Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

5.2--The Circus Train

"That giant chocolate fountain's making me hungry... no, wait, I forgot to eat breakfast... but, still, that fountain doesn't help!"

Tomato quirked an eyebrow when Silver Shill said that. The shorter stallion was practically drooling over the tall, mountain-like structure pouring waterfalls of chocolate into a pool that Cheese set up in the town square. The smell wafted toward his nose, and Tomato himself was feeling a little peckish.

He attempted to distract himself from it by gazing at the seashell-themed decor that Goldie had been setting up along with the water balloon traps. The shells hung from wires that she had used her party shotgun to attach to multiple buildings and the mini roller coaster that Cheese had set up. It was the few things that she could do at her relatively slow pace, and though Silver still fussed over her involvement in setting up the carnival, she still did all she could, unwilling to just sit by while Cheese Sandwich was on her turf.

All around them, the roller coaster went around the perimeter of the plaza, it's hills dipping to splash into pools and arching high enough to be entrances into the decorated town square. A mini pirate ship that served pizza and had singing and musical instrument playing animals to entertain the foals was next to the town hall. The classic hippo ride (Tomato couldn't figure out just where Cheese kept the hippo between parties), a tarp where a little food fight involving pies, jello, and balls of ice cream would be held, and a roller skating rink were also dotted in the square, as were many other activities. The table of food items that could be dipped in either the chocolate fountain in front of Tomato and Silver Shill or the cheese fondue fountain next to it was not too far away. And lastly, stereos were strategically placed so that the music could be heard all around them.

Tomato could only imagine the fun that the townsfolk would have once things got going. Already he could see mare, stallion, and foal alike running around, prancing around the streets and laughing at some of the antics Cheese did. Still, he couldn't help but wonder just how much this party would cost if it wasn't for Cheese having those strange powers of his. The roller coaster alone would have cost a lot--more than he was sure any small town budget would allow.

"I'm tempted to just dunk my head in there and just eat it all up, " Silver snickered, still gazing at the chocolate fountain.

Tomato was jarred out of his thoughts by that statement. "Okay, two reasons why you shouldn't do that: one, you'll get chocolate in your hair, and two, you'll get your hair in the chocolate."

Silver sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Curse me and my forgetting to eat breakfast!"

That was when Goldie casually walked by and just stuck a piece of buttered toast in Silver's mouth, saying "There you go," and continuing her walk towards some other attraction.

Silver blinked, stared at the toast for a few seconds, and then just gobbled it up. Then he called out to her, "Thanks!"

He turned to Tomato and smiled. "I gotta admit, it's fun having her as a sister. I never know what kind of surprises come out of her next... good or bad..."

Tomato nodded. "I can imagine your experience is similar to mine, given my brother is pretty weird for a career."

Silver looked around. "I can see that. Hm, only thing that's predictable about Goldie is that she's stubborn."

"Thing that is predictable about Cheese..." Tomato sighed. "He's nomadic. Makes me wonder if things would work out with Pinkie..."

Silver tilted his head. "Who's Pinkie?"

"His girlfriend." Right after he said that, he got a rubber chicken to the face.

"There's nothing romantic between me and her!" Cheese hollered from the pirate ship.

Tomato scoffed and whispered to Silver, "He's in denial."

"Er, I dunno anything about that kind of love," Silver replied, looking at the chicken on the ground. "Most I can say is that one winter when I was a colt, I was smitten with my neighbor's cousin when she tried my dad's special mix of hot cocoa and liked it." He chuckled to himself. "I remember that we were joking around about her name and the drink being both named 'Cocoa'. Haven't seen her since, but she was sweet."

"I once crushed on my richest schoolmate; she humiliated me as a teenager, and now I hate her." Tomato snorted at the memory. "What did I even see in her?"

Silver pursed his lips. "Okaaay...." That was when he noticed ponies filing in under the roller coaster hills. "Oh, would you look at that! It must be nine o'clock already!"

Tomato took out a pocket watch and checked it. "So it is. Cheese should start playing his accordion right about... now."

As if on cue, Cheese jumped out of the pirate ship, and was playing his accordion for the crowd. The townsponies were at first shocked by the appearance of this stranger, but they soon smiled and started cheering and clapping for him as he kept on playing and singing his theme song.

Silver bobbed his head to the beat for a few moments, and then stopped when he realized something. "Oh, I better go check on Goldie! If she's feeling any envy right now, it won't be good for her... especially if she challenges him to a Goof Off like the last clown she encountered!"

Tomato was left a little confused as Silver scurried off to find his sister. Still, he shrugged it off, and decided to try to find something to do. So he put away his pocket watch, and started to stroll toward one of the activities.

However, a moment of realization hit him, and with wide eyes, he pulled open his front pocket, only to find it empty, and then pat his person all around. He spun in a circle until he stumbled onto his haunches, blinking in utter confusion.

"I don't remember owning a pocket watch!"

---

This was a carnival unlike any other in Halterside. Before, it had been just a regular fun fair with cheap games, a bouncehouse, and some carnival food. However, this year presented a pleasant surprise to the citizens of Halterside with a bigger festival in the town square. Seeing the wide array of activities that were present to them, the townsfolk gleefully went to the first thing that appealed to their tastes, though some stood around awkwardly trying to take it all in.

To say that Comedy Gold was disappointed was an understatement. She was jealous of how Cheese Sandwich managed to whip up something amazing for Halterside Town Day, while all she could do was just decorate with her little party guns. And even those were embarrassing compared to that gigantic party tank of his!

She sat curled up in the corner, watching the ponies having fun. Ignoring the aching in her barrel, she watched the whole thing with bitterness. She especially had her eyes on Cheese Sandwich, wishing she could just waltz up to him and smack him with a banana cream pie. Who was he to steal her thunder?

That was when Silver Shill found her and sat next to her. "Hey, why the long face?"

Goldie snorted. "What right does he have to party on my turf?"

Silver stared at her for a moment and started rubbing her back. "It's only for today, don't fret. You'll be party planning again once you're all better."

"Hmph, even then, next year they'll still compare that festival with this one. How am I supposed to top this guy's party when next year rolls around?"

"Well... maybe... you could, you know, take some notes? I mean, learning from somepony is better than being jealous of them."

"They'll call me a copycat! No, I need to find some way to outshine him!" Goldie huffed. "You know how the entertainment business is--if one gets cold, they won't get sold, and they get put in the back on the discount rack, like a can of beans!"

Silver shook his head. "I don't want you hurting yourself now. The doctor said to take it easy."

"I can't just sit back and watch him get praised for this cheap amusement park knockoff."

He sighed. "It's not about the attention, Goldie. As long as these ponies are having fun and no one's getting hurt, I think it's good enough."

Silver's ear twitched at the sound of faraway circus music, and he perked his head up. Blinking, he stood up, and craned his neck to hear it better. It steadily grew louder and louder, and he started wondering why the circus was coming to town on that day. He looked at the patrons, and everyone was looking in the direction that the music was coming from. Even Cheese Sandwich was curious about the sudden circus music, while Tomato was plugging his ears with a sour expression on his face.

Goldie shakily lifted herself up with a grunt, and then asked, "What's everyone looking at?"

Silver watched as a colorful three-car train came chugging under one of the roller coaster's arches, presumably being the source of the circus music. His eyes widened as he spotted the two ponies who sat on the chairs on the open roofed locomotive. "Oh, no, not them!"

The train stopped, and the two yellow-coated, red-and-white haired unicorns dressed in striped vests and boaters--distinguishable by the fact that one sported a mustache-- stood up and looked around. They smirked at each other, and the clean shaven one sang:

"My, my, my, what a beautiful town
With many a curious pony
Take a deep whiff of the salty sea air
And take in the view of the sea"

The other joined in with:

"As marvel as this is to us
For these folks it's mundane
Let us break their monotony
With what we've got in this traaaaaiiin!"

One of them pulled a lever, and the cars opened up to create a stage. An extremely muscular pony crawled out of the first car, and twirled his mustache. He flashed a wry grin and waggled his eyebrows.

The unicorns continued to sing.
"The Flim Flam brothers introduce
Tyrannosaurus Pecs
Muscle is his special talent
And he can juggle weighty objects!"

Boulders rolled out of the train car, and Tyrannosaurus Pecs took his cue and juggled them, much to the awe of the crowd.

Cheese Sandwich was standing beside the mayor, who asked, "Did you arrange for this circus train, Mr. Sandwich?"

Cheese shook his head. "I never even heard of this circus train." He turned to Tomato, who had just strolled up next to him, and asked, "Have you heard of it?" When Tomato shook his head in response, Cheese tapped his chin and narrowed his eyes.

From the second car, there came out two ponies--a bearded mare and a regular looking earth pony stallion. Flim and Flam continued to sing:

"When she was just a tiny filly
Miss Whiskers already had fuzz
But her ability to grow it at will
Never fails to create a buzz!"

On cue, Miss Whiskers held her breath, and her beard grew right before the crowd's eyes. "Oohs" and "aahs" were heard, as well as some applause.

Flim and Flam gestured to the stallion.

"Now Jeff here may look normal
To the naked pony eye
But watch what happens when we shoot him
Into the great blue sky!"

A cannon rolled out of the car, and Jeff hopped in. He was blasted into the air, and much to everyone's amazement, he landed on a cloud without falling through. He grinned at the cheering townsfolk and waved at them from his perch.

Flim addressed the crowd once more. "Now, seeing a pegasus born without wings is a very rare sight."

"One in a million chance of it happening!" Flam interjected.

"A lot of these ponies with us are one in a million, brother of mine."

"Ah, yes, why don't we just bring them all out!"

At Flam's word, a bunch of strange ponies marched out of the cars and started to walk among the townsfolk. One pony was extremely tall, another casually walked upright, and another walked on all fours with her belly up. One pony had a square head, another had square hooves, and another was just a normal looking filly... until she looked at Tomato, winked at him, and said in a sultry mare's voice, "Hey, handsome."

Tomato cringed at that. "I don't know if that's a filly with a mare's voice, or a mare in a filly's body."

The next moment had a clown laughing in Tomato's face and honking his horn, which made him yelp and jump into Cheese's forelegs. Quaking and sweating, he cried, "Cheese, make it go away!"

Once again, Flim and Flam sang:

"Behold the members of our circus train
Coming from all places in Equestria
They're glad to be part of our family
And they're all happy to see ya!"

They gestured to the top of the middle train car, where a puff of blue smoke appeared, and then cleared to reveal a white unicorn mare, with an azure and lavender-streaked mane in a French braid, and wearing a black tuxedo and top hat.

"And now for our Grand Finale
One that will make your hearts stop!
The lovely Silk Shimmer will do magic feats
That'll make you drop your jaw and--"

"STOP!"

All activity stopped to look at the short, silver-coated stallion in the back, glaring at the Flim Flam Brothers. The twins blinked at the sight of said stallion before regaining composure and smiling at him.

"Ah, Silver Shill, our old friend," Flim said.

Flam clicked his tongue and shook his head. "It's in poor taste to rhyme a word with itself."

Silver marched to the front of the crowd, who murmured in confusion about the whole thing. When he reached the front, he asked, "All right... what are you two doing in Halterside? And where'd you get that train, and how'd you get all these ponies to work for you?"

The brothers looked at each other, and laughed. Once they were done, Flim said, "Why, that accusatory tone of yours is not very polite, Shill."

His brother patted Silver's head. "The poor fella's convinced that our circus train is some sort of scam."

"Ah, yes, some unfair scheme just to get some bits."

"A unimaginative con, designed to fool ponies as if they didn't have a brain cell."

"Have you no shame, Shill? Assuming that we're unable to turn over a new leaf?"

"Definitely learned a thing or two from Applejack, hm?"

Silver grimaced. "Er..."

Both slung a front leg over his shoulders. Flim chuckled and said, "Still, no hard feelings from us. You quit because you thought you were doing the right thing. How could we resent you for that?"

Flam grinned at him. "By the way? How's that sister of yours? She feeling any better?"

That was when Comedy Gold popped up between them. "I'll have you know that I'm just fine!"

The brothers jumped at her sharp tone. One of them whistled, while the other said, "My, my, she's a fiery one."

Cheese and Tomato Sandwich shuffled to the front of the crowd, the former clearing his throat and saying, "I'm sorry that your song was interrupted by him--as well as Silk Shimmer's performance." He gestured to the curious mare on the top of the train car. "Still... are you two here to contribute to Halterside's Town Day?"

The Flim Flams looked at him, let go of Silver, and strolled toward him. Taking a close look at him, Flim said, "Ah... looks like the famous Cheese Sandwich is in this town as well!"

Flam scratched his chin. "Quite the coincidence, eh, brother?"

"Sounds like a cause for celebration!" Flim then narrowed his eyes at the stallion beside Cheese. "Although I do question his decision to bring his father along."

Tomato jumped at the sound of that. "Father?! Excuse me, but I'm not old enough to be his father!"

Cheese scratched his chin, silently noting Tomato's strong resemblance to their own father. Then, he corrected, "Technically, he isn't even older than me. He's my little brother, Tomato."

Flim laughed. "Well, silly me! Still, that does explain the baby face."

Tomato blushed furiously. "Excuse me, I'm an adult."

The Flim Flams ignored him. Flim then said, "Now, I'm sure you may be inclined to believe Silver here."

Flam then added, "But, believe us when we say that we're only here to make ponies here smile, much like you do."

"After all, what greater reward is there than leaving a positive impact on a pony's life?"

"Surely, you won't mind us holding a show with our buddies in just a corner of this town square, hmm?"

Cheese tapped his chin. "Well... I suppose that it'll make this party better..."

Silver jumped forward. "I'm telling you, Cheese, don't do it! They've scammed ponies before, and believe me when I say that they're not the type to change their con pony ways so quickly."

"Oh, pipe down, Silver Shill!" The mayor said, strolling to the front. She put a hoof on her heart and said, "Pardon me, but since this is my town, and Cheese is merely a guest, let me just say that it would be wonderful if you contributed to the festival."

Silver piped up, "But, mayor--"

"Shush, you!" She turned back to the brothers. "Now... where were we?"

As the mayor discussed payments and what was to be done with the circus train with them, Tomato was having a bad feeling about them. He didn't quite know if it was just their smug grins rubbing him the wrong way, or he was still just miffed about the clown in his face, but he didn't quite trust them. Just looking at them was making his back tingle for some reason. He looked at Cheese, who looked neutral about what was taking place, and at Silver, who was annoyed at being shut up.

Goldie just sat behind the Flim Flam brothers, sitting on her haunches and just seething over yet two more stallions and their lackeys stealing the spotlight. They were destroying her credibility as a party pony, and she wanted to do something to outshine them.

She looked up, and noticed Jeff starting to sink through the cloud. She watched as an alarmed Silk Shimmer quickly zapped him with a spell, and Jeff stopped sinking. Both ponies sighed in relief.

As Silk Shimmer looked to see if anyone saw that, Goldie looked away and started to snicker.

Author's Note:

The hardest part of this chapter was coming up with the Flim Flam Bros' scheme here. As I read and reread the comments in my journal entry asking for help, the idea for the circus train popped into mind, and the rest was easy as cake.

Plus, I'm surprised that I actually got Silk Shimmer into this story! I thought she'd only be limited to one story, just as a supporting character in one of my oneshots.

Anyway... Goldie, what are you up to...?

Comments

[SageBrony07]

Maybe Goldie can help get these bros out of town. Great chapter. Thanks for the update.

[ChaoticKindness]

I'm glad that my suggestion helped you

"I don't remember owning a pocket watch!"

Don't fight the party, Tommy! Become one with the party! ((seriously, though, I absolutely loved this part! The party pony magic is rubbing off on him whether he likes it or not hehe))

"Although I do question his decision to bring his father along."

OOOOOO! Oh no you di-in't!

[scoots2]

The circus train was a brilliant idea. And I love the little glimpse of Coco/Silver Shill you gave us, too!

[FanOfMostEverything]

Ah. So in addition to partillery, there are also party firearms. (Funnerarms?)

Silver Pommel? Interesting ship. I'm not sure if those two would ever be able to get past awkward, longing glances.

"I don't remember owning a pocket watch!"

Good. Use your ebullient feelings, colt. Let the fun flow through you.

And enter the Flimflam brothers, with a magically created sideshow. I'm all for Goldie revealing their tricks, but I hope she doesn't hurt anypony in the process. She doesn't want to, but party ponies and thinking about consequences rarely mix...

[Godslittleprincess]

"I don't remember owning a pocket watch!"

Interesting.

Hmm, Flim Flams, huh? I'm not sure where this is going to go, but I'm inclined to believe Silver.