Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

15.6--Where is My Solace?

The streets he traveled down were bathed in a blood red light, masking the normal whites and light grays that made up the streets and buildings of Salt Lick City. Jumping from float to float and cart to cart, Cheese passed by various apartment complexes, restaurants, and even a library, his eyes continually scanning the air for the foes he faced. He saw plenty of the dark, shadowy monsters that flew above the streets, though he couldn't make out any details. The body shapes were the only things telling him if a particular one was a changeling, a vampire, or a small dragon.

The cacophony of the monsters' laughter and the shrieks and shouts of the civilians pounded against his brain, and several times, he paused to swipe above his head, thinking that a dragon was biting his head. The most he did was knock Boneless Two off his head and whack the cannon on his head. Though his head still cried out in utter agony, he still continued forward, not planning to sit while the invaders were disrupting the parade.

He blasted each of his four cannons at every creature he spotted, hoping that he could drive them away with lightning speed jawbreakers and other candies. He unfortunately kept missing, shattering hard candies on the street and splattering soft candies on the buildings. He wanted to stop and lick the candies off, but there wasn't enough time to do that with the creatures flying around. He murmured to himself that it'd be easier to scare them off with his party tank--but like how the burn on his foreleg couldn't heal quickly, his tank had suddenly become impossible for him to summon for some reason.

As he continued to fire the candy cannons at the monsters, he couldn't help but wonder why all three of those things were attacking Salt Lick City. Was it full of enough love to attract changelings? What about the vampires? He had read that the guy who created the curse in Las Pegasus was in jail, and all those affected had been cured. Who cast that spell this time? He wasn't even sure why dragons were singling this city out to raze instead of Equestria's capital.

Heaving himself to a high perch on one of the taller buildings, Cheese looked back at the parade behind him, and his eyes were drawn to the Salt Spires. He had heard that it was this valley's magical landmark, though it be one of carved granite. There were hardly even any gems on it, save for a lone one at the top of the tallest spire, which gleamed in the sunlight. He wondered if perhaps that's what they were after.

"Sir! Climb down and drop your weapons!"

Cheese looked down to see police officers at the base of the building, glaring up at him, including a mare with a megaphone. A number of them were unicorns with their horns ready, and several pegasi on the force were ready to take off should he try anything drastic. Pouting curiously, he wondered why they were going after him instead of trying to fight off the changelings and get the citizens to safety. Even the military segment of the parade, including Flora's father March Redwood, was ready to fight him should he try something.

"Hey, guys, listen!" Cheese cried. "There's a changeling-vampire-dragon army attacking the city, and I'm trying to stop them! But I can't do it alone, so please, help me fight them off!"

One soldier put a hoof on his chin. "Changeling vampire dragons? That sounds awesome!"

March turned to glare at said soldier, while several other soldiers and some of the police officers facehoofed.

The officer in front holding the megaphone, presumably the chief, didn't budge. "Sir, we do not see any of the things you've mentioned. Climb down and drop your weapons!"

March looked up at the confused party pony. "Cheese Sandwich, listen to the officer! You're causing a panic with your willy-nilly candy shooting!"

Cheese panted, looking at the reactions of the ponies below. Even though the civilians were indeed fleeing to the nearest building or alley or just onto another street, all officers weren't focused on the monsters that Cheese could see flying around; they just stared at him, expecting him to do as he was told. Even some civilians who had stopped panicking had stopped to stare at him, as if the creatures flying around didn't even exist.

He rubbed his head, a strange idea popping up in his aching head. "Do they exist?"

Suddenly, he heard laughter above him, and he jolted his head up. The flying, shadowy creatures hovered above him, circling the building that he leaned from. Their laughs were shrill, wheezy, or gravelly, depending on which of the creatures they came from, but they were all sounds that clawed at his ears, and by extension, his brain. Their cycling dance was starting to make him dizzy, and his stomach turned at every revolution that each creature made.

"Oh, of course we exist, Cheesy..." a changeling hissed.

A vampire laughed. "Yeah! Those morons just can't tell the difference between us and pegasi!"

A dragon slowly spun in the air as he passed. "Why, we are just as real as you are."

Cheese had his back on the wall. "Look, I don't know who you are, and how that changeling knows my name, but there's nothing here for you, so shoo!"

The creatures laughed once again. Another vampire passed by and said, "Oh, Cheese Sandwich... you mustn't deny what is real! After all, vampires weren't real until you read those news about the pony who created them and sicced them on Las Pegasus!"

A changeling chortled as it hovered by. "Say, remember when somepony told him that he was there? That he had fought vampires and might have nearly gotten bitten? Ahaha, it's pathetic that he can't remember something like that, especially the part where his brother became a vampire!"

Cheese squeezed his eyes shut. "No, I don't want to imagine what I forgot! I put that in the back of my mind for a reason!"

A dragon danced past him again. "Oh, you poor fool. Always running away from your problems."

Cheese scowled. "I'm not running from them! I'll just... deal with them later, because right now, there's a parade going on, and you're kind of ruining it for everypony."

The creatures laughed again, and Cheese covered his ears, curling up against the wall. It felt like somepony was taking a sledgehammer to his head, his heart was beating fast enough that he thought it was going to explode, and the heat rose in his body enough for sweat to leak. Despite how hard his hooves pressed on his ears, no matter how much any other sound was drowned out, the creatures' taunts still rang through.

The sound of the megaphone echoed with the yell of, "Sir! Get down here now!"

Suddenly, Cheese felt the sensation of fangs breaking through his skull and sinking into his brain.

He screamed, trying to swat the culprit off. "Get it off! Get it off! Something's trying to eat my brain!"

In his panic, Cheese made a wrong step and slipped off the building. Gasps were heard from the remaining civilians as he fell, and the unicorn officers had already begun casting a cushion spell to catch him.

However, a stray blast from one of the candy cannons forced him back up into the sky, and he soared in an arc over several of Salt Lick's taller buildings. Dumbfounded ponies watched his trip back up before he plummeted back down in another part of town, further back than the end of the parade. Several murmured in concern over what just occurred, gazing at the very spot in the sky that Cheese had flown in just moments before. A couple of the police pegasi flew up to check where he landed.

Suddenly, ponies parted out of the street, making way for a little soapbox cart carrying four skidding into the block, which caught the attention of both police and military officers. The sudden stop caused the three passengers--with March recognizing them as Flora, Bananas, and Flora's friend, to tumble off, while the driver, Olive, just looked up at the sky and sighed.

"Well, he's gone," Olive deadpanned.

March walked over to the cart. "What are you kids doing?"

Flora got up to her hooves and brushed herself off. "We were trying to catch up to Cheese so that we could try to talk him down."

March raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? See, the police here were already trying that, and he didn't listen. He was talking nonsense about monsters attacking the city, when really, he was the one doing that. I think the police are getting ready to use force."

"Dad, Cheese is having hallucinations and is frightened right now. They might scare him even more!"

Bananas popped up beside his sister. "I know what it's like to see things, and believe me when I say it feels all too real. Scaring him will only make things worse!"

Tomato ambled to next to Flora. "Especially since he's mentioned Changelings, and well, we know what that implies. And he's pretty good at fighting back if need be."

March sighed. "Flora, I know you're concerned, but given that those things he's seeing are making up act up to the point of destruction, the cops are just going to have to take him down before he does more damage."

The pegasi cops floated down to their chief and announced, "Chief Laurel, he's launched himself at Spires Garden."

Chief Laurel, who had been watching the exchange between March and the younger ponies, nodded. "Let's hope we get there before he damages the Salt Spires. Let's go!"

All the groundbound cops galloped away, with their pegasi cohorts flying along with them. Civilians made way for them, and watched as they made their way back to the Salt Spires to stop Cheese's rampage. Meanwhile, Flora blinked, and stamped the ground in frustration.

March furrowed his brow at her. "Flora, calm down. They're just doing their job."

Flora growled and stomped back to the cart, dragging Bananas and Tomato back onto it with her. Glaring back at her father, she pointed to her cutie mark and retorted, "Well, I'm ready to do my job." She nudged her sister's head with her back hoof. "Let's go, Olive."

"Flora!"

March's yell was left unheard as the kids sped off in hopes of beating the cops to Spires Garden. Pebbles and dust flew in every direction, and ponies jumped out of the way of a young teenager's cart. March's teeth were gritted as he watched the dust fly, and he turned to his soldiers to tell them to check on the civilians. Then, he started off on a chase, though he lagged behind compared to the cart.

"I swear, that girl is so stubborn," he grumbled.

---

Olive nearly crashed into the south gate when the group arrived, barely missing the tall foundation of the Bridle Yearling statue, and her three passengers were thrown face first into the bars. After staggering around in an almost drunk dance to the echoing clang, the trio recovered from their brief head trauma and looked inside the gardens, looking to see if they could spot Cheese. Not a single hair on his golden brown coat was spotted, so they had to go in.

"You know, it's a good thing we beat the cops, or else they'd be covering all the gates," Olive remarked as she hopped out of her cart.

Before they entered, Tomato asked, "Flora, wait... do you have a backup plan in case your little talk with him fails?"

Flora looked at him. "Well... another option is to show him that you're safe and sound, or have Bananas pull an accordion out of nowhere so that Cheese has something to distract himself from the hallucinations."

Olive raised an eyebrow. "Hey, what do I do?"

"Stay on the sidelines because you're not delicate," Flora said in the bluntest tone possible. "But, honestly, anything could happen. At least he'll only cover me in taffy or something instead of kill me."

Bananas grinned. "Don't worry, we've got your back, sis."

Olive scoffed. "I'm not allowed to have her back."

The group went through the gate and started a quiet search. Tomato idly let his eyes wander around the garden they walked through. The walkways and various white buildings of the garden were cleaner and brighter than the rest of Salt Lick City, enough for them to shimmer under the sun. Islands of red brick held rows of lush grass that looked soft and cool enough to lay in, trees bearing leaves of a healthy green, and a rainbow of flowers with colors that popped. Several fountains dotted the gardens, whether they were large pools of still water, clear rivers cradled by white stone steps, or geysers bursting forth from smaller pools. Among the gardens were statues of ponies who had founded the Salt Lick Valley, families playing together, and for some reason, seagulls. Above it all the Salt Spires towered, bearing a warm and welcome glisten.

Tomato took note of other ponies wandering the grounds and taking photos of the various features of the garden. He wondered whether or not these ponies even attended the parade. If not, perhaps it was best that they didn't see that mess.

It wasn't long before they found Cheese bursting out of the shallow round pool directly in front of the Spires. Almost instinctively, the four hid behind trees and watched him as he coughed and sputtered, climbing out of the pool. After hearing him moan and clutch his head, Tomato clutched the tree, his stomach dropping and his heart aching at the sight of his usually lively brother like this. He wondered what was going on with him, and what happened to start all the headaches at the end of June.

They gasped when Cheese looked up at the Salt Spires, staggered back, and then aimed a candy cannon at it. Flora wasted no time in dashing out, sliding in front of him, and spreading her front legs out in a protective stance. "Wait!"

All held their breath after Flora's exclamation. For a moment, all was quiet; even the patrons had gone silent, curious about what was going on. All that moved were manes blowing in the wind, and the only sounds came from the fountains. Tomato could even see Flora's chest heaving as she faced Cheese, who stared back with wide and baggy eyes. He begged in the back of his mind for neither one to hurt the other.

Cheese gave her a stern look. "Please move out of the way. I don't want to hit you."

"I'm sorry for my sudden entrance." Flora relaxed and went down on all fours. "Cheese... what's going on?"

Cheese's front leg still pointed upward, though it trembled. "There's a giant dragon about to take a huge bite of the Salt Spires, and his cronies are egging him on. I can't let them destroy something so special to the ponies that live here!"

Flora glanced back. "Is it scaring you?"

"Well, yeah! Anypony would be afraid of an invasion of whatever creature decides their city was a good place to attack! Right now, I'm confused as to why nopony's even doing anything!"

"Cheese, that's because they don't see them."

"But... how can you miss a big honking dragon? I mean, do you know how big dragons get? The one I'm seeing has its tail wrapped it and its mouth is as big as that big spire right there! And yet... you don't see it?"

Flora shook her head.

Cheese lowered the cannon slightly. "Do you... see the smaller dragons? The changelings? The vampires?"

"No, I don't see them. Cheese, you're having a hallucination."

Cheese's leg lowered fully, joining the others in holding his body up. Clutching his head, Cheese switched between scanning the ground and the sky, laughing nervously. He started to pace around in a circle. "Oh, no... it can't really be true, can it? I mean, surely I'm not that kind of crazy instead of the trademark party pony crazy which is fun for everyone! Sure the idea may have come to me earlier, but I got laughed at by the little monsters, but I shouldn't listen to them because they're not real, right? Right?"

He plopped down on his rump, and glanced at the nearest pony with a camera. "Mister, do you have a picture of the Salt Spires I can look at?"

The stranger blinked. "Uh... sure?" He pulled out a photo and presented it to Cheese. "I just took it. How's it look?"

Cheese stared at it for a moment before sighing and looking up at the stranger. "It's beautiful. No dragons at all. Thank you for your time."

"Oh, thanks! And uh, you're welcome?" The stranger grinned, waved, and then awkwardly shuffled away.

Cheese growled and cradled his head. "Ugh! Why do they feel so real?! Why do they keep laughing at me and saying awful things to me? Somepony, make it stop!"

Flora sat down next to him and patted his back. "Would you tell me what they're saying?"

Cheese looked up at her with half-tired eyes. "They keep on telling me that I'm pathetic, that I run away from my problems or throw them by the wayside to not deal with them. They also remind me of how horrible of a brother I was to Tommy for a long time, and how some of my parties have landed ponies in the hospital!" He grabbed his head again. "They're laughing at me because I don't deserve the title of super duper party pony! Is there any way I can make them stop?"

Flora scratched her chin. "Hm... I can see why that's distressing. Being told you're not good enough does hurt. But you know what? We can shoo your monsters away by doing something you really enjoy."

Cheese raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Take off the candy cannons and cover your ears." Once Cheese complied, Flora turned to the tree where the others hung around. With a whistle, she shouted, "Bananas! You have an accordion on you?!"

Bananas rolled out of their spot and presented one in his hooves. "I picked yours up from the street, Cheese. Now, you wanna play it?"

Cheese uncovered his ears and took his beloved instrument. He stared at it with uncertainty, feeling the instrument to make absolutely sure that it was real. His hoof ran over the bumps on the billows back and forth. He looked up to find that Flora and Bananas had been joined by Olive and Tomato, and several other ponies had stopped to see if he would start to play. The moment he stood up, it was clear that he was not going to disappoint anyone.

So he played. A happy, upbeat tune was crooning out of that accordion; it made many of the patrons exploring the gardens stop, and listen to the music. Some bobbed their heads to the beat, some tapped their hooves, and some hummed along, but they all smiled to the cheerful music. It almost felt like that even the Salt Spires were smiling, and magic was felt through the air in that very square.

Cheese ended the song, and the ponies there tapped on the path in applause. One pony even said, "Say, someday you should do a concert with the Tabernicker Choir across the street!"

When the crowd dispersed to continue their little tours, Cheese sighed and rubbed his head. "Well, I'm seeing less things, but my head still hurts..."

Tomato frowned. "You need to see a doctor again?"

Cheese stored his accordion behind his back and picked up the candy cannons. "I really don't want to, but..."

Flora nodded. "Yep. Let's get to it." She beckoned the group and they followed her to the gate. "Olive can get us to the hospital easily."

Olive gave her sister a funny look. "I don't know where it is."

Flora groaned. "Are you kidding me?"

"Hey, we don't live in this city! I have no reason to memorize--"

Olive stopped when they reached the gate, finding the police force there, looking straight at them with serious expressions. The rest of the group froze and looked amongst each other, grimacing. Bananas even remarked, "Huh, forgot about the police."

Chief Laurel stood in front and looked straight at Cheese. "You, Mr. Candy Cannon. Drop your weapons and come with us."

Cheese looked down at the devices he held, cursing himself for not storing them. Setting them down, he stood erect and walked forward, ready to accept whatever fate awaited him. A few officers came in and led him out the gate, with another gathering the candy cannons.

Tomato sped to the gate. "Chief, please understand, he's been having hallucinations. He wouldn't have acted the way he did had he been--"

Chief Laurel just had to turn to him to shut him up. "Calm down. It's fairly obvious that he was, so we're going to escort him to the hospital to get him some treatment and some rest. Hopefully, you can find out what's going on and manage the symptoms."

Cheese rubbed his leg. "Well, I was kinda planning on helping clean up after..."

"Hm, if the doctor deems you well enough. In the meantime, the other pony involved in causing this mess is going to assist the volunteers in the cleanup."

Olive and Bananas looked at each other, and Tomato tilted his head. "Huh? Other pony?"

She stepped aside to present Creme Brulee, looking rather depressed, which only brought out another "Huh?!" from Tomato.

"She confessed to having swapped Cheese Sandwich's medication with mint candies," Chief Laurel said. "After cleanup and her time in jail, her record's not going to look pretty."

Olive's jaw was slack, while Bananas blinked, glanced at the currently stone-faced Flora, and said solemnly, "Wow... I guess Flora finally got through her thick head. Just wish it didn't take this mess."

As Cheese went with the officers, Tomato and Creme faced each other through the gate. Pursing his lips, Tomato asked, "Creme, I wonder... why did you tell the truth? I always thought you were nothing but some amoral liar who only cared for her pleasure."

Creme glared at him. "You're flattering. Flora just had to remind me that my actions were possibly putting little kids in danger. Those ponies are least deserving of any harm that comes to them."

Tomato shook his head. "Should have thought of that before you replaced the meds."

Creme Brulee was taken away, and March Redwood filled her place. Tomato moved to let Flora take his place, and she simply bore a stoic look at her clearly displeased father. March snorted and said, "Flora, I told you not to meddle in police affairs, and yet you blatantly disobeyed me. Flora, there was a chance that you could have gotten hurt."

Flora looked at the ground. "I know."

"Look, I get that you like to help ponies, and you managed to calm Cheese down, no doubt, but what if it had been somepony who didn't care? What if it hadn't been somepony who's mark was that of making ponies smile? If you pull this with somepony with no morals, you will get hurt. So put more thought into your actions before you do them, understand?"

"Yes, Dad." Flora turned around and started to walk away. "If you don't mind, I'd like to be alone."

March nodded and looked up at the other two. "Come, kids. Let's get back to your mother and siblings. I don't want her to worry." He raised his voice toward Flora with the shout of, "We'll be back at the parade route, okay?"

Bananas and Olive followed their father away from the place, and the entire Salt Lick police force left as well. Tomato Sandwich was left alone, opting to stay behind due to him being curious about Flora's state of mind. Didn't she successfully calm Cheese down? What was her issue?

So, he discreetly followed her instead.

Author's Note:

Well, I think I managed to get through the hard part of this arc. Heh... why is late summer always the time when I'm dealing with difficult parts in the story (last summer, it was Canterlot and freakin' politics)? It's one of those times where I feel like any research I do just doesn't cut it. Oh, well, I've just got to deal with it.

In other news, I never thought I'd try to find out if it was okay to play the accordion in Temple Square. So far, I've found out that there have been concerts involving accordions in various buildings in that area.

And Cheese is off to the hospital... again. At least he wasn't knocked out this time.

Comments

[Goldfinch142]

Looks like everything turned out alright, assuming nothing else comes up. Nopony got hurt. Cheese is going to a hospital, where they can hopefully better diagnose his headaches for what they really are. Flora's attempt at calming Cheese down worked, though I have to wonder what's up with her. Guilt about endangering herself and worrying her father, perhaps?

Also, yay! Creme did tell the truth! And out of regret, too! Big step in the right direction. Maybe some jail time will teach Creme Brulee more empathy and awareness of consequences.

And her parents are finally getting a wake-up call about the extent of their bad parenting's effect on Creme Brulee as well. Not entirely their fault, granted, they tried, and they were incredibly busy and unable to raise her properly, but they still could have handled things better.

[SageBrony07]

Great chapter. I love how flora helped cheese. I think that cheeses fears may reflects Floras own.

[KawaiiShadow]

i love this! this story started off so innocent and now well..... i cant wait for the next chapter!!

[redmar]

I hope that when the party in Salt Lick City is over and Cheese has been cleared to travel the story will focus on restoring his memories. Hopefully also putting Wayer Runes back in Tartarus because he can't be allowed to roam free.