Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

4.4--Lost Relatives

Tomato trotted through the front door, humming a whimsical little tune. He opened his eyes before him and saw no one in the living room, so he took a deep breath and shouted, "I'm home!"

He had just come home from a fun day at his friend Bluejinx's house, which involving playing dodgeball in the attic and listening to Bluejinx's grandma's old polka records. He recalled how excited he had been when he recognized the sound of an accordion and shouted, "My brother plays that thing!" It had only been him and 'Jinx at the house, since none of his other friends were invited, but he had sworn that he was going to show them just how great his big brother Cheese was, and hopefully help him not be so shy.

He didn't quite get why everypony didn't like Cheese. He didn't like hurting ponies, and says sorry and gives a hug whenever he hurt Tommy--usually by mistake. He was super nice and lots of fun! Oh, if only they could see that. But, Tomato felt like he was surrounded by dummies who didn't even bother to remember Cheese's name.

After there was no answer, he walked into the kitchen, wondering if Mom had finally put something good in the fridge. He found his father, Hay Burger, sitting at the table, doing his grownup homework like he always did.

Tomato hopped up on a stool and hollered, "Hi, Dad!"

The shout startled Hay so much he threw his papers into the air as he whinnied. The cinnamon-coated stallion had his front knees up to his chin, and watched the papers float down, gazing at them in some sort of deep trance and not attempting to catch them. It was almost like he was expecting the papers to come to life and attack him. He muttered something under his breath, and didn't even bother to look at the colt at the table with him.

Tomato could see his father's chest rising and falling, and remarked, "Hey, cool, I can see you breathe!"

That was when a glare was shot his way. Hay sighed and asked, "What do you want?"

Tomato gently brushed a hoof against the table. "Where's Mom and Cheese?"

Hay slid off the stool and started to pick up his papers. "Uh... what did she say... um... something about her parents... oh, right, hospital."

Tomato blinked. "Who's sick?"

Hay looked up. "Grandma and Grandpa."

Tomato gasped. "Oh no! I hope they get better!" He frowned. "Why does Cheese get to go see them? Won't he get sick?"

Hay Burger managed to gather all his papers and set them on the table. "He won't catch what they've got. Besides, he got to go because he was here and you weren't. You missed the opportunity, kid."

Tomato laid his head on the table. "Can I go see them, Daddy?"

"I'm busy. You can go later."

Tomato banged on the table. "But I wanna see them now! I wanna give 'em medicine!"

Hay groaned. "The hospital has medicine. Now, be quiet, I can't concentrate on my paperwork when you're screaming."

Tomato stuck his tongue out. "Why do you have grownup homework all the time? Can't you be a fun dad like my friends' dads? Can't we be buddies like Bluejinx was like with his Dad before he was dead? Why are you always busy?"

Hay looked up at him with a glare. "You can't have everything you want. Now, pipe down! You're giving me a headache!"

"But, Daaaad... don't you hate homework? I hate homework, Cheese hates homework, my friends hate homework..."

"Puh, there's something I hate more than homework."

"What's that?"

Hay snorted. "It's none of your business. Go to bed."

Tomato pouted. "But I'm not tired..."

"Just go to bed."

"It's not even dark yet!"

"I don't care, go to bed. I need to work."

"Why don't you play for once?"

Hay Burger stood up and shoved his face uncomfortably close. "Go. To. Bed. And if you don't listen, I'll be forced to spank you for disobeying."

All the color drained from Tomato's face, and he quickly hopped off the stool, running to his room. As he left, he heard his father grumble, "Ah, now my headache will subside. How in Equestria does that kid have good grades in school? At least Cheese is quiet..."

---

Tomato had slipped away from the birthday party to check up on Bluejinx. The walk from the field to the print shop gave him an opportunity to just think about what had transpired earlier. He wanted to pat himself on the back for one-upping Stride by mixing up some mud in his mouth and spitting it in his face; at the same time, he wanted to kick himself for failing to be there for his friend.

It also terrified him to know that they could have been killed by their encounter. Perhaps it had been better that Tomato had been wrestled all the way back to the Pie Farm, given that Igneous Rock and Cloudy Quartz were the toughest older couple that he had ever met. And the mayor and Ginger did manage to get Cheese running over there with his good old party tank.

Tomato sighed. He wondered just how protective Cheese was going to be after this. Tomato didn't even let him know where he was going, so he was prepared for a little chewing out from his big bro.

He found the print shop and knocked. He entered it once he was invited in by Bluejinx's aunt, and then made his way up the stairs. He hoped that he wasn't going to be too intrusive with his visit.

He found the door, and knocked. He heard Bluejinx answer, "Who is it?"

Tomato replied, "It's your friend Tomato."

A laugh was heard and Bluejinx said, "Come on in, buddy."

Tomato opened the door and walked in. The room was simple, with just a desk with a lot of papers and a lamp on it, a dresser, and a bed. He stopped and stared at Bluejinx lying on the bed.

He was wrapped up in bandages, though thankfully not enough to look like a mummy. The gauze was wrapped around his head carefully, keeping the thankfully intact horn in mind. He was patched up on his chest and legs, and he had a cast in his right foreleg. His left eye was swollen and purple. The unicorn held a book in his magic, which was a small relief. As banged up as Bluejinx looked, Tomato knew it could have been worse.

"So, how are you?" Tomato asked.

Bluejinx gave him a wry smile. "Still sore, but I'll live."

"Ah, I see. Whatcha reading?"

"The Count of Pony Cresto."

"Gotcha." Tomato pulled the chair from Bluejinx's desk with his tail, and sat on it. "Is there anything I could do for you?"

Bluejinx waved a hoof in dismissal. "Aunt Purple's got everything taken care of. I'll be fine."

"Suit yourself," Tomato said, shrugging. Tomato thought for a moment, tapping his chin, and then something popped into his mind. "Say, Bluejinx, I wonder why Roanie called you 'Jasper'."

To his surprise, Bluejinx responded by tossing the book at him, which bonked him on the nose. In response, Tomato yelped, covered his throbbing nose, and snapped, "What was that for?!"

Bluejinx now glared at him, crossing his front legs. "Would you like to know why she singled me out?"

"Because you pretty much took her challenge of four vs. twenty?"

"Nope. Would you believe it, she figured out I'm the son of a former member of her gang!" Bluejinx laughed derisively. "Jasper Horseshoe, the outlaw that was captured and set straight! She thought it'd be fun to kill me in place of my already dead dad! I even look like him!"

Tomato blinked. "Okay... ouch."

Bluejinx snorted. "The way she was talking to me, I wouldn't be surprised if she had been spying on our family, and had pushed my dad off a cliff on that stupid mountain. I swear, I don't get why Flora likes those landforms so much..."

"She says they're home. After all, she's mentioned that Neighton has mountains nearby..." Tomato said, scratching his chin. He wondered if it'd be easier to single out the Neighton where she lived with that information in mind. He shook his head. "But that's beside the point. Roanie had absolutely no right to do that to you. I hope Cheese's words got through her skull."

Bluejinx sighed and rubbed his cast. "She just reminded me of how much I miss Dad."

A bit of envy arose within Tomato, much to his chagrin. It didn't feel right to be jealous of a pony bereaved of a parent, but considering that Bluejinx had nothing but good memories of his father, Tomato still resented his own memories of either being ignored or shooed away by his own. Sometimes he had wondered what the point of a father was.

Tomato picked up the book, and set it back on the bed. "If you'd like to keep reading... here."

Bluejinx took the book in his magic, and opened it back up to read, muttering, "Thanks." With a glance, he added, "If you don't mind... I'd like to be alone. Just go and enjoy the party."

Tomato stood up, and nodded. So he turned and walked out the door, gently shutting it behind him with his tail.

---

Meanwhile, on the stage near the dancing area, Cheese bounced off the ball in a backflip, and landed on his hind hooves as he played the final notes of his accordion solo. His pride swelled as the crowd cheered, and he bowed. He set his accordion down and clapped along with the crowd, his laughter ringing out over them. He grabbed the microphone in front of him and cleared his throat.

"All righty then, ponies! I'm overjoyed that you enjoyed that solo." He adjusted the hat and bowtie he was wearing. "Now, our next act is that of the piano colt from the saloon. I don't know how often you ponies visit the saloon, but the owner told me he's got quite the way with those keys and a nice voice. So, without further ado, let me introduce Merry Keys!"

Cheese turned to smile at the colt, who smiled back, and then began to play. As the crowd went quiet, Cheese jumped off the stage and trotted to where Igneous and Cloudy sat, eating a pretzel and a bag of rock candy respectively.

"You folks having fun?" he asked, grinning.

Igneous grunted. "Well, this thing is... interesting. I can see why thou and my daughter fought over one of these events."

Cheese blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I was, uh, just trying to impress her... but I just, uh, sent the wrong message, y'know?"

Igneous and Cloudy glanced at each other. Then Cloudy said, "Impressing her? For what reason?"

Cheese's face went redder and he fanned himself. "Well, I, uh--look, I saw her when I was a colt and got inspired to be a party pony. I-It was my way of saying thank you... gone wrong... then gone right..."

"Thou should have thought things through," Igneous stated.

Cheese brushed his hoof on the ground. "Eeyeah. At least Pinkie and I are friends now."

That was when Tomato came trotting in, and sat down. He glanced at the stage, and said, "Huh, that guy's got talent. Sounds like my favorite musician."

Cheese plopped down beside him and gave him a funny look. "And where were you?"

"Visiting Bluejinx. Wanted to see how he's doing." Tomato looked at the rock farmer couple. "I never took them for the party type."

Cloudy munched on another piece of rock candy. "We will enjoy one on occasion, courtesy of Pinkamena. But we're only here to wait until Marble and Limestone are done with their merriment. In the meantime, Igneous has his pretzel and I have my rock candy."

Cheese stood up, pulling Tomato up with him. "Well, as long as you're enjoying yourselves that way." He turned to Tomato. "Let's go find something to do! Heh, I wish we could have brought Seddie with us--I'm sure she would have really liked this party! Shame that she was so shy. Even Marble's having fun."

Igneous had been taking a bite out of his pretzel when his eyes popped open in shock. The piece went down his throat with a sudden swallow, and it travelled down painfully, threatening to choke him. He knocked on his chest, and took a deep breath. He groaned, and as the Sandwich brothers began to walk away, he stood up and hollered, "Hold on!"

He marched right up to a surprised Cheese and Tomato, who had turned to him. "Who is this 'Seddie' that you speak of?"

Cheese blinked. "Oh, there's this mare who lives in the woods between here and Ponyville, takes care of lost hikers, and wrestles Bighoof on a daily basis--"

"Yes, Bighoof exists, don't question it," Tomato said.

Cheese gave Tomato a funny look for a brief moment, then continued, "Anyway, 'Seddie' is just short for 'Sedimentary Rock.' Say, Igneous, why are you interested?"

Igneous blinked, and then his brow furrowed. "That's my sister."

Cheese jumped. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! You were the brother that she was talking about?!" He grabbed Tomato and shook him. "Tommy! We found Pinkie's long lost aunt! Do you know how overjoyed she'd be to find out she had a long lost aunt?!"

Igneous gave them an impassive look. "I have already told her and her sisters about Aunt Seddie... but, yes, she'd be overjoyed. Only thing is how Seddie would react to seeing me after thirty years..." He huffed. "It would have been nice to receive a letter from her so I wouldn't think she's dead."

"Wouldn't think who's dead, Pa?" Limestone asked, with Marble securely clinging onto her and nibbling on cotton candy.

Igneous opened his mouth to answer, but Cloudy came behind and said, "Believe it or not, these boys ran into your Aunt Sedimentary."

"Whoa, really?" Limestone gasped. She looked at Cheese. "You can't be serious! How did--wait... did that Cheesy Sense thing of yours track her down, or does your brother have superpowers of his own?"

Tomato raised an eyebrow. "No, Bighoof chased us up a tree and Seddie saved us."

"Psht, there's no such thing as Bighoof."

"You'd be surprised."

Marble glanced at her sister. "But, Limey! Our Aunt Seddie!"

"I know, I know, Marble!" She sighed, looking upward in a reverie. "What news... I'd love to meet her. She left before Ma and Pa got married. How will Maud and Pinkie take it when they hear the news?" She narrowed her eyes at Cheese. "You better not be lying to us in some kind of cruel prank!"

Cheese backed up. "Why would I do that?"

Igneous cleared his throat. "Settle down. First I'll find her in that forest and confirm Cheese's claim, and if she's truly there, I'll smooth things out with her. Then we can have our family reunion. I just hope she's not afraid to see me... but, for now, I assume you girls are done with your activities?"

Marble and Limestone nodded, with the latter grumbling, "She wouldn't let go of me."

Cloudy walked forward, and told them, "Well, let's go home. I'm tired, and it's getting dark. Hopefully the rocks are ripe enough for harvesting tomorrow."

"Yes, Ma," the girls said.

As the mares all left, Igneous turned to the Sandwiches, tipped his hat, and said with a small smile, "If Pinkamena trusts thee, I do as well. I am grateful that you boys have found my sister." And with that, he trotted after his wife and daughters.

Cheese waved goodbye, grinning. Then he turned to Tomato, nudged him, and said, "Pretty cool that we found Pinkie's long-lost aunt, eh?"

"Strangest coincidence of my life so far," Tomato remarked.

"Imagine if we found Aunt Honeydew!"

Tomato sighed. "Cheese, if you haven't found her in the past decade, how do you expect to find her this summer?"

Cheese waved a hoof in dismissal. "Oh, I have a hunch we'll find out where she went." His face fell into a frown. "I have a feeling that her reunion with Mom wouldn't go as well as I'm sure Igneous and Seddie's will."

"Mom's bossy, what do you expect?" Tomato sighed. "And Dad's not much better... I don't think he liked us all that much. Hmph, well, why didn't he just leave?"

Cheese shrugged. Then he grabbed Tomato with one of his front legs and drew him close. "Enough of the depressing stuff--let's enjoy the rest of this party while we can!"

Cheese ran back into the fray with his brother in tow.

Author's Note:

Aaaand we wrap up the Nickerlite arc! What is the next adventure that awaits the Sandwiches...?

Comments

[Braininthejar]

I'm so happy this is an E rated story. I have grown to expect nothing good from titles like this

[SageBrony07]

Nice chapter. I liked it. I hope everything goes well on the next party train. I'm guess Manehatten or Filedephia next.

[howard035]

I feel like I should despise Hay Burger, but I just feel so much pity for such an obviously miserable stallion.

[Drifting Heart]

5777453
I despise Mozzarella more then her husband that says a lot since they are both equally terrible parents who don't care about their sons.

[FanOfMostEverything]

The more I read about the Sandwiches' home life, the more I understand why Cheese set out on his own, and the more amazed I am that Tomato didn't follow suit.

As for the present, everything seems to be going pretty well. We'll see how long that hold up.

[Godslittleprincess]

PIE FAMILY REUNION! WOOT! WOOT! The part with Tommy, Bluejinx, and their dads was sad though.