Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

18.6--Cool Reception

The plaza was cleaned up after the changelings were hauled off, and every tablecloth, every piece of decoration, and every flower was put back in place. Everyone even took time to go home and wash their suits and dresses so that they’d look their best for the redone ceremony. It was late afternoon when the wedding finally resumed, and once again, everyone watched Jelly Jubilee walk down the aisle. This time, the actual Peanut Butter, all tidied up in his suit, was waiting for her at the altar.

Cheese had his rest for a few hours, and now he was awake and playing "Here Comes the Bride" on his accordion with the band. He was still a mite bit drowsy, and his notes sounded a little rusty, but he at least had enough energy and alertness to help with the proceedings. And this time, he had his tux on, while Boneless 2 received a little bowtie of his own.

So, bride and groom were face to face, and the officiant repeated his speech from earlier. Cheese thought it interesting that he was using allegories of sandwiches, nuts, and fruits to explain how ponies thrive in times of "sunshine" and times of "rain". What a silly statement, he thought, because his whole life as he remembered it was sunshine--there were only annoying inconveniences that didn't have that big of an impact. But, really, why would there be anything big and crippling for him? As a party pony, unfunny lasting consequences weren't a thing.

He looked at his foreleg and wrinkled his nose. That burn was an exception, and he still didn't know why.

Finally, Peanut and Jelly had their words to say.

First, Peanut took a paper out of his pocket and unfolded it. "I have to say, I'd be lying if I said I didn't think of sports as my one true love before meeting you. Sure, I did attract lots of ladies with how I played and how I talked with them and just how confident I was, but that was merely a side note compared to my love of playing sports--especially basketball. I thought that getting into the big leagues was everything I ever wanted. And then, it turned out... I had no idea what to do when the off season rolled around. I just took that farm job because it seemed like an easy job and the physical demands would keep me in shape.

"Meeting you has really expanded my world and had me finding new things to love. Not only are you fun to go one-on-one with, but you also showed me that there's a lot to learn from the little things, and to have fun with things that I didn't think were possible. You're kind of like my sister Creamy in that way, appreciating the simple things and the so-called 'boring' ponies, even if I don't quite understand it. I admit to being a cocky jerk in the past and maybe even still the present, but I'm always up for learning new things from you. I love you, and I'm ready to spend the rest of my life with you."

Jelly sniffed, her goofy smile reaching from ear to ear. She pulled out her own paper.

"So, uh..." she began. "I never really thought myself as all that smart. I can be a dopey airhead and forgetful, but I do try my best to be friendly and kind to others wherever I may be, be it here in Applewood, in Halterside, in Alfalfaston, in Dodge Junction... anywhere, really. Even when college plans fell through and I got stranded here, I found a new family at the fruit farm, and I was happy to welcome you into it. I never realized that I'd find you so charming and confident, full of energy to match my own, and have enough of a sense of humor to just roll with some of my dumber moments.

"Getting to know you was a great adventure, and I'm always happy to cheer you on in every game that I can attend. I'm eager to get to know you better, to be part of your family, to have you be a part of mine, and to start our own in the future. It's my greatest wish for us to stick together even in the worst of storms, and I have a feeling that we can do it; we're both pretty tough ponies, after all." She took a moment to giggle, and finished, "This is just my, uh, fancy way of saying, 'I love you', Peanut Butter Sandwich."

Peanut smirked and muttered, "Now that I think of it, I should have mentioned that you're funny, too."

The officiant cleared his throat. "Thank you for your words, they are much appreciated. Everyone here is gathered to see you united in marriage, and supporting you in this endeavor. This is a great and serious commitment and responsibility, one such that demands great sacrifice on both parts and unwavering loyalty to each other. Do not take it lightly. Now, do you accept these things for years to come?"

They both nodded, saying "Yes," one after the other.

"All right, then let's put on the horseshoes."

A little colt off to the side slid a pillow with customized wedding horseshoes between the two, and they stomped right onto them. A little extra hammering from the officiant sealed them on, and then he said, "I now pronounce you husband and wife!"

With that, Peanut and Jelly threw themselves together for a kiss to seal the deal, and everyone cheered. Fitted with a steam machine that Cheese gave her, Lightning Dust flew up to write her congratulations to the newlyweds, her cursive in the sky being absolute perfection, and her face beaming with pride for an old friend and mentor. Pearl was crying tears of joy off to the side, Cherry just dabbed her eyes with a tissue, and Vic was twirling a napkin and hooting, much to some other ponies' annoyance. The families of the two were clearly the happiest, and started the bubble blowing and rice throwing with gusto.

And then there were camera flashes.

Peanut looked up in annoyance at the photographers on the rooftops, squealing about how they got some exclusive shots of the wedding. Throwing his hooves up in the air, he complained, "Seriously? Who told them we were getting married here?"

Lightning descended right next to him. "Sheesh, I could have sworn I flew low enough that nopony but us would see my message."

Cheese shouted from his spot, "I think they might have followed us earlier when we were rushing over here to stop... the you-know-what."

Peanut and Jelly groaned, and the latter said, "I hope they don't somehow follow us to our honeymoon."

Rosita scurried up next to them. "Excuse me, but may I help?"

Peanut rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, sure."

Rosita smiled sweetly with a nod, and then flashed a devilish grin as she cried, "Mis gatitos! Ahuyentad a los intrusos!"

As the paparazzi paused to try to figure out what the hay the little old mare just said, they were suddenly jumped by cats. It seemed like they came out of nowhere, like little clawed ninjas, so none of the ponies knew just what direction to defend themselves from. Some well-placed scratches, angry cat hisses and screeches, and even some sharp kitty bites were enough to send the nosy onlookers scrambling off the roofs in panic.

Cheese recognized Whiskers, Dotty, Chelsea, and the many other cats, obeying Rosita's command without hesitation. He couldn't help but be impressed on how fast Rosita essentially trained them to be attack 'dogs'.

As the photographers ran off screaming, with some bemoaning, "I'm allergic to cats!", the wedding attendees could not help but laugh at the show. As they clapped, Rosita turned and bowed, thanking them, and beckoning her cats down for their own little curtsy. Then, she turned to the bride, picked up the littlest kitten, a little orange one, and put it in her hooves. With a smile, she whispered, "Here's my wedding present to you."

"Aww..." Jelly cooed, cuddling the mewling kitty. "Thank you, I always wanted a cat! Usually there's always someone I live with who's allergic, like my brother, or my roommate."

Jelly's eldest brother sneezed loudly, followed by Pearl's petite sneeze and a scratching at her throat. Jelly sighed, and gestured to them in a "See what I mean" manner.

Peanut petted the cat. "Don't worry, I'm not allergic. We can keep... uh..."

Jelly beamed. "I'm gonna call her Pumpkin."

---

The reception that evening, under the twinkling light cords and little paper flags, was a nice little affair. The band played every romantic tune that they know, along with some more upbeat tunes that several guests danced to. Vic was answering questions about how he made the little paper basketballs on the wall, and Acorn and Cocoa were preparing to launch the fruit-flavored fireworks. Many of the shopkeepers were happy to serve the guests their little dishes. From their veggie empanadas, cactus soups and salads, and tres leches cake, to wedding cookies, peanut butter squares, jelly rolls, and Creamy's own homemade strawberry ice cream, there was so much to eat.

Cheese and Tomato sat together at a table, watching the reception proceed as planned. Tomato stuffed his face with empanadas while Cheese lapped some cactus soup, both grateful for some peace after yet another incident.

Swallowing his most recent bite, Tomato said, "You know, walking around the food table, I keep hearing about this thing is 'Pearl's idea' or how that thing is 'Vic's idea' or how Cherry brought this or Lightning did this, and I know you arranged it into something cohesive and beautiful... still, I'm surprised that you didn't put in any touches of your own."

Cheese, with a cactus not fully slurped into his mouth, raised an eyebrow, and then yanked a random rope that had been hidden under the table. Tomato didn't know where the rope came from, but, as the sudden drop of a piñata of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the corner and some happily cheering foals told him, that didn't matter--it was what the rope did that mattered.

"Oh, okay, the pinata's definitely your thing," Tomato said. "You know... even if you can't summon your tank, I'm surprised that you didn't completely overturn everything and come up with a completely different wedding."

Cheese nodded and slurped the rest of his cactus. "Well, I don't really know the bride and groom as much as I should, so even though the others were trash planners, I do admit, they probably had better ideas of what Peanut and Jelly would like. It's part of being a party pony to consider the ideas of those who know the one the party's for."

"Does this mean you're going to apologize for leaving them with no warning or direction and chewing them out when they made a mess?"

Cheese growled. "Oh, their things make up most of the party, so I don't need to."

"What? Okay, what is your deal?"

Cheese lapped up the last of his soup and wiped his mouth. "Maybe I'm just a little frustrated that most of the parties this summer haven't been smooth sailing like my record usually is." He smacked the table. "Seriously, ever since I started taking you on this trip, my record of hassle-free shindigs, big or small, has been seriously marred by whatever crazy mishap of the week. That can't be a coincidence."

"Huh?! Why... you..." Tomato's face turned redder than normal, and he blew out a hot snort. "I'm not a bad luck charm! Besides, you said so yourself, you don't have a squeaky clean record of perfect parties. There was that one party you bemoaned where you sent several ponies to the hospital thanks to a party bomb malfunction, there were a couple of times that you got arrested, and there was that Birthaversary you mentioned, where you might have failed to think your plan to impress Pinkie Pie through? I wasn't at any of those events!"

Cheese leaned back in his chair and rolled his eyes. "Why are you making stuff up to make me look bad?"

"I'm not making them up, you talked about them to me in between parties this summer... except that last one, you told me that right after the Fall Festival."

Cheese's eyes widened. "Oh... I forgot about the Fall Festival... hmph, of course, you were there too, but hey, I don't think that one's your fault."

Tomato blinked. "Uh, what? Oh no..."

"Well, of course! It was, uh..." Cheese scratched his head, trying to organize the thoughts in his head. "It was just an attempt at brotherly bonding that went horribly wrong. I mean, wow, all that hard work to show you the true greatness of my parties and get you out of your grumpy shell... ugh, sabotage, I tell you! I had to concoct this road trip to try it again!"

Tomato pursed his lips uncomfortably. "Again, that's not how the story went... you're missing some key details. Cheese, I wonder if it's just one memory that was stolen."

Cheese scoffed, his eyes narrowed. "Why would that scumbag sorcerer need me to forget more than just the Las Pegasus incident? And why would they leave you be when you were just as involved in the disaster as I was? Clearly, you're just making up the Las Pegasus incident, so that you can paint yourself as more of a victim as you already think you are, you spoiled brat!"

"What? But that doctor said that your magic--"

"Doctors can be wrong, Tomato!"

A whistle came from the arch, and a few policeponies were standing just outside of the plaza. Everypony paused to look at them, paralyzed over the fear of what was wrong and if there was a criminal among them. Even the newlyweds looked at each other, silently trying to figure out how to handle this new situation. In light of this, Cheese stood up, and announced, "Don't worry, I've got this!"

He then lowered himself to Tomato's level and snarled, "And this conversation is over."

He walked across the plaza, ponies parting for him to let him through. All were deathly silent, feeling a frigid air coming from him, and looking to each other for some form of comfort. Even some of Rosita's cats, roaming as they pleased, backed away from him with hisses.

Out of the plaza and facing the officers, Cheese leaned on the floral arch. "What's up? Is it about the changelings?"

"No, some other detectives are looking into that," the policemare replied. "We're here to ask if anyone in that plaza has spotted any large dogs."

Cheese tilted his head. "Large dogs? Why?"

"This morning, some ponies came across several severely injured gang members in the nearby park," her male partner said. "The hospital staff says that the injuries were consistent with a dog attack. We couldn't ask the gang members thanks to them being unconscious, so we're checking with the neighborhood to see if anyone knows where it went. We want to catch the animals as soon as possible."

Cheese blinked. "Well... I was up late last night setting up the party behind me... but..." He searched his mind for any dogs he may have spotted the night before. Maybe he could have brushed by one at some point when returning that beach ball to the beach, or that bat to the local baseball field, or that tetherball pole at the nearest...

The park. He could have sworn that the dream of the park was just that, a dream. But, it had such been a vivid dream, almost like real life, and the injuries he had received from gang members in the dream matched closely with the wounds from what he had been sure were just tumbles and scrapes of a tired stallion. Getting stabbed in the shoulder with a stick, getting bucked at, scraped from pushes onto nearby pavement... but, if he had really been attacked by a gang, then surely he couldn't have fought them like a dog would, right? After all, he had been alone, and there must have been a pack of them to take down a gang!

Still, he could feel a deep pit in his gut, and his mind's voice asked him, "What is wrong with you, Cheese?"

He pursed his lips, and argued back in his mind, "Nothing's wrong with me, I just had a crazy coincidental dream."

"Coincidence? Or could it be that your 'dream' excuse is just denial?"

"How do I know that there isn't really a pack of dogs? How do I know that they're not just changelings causing trouble?"

"But, Cheese, you know that you were the one who attacked those gang members last night."

"So what if I was? Those idiots attacked me first, they had it coming!"

"So you admit it. Still, they were kids. Kids that could have been shown a better path.

"They're stupid kids! I gave them a warning, they ignored it, and they got what they deserved."

"Had it ever occurred to you that you could have killed them?"

The images of the night before came rushing back to him. The gang members fought like the ponies they were; with bucking, rearing up and stomping, shoving him and stabbing at him whenever they could, and even some hard bites of their own. Pegasi and unicorns even used their flight and magic respectively to attack.

But his attacks had been anything but pony. He could still taste that blood that was drawn, and he could still feel the crunch of bone between his teeth. Anything he bit, he thrashed around like a whip, and anyone who jumped him was guaranteed a wound on the chest. He felt his muscles ache at the throwing that he should not have been able to do, his lungs and throat stinging at the breaths taken to feed his speed. And images of each of the teens' throats came into view, knowing exactly what would happen if he sank his teeth into that.

His guts twisted and his heart pounded upon wondering if the police could read his mind. Could they see him sweat? No, no, he wasn't even sweating, though he could feel himself starting to pant. Could they smell any blood on him? Tomato did! But, then again, he had a bath recently. But, no matter what, maybe they'd find some clue that it really was him. But, surely they wouldn't believe that a lanky pony like him could take on a bunch of aggressive teenagers on his own--while fighting in a more doglike manner. He didn't know.

"Answer the question!" the policestallion barked. "Did you see any large dogs or not?"

His barrel still tight, he answered, "No, I didn't."

"Okay, that's all we needed. Unless you own a large dog."

Cheese yawned and shook his head. "Nah."

"How about any of your friends in the plaza?" the policemare asked. "Have they seen anything?"

Cheese sighed, and yelled in the plaza, "Hey! The cops want to know if you've seen any big dogs around here!"

All in the plaza blinked, looked at each other in confusion, and called out, "No!"

However, Peanut Butter added, "Maybe they're changelings disguised as dogs!"

Both cops nodded, with the mare saying, "All right. You ponies let us know if you see anything. In the meantime, be careful--whoever those dogs--or maybe even changelings--are, they won't show mercy. Have a good night, and congratulations to the bride and groom."

As the two cops trotted off, Cheese attempted a sigh of relief. It was a weak one, for he now felt this strange heaviness on him, wondering what would have happened if anypony had saw that fight. Would they have taken his side, for the gang members did attack him first, or would they have sympathized with the teenagers, being brutally torn apart? He couldn't even remember what they even looked like after he was done with them, but perhaps that was for the best.

He walked back to his table and took his seat, remaining silent as Peanut and Jelly also sat down for a bite to eat. Tomato glanced at him for a moment before turning his attention back to the newlyweds, with a small, but noticeable sneer.

Peanut was eating his cactus salad, just piece by piece. "I know, I was quick to jump to changelings, but... when the earlier cops came, they implied that the five we faced were not the only ones in Applewood. With how they shapeshift, the big celebrity running joke is now an actual hidden evil in the city. Who knows how many of them invade weddings like mine and Jelly's, or turn into gang members to start turf wars, or who knows what else around here?"

Jelly put her hoof on his. "Calm down, sweetie! I know you're still shaken up, but I don't think panicking's going to help anything. Let's just relax and enjoy the reception, and maybe we can figure out what to do during the honeymoon. Okay?"

Peanut sighed. "Okay. By the way, Cheese, what was the 'big dog' thing about?"

Cheese lowered his head, to the point that he laid on his jaw. "The police say a pack of big dogs attacked a gang last night."

Peanut and Jelly winced and looked at each other. The latter muttered, "Oooh, boy... I sure hope that Rosita's grandson Vervain isn't one of them."

Tomato raised an eyebrow. "Vervain? Hey, wait, I thought her grandson was Snapdragon Apple!"

"Oh, yeah, Snap is her grandson," Peanut explained. "But Rosita does have more than one grandfoal. Vervain's a gang member, thinking that cutie marks are just pictures and that messages of Harmony are lies. It's kind of scary that ponies end up adopting things like that--they're pretty much never happy."

Cheese sighed. "Well... the police didn't specify, so he could be safe." Still, he clearly remembered that the lead thug did have a flower cutie mark. Maybe that was Vervain?

"Well," Peanut said, looking back. "I think Mom and Dad are ready to launch those fruit fireworks. Can't wait to see if they're really worth all that hype they gave them."

Jelly clapped. "Oooh, boy! I'm so excited!"

Tomato chuckled. "Trust me, they're great."

"Um, uh... yeah, of course they are!" Cheese stood up, and trotted to the front. "I gotta go announce it to the guests."

The thoughts of the gang still bothered him, even as he tried to push it aside and focus on his task. Even as he announced the fireworks, watched them launched, and watched the guests enjoy eating the sparks, he looked at Rosita, and thought of that one thug, wondering how his grandmother would react to his injuries. He should have remained nameless so that there was no reason to think of him, but now he couldn't even forget that cutie mark.

He silently growled, and attempted to shake off his heaviness with the thoughts of, They attacked me first, they had it coming. They attacked me first, they had it coming. They attacked me first...

Author's Note:

Aaaaaand that's a wrap for the Applewood arc!

Needed to see the actual wedding between the actual ponies take place. Here's hoping that Peanut Butter and Jelly have a good honeymoon after that little changeling nonsense, and a good marriage overall.

But, for now, let's see where the Sandwiches go next.

Comments

[SageBrony07]

Oh no!! CHeese youre falling apart. Great chapter, and nice arch. Maybe for the next arch. Haywaiian Islands.

[Goldfinch142]

Maybe now Cheese will finally admit that he does have a problem. Between the burn and the thugs, the evidence is piling up. Perhaps a third party confirming that the Las Pegasus Incident actually happened would help convince him--it had to be national news, unless the princesses tried to cover it up.

At least none of the thugs actually died. Besides the fact that Cheese would have murder hanging over his head, I don't know how forgiving the police would be to Cheese if the gang members died and they found out he did it, even with Tomato vouching that he has memory problems.

[Godslittleprincess]

Sweet Celestia, this just gets worse and worse.