Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

4.1--This Town is Too Small

Once morning came and Cheese had all his things gathered and his accordion and Tomato's suit jacket fixed, Seddie led them both, all dressed up as cowponies again, to the railroad. She navigated the woods quite easily, and kept an eye out for Bighoof, in case he was having a second bad day in a row. On the way there, she explained that following the railroad made for easier travel since they were heading to Nickerlite. Usually the train tunnel was an obstacle, since going through it meant that they were at risk of being in the way of a train with no escape, so she was taking them to an area past that point.

Once they were there, Seddie said, "And here we are. Things should be mostly smooth sailing, as long as you keep a good distance away from the tracks."

Cheese tipped his hat. "Thanks a lot, Seddie. We appreciate the help."

Tomato nodded. "Who knows how long we'd have been stuck in that tree if you hadn't come along."

Cheese playfully nudged his brother. "Reminds me of the time you got chased up a lamppost by a pack of dogs."

Tomato scowled at him. "Good to know."

Cheese turned to Seddie and grinned at her. "Are you sure that you don't want to come to the party? It's going to be fu-un..."

Seddie's face fell, and she backed up. She grinned nervously, and said, "Oh, I'm not all that big on parties these days--they're always too loud and the refreshments always make me sick. And there are a lot of drunkards walking the streets of Nickerlite, and I'm not big on that--I prefer Ponyville anyway. Besides... you never know when Bighoof is going to have a bad day. A lot of ponies go camping this time of year, don't ya know? They might be in danger..."

Cheese and Tomato glanced at each other. Something seemed a little off about her, especially with that forced grin. Before either could say anything, she exclaimed, "Good bye!" and rushed back into the forest.

Blinking, Cheese turned to his brother and said, "Well, she seems nervous about Nickerlite. I don't see why, it was just fine last time I visited."

Tomato pursed his lips. "Bluejinx works there during school breaks, and he doesn't have many complaints aside from most of the townsfolk being idiots."

Cheese grinned. "Hey... looks like we're seeing your pal soon!"

Tomato smirked. "Oh, yeah... boy, is he in for a surprise."

Cheese laughed and looked at the railroad. He turned right, and trotted alongside it. "Come on, baby bro! The party can't set up itself!"

Tomato rolled his eyes and followed.

---

It was about an hour of walking before they spotted some buildings. Once they did, they sprung into a full gallop, not going to waste another second. After all, the sooner they could get there, the more time there was to set up whatever party was going to be.

They soon found themselves looking down a dusty street of what looked like a small Old Western town. Various shops and small businesses lined the street, built out of what looked like old wood. Ponies were going in and out of the shops, with those exiting carrying various goods. In the case of one building, a pony with a strange headgear walked out, startling some ponies. Another building had a bottle shoot out of its doors and shatter on the door of the shop across from it. And another building had a pony with a scarily large smile trot out with a couple dozen loaves of bread.

Tomato watched as a cabbage cart rolled down the street and barrel towards him and Cheese. They sidestepped before the cart could hit them, and witnessed the collision between the cart and the train coming into the rock-themed station. The result was an explosion of cabbage leaves and splintered wood. Not five seconds later, a green pony dashed in between them, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"When I hear about small towns, they're usually described as 'sleepy'," Tomato remarked. "Or 'quiet'. Or 'peaceful'."

Cheese was still staring at the weeping cabbage merchant. "Yep, Nickerlite's a lively place." He walked forward, with Tomato alongside him. "Careful, these ponies have a tendency to gossip. The last time I was here, I had to pretty much beat them over the head with what the true definition of a party pony is."

Tomato quirked an eyebrow. "Which is...?"

Cheese sighed. "A spreader of joy and laughter--not some crazy drunk pony who goes around making 'love' and nasty messes in every town they go in. Seriously, they thought that about Pinkie..."

"Seriously? As far as I can tell, her mind doesn't even go there."

"Exactly! A lot of ponies don't seem to get it!" Cheese took a deep breath, and patted Tomato's back. "I'm sure glad you do. I was worried you wouldn't."

"In the long run, the crazy drunk pony you described would cause a lot of misery. I've met a few at school, and I hated them. Always telling me that I'm too uptight and need to get out more and do stupid junk like you described..." Tomato blew on his forelock. He glanced at Cheese. "Ever thought about giving Mom a wake up call like that?"

Cheese snorted. "I've tried. Got the same old verbal beatdown about how she's right and how I need to stop throwing my life away. You see why I don't visit often?"

"For years I thought it was because you hated me."

"Nah, I always liked you best, even when you were being a stubborn little grumpypants."

Tomato narrowed his eyes and glanced away. "Gee, thanks."

From the corner of his eye, Tomato spotted something blue. He turned to it, and sure enough, there was Bluejinx, whistling a merry tune as he set up a poster. He tapped Cheese's shoulder. "Hey, look who I found."

Cheese turned and spotted the blue unicorn. "Oh, goody! Are you going to sneak up on him?"

"Maybe... maybe not. Either way, he's going to be surprised," Tomato chuckled, casually strolling toward his friend.

However, as he walked, a pair of laughing foals crashed into his front legs and made him stumble. His chin hit the dusty road and made him bite his tongue. His back legs were still standing, albeit in an awkward position with his rear end up in the air, while his front legs were lying spread out in front of him. His hat covered his face, and his stomach felt just a tiny bit queasy.

"Stayman! Idared! You done gone and made somepony trip over ya!" a rough, male voice with a drawl yelled.

Cheese rushed to Tomato's side, and pulled him up by way of grabbing the collar of the serape. He fixed his brother's hat and dusted him off, as a large, green, red-headed pony passed by them, grumbling under his breath. He stopped when a filly and colt came back and slid to right in front of the Sandwich brothers.

Tomato couldn't help but compare how they looked to Flora. Both of the foals were light green with strawberry blonde hair, much like she was. Of course, the foals had green eyes, while Flora had blue, and the colt had freckles while the filly had her mane done in braided pigtails.

"Pardon us, Mister! We just got awful excited for the party!" the colt said.

The filly nodded. "Eeyup, and--" Her eyes fell on Cheese, and she lit up. She jumped forward to hug his legs. "Well, howdy again! I thought I'd never see ya again!"

Cheese grinned at her. "So, you remember me..."

"Eeyup! You here for the party, Mr. Cheese?"

Cheese smiled proudly. "Why, yes I am! I even brought my brother along for the ride."

That was when they noticed Bluejinx had turned around and was grinning at them. "Ah, I knew I heard a familiar voice!"

The green stallion gave Bluejinx a funny look. "You know the crazy Pie mare's beau?"

Cheese flushed red and backed up a few steps. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's not jump to conclusions, fellas! Pinkie and I are amigos! Like, super duper party amigos that throw parties together from time to time! Yeah, you're just reading too much in it, guys... ehehe..."

Tomato turned to him and quirked an eyebrow. "Huh. I guess that smooch on the cheek at the last party was completely platonic."

Cheese grew redder than Tomato's fur as Bluejinx and the other pony laughed. He shot Tomato a glare and growled, "You're not helping!"

Tomato backed up and pursed his lips, tempted to stick his tongue out at Cheese. With a sigh, he turned to Bluejinx and asked, "So, mind introducing your friend and... whatever type of relative of his those twins are?"

The green pony narrowed his eyes at him. "My name is Cortland, and I'm only here because my brother and sister tripped you. And you are?"

Tomato gave Cortland an impassive look in return. "Tomato Sandwich."

The little colt marched up to him. "I'm Stayman!"

The filly jumped. "And Idared!"

Bluejinx then added, "They're Apples."

Tomato raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Apples, eh? So, what relation are you folks to Applejack?"

Cortland snorted. "Cousin."

Cheese popped up between them. "Ooo-kay, we are getting off track--what's the shindig about? My Cheesy Sense pulled me here, and it doesn't lie!"

Bluejinx walked forward and said, "It's the mayor's birthday. We were planning on having a surprise party in that field by the train station." He pointed in the general direction of the train station. "As of now, the Pie family is distracting him and his wife. How they're going about doing it, I have no idea."

"Goin' on about the history of rocks and makin' him fall asleep?" Cortland grumbled.

"Maybe they're showing him how they farm rocks," Cheese suggested with a grin.

Tomato glanced at the poster, which turned out to be a wanted poster for a rough-looking mare and stallion pair, labelled "Roanie and Stride". Pursing his lips, he jokingly suggested, "Perhaps they're out hunting those ruffians."

All went silent after Tomato said that. The way that the others looked at him made Tomato regret his joke, and silently remind himself that he was not the joking type. He winced as he expected somepony to yell at him.

It was Cortland who did so. "That was the most doggone stupid suggestion I have ever heard! The mayor is a short and scrawny little thing; he wouldn't last a minute against thugs like that! You think it's funny to joke about a couple of robbers like that? Well, you must think them gang members in cities like Manehattan, Chicacolt, and Los Pegasus must be hilarious!"

He looked up and down Tomato's body, and then lifted his poncho to find a brown suit jacket with a white button shirt and green tie underneath. He snorted. "You look like the type of pony they'd be after. Scrawny, and lookin' like a million bits. I wouldn't be surprised if you end up dead."

Cheese had his face in Cortland's faster than a wink, glaring daggers at him. "Hey! Don't you dare speak to my baby brother like that!"

Cortland blinked. "Baby brother?" He glanced at Tomato. "You really think of him as a baby?"

Stayman laughed. "He don't look like no baby! Does he cry a lot?"

Idared giggled. "I think he woulda been a mighty cute baby!"

Tomato's lips were tight, concealing the grinding teeth that laid within his mouth. Sometimes he wondered if Cheese always called him "baby bro" so he could be secretly condescending while still keeping that Pinkie Promise. After all, Tomato couldn't find that phrase endearing--more like rather insulting considering his age. He glared at the scene before him, wondering why he even bothered to humor Cheese with calling him that.

It's no different from those ponies back home who still think of me as that clumsy and annoying colt, even after I've outgrown those tendencies, he thought.

Cheese backed up from Cortland's face. "So? Foal or stallion, he's still my little brother, and I don't like that you implied those crooks would kill him should he meet them. You don't even know Tommy!"

Cortland huffed. "Oh, really? What would he do in a situation like that? I heard his kind turn tail and run off like the yellow-bellied cowards they are."

Cheese snorted. "Oh, sure, you'd assume that. But Tommy would..." He blinked and tapped his chin. "Tommy would... he would... uh..."

He's thinking of the Bighoof encounter, isn't he? Tomato exhaled through his nose. What else was he supposed to do? Hit him with the mirror? With Boneless 2? Try to imitate one of those crazy wrestlers?

Cortland pulled a wry grin. "Uh-huh... go on..."

"Well... well..." Cheese growled and stamped his hoof. "My brother's not a coward!"

"Well, why ain't he standing up for himself? Too afraid of my muscle?"

"Hey, everypony needs a second opinion. Besides, I'm his big brother, and I'm not about to let him be insulted like that."

"And you think the mayor should go after outlaws?"

"No, that's dumb, but he kind of included Igneous Rock in the joke, and Iggy's a pretty strong guy, so I don't think it was that bad of a joke..."

Cortland rolled his eyes. "You both have an awful sense of humor."

Cheese gave him a sour look, and growled in his low, gruff voice. "Listen here, cowpony..."

Tomato tuned out the argument, kicking at the dust. If anything, Cortland was right; he was the kind of pony who would retreat from that kind of situation with his tail between his legs, or just be the pony in distress, hanging out in a tree or lamppost, or nearly falling off something, or almost getting hit by a speeding carriage. He glanced between Cheese and Bluejinx, the two ponies who always had to rescue him from whatever disaster he got himself into.

He remembered a little term he overheard his mother use to describe him: A walking disaster. Cortland, in his argument with Cheese, was bluntly calling Tomato a burden. And looking at his own four legs, he received a silent reminder of how he was not built for outdoor work, and a flashback to a broken accordion reminded him of how he and parties don't mix.

He looked at his cutie mark. What good would that do out here?

Bluejinx came between Cheese and Cortland, and pushed them apart. "Okay! Okay! That's enough, you two. We have a party to set up, and it's best not to make a party pony angry." He leaned toward Cortland and whispered, "Seriously, Cortland, they're terrifying."

Cheese sat down on the ground, took off his hat, and pulled a pen and notepad out of it. "Righty-O! Sheesh, sometimes I forget I have a bit of a temper. Anyway... what do you guys have planned so far?"

Stayman hopped up and down. "Our family's providin' an awful lot of apple treats! We have caramel apples, apple pies, apple fritters..."

Idared looked up dreamily. "The candy shop owners are bringing lots and lots of candy! Oh! And I hope they bring their foal! She's so cute..."

Cortland crossed his forelegs and rolled his eyes. "There's gonna be a hoedown, too."

Bluejinx shrugged. "I'm just helping with the decorations. I can show you the party site if you'd like."

Cheese scribbled everything down and put the things back in his hat. He stood back up, slammed his head into his hat on the ground, and those rose back up with the hat on his head. "Not a bad idea. I'd like to know just where I could put the fruit punch lake and the hippo rides."

Bluejinx gave him a funny look. "Do you realize how dangerous and surly hippos are...?"

Cheese waved a hoof in dismissal. "Rupert's completely tame! That's a party pony guarantee."

As he and Tomato followed Bluejinx to the site, Cheese whispered to Tomato, "Okay, now, I was thinking that you could help Bluejinx decorate. I'm sure he'll be happy to have you as a helping hoof."

"Isn't he a unicorn? He has magic to do it himself." Tomato growled.

"Hey, now, don't judge based on pony type--that's a no-no. Besides, I've learned that unicorn magic can't do everything itself. A simple hoof can work wonders..."

"I might break something..."

"Sheesh, quit being so hard on yourself, you'll be fine. And then, once everything is all finished, you two go out to the Pies and retrieve the mayor. Then you three can happily trot on back, and then, boom! Surprise! Sound like a plan?"

Tomato was silent for a moment, pondering Cheese's plan. He remembered how Princess Twilight had told him that he couldn't avoid helping with the setup of a party all summer, and how it would rub Cheese the wrong way if he did. The last thing he needed was to get on Cheese's bad side again.

Besides, unlike Ponyville, Nickerlite didn't have a party disaster that involved him.

He glanced back at Cheese. "What if I run into Roanie and Stride?"

Cheese laughed. "Don't worry, baby bro. Last I heard, they had been in Dodge Junction. You'll be fine."

Author's Note:

Yippee, this one turned out to be another groaner.

You'd think a chapter that puts us back in Nickerlite, and introduces us to main 'verse Cortland, Stayman, and Idared (and Mr. Green!) would be more exciting. Well, I had a rough time writing this, and as such... this is sub-par compared with some of my other chapters. Ugh...

Hopefully, I can make things more exciting in this segment.

Comments

[cowbrony93]

Well at least in this 'verse Cortland is much less of a douche towards Cheese about Pinkie

[Jordan179]

Main Tommyverse Cortlandt is still a jerk. Though at least he's less obsessed with Pinkie Pie. And not as vicious toward Cheese. The latter is half because he's less-obsessed with Pinie and half because Cheese is a tougher and higher-status Pony than he was in the "Rock Farmer's Daughters" story.

Maybe not a totally-bad Apple here, but definitely a sour one.

[FanOfMostEverything]

I admit, I still haven't read The Rock Farmer's Daughter, so the Apples are rather lost on me. Sorry.

As for Tommy's thoughts, I do hope he discusses the "baby brother" thing. I understand it from Cheese's perspective; he's spent so little time around Tommy after the accordion incident that he can't help but think of him as his baby brother. Cheese wasn't there to see Tommy get sun-dried under the glare of their mother's disapproval. He's trying to show Tommy he loves him, but he's still stuck on the colt rather than the stallion. Heck, that's the whole point of this road trip.

Also, "yellow-bellied" is kind of a strange saying in a world of technicolor ponies. Especially when said to a yellow pony when referring to a nonyellow pony.

So, yeah. I'm behind on your other work, but you still gave me a lot to think about. Definitely looking forward to more, especially if Bluejinx can coax Tommy a bit out of his self-perpetuating funk.

[Jordan179]

I also notice two missed connections here. The Sandwich Brothers don't realize that Seddie is Pinkie's aunt, nor that Iggy is her father.

Not that they necessarily would know either of these two things -- Pinkie's probably never mentioned her father's name to Cheese, and she'd have less reason to mention her aunt's name.

[SageBrony07]

Cortland is back and he is being rude without his pie crush. I hope Tomato can help with this party. I guess we will see soon. Thanks for the update.

[RadicalDishonesty]

5696914
I think it's also that Cheese just uses the term slightly thoughtlessly. He thinks it's just an endearing and silly term, and doesn't consider that maybe it hurts Tommy's already wounded self-esteem.

[howard035]

Good to see that Cortland is at least alive, and not obsessed with Pinkie, though now I feel sorry for whatever poor mare does end up in his sights. I hope he shows up to a future Apple family reunion and learns that he and Pinkie are probably cousins.

Oh, and I really hope the Sandwich brothers bring up Seddie in front of Igneous!

[Drifting Heart]

5696870
He doesnt know pinkie to be obsessed with her because she moved away when she was a filly. But yeah of course cheese is tougher you do not want to mess with cheese he will knock your block off in one hit XD. I still dont like cortland he just comes off as one of those guys who would be a jerk no matter what.

[scoots2]

I really enjoyed the sighting of Igneous and even--sort of--Cortland. I don't think it's one of your weak chapters at all. I did, however, have to keep reminding myself that this wasn't your AU-verse but the main verse.

[cheeseisbestpony]

oh my god! cortland is alive?!?!?!?!!?!?!? eh, given this was probably written before he got hit by a train in RFD.

[Phantom Dragon]

Nice Avatar reference

[Godslittleprincess]

Tomato watched as a cabbage cart rolled down the street and barrel towards him and Cheese. They sidestepped before the cart could hit them, and witnessed the collision between the cart and the train coming into the rock-themed station. The result was an explosion of cabbage leaves and splintered wood. Not five seconds later, a green pony dashed in between them, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Let me guess. "MY CABBAGES!"

[Godslittleprincess]

Oh great. With their luck, Tommy is definitely going to run into those two now.