Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

15.4--Come, Come, Ye Equines

Cheese Sandwich arose early that morning, his head pounding yet again. His heavy eyes sweeping around the dark room, he forced himself to stumble out of bed, the resulting thud causing his medicine to fall off the nightstand and into his mane. After a muffled groan from his muzzle buried in carpet, he pulled the bottle out, dumped a pill into his hoof, and stood up shakily to put the bottle back on the nightstand. He rolled across the bed to the other side in order to reach the bathroom.

He took his medicine and downed some water before blinking away the heaviness in his eyes. He looked at himself in the mirror and cringed. He was paler, there were bags under his eyes, and his forelock was noticeably limper, though still curled. Cheese tried to twang the forelock, and instead of the bounce of a spring, it sounded like a weak guitar string ready to break.

He rubbed his temples. He had been too worn out from working on the wagons and parade floats to join the Flower-Woods and Tomato at the rodeo, instead opting to retire early. And instead of being up and at 'em in the blink of an eye this morning, he was too groggy for his liking. He dreaded the setup of the Frontier Festival parade and carnival in Salt Lick City.

He leaned on the sink, staring down into the drain and whispering, "Ugh, I wish I had an extra day to rest. I don't even want to set up a toddler's birthday party today."

He pushed himself away from the sink and turned his back on the mirror. "No, Cheese, don't say that. Come on, you're a party pony, you can't seriously be this tired! You've got a lot to do and fun, uh... things to set up. They are counting on you to be the premier party planner of all Equestria that you always claim to be! Just smile, Cheesy... there's nothing wrong at all."

There was a pit in his stomach, especially as he heard laughter behind him. His heart stopping, he turned toward the mirror, his neck loudly creaking all the while. Once he was fully turned around, he found his own reflection maliciously laughing at him, pointing to him with a power that felt like a punch to his chest.

The reflection held a wicked grin. "Oh, Cheese... you're such a joke! Why are you even a party pony, anyway?"

Cheese glanced from side to side before nervously grinning. "Because... I have a gift?"

The reflection howled, his laughter ringing throughout the bathroom. The echos shook the room, with Cheese swaying to the wall and grabbing the towel rack, bumping his foreleg's burn in the process. Gritting his teeth, he looked up, as the reflection still beheld him with a cruel mockery that permeated his reverberating laughter.

Cheese clutched the rack more tightly. "Hey, quiet! You'll wake my brother up!"

The reflection didn't listen, and continued. He was joined by the deep bellow of the bathtub, the screeching hisses of the shower head, and the gurgles of the toilet, all the sounds twisted to sound like laughter. The sink erupted into laughter, as did the tiles, the glass, and even the shower curtain. As far as he knew, everything in that bathroom was throwing mocking laughter toward him, even the towel rack that he hugged tightly.

His heart pounding, he looked at the door in desperation. The echoing laughter was threatening to crack his skull open, and if he stayed longer, he was sure the demonic entities were going to attack him and possibly even kill him. Drowning in the toilet was not a way he wanted to go, nor was suffocating in a curtain. But, the towel rack was already wet with Cheese's sweat, and he could already feel them marching toward him to fulfill a sinister ritual. As soon as the toilet took the first step, he lunged for the door.

Sweat droplets flew as Cheese swiftly threw open the door, slipped out, and slammed it behind him. Before he knew it, he was pushing against the door, hoping to block the demon bathroom implements from breaking out and hurting both him and Tomato. He panted, and shakily released the door as his headache faded away.

He heard the shuffling of blankets and a drowsy, "...Cheese?"

Cheese glanced at the bed beside his, where a heavy-eyed Tomato looked up at him, showing as much concern as he could muster. Cheese wiped his brow, and gently patted his brother's head, saying to him, "I'm heading to Salt Lick City to get the festival started. I'll meet you there later, okay?"

The patting made Tomato's head flop back onto his pillow. "'Kay."

Cheese checked his secret compartments to make sure he had all he needed, grabbed Boneless 2 from his bed, and then walked toward the door. "Oh, and stay out of the bathroom, there are demons in there."

"Yeah, yeah, sure..."

Cheese smiled at him and slipped through the door. As he headed toward the inn's entrance, what had just happened in the bathroom came rolling back to him. Whether or not he just imagined the whole thing, it felt awfully real. And as much as he didn't want to admit it, the bathroom did bring up an interesting point.

Upon hitting the cool air of a mountain summer morning, he asked himself, "Just why am I a party pony?"

Not too long after, he heard the door open behind him, and turned to find Flora and Bananas walking out of the inn. What Cheese found peculiar was that Bananas didn't have a skip in his step--he instead looked as if he was about to be sacrificed to a dragon, given the nervous frown. Flora toted a saddlebag, patting her brother on the back.

Flora glanced at him. "Hi, Cheese. Heading down to Salt Lick?"

Cheese nodded.

Flora looked at him curiously. "Hey, are you all right? You're looking a little pale."

Cheese bit his lip. "I... uh, I had a nightmare last night."

"Looks like it might have been a bad one if you're looking so blue."

Cheese laughed. "Don't be silly, I'm orange! But in all seriousness, I'm perfectly happy right now and ready to start the festival with you guys--especially Bananas, I can tell he's a gem!" Looking at Bananas, he asked, "Say, uh, what's going on with him?"

Bananas let out an anguished laugh. "Oh, nothing! I'm just awaiting the inevitable train wreck that we're about to get into! The question is if we're gonna derail, crash into another train, or maybe even explode!" Bananas imitated an explosion with his mouth as he threw his front legs open. "Twice! Or maybe even thrice!"

Flora blew some hair out of her face. "Hey, remember, we've survived plenty of train rides before. I've got your lucky pillow, your lucky sleep mask, and your lucky jawbreakers." She looked at Cheese. "He had a bad accident with a train when he was little."

Cheese blinked. "Well, explains why you exploded at me after my stunt yesterday. Again, I'm sorry about that."

"It's fine. You're lucky Bananas didn't see you do it--he would have been worse."

Bananas scowled. "What'd he do?"

"Trust me, you do not want to know."

Bananas huffed. His eyes then widened and he gasped. "Wait! Did we feed my minions?"

Cheese tilted his head. "Minions?"

Flora sighed. "His fish. And I'm sure Ash can take care of it if you forgot, Bananas. Those things get excited on seeing somepony when they're hungry, so he'd know." She took her brother's hoof. "Now, let's get to the station. We don't want to miss the train."

Bananas trembled as they started down the mountain, with Flora holding his hoof tenderly. Cheese walked beside them, putting on a chipper face in order to prevent any more uncomfortable questions. He was going to make sure that this festival went well, and that no mishap would befall him, Tomato, or any member of the Flower-Wood family today.

However, he felt as if he forgot something.

---

Tomato glared at the pillowy fried bread that he held in his hooves. "There is no way that this is a scone."

Everypony else at the table he sat at munched on other pieces of the bread, which resembled elephant's ears. Save for March, Flora, and Bananas--all having gone out to prepare for the parade in Salt Lick City like Cheese did--the rest of the Flower-Woods were enjoying a nice breakfast of "pioneer scones", which didn't resemble any scone that Tomato had ever seen, which were biscuit-muffin things that sometimes had fruit in them. It was as if somepony just dropped a blob of dough into a pan of hot oil; granted, that's exactly how Honeysuckle made them, but he was still bothered by the misname.

But, it was nothing compared to how bothered he was that Creme Brulee was eating with them. At the very least, her dainty breakfast of the "scone" topped with raspberry syrup would have her leaving quick, and if she was still hungry, the mints she had would do. He still wished that there was some way for Flora's family to become unrelated to Creme--it was just too uncomfortable to think of his favorite mare and his least favorite as cousins.

Honeysuckle, who sat across from him, said, "Hey, we have to call it something, and it's a little too much work to convince the entire valley to stop calling it that and instead go with... I don't know, frybread or something. Now, go on, try it."

Tomato sank his teeth into it with a mild crunch. It was a little sweet and fluffy under that fried shell, just enough for Tomato to nod in approval before stuffing the rest of his scone in his mouth and grabbing some more to eat.

Amber Waves poked him. "Whoa, there! Save some for the rest of us!"

Olive nodded. "Especially Mom, she powers on those things."

Honeysuckle was busy squirting some honey on hers, grinning. "It's true."

Ash Tree raised an eyebrow. "We're going to have to have an intervention for your scone addiction."

Alfalafa shook his hoof in a "no-no" gesture while his two youngest siblings giggled. Willow and Kernel's giggles were followed by the giggles of the other siblings as Honeysuckle gave Ash a mock offended look and was trying to fan him away with a scone. Tomato just watched the scene, just stuffing more of the fried bread in his mouth.

Creme rolled her eyes and finished off her scone. "Well, I suppose I should go around and make the beds like you asked, Aunt Honeysuckle." She stood up, popped a mint in her mouth, and walked away with her muzzle in the air.

Honeysuckle tilted her head. "Odd, she didn't do much complaining."

Alfalfa shrugged. "I think she gets that it's fruitless at this point."

Tomato gnawed at his scone. "As long as she's not talking very much, I don't care."

---

Making the beds after the guests had checked out or just went out for the day wasn't all too hard a task for Creme. She had thought it impossible when she first started off working between her Neighton aunts, but over the years, she had done it often enough that she could get it done in a half-hour, and she could finish before it was time to go.

She still hated having to do these chores, though. She was a high class model, one of the many examples of beauty that had been shown in billboards around Manehattan! She felt sick on thinking about any of her rivals having taken her place in Times Square's ads. When she got back to her rightful place, she'll get to having the witches expunged.

But, for now, she had to deal with the nuisance named Tomato.

As she spread out the blankets over the mattresses in the room that said pony and his brother used, she thought about how it should work. While he most likely was still subject to hyperactive insanity upon drinking coffee, there was no way he was about to let her do it again--nor would Cheese, Flora or the others. Getting him drunk would be a problem, as most ponies living in the valley did not include that in their celebrations. And no matter what, should Tomato go berserk as planned, it would be obvious to everypony just where he got the coffee.

When smoothing down the blanket on the second bed, she noticed the pill bottle on the nightstand. Blinking, she looked in curiosity at the label, which was all smudged to the point of illegibility for some reason. Creme's first thought on seeing the orange, transparent bottle full of little white pills was that of wondering whose they were and what they were for. Her second is that they looked like her mints.

She figured that perhaps they were Tomato's, and that it was probably medication to control the crazy in him.

And with that, she concocted a wicked plan.

Grabbing the bottle, she rushed into the bathroom, and dumped the contents into the toilet. The clinks and the splashes were satisfying to hear, as she imagined the epic freak out that the plebeian undeserving of a rich mark would have when his medication did not work. Flushing those pills away, she put the toilet lid down to sit on, and pulled out her mints to refill the bottle with.

Creme made sure that it was back to the level it was before, and then waltzed back out of the bathroom to put it back on the nightstand. She did one last smoothing of both beds before she left, and on her way out the door, she looked back at the pill bottle, and chuckled.

"Can't wait for Salt Lick City to see the true you, Tomato."

---

Tomato came into the room later, going into the bathroom for a final wash-up before they left. The cool water on his face that dripped off his freshly shaved chin, the sweet taste of his bubblegum toothpaste, and the hair gel that helped the comb straighten his curls made him feel fresh and new for the day. Putting his glasses back on, he was pleasantly surprised to see himself in such a perfect, clean form. Even his forelock, which usually added unwanted goofiness to his appearance, was looking pretty good. He still didn't have a jacket--and didn't know when he'd get a new one--but the white button shirt was good enough.

After grinning at himself in the mirror, he looked around, hoping to spot the "demons" in the bathroom that Cheese warned him about earlier. After rubbing his chin as he looked in the bathtub, sink, and toilet, he concluded that he must have dreamed Cheese's odd warning.

He walked out of the bathroom, and a glance to the side had him spotting Cheese's medicine on the nightstand.

Tomato sighed. "You'd think he'd remember something as important as that." He crawled over the bed and grabbed the bottle, stuffing it into his pocket before he crawled back off, smoothed out the bed, and then walked out of the room.

---

Boarding the train with the seven remaining Flower-Woods, Creme Brulee, and the other cousins from their aunt Sego Lily, Tomato spent most of the ride reading a book. Around him, the rest of them, who were all dressed in pioneer garb, such as bonnets and shawls for the girls, and hats and light button shirts for the boys, chatted within the family. He heard snippets of some old pioneer tales from their ancestors, like one mare who had received hay from a mysterious stranger and was unable to find his cave later on, or one about a mare making a bountiful meal out of two hard sea biscuits to feed her children. He also heard Honeysuckle argue with Sego Lily over who was going to win the big Dutch Over cook-off (whatever that was) this year.

A couple of times Amber poked her head out from behind the seat and asked him a couple of questions about what it was like growing up in Manehattan, to which he graciously answered, since he had a different perspective than their wealthy cousin. Kernel had swooped into Tomato's seat just to pull his forelock and watch his hair explode--once, twice, three times, and more, with Tomato fixing it every time. Olive had popped up to ask him how he was able to read in a moving vehicle, as when she did it, she felt like puking. Ash Tree was busy fixing his shaggy hair, and Alfalfa and Willow looked at every town they passed by on the way to Salt Lick City. They were starry-eyed at the sight of an amusement park, and made up conversations for strangers boarding the train at each stop.

Finally, Tomato looked out the window, seeing a city come into view. Nestled in the surrounding green mountains and bathed in the glow of the morning sun, the buildings of Salt Lick City were noticeably higher than any other in the valley, though humble compared to Manehattan's skyscrapers. He could make out homes scattered around both the basin and the mountains overlooking the city, with trees of many hues of green springing out of every crevice that allowed them room, which appeared to be plenty. At the center of his vision, he could see a peculiar building which resembled a white castle, which stuck out among the more modern buildings of the city.

He pointed to said building, with Kernel, who sat on his knee, copying him. "Hey, what's that castle thing there?"

The rest of the group turned to him, and Amber climbed back up on the back of the seat. Looking out to see what he was talking about, she answered, "Oh! That's the Salt Spires. Our pioneer ancestors built it a long time ago, taking exactly forty years to finish it! It's been bringing our valley lots of blessings since it was finished."

Tomato nodded. "Ah, I see."

"It was built from granite mined from quarries in one of the canyons."

"Nice to know that it actually isn't made of salt."

"It's also a popular place to get married in this valley." Right after Amber had said this, her mother had giggled.

"Really? Nice place for a wedding."

"Yep! The gardens surrounding it are beautiful!"

Tomato took note of a dreamy-eyed Alfalfa. "Beautiful gardens, gotcha."

"And across the street, the Tabernicker Choir sings some pretty sweet songs!"

Willow started to sway, starting to hum a lighthearted, airy tune.

Tomato shut his book and leaned on it. "I think I've heard of them. Were they ever a flash mob on the East Coast?"

Amber rubbed her chin. "I think so?"

Olive popped up beside her. "In any case, we're almost there. Hopefully my cart is still in good condition for the parade--I earned my cutie mark with that thing, and you bet your cutie mark that I want it in tiptop shape for when I chuck candy at the parade watchers! If it isn't, so help me, I'm stealing Bananas' party trunk!"

Ash Tree glanced her way. "Yeah, sure, if you want to get pranked again."

Creme Brulee was busy filing a hoof. "Now, now, I'm sure that Bananas wouldn't ruin anything during a parade. And let's hope that Mr. Party Pooper over there doesn't spoil our fun with any aspect of his wild and strange personality." She finished her sentence off with a sardonic chuckle.

Tomato narrowed his eyes and snorted. Oh, how that condescending tone was getting under his skin.

---

The warm air greeted them as they stepped off the train, reminding all of what month it was. They filed out of the train and into the station, and then swooped out in order to hurry and meet the rest of the family--both immediate and extended-- near the Salt Spires where the parade would begin. After waiting through a fair bit of traffic and swimming through some crowds, they made it to the square.

As the Flower-Woods happily met up with their older siblings and a bunch of their cousins, Tomato took a moment to check out his surroundings. He could see March Redwood and another officer all dressed up in their fanciest military attire, giving a talk to their troops down the street. All around him were covered wagons, two-wheeled carts, and parade floats of all shapes and sizes. Among the floats, he counted the Flower-Woods' float with Ash Tree's mural, Alfalfa's flowers, and Bananas' candy cannons; a giant beehive with flags that said things like "bee kind"; statues of rock farmers working in a granite quarry; a large model of the mountains, complete with mini-skiers; a model of the large, salty lake nearby; and for some reason, seagulls, among other things. Bands were preparing to play, some foals and even some older ponies were fixing up some derby carts, and some of the more athletic ponies were stretching.

Tomato's eyes rose from ground level up to the sky, where he took a closer look at the Salt Spires. It lived up to the "spires" part of its name, as the building bore several gothic spires that pointed to the heavens. The sun made it shimmer, like it was magical. From what he had seen through the gates, the building was surrounded by lush, green trees, colorful flowers, and fountains, as well as statues of pioneers and presumably the founders of the valley like Bridle Yearling and some other ponies.

He had to give those pioneers credit for building such a gorgeous square.

Flora appeared out of the crowd, her head and neck adorned in a bonnet and shawl, and her mane done in braided pigtails. She trotted up next to him, and looked up at the Spires as well. "I see you like our Salt Spires."

Tomato quickly glanced at her and nodded. "Yeah. Nice touch to this city."

Flora laughed awkwardly. "Yep... Salt Lick City was my definition of a 'big city' before I went to Manehattan." Flora pointed to the tallest building, which was just down the street. "That building used to be the most terrifying thing I'd ever see. I always thought it would fall on me."

"Tall buildings rarely bothered me."

"Hm, yeah, of course."

A moment of relative silence passed between them, with the chattering crowds of both paraders and watchers droning around them. While everypony else was focused on their respective parade vehicles, Tomato and Flora were busy scoping a way around their sudden, mutual mental block. There were things nagging at the back of their heads, but did they really want to say them?

Flora sighed. "Things have been weird between us since yesterday."

Tomato didn't move. "Yep."

"Feels kind of like we're strangers now."

Tomato raised an eyebrow. "I... guess?"

"Are you still mad at me for the secret-keeping thing involving a certain cousin of mine?"

Tomato blinked. "What? No, no, I can't really stay truly mad at you since I get why you did and you're my friend and..." He pursed his lips, and blew upward on his forelock. "It's just... it feels really weird to think of you and her as... related... I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it."

"Yeah, I get it." Flora brushed some hair out of her face and stuffed it back into her bonnet. "I'd be pretty shocked too if it turned out you were related to a pony that I disliked."

"'Dislike' is putting it too kindly," Tomato deadpanned.

Flora sighed and rolled her eyes. "In any case, I'll be keeping an eye on her. Last I saw her she was busy prettying up Willow. We'll be towing that little filly in the two-wheeler and have her be the 'Pioneer Princess of the Parade'."

Tomato scoffed. "Wow, she's actually nice to little foals? Maybe I should take a dip into the Fountain of Youth again."

"Hey, at least there's a line she doesn't cross."

"She'll probably cross several different ones."

All of a sudden, said mare burst out of the group, pointed at them, and shouted, "See?! What did I tell you?!"

Tomato idly blinked. "Speak of the devil."

Flora facehoofed and groaned. "Here it comes..."

Shuffling out of the group of Flora's many cousins, Tomato could recognize the upright figure of Rich Custard, a stallion of a creamy yellow coat, light orange mane, and green eyes, with a finely trimmed mustache and wearing the colors of maroon and green. He was followed by his wife, Jasmine Flower, a pale blue mare with a dark brown mane partly done up in a bun, and her neck was draped with a shining cape of purple silk with a gold trim and brooch bearing a pink gem. Despite the impassive look he held, he could feel his guts twisting with dread.

Upon seeing him, the couple gasped. Looking at his smug daughter, Custard said, "So it is true! The madstallion is here to ruin the parade!"

Tomato wrinkled his nose. "Nah, too tired."

Jasmine glared at Flora, who looked up shamefully. "Flora, how could you? I thought we specifically warned you not to talk to this fellow! He's far too dangerous for any member of our family to face."

Flora cleared her throat. "I apologize for my disobedience, Aunt Jasmine. Still, in the semesters I've known Tomato, I've discovered that he's been nothing but completely benign towards me. Grumpy, relatively impassive, kind of immature..."

"Oh, thanks a lot," Tomato huffed.

"...but, he's not dangerous. In fact, he's been mainly polite and patient in being my math tutor, respects my boundaries, and has been recently getting happier and more inclined to jump into fun. If anything, I've hurt him more than he has hurt me. I've scared him when I'm angry, so he knows better than to cross any lines when I'm involved."

Tomato blinked, feeling his face grow warm and his heart dance. "Wow, uh... thanks a lot."

Custard raised an eyebrow. "Flora, you were just lucky. We don't know what triggered him that night--"

"Coffee."

"Pardon?"

"That's the thing that makes him go bonkers. He told me recently, and now I know why he sat out with me when the others went out for the stuff. Believe me, he's not the kind of guy who'd intentionally wreck somepony's elses party or possessions or anything. At his core, he's really a sweet pony."

Creme scoffed. "Oh, please! This fairy tale valley has affected your brain too much--where I'm from, ponies are only nice to you if they want something. What makes him any different from any other stallion who sees a beautiful mare like you?"

Tomato felt his blood boil and his eyebrow twitch. Would it kill her to understand doing something nice for the sake of seeing somepony's day shine brighter? Or just have a warm fuzzy feeling in their heart? He gave up on expecting rewards a long time ago, but even without Flora's friendship, helping her would have at least given him a little bit of light in his dreary life.

Custard patted his daughter's head. "For all her lies, the party incident couldn't have been Creme's fault. How do you know that he's not lying about it? After all, I don't recall caffeine working in such an outlandish, cartoon way!"

That was when Cheese Sandwich popped up in between the Cream family and Tomato and Flora. "Hey, guys! I couldn't help but overhear your conversation, and it hurts me so to hear such awful things being said about Tommy."

Custard and Jasmine stared at him curiously, the latter saying, "Um... who are you?"

Cheese grinned and thrust a hoof forward to shake theirs one by one. "I'm Tomato's older brother, Cheese Sandwich! You two look lovely today!"

"I didn't know he had a brother," Custard murmured.

"Well, he does, and I'm disappointed in him for not mentioning me to you when he worked for you." He shot a quick glare at Tomato before turning back to them with puppy-dog eyes. "It breaks my heart when I hear defamation about my baby brother, even though I get the reason why. He unfortunately has some magic that he's been having trouble controlling for some time now, and it tends to explode from time to time."

"Uh... magic?"

Cheese smiled. "Yep! I heard about the fundraiser he did as a kid and how he earned his cutie mark... that magic was providing him with so much energy and drive to help him do that heavy workload! He hasn't had a good outlet since, but... let's just say I'm helping him get a handle on his strange magic, and as such, he won't ruin the parade, harm your niece, or destroy any more towns!"

Both Custard and Jasmine raised an eyebrow.

Cheese pouted and pulled out his wallet to show off his list of party permits. "Just trust me on this, I'm a professional party pony--and, mind you, his older brother. I can handle him when he goes nuts."

Bananas popped up beside him. "And I'll help!"

Cheese nodded and crossed his chest. "Yep. Cross my heart."

Tomato slipped beside him and added, "And hope to fly, stick a cupcake in his eye."

Cheese yelped when Tomato ended up poking his eye. "What was that?!"

Tomato shuffled back awkwardly. "A Pinkie Promise... you know, the unbreakable kind that Pinkie Pie does?"

Cheese shot him a puzzled look, and then turned back to Custard and Jasmine. "Yeah, let's go with that. Ow..."

Custard sighed and rubbed his temple. "Well, I suppose if a pony like him can tame Tomato's darker side, then perhaps we've got little to worry about." He turned to Tomato with narrowed eyes. "However, it shouldn't have to come to where your brother or our nephew has to come to the rescue. This is your second chance with us, and as such, we expect this parade to go smoothly, without you causing any trouble. Understand?"

Tomato nodded, and the couple walked off, with Creme staring in slack-jawed disbelief. After a few moments, she growled.

Flora slid to beside her. "Hey, you know there's nothing to fear. Tomato's not likely to go nuts, and even if he does, Cheese and Bananas would stop him." Seeing Creme's unchanging face, she patted her back. "Come on, let's find your favorite cousin... Princess Willow is awaiting her chariot horses!"

Creme glanced at the Sandwiches, and huffed. "We'll see about 'no trouble'. Might as well find the little darling."

"Hey, I know where she is!" Bananas exclaimed. He started bouncing off in one direction. "Follow me, girls!"

As Creme and Bananas walked away, Flora turned to the Sandwiches. "What are you guys doing for the parade?"

Cheese rubbed his head. "Oh, I'll do a unicycle and my accordion... say, Tommy, wanna ride my shoulders?"

Tomato lifted a hoof. "Pass, I'll just ride the float behind you. By the way, thanks for coming to my rescue."

"No problem..." Cheese held his head. "Ugh, ow, my head..."

Tomato pulled out the pill bottle from his pocket. "You forgot this."

Cheese grabbed it. "Thanks."

Tomato nodded. "Now..." He walked toward Flora and asked, "Mind leading me to a bathroom? I'd kind of like to go before the parade starts."

Flora giggled. "After I check on Willow."

"Fair enough."

As Tomato and Flora left, Cheese watched them with a sweet smile. If there was a friendship that he didn't want to see die, but rather bloom into something else, it was that one. After all, he could tell that Flora made Tomato happy unlike any other, including Cheese himself. The entire thought of them just being happy together made him feel warm inside.

He took a pill, and pouted curiously. "Why does it taste so minty all of a sudden?"

Author's Note:

PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR TAKING FOREVER ON THIS ONE. Between my job, working on Birthday Bios, preparing for my brother's wedding, vacations in Southern Utah to see Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks a couple weekends ago, going to an amusement park last Thursday, going up to Idaho and splash around in Bear Lake last Friday, a family reunion on Saturday, the majority of my immediate family getting food poisoning all at once and having to recover over Sunday and Monday, and maybe a teensy bit of writer's block, I struggled to write this one. But, now, it's out!

Ah, yes, the Salt Spires are in fact based on the Salt Lake Temple. Being in different universes means that they obviously have different purposes (real life LDS temple purpose here).

Anyway, we'll see what Creme's little action leads us. It's certainly not going to be Tommy going crazy...

Comments

[Jordan179]

Do you have a particular explanation for the cultural differences of the Ponified Mormons? I can think of several possibilities: a shared philosophy among the settlers; a cultural Founder Effect; and differences in the environment being settled from the old one. All these also applied to the real Mormons, of course. Though I doubt the Ponified Mormons were as violently driven from the East as the real ones. Though I suspect, there being a Ponified Brigham Young, there may have been a Joseph Smith equivalent.

Oh, and what do they call theselves collectively?

[Sketcha-Holic]

7490398
I've considered them having a different view on magic, but I can't really think of anything concrete outside of "a bunch of outcasts who traveled to the valley, made it bloom, and ended up developing their own culture". And I haven't really come up with a good name for their group.

[Jordan179]

7490592

I like your Ponified Mormons -- as individual characters, as a subculture, and as an explanation for Flora Peace's moral code. In the Show, Equestria has all sorts of subcultures, both regional and interest-based. Your Pony Mormons are the more positive end of the spectrum of which my decadent Fast Set are a negative one (and beyond that, downright destructive ones such as the criminal underclass from whom Caballeron recruited his thugs, or the Equalists and Levellers). And even in your stories it's obvioous that Flora is more sexually-idealistic than most Equestrians, even most of the ones in your stories. So it makes a lot of sense.

I might eventually have some characters come from that region, though probably only secondary ones. I hope you wouldn't mind that?

[Sketcha-Holic]

7491416
It's kind of fun seeing how much I can get away with throwing LDS references (from some of our most obvious quirks to the silly in-jokes) in there. It's also fun subverting expectations of who Flora is based on her design and name (because I'm sure the first thought anyone thought when seeing her was "hippie"--pfft, nope, she just happens to like the aesthetic and often practices relaxation techniques).

I wouldn't mind.

[Goldfinch142]

Jasmine Flower, a pale blue mare with a dark brown mane party done up in a bun,

partly done up (Unless, of course, she has a party in her mane and the party is dark brown and done up in a bun. )

Well, at least Tommy's getting a second chance from Creme Brulee's parents and is safe from her plan.

As for Cheese...well, the pills suddenly tasting different is a pretty big tip-off that they've been tampered with. But it may take a while to get more medication, and who knows how bad the hallucinations will get in the meantime--the increasing frequency of needing to take them shows that his headaches are getting worse and are even messing with his magic. Hopefully nothing gets destroyed.

[Jordan179]

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Also, Creme is here betraying the trust her Flower/Wood kin have placed in her, and doing something which (as far as she knows) might be fatal, and which is of course highly illegal. Whether she gets caught or not, this is both stupid and evil of her, given that rhis is a petty grudge on her part (though she may wholly blame Tommy for her exile). Creme is here crossing a line -- though in character, as one of the things she did before was (milder) poisoning.

[superfun]

Each time we get close to the climax of a new section, I wonder, "how is this going to top the previous one", and I both look forward to and dread the answer every time.
This time, I'm leaning more towards dread.

[Jordan179]

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One of the things I really like about your characters is that your heroes are often flawed-superversive. Which means to say that they elevate above the norm in terms of behavior and capabilities -- but they are never perfect. This is good, because it make them believable -- and hence their virtues more meaningful. You also have both ordinary characters (like Carpet Burn) and downright villains (like Roanie) by way of contrast.

You'll often find this in the best-written inspiring stories, in general. None of the heroes of Lord of the Rings -- not even the literally-angelic Gandalf, the royal Ranger Aragorn, the idealistic and regal immortal Galadriel, or the noble, self-sacrificing Frodo, is perfect, but they are definitely superior in courage and virtue to most. Half of the interest in the story is seeing how they struggle to overcome their flaws to acheive good ends.

I've seen your style improve over the years I've been following you, and I think you will -- if you want to -- eventually transcend fanfic (if you haven't already) and be a successful novelist. And one very big reason is your characters.

[redmar]

Creme's plan is going to backfire horribly. I hope Cheese gets his memories back soon.

[Godslittleprincess]

And with that, she concocted a wicked plan.

No, no, no! Don't you dare. Don't you--And she did it. Perfect.

Everypony run for the hills!

[StarrySnails]

This makes me happy. Being a Mormon myself it's nice to see the places I've been in countless times in pony form. Makes it all the more enjoyable reading this fanfic!