looking up to see the other ponies having fun. He smiled, knowing that the snow had thoroughly impressed the committee through all the runs they had at different points of the mountains.

Above them, still tied to the big balloon made of balloons, Night Glider nodded. Looking down at her friend, she hollered, "Hey, D! Were you happy to have skiing buddies that are on your level?"

Double Diamond smiled at her. "You bet! It's a lot more fun when you're not alone!"

"Oh, pfft, I've air dropped you whenever you had that skiing itch!" Night Glider's ear twitched as she heard a voice from the distance, and she turned to the direction of the town. "Oh, it sounds like Party Favor's calling me. You guys pack up those skis, I'm going to go pick up our little clown and be right back in a jiffy."

With that, she zoomed off with the balloon in tow. Blinking, Peppermint asked, "Why does she need to pick that guy up when she could just tow us back on her own?"

Double Diamond shrugged. "He knows how to work the balloon best."

"Oh, yes, yes, he was the one that made it. Plus he'll replace that side we popped to get out of the balloon easier." Peppermint laughed heartily as he put the clipboard and pencil back in his saddlebag. Then, his laughter died and he was somber. "Now, it's best we get the elephant in the room out of the way..."

Double Diamond frowned, knowing just what was coming next.

"I hope you know that ponies don't look keenly on your town due to you ponies giving up your cutie marks to live in equality."

Double Diamond glanced away. "I'm well aware of that. Sometimes I wonder if anypony who derides us understand why we did so. We all felt as if we fell short of perfection, that our talents were useless, that we're the disappointment of our families and communities, and that others were better than us at the exact same talents. We were, like, pretty much giving up on life." Double Diamond sighed. "It was a poor choice on our part. I never realized how much I missed skiing when I was so-called 'equal' to my fellow ponies in town."

Peppermint nodded. "I see. A bout of discouragement with your special talent turned into despair and drove you to make a wrong choice, am I correct?"

Double Diamond winced, then nodded.

"That's not too different from ponies who turn to a life of crime because they think they're good for nothing else, or they're angry at the world for choosing that other pony with the same talent. I hear that happened to the outlaw Peppermint Stride; denied enrollment to dental school, married the sadistic Roanie, and they've been picking up other down-on-their-luck ponies and terrorizing towns until they were caught in Nickerlite nearly a month ago."

Double Diamond glared at him. "Thanks for comparing us to outlaws."

"M'kay, maybe that wasn't the best comparison," Peppermint said, rubbing his chin. "You're more like Jasper Horseshoe, a decent fellow who got caught up in that kind of madness and didn't quite realize it until he was caught, and turned around to the right path. Of course, you and your friends got caught up in a different kind of madness, but it's madness nonetheless."

Double Diamond snorted and kicked the snow. "It was madness, all right. Starlight had us wrapped around our hoof, and she still haunts us to this day. Even though I was her right hoof stallion, her most trusted lackey, the one most loyal to her... she still lied to me. To all of us."

Peppermint blinked. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but... how close were you to her?"

Double Diamond looked away in shame, brushing his hoof on the snow. Staring blankly at a patch of snow, he gathered his thoughts about those months when they were still equal. Back when she was still around, proclaiming her ideology and keeping everypony smiling their big fake smiles. Back when he had been looking at her in admiration, helping her every step of the way, unaware of her hidden mark.

With a sigh, he muttered, "Not as close as I thought."

Peppermint nodded. "I can't imagine what you've been through. But don't worry, I'm not going to judge you by what your former mayor did. What happened in that town is mainly her sin; I can tell you and your pals are healing and growing from the experience."

Double Diamond merely turned his head and gave a small smile.

That was when the rest of the skiers came down to the bottom of the hill and skidded to a stop, all of them laughing, sans Winter Mist, who while not smiling, was giving an approving nod. Evergreen and Crystal excitedly chattered, Cocoa Latte was bouncing, and Big Freeze tipped over and fell in the snow with hearty chuckles.

Winter Mist looked in the sky. "Where's that pegasus with the balloon?"

Before Double Diamond could answer, he was interrupted by Night Glider returning with Party Favor, and shouting, "You guys all done? Because we've got a great party to show you!"

---

Party Favor held his breath as he leaned on the edge of the balloon basket, standing by as the skiers talked. He had made some adjustments to the basket when Night Glider brought it in, including a compartment for the supplies that the Double Diamond and the committee were carrying, and a little trap door on the floor of the basket, activated by a lever. He felt silly for not including that earlier; then again, no one else knew how to work it.

As they flew closer and closer to town, his heart pounded against his chest, wondering what they'd think of the big surprise he had waiting there. The committee knew that they were throwing a party in order to prove their hospitality; but how would they react to the biggest and best manifestation of his own talent waiting there? Would they like it? Would they laugh like everyone else? Would they get angry about what could be considered the biggest joke in Equestria?

His brother and father had said that balloon modeling was a limited talent; Starlight used that argument to convince him to give up his cutie mark. Still, all the others had so much faith in him; he prayed with all his might that he would not let them down.

He looked down, and signaled for Night Glider to stop. This was it. Double Diamond had his moment of truth; now it was his turn.

He turned around and cleared his throat. "May I have your attention, please?"

When all those in the balloon stopped talking and turned to him, he said, "First of all, I'd like to thank you all for coming to our town. From what I could tell when picking you up, you all must have had a great time checking out the slopes."

The others murmured in assent.

Party Favor nodded. "That's great to hear! But the fun's not over yet!" He put a cork on his horn, and then onto Peppermint Chill's. Then he grabbed the lever. "I've got one last air drop for you to make... except there are no skis required!"

With that, he pulled the lever, the trap doors opened, and everypony plummeted out.

Their hollers and screams rang through the air, not only as they fell, but as they found themselves bouncing down a super slide made of balloons. The slide twisted and turned around the landscape, giving them a tour around the outskirts of town and showing them the rock formations, the pathway to the mine, the riverbanks where gardens and small orchards were grown, and the various houses around town that the townsfolk lived in. There were also several other things built by balloons around the slide, such as a bouncehouse, a little ring for some kind of match, and an obstacle course. The ponies were flying through hoops, leaping over balloons in a rubbery steeplechase, and shooting through a tunnel, and their screams had turned into laughter.

The ride ended in the Main Street, and they all slid into the main party, where everypony threw their snowy confetti, cheering and clapping at the grand entrance of the committee, ignoring the mess of manes standing on end, and more focusing on the awe on their faces.

Double Diamond and Party Favor slid in front of them, grinning as they threw their hooves open in presentation. They were joined by Night Glider descending from the sky (after hitching the balloon somewhere), and Sugar Belle holding several cupcakes in her magic and making them revolve around her.

Peppermint Chill stood up. "My word..."

Winter Mist was up as well. "Well... that was a wild ride."

Big Freeze stood up and sniffed the air. "Something smells good!"

As the twins and Cocoa Latte stood up, the four presenters parted to reveal Tomato Sandwich, bearing a smirk on his face as he accosted the committee. Dwarfing Peppermint Chill, he held out a hoof, and they shook a couple times before releasing.

"Well, well, well, I see the committee has arrived to the party!" He tightened his tie, and brushed off his jacket. "Did you like the balloon slide? It was built by none other than this town's very own Party Favor." He gestured to the blue unicorn, who waved cheerfully.

Evergreen and Crystal grinned at each other. The former shouted, "Dude, it was one of the greatest surprises we ever had!"

The latter nodded and added, "I had no idea that an entire fun fair could be built out of balloons!"

Cocoa Latte then said, "It must have taken him days to do that!"

Tomato laughed and pulled the cork off Peppermint Chill's horn. "Well, the miracle of Party Favor is that he created all of that and all the balloon decorations that you see around here. He's a wizard with balloons!"

He pointed to a large table at the side, with Sugar Belle standing near it and others sitting at it, waving at them as they presented their goodies. Tomato continued, "For that matter, you could call those ponies wizards of baking!" He pointed to some of the snowflake figurines made of glass and crystal, with some ponies by them waving. "And that those ponies are wizards of glass and crystal art, and those who mined them are wizards of... well, mining."

After some laughter coming from several others, he then pointed to the painters standing by the paintings over the windows. "We have wizards of painting, and wizards of sculpting, and wizards of building and fixing." He pointed to some of the rock snowponies, with some little foals pretending to ride them. "Okay, the foals didn't make those, but they're clearly having a good time."

He finally gestured to the roofs, were all the musicians--with both real instruments and those made of balloons--played an upbeat song. "And here are the wizards of music! As you can see, we are all pitching in to help make this party a memorable one!"

Peppermint Chill blinked. "Well... we weren't exactly asking for a party like this..."

Tomato bit his lip, and looked around at the other ponies, who looked nervous as well.

Peppermint smiled. "Still, I can't deny all the effort that went into this! Especially with what the little balloon wizard did!"

Party Favor backed up and blushed with a silly smile, waving a hoof. Double Diamond gave him a sly look, elbowed him, and said, "Don't be so modest, buddy."

Tomato breathed a sigh of relief. With a smirk, he said, "All right, go and try some stuff. There's a lot to do and eat. And feel free to ask what kind of services that some of the other folks do around here, they're itching to let you know!"

---

The first thing he heard was a ringing in his head. A high-pitched, unpleasant ring, which sounded more like a drawn-out, irritable squeak than the jingling of holiday bells. The first thing he tasted was the unpleasant taste of absolute blah that came in the mornings, taunting at him to try to wipe it away with breakfast. And his attempt to breathe through his nose brought about a snort, and he felt something slimy land on his tongue. He swallowed it, unfortunately adding it to his collection of phlegm.

Cheese felt an aching in his head, as if his brain had been squeezed by a minotaur using it as a stress ball. Clenching his teeth in some sort of attempt to will the ache away, his hooves slid out from under the covers, hoping to help ease the ache by rubbing his temples. His eyes, having felt like they had been glued shut sometime earlier, creaked open and slowly let the light into his pupils.

His vision was blurry for only a moment, but it soon cleared itself to reveal his place in the doctor's hut, surrounded by all the cabinets that contained medicine and equipment. Hoisting himself onto his haunches, he continued to rub his head, this time with one hoof, as he looked around. His other hoof made it's way to his throat, and he grumbled about how stuffy he felt there.

But, stuffy as his throat was, his throat was not sore anymore, that last snort made him able to breathe through his nose, and a few stretches of the front legs were already pouring energy into him. He finished his stretch and yawned, and then realized that other parts of his body felt tense. So, taking a deep breath, he hopped out of the bed, and then stretched his other legs, as well as his back, his neck, and his tail. A few satisfying pops came from his body, and he stood erect again, a smile coming across his face, knowing that Cheese Sandwich was as good as new.

Remembering the night before, his eyes widened as the last thing he remembered was Tomato running off after the stress of facing the town's angry mob got to him. He still remembered being too weak to chase after him, and after that... he passed out. He didn't know why he had passed out--maybe this annoying headache had something to do with it--but that didn't matter, because Tommy was still out there.

He gasped and cried in a still hoarse voice, "Oh, no! I gotta go find him!"

He hopped over the bed, threw open the door, and dashed out... only for sudden bright lights to blind him, and crash into another pony. The two fell into a heap, and Cheese's headache was more acute, and he felt the world spin all around him. He groaned, cursing himself for being so reckless.

"Excuse me, sir," the other pony said, crawling out from under Cheese. "Could you please watch where you're--hey! You're awake!"

Cheese shook his head--which unfortunately felt like his brain was rattling around in his skull--and he looked at the curly-haired, blue unicorn he crashed into. He simply stared at the other pony, trying to process the guy's name as he was helped up by the hoof.

"Are you all better from your cold?" the unicorn asked.

Cheese squinted his eyes, a list of names running through his mind. Hearty Flavor? Pretty Caper? Pouty Frowner? Potty Engraver?

He looked at his surroundings, realizing the assortment of treats, decorations, and musicians on the roofs that was all around him. He could smell the sweet scents of chocolate, lemon, strawberry, and vanilla, and he noticed the ponies all around laughing and smiling and chattering. Some were staring at him and whispering, and others were too busy munching on goodies to care. Blinking, he could have sworn that there wasn't a party here before.

Party... Party... Party Something...

"Uh... are you going to answer?" the blue unicorn asked cautiously.

He looked at him and said, "Oh, yeah, I'm fit as a fiddle, Party Pooper."

"Uh, it's Party Favor," the other stallion replied, with half-lidded eyes and a little twitch of the eyebrow. Then, he said, "And that's good to hear! Well, mostly, because you're still hoarse..."

Cheese replied in a mock serious tone, "A pony can be considered a miniature horse if you think about it."

Party Favor laughed. "You're silly, I like you!"

"Well, good! Because silly is my business!" he exclaimed, standing proudly for a moment.

Then a big frown came across his face as he remembered why he was out in the first place. He pawed at the ground as he looked around. "But we need to find my brother! There's no telling where he could gallop off to, or what dangers he'll end up facing without me to protect him!"

Party Favor waved his hooves. "Whoa, whoa, it's okay, Cheese, we found him last night. Come on, I'll lead you to him." He squinted his eyes as he scanned the party guests that were scattered along the street. "Now I know he's around here somewhere..."

He cleared his throat, and shouted, "Tomato! Tomato? Tomato, your brother's awake!"

---

Tomato Sandwich walked around the balloon fair, watching as ponies ran around and played in the various balloon attractions that Party Favor had made. He watched as several ponies bounced in the bouncehouse with whoops and hollers, and others played with some balloon carnival games. Then he turned his attention to a couple of ponies, playfully duking it out in the ring with balloon swords before one dramatically fell to the ground after the sword was plunged into his "heart". His eyes then went upward, seeing ponies climb to the beginning of the slide, and then bound down the bouncy tour. And then his gaze fell to the obstacle course, as the ponies scaled a balloon wall, weaved through balloon poles, and crawled under... balloon barbed wire? Well, nopony ever said that party ponies made sense.

Still, this party had turned out better than he imagined. Party Favor's fullest extent of his magic was amazing to say the least.

He scanned the ground as well, seeing some ponies surprisingly find fun in the dirt. Big Freeze was building sandcastles with a couple of foals, and Rooney was weaving a story for a small group of foals, magically manipulating the sand as three-dimensional illustrations. It seemed to be a story about pegasi and a big city.

He was going to trot toward the story, curious about what it was about, but his ear twitched upon hearing the call of his name. Turning, he started to trot toward the source of the voice, coming through the alley.

Sure enough, Party Favor popped out of the alley, looking from side to side; and he was swiftly followed by Cheese, who started coughing.

Tomato jumped at the sight of them. Seeing Cheese, he smiled and shouted, "Hey! I'm over here!"

The two party ponies turned to him, and Cheese sped to him like lightning, wrapping him in a tight squeeze. Tomato found himself unable to hug back; he was even having a hard time breathing, and he wondered why the hay he was behaving this way.

Cheese released him. "Tomato Sandwich, don't you dare run off in the wilderness like that! You don't know what's out there... heck, I don't know what's out there! You're lucky Party Favor and his friends found you when they did!"

Oh, that's why. It was weird how he was sounding like a parent--then again, Cheese was no stranger to Tommy doing something stupid. With a sigh, Tomato replied, "Yes, I know, I shouldn't have galloped away like that. I'm sorry that I worried you. So... did you have a good sleep?"

Cheese rubbed his head. "Ugh... I'm surprised the worry didn't keep me up... or this headache. Yeesh, where did it come from?"

"Your never-ending frustration with me," Tomato deadpanned.

Cheese nickered in annoyance. "Well... at least you're not hurt." He looked up, and jumped at the sight of the balloons. "Oh, wow! I've never seen balloon sculptures like that! Hehe, and they're being inflatable bouncy slides... and just... carnival games!"

Tomato smiled, and gestured to the approaching Party Favor. "That's his handiwork."

Cheese turned to Party Favor, who was giving him a sheepish smile. Cheese smiled, and said, "Oh, really?" When Party Favor nodded, Cheese continued, "Well, what did Cheesy Sense even bring me here for? You're capable of creating a fun fair entirely out of balloons!" He laughed as he watched ponies bounce down the super slide. "Seriously, my balloon sculptures don't even hold a candle to this..."

Party Favor breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh... I was worried that somepony used to creating big parties wouldn't be impressed. I mean, balloons are all I can do. I can't cook, I can't sing, and I had no idea how to organize this thing."

Cheese nudged him. "Hey, don't worry about it. I can't cook either." He coughed a couple times, prompting Tomato and Party Favor to scoot away. With a cheesy grin, he added, "And I don't think I can sing at the moment... stupid phlegm..."

Party Favor chuckled. "Well... call me crazy, but... what if your 'Cheesy Sense' thing led you guys here because we needed Tomato?"

Cheese blinked, and then scrunched his nose and rubbed the back of his head. "Uh..."

Tomato sighed. "That's not how it works. It tells him where a party is going to be thrown and if it needs him to give it a little 'oomph.' I'm not part of the equation. I just happened to be on a summer road trip with him when Cheesy Sense led him here."

Party Favor looked away. "Oh, well then, uh..." He cleared his throat. "Forget I said that. I have a history of saying stupid things." He looked to where Rooney sat with the foals, and then started trotting toward there. "I wonder what he's doing..."

Once he left the Sandwiches alone, the two looked at each other.

Cheese coughed a couple of times. "So... uh, what'd you do for the party? Did you take another shot with the coffee thing?"

Tomato shook his head. "Nah, I'm never doing that again. It was stupid and I never should have done it; I got in trouble for it before, what made me think I wouldn't get in trouble now? I'm lucky there's no formal police force here."

"Oh. So..."

"Oh, I just checked out what kind of talents everypony had, organized them into teams, and then made sure they did their job in setting up the party. I also got a little help from railroad workers from across the way." Then he muttered under his breath, "After a little arguing with their boss."

Cheese nodded. "I see."

"Yep."

They stood silently and awkwardly for a moment, before Cheese said, "It's pretty good, considering your limits and the fact that we're in the middle of nowhere..."

"Helps to be teamed up with a pony with an infinite supply of balloons," Tomato chuckled. He looked at Party Favor, who was sitting with the foals watching and listening to the tale that Rooney was telling. "At first I thought that his balloons were nothing more than a hindrance on the party we were planning, since that's the only thing he could summon; turns out, it's actually the best part of this thing."

Cheese was nodding as he looked around at all the ponies having fun among the balloon attractions. "No doubt about it! Then again, I wanna try them, just to be sure." He pulled his brother to his side. "But, seeing as he said that he didn't have any clue on how to organize it... maybe you were the one he needed. I ought to give both of you a gold star."

"Well, thank--" Tomato was interrupted by Cheese slapping a golden, star-shaped sticker on his chest. Staring at it with a blank look on his face, he muttered, "This thing has my name on it."

"I was saving it," Cheese said, turning in order to trot to Party Favor.

Tomato sighed and rolled his eyes with a smirk. "At least it tells me that this party's better than my first attempt years ago. Psht, or even the last time I worked with a member of Party Favor's family for sure."

Cheese stopped and turned. "Huh? Did you work with Silk Shimmer or something?"

Tomato blinked. "Well, uh, yes... remember, when we were in Las Pegasus, and she and I were getting money from Kazam to help Silver Shill?"

Cheese furrowed his brow. "But... we didn't go to Las Pegasus. I guess Silk Shimmer did, but not us."

Tomato raised an eyebrow. "Yes, we did. There was a Magic Expo you were helping with, your loudmouth friend Trixie was there--"

"Oh, Trixie! I haven't seen her in a long time--wait, you know that I'm friends with her? How?"

"I met her in Las Pegasus! And surely you remember the creepy arrogance that defines Kazam, right? I mean, he's hard to forget, especially after..." Tomato rubbed the back of his head, not wanting to say it out loud, out of fear of both Cheese getting upset over it and the possibility of Party Favor overhearing. Plus, he still felt queasy just thinking about it, especially as he licked his teeth, and two certain spots on his back tingled.

"After what?" Cheese asked.

Tomato groaned. "Forget it. You don't want to be reminded. After all, it's hard to believe that Kazam and Party Favor are brothers."

Cheese scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Okay, sure, Mr. Moody, have fun reminiscing about your imaginary trip to Las Pegasus, where you won a lot of bits gambling, got drunk and danced your legs off, got it on with some showmares, and, psht, soared like an eagle. Because that definitely aligns well with your stuffy and prudish personality."

Tomato glared at him. "Stop mocking me and just bounce down the slide."

"All right, then, I'll just have some fun in current reality." He turned around and walked off.

When he noticed Party Favor walking back from where Rooney and the foals had sat, apparently having finished the story, he stopped him, put a gold star on his chest, and patted his back with a smile. Party Favor smiled back, and when Cheese trotted off, his face fell into a big frown.

Party Favor looked up at Tomato, and then back at Cheese. "Why couldn't I have a brother like yours? Why did I have to have stupid Kazam as a brother?"

Tomato's heart skipped a beat. "What?"

Party Favor walked to the nearest building and sat against the wall. He was joined by Tomato, who sat beside him and waited for the reason why Party Favor was unhappy.

Looking at the dirt, Party Favor said, "I can't believe it. Rooney was telling those foals a little story... which turned out to be some awful news that happened in Las Pegasus a couple weeks ago, involving my older brother of all ponies."

Tomato blinked. "He was?"

"Wouldn't you believe it, Kazam made the vampire real. Doing the classic fusion technique on an innocent pony and vampire bat, and then siccing them on his audience... and then on the entire city..." He sighed and turned to Tomato. "Please tell me that he's just making it up? That he's lying about how it had been all over the news, and that ponies actually did turn into vampires, and that it Kazam really wasn't emulating our crazy ancestor that did the werewolf thing!"

Tomato was silent for a moment, thinking about what had transpired that week, and how much it still haunted him, and haunted Cheese as well, clearly going pretty far with his denial. On the one hoof, he didn't want to upset Party Favor even further, with the knowledge that a member of his own family--even one that he didn't like that much--had in fact committed a serious crime against equinity. On the other hoof, it shouldn't be that Party Favor live in ignorance. Plus, if Party Favor had told him about Starlight, it was fair that Tomato do the same.

He sighed. "Rooney's not lying. There was, in fact, a vampire attack in Las Pegasus, started by your brother..." He looked at Party Favor, gauging his reaction. "And I was his pawn."

Then, Tomato continued on about how the incident came about. He talked about how he and Silk Shimmer were helping somepony start a business, in order to pay his sister's medical bills. He talked about how they got caught in Kazam's trap, falling under his hypnosis, and how Tomato himself had ended up fused with a vampire bat, which in turn transformed him into a vampire. Finally, he talked about how even though he can't remember much about it, he had been an animal attacking Kazam's audience, sucking their blood, and transforming them into vampires. All had been hypnotized, all had attacked innocent ponies, and then Cheese...

Tomato squeezed his eyes shut. "He was doing all he could to stop the madness. Given that he planned the Expo, I can see why he felt a responsibility toward the whole thing. Still, in the process of fighting vampires and making them snap back to their senses, Kazam used me to catch him, and then try to kill him. The only reason Cheese survived was that he punched me in the face to snap me out of it. Even so, the moment I saw him falling... that was the most terrifying moment of my life. I almost lost him. I'm glad that I was able to save him, but... what if I wasn't fast enough? What if I had missed?"

Party Favor put a hoof on Tomato's shoulder. "I'm sorry that Kazam caused you trouble. He was always a jerk, but I never thought he'd go that far."

"Well, he did. I'm just glad the Princesses turned all the vampires back to normal. Heck, Princess Twilight tested the cure on me," Tomato said with a little smirk. He frowned again. "I'm sorry that you had to hear bad news involving family of yours. If only I could give you good news about your sister, but I don't know her current status right now. Last I saw her, she was turning a de-powered Kazam in."

Party Favor gave him a sad smile. "Like I said, I wish I had a brother like yours. Or like Double Diamond. At least they wouldn't pull off any stunts like he did." He snorted and threw his front legs up. "Ugh, why, Kazam, why did you do that? What made him think that he could get away with it? What was the point?!"

"I wish I knew," Tomato said. He licked his teeth, expecting to be pricked. He looked up at the balloon fair once again, noting that how Party Favor's greatest achievement thus far was creative, while Kazam's had been destructive.

Party Favor leaned in his hoof. "My life is full of maniacal unicorns. My and my lousy luck."

"D'oh, you know more non-maniacal unicorns than maniacal ones."

"Mmm... my mom, my sister... my dad, I suppose..." He smiled. "Sugar Belle... a bunch of other unicorns in town..."

"Yeah. That's good to hear."

Party Favor drew on the ground. "Speaking of Mom and Dad... I hope they're alright. I want to be sure, but how do I send a letter without a post office?"

One member of the ski committee, Winter Mist, trotted by, and then stopped when she noticed Cheese bouncing down for another turn down the slide. Backing up, Winter gave him a stink eye, and said, "Wait a minute... what is he doing here?"

Tomato blinked, and then stood up. "Oh, my brother? You recognize him?"

Winter turned to him. "Well, yeah, he was in Halterside earlier this month." She squinted her eyes and rubbed her chin. "Say, aren't you his stooge that performed with him against those con ponies?"

Tomato's eye twitched. "Brother. And thanks for reminding me about that humiliation."

"Ah. So, it seems that he must have done something here for the party. After all, Cheese Sandwich is the so-called 'Super Duper Party Pony', am I right?"

Party Favor stood up. "Thing is, he was sick for the past few days, so it was me and Tomato planning it. Or, rather, me building the big balloon fair, him organizing the rest of the town to build this party, and just... everyone, really. Except Cheese, because of a cold."

Tomato nodded. "And while Cheese is better now... he still didn't have any part in this. As far as he says, we've done pretty good."

Winter raised an eyebrow, and then smiled. "My cohorts think that both the snow and the welcoming attitude make this a prime spot for a new ski resort."

Tomato's face brightened when he heard that. "Really?"

Winter nodded. "What can I say? I think these ponies are ready for visitors."

Tomato leaped into the air, Party Favor clapping along. "Yes! I knew they could do it!" When he landed, he suddenly remembered something important about where this mare was from. Here was the chance to ask about how Silver Shill was doing.

Taking a deep breath, he braced himself for any bad news. "Oh, I was meaning to ask you--"

"Date denied, I'm not interested."

Party Favor giggled, and Tomato glared at her. "That's not what I was going to ask. I was going to ask about the, uh, new pizzeria in that town? Because a couple of friends I made are running it and--"

"Oh, that?" Winter Mist said, tilting her head. She nodded, and said, "Silver Shill and that... Shimmer lady, opened it around Summer Sun. I'm surprised that it's so popular, given that Shilly's the biggest dork in town. But, nevertheless, we in Halterside have embraced the Pirate Ship Pizzeria."

Party Favor blinked. "Shimmer lady... you mean Silk Shimmer?"

"I think that's her name," Winter remarked.

"It is her name," Tomato said. "And it sounds like she's doing well."

Party Favor beamed. "At least I have some good news about my family." He tapped his chin, and turned to Winter. "Say, uh, I hope you don't mind if I write a letter to her and have you deliver it. I don't know the address, and we don't have a post office--"

"Eh, sure, why not," Winter answered. "I guess I could tell her that I met her brother."

"Oh, she'll be over the moon! I can't wait to tell her about my friends Sugar Belle, and Double Diamond, and Night Glider..." Party Favor bore a sheepish grin. "Oh, boy, I'm going to have to tell her about the whole Starlight thing. And let her know that I know about what our brother did. Hmm... maybe I shouldn't--"

"Hey," Tomato said. "Don't keep her hanging. I was worried over a missing sibling once, and it's not fun. It's better that you be honest than let your sister worry about your whereabouts."

Party Favor blinked, and then nodded. "All right. I best get to writing that thing. Who knows... maybe she'll write back and tell me how Mom and Dad are handling the whole thing that Kazam did."

With that, Party Favor galloped off to his house. Then, after a moment, Winter shrugged, and then walked off.

Tomato was alone, feeling like he was floating from the good news he received. Even the recent revisiting of the nightmare in Las Pegasus wasn't dampening his spirit. He looked up at the sky, and felt as if the sun was shining on him. He turned to look at his flank. Maybe... just maybe, he was doing something right with the cutie mark he got.

He jumped when Cheese suddenly touched down next to him. With a laugh, Cheese hollered, "Woo! That balloon slide was a blast!" He frowned and rubbed his head. "Or at least it would have been better if my brain didn't feel like it was rattling in my skull. Geez..."

"Must be a lingering thing from the cold," Tomato said.

"Yeah... maybe...." Cheese looked at him. "So, anything new on your part?"

"Just found out about how well that pirate ship pizzeria is doing in Halterside, and that this town might actually be approved for the ski resort." He glanced at Cheese. "Say, could we stay long enough so I could help Double Diamond seal the deal?"

Cheese shrugged. "Eh, sure. Maybe I need another day of rest before I get back to being a party pony."

"Sweet." Tomato looked up at the sky. "Say, I just thought of something..."

"What?"

"We found Pinkie's long lost aunt. And we found Silk Shimmer's long lost brother. So..."

Cheese rubbed his chin. "You think we might find our long lost aunt Honeydew?"

Tomato brushed at his sleeve. "Maybe. I mean, it's not likely, given you've been all over the place and haven't seen her, but--"

Cheese put a hoof on Tomato's mouth. "Tommy... I have a feeling we'll find out what happened to her. Maybe she got some sort of 'Seddie shame' that made her embarrassed to return, or maybe she became an adventurer like Daring Do and lost track of time, or maybe..." Cheese frowned. "Maybe she..."

Tomato removed the hoof. "Maybe it was what we were told, and she's just mad at our grandparents and Mom?"

"Maybe, I don't know." Cheese gave him a somber look. "Or maybe she's dead."

---

The party was done, the deal for the ski resort was sealed, and a lot of ponies--both resident and guest--went to bed happy. All day, Double Diamond had heard much praise for Party Favor, who was being called the "Balloon Wizard", and for the treats that Sugar Belle and her team had made. Some of the railroad workers had gathered some of the goodies to bring to the coworkers back working at the railroad, and he was expecting some more of those workers to come by and buy some in the coming days. Oh, boy, he had to help Sugar Belle restock her supplies again.

And Tomato Sandwich? Between organizing the whole thing and helping with the business deal, there was no doubt that the town had forgiven him for the coffee incident. It was a shame that he and his brother were leaving the next day, but they were happy that he had come.

Double Diamond did one last thing before retiring for the night.

He visited the vault once again, carefully stepping around the shards of glass and growing closer and closer to the familiar panel. He still remembered when it once glowed, and held the cutie marks of him and his friends. He looked up at one box, marking it as the one that stored his.

He looked down at the former Staff of Sameness, remembering when he had used it to shatter the panel to set the cutie marks free. He found it funny that restoring his cutie mark also restored his hair, as well as the hair of his friends. He picked up the staff and put it on the pedestal, and eyed the spot where a plaque could be made.

He looked up once again. This was this town's scar. A reminder of a horrid deed done. And instead of hiding it, perhaps it could be used to teach visitors as to why a cutie mark shouldn't be removed--or any vital part of a pony's identity, such as a memory. As much as it hurt, he realized that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

He looked at the cave floor. This place needed cleaning up.

Author's Note:

And now Cheese is all better! Well, not all better, he's still a little hoarse. And has a headache. And can't remember what happened in Las Pegasus (or the moments leading up to the memory removal as well).

Also, we get to see what Party Favor did. Yay!

And thus... I believe I'll end the Our Town arc here, and move on to the next one.

Comments

[superfun]

Well that was a fun little way to end things off.
I can't wait to see how Cheese's decision to have the memories of what happened in Las Haygas to be removed ends up making things worse.

[Jordan179]

His brother and father had said that balloon modeling was a limited talent; Starlight used that argument to convince him to give up his cutie mark. Still, all the others had so much faith in him; he prayed with all his might that he would not let them down.

Important point here. All Talents are "limited," in that they have specific natures and work according to those natures rather than other natures. This is true even if you're Twilight Sparkle and your Talent is "Magic, subtype Friendship."

But all Talents can also be used by the determined and imaginative to do a lot of different things. Obvious Party Favor examples -- he can make working binoculars and assemble full-sized bridges and transportation balloons from his balloons. So whether or not one lets the limits of one's Talent limit oneself is up to oneself.

Rarity's a gem-dowser as a subset of what I think is a general Talent of understanding and manipulating patterns. But she's chosen to become a fashion designer and entrepreneur. She could have done a lot of things with her Talent -- good, evil, smart or stupid. The exact choice was up to her.

If I were a Pony, my Talent would probably be "writings" -- both writing and reading them. But I choose what to read and what to write.

[Jordan179]

Double Diamond looked away in shame, brushing his hoof on the snow. Staring blankly at a patch of snow, he gathered his thoughts about those months when they were still equal. Back when she was still around, proclaiming her ideology and keeping everypony smiling their big fake smiles. Back when he had been looking at her in admiration, helping her every step of the way, unaware of her hidden mark.

With a sigh, he muttered, "Not as close as I thought."

That must be the part that really burns. To have followed the charismatic leader and seduced into evil and to have discovered that she never really trusted him.

This may be unfair to Starlight Glimmer. She may have loved and trusted Double Diamond as much as she could love or trust anypony. But that too has rather dark implications, because it means that she probably couldn't love or trust anypony.

As is obvious from Post-Traumatic, I have a fairly dark view of Starlight Glimmer's motivations -- I think that she was so bad at making real friends that she perceived any differences from herself as meaning that true friendship was impossible. This forced her into total intolerance of differences.

I tried to show how horrible a world view that would be in my scene where Twilight Sparkle figures out how to Mind-Mask herself as Starlight Glimmer, and nearly goes insane from the horror of seeing her friends the way Starlight saw everypony. If one could see nothing but the differences one had from others, and viewed all such differences as evil, one would imagine oneself surrounded by monsters. In that world view, Twilight found herself despising even those closest to her, such as Spike and Applejack.

Starlight Glimmer, of course, went insane long ago. And her suffering was terrible. She was forever alone, even when surrounded by those who considered herself. She had to cut down other Ponies to a psychological size and shape that precluded disagreement, even on trivialities like muffin recipies and mane styles, because only then could she see them as good and hence friendly -- and, of course, since she had to retain her own Cutie Mark, she would have still been alone.

I'm not even sure if it's more or less horrible if she did love Double Diamond. Because, by the logic of her own premises, she had to see him as different and hence hostile simply because he was male, an irreducible difference. Furthermore, many of his admirable character traits were not quite the same as the ones which Starlight valued in herself, so she had to destroy or suppress part of him in order to trust him enough to love him, even in her limited way. And, of course, she could never let him know the secret that she still had her own Cutie Mark.

Something like this sometimes happens in mundane life. Someone falls in love with someone who he feels he must dominate, and in the process of trying to dominate her suppresses everything about her that made her wonderful: everything, in short, with which he fell in love in the first place. What Starlight Glimmer may have done to Double Diamond, if this was her sick version of love, was just a reification of what is normally done metaphorically.

Come to think of it, this is also pretty much what Mozzarella did to Hay Burger, no Spell of Sameness even required.

Cheese squinted his eyes, a list of names running through his mind. Hearty Flavor? Pretty Caper? Pouty Frowner? Potty Engraver?

I bet all those are real Equestrian names, somewhere. The last one is especially amusing.

"Oh, I just checked out what kind of talents everypony had, organized them into teams, and then made sure they did their job in setting up the party. I also got a little help from railroad workers from across the way." Then he muttered under his breath, "After a little arguing with their boss."

Well done, Tommy -- you used your talent to coordinate everypony else's talents to throw the party, instead of using your nonexistent talent for being a Party Pony yourself.

I'm glad to see Double Diamond starting to be able to face up to his past.

[Goldfinch142]

And the party was a booming success! It's great that Tomato finally feels that he's doing something noteworthy with his cutie mark. Things are finally looking up for him in that regard.

I also find it both funny and endearing that Cheese had a gold star saved just for Tomato. I wonder how long he'd had it on him.

It would be nice if they found their aunt Honeydew. I'm curious as to what she's like, and I'm sure they are as well.

And instead of hiding it, perhaps it could be used to teach visitors as to why a cutie mark shouldn't be removed--or any vital part of a pony's identity, such as a memory. As much as it hurt, he realized that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Hoo boy. I have a feeling that Cheese is going to make the same mistake of holding grudges that got him into the whole vampire mess (and the Sandwich feud) in the first place.

[SageBrony07]

Wow. Good to see cheese has recovered. Great chapter.

[FanOfMostEverything]

Of course Rooney covered his tracks. What good is memory erasure if the subject remembers that they've had a memory erased?

In any case, good to see that the village is healing with help from an unlikely source. Now the brothers can mosey on to wherever the Sense takes them... and eventually confront the hole in Cheese's memory. (I have to wonder what day he thinks it is. After all, if that Haygas trip was erased, he may not think as much time has passed since they started the trip...)

Definitely looking forward to more.

[Dashie04]

I bet that Cheese’s headache is because of the memory removal.

[Godslittleprincess]

He looked up once again. This was this town's scar. A reminder of a horrid deed done. And instead of hiding it, perhaps it could be used to teach visitors as to why a cutie mark shouldn't be removed--or any vital part of a pony's identity, such as a memory. As much as it hurt, he realized that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

I'm beginning to sense some kind of running theme with these arcs.