Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

2.3--How to Earn a Cutie Mark

So much for being useful in catching the fruit bats.

Tomato dared not show his disappointment over it to the Crusaders, lest they start asking questions about it. He didn't want to tell them that he felt useless, just because his mark only specified one talent that would not help the situation, and that no one bothered to ask him if there was anything he was good at that would. For all he knew he might end up discouraging them. All he was content to do was just let the Crusaders talk amongst themselves while they went across town to the party.

Despite Apple Bloom being noticeably sadder, she was still talking animatedly with her friends, discussing what kind of cutie marks they'd get in helping set up the party. If there was anything he could glean from these fillies, it was that they weren't patient about getting their cutie marks. He himself hadn't been in a rush to obtain his, and it had appeared soon after his tenth birthday.

Hopefully, they'd figure it out. But for now, they were setting up that "not-much-of-a-surprise" surprise party.

Just what am I supposed to do when we get there? Tomato wondered. Goodness knows I'm no good with any parties.

He still had that one time stuck in his mind--the one time that Tomato had thrown a party. All it had been was a bunch of colts fooling around, running all around the house, and fighting over an accordion until it was thrown against the wall and broken. Hardly anypony expected little Tommy's stupid decision that day would lead to such a drastic change in the lives of their family.

It still hurt to think that if he had been a good little colt that day, just watching over the house, then he would be a different pony. But, then again, so would Cheese. The question was who they would be today.

He wasn't paying attention to much of the conversation, so he was surprised when it ended up with Sweetie Belle turning to him and asking, "So, how did you get your cutie mark?"

Tomato blinked. "Huh? You want to hear my story?"

Scootaloo scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Well, obviously, he got it by doing his dad's taxes."

"He could have got it how Filthy Rich got his," Apple Bloom said. "Huh, now that I think of it, I don't know how Filthy Rich got his."

Tomato raised an eyebrow. "Well, I earned my cutie mark during my school's fundraiser."

"Well, what kind of fundraiser was it?"

"What was it for?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Is this story going to be boring?"

Tomato cleared his throat. "Well, it all started after an incident which involved the chalkboards..."

---

"I don't believe it," Tomato's mother grumbled, reading the school newsletter. "Why did those little demons use the chalkboards as sleds?"

Ten-year-old Tomato laid on the couch, staring at the ceiling. "I dunno."

Mom looked up from the table, tapping her hoof. "They were former friends of yours, surely you know what they were thinking."

Tomato sighed. "School rebellion... sticking it to the mare... terrorizing five-year-olds..."

Mom facehoofed and groaned, then left her seat to pace around the kitchen. "Foals today... such little animals that their parents refuse to tame and thus causing nothing but destruction. Hmph, they should see how I got Tomato to behave..." She opened the fridge and took out a cup of yogurt. She gingerly licked it. "Before, he'd run around like a maniac and break valuables... now he's perfectly quiet..."

Tomato felt his already down spirits sink even lower. He knew reminding her that it wasn't her that got him to calm down was fruitless. Bringing it up would only remind him of how he had caused his brother to run away.

The mare returned to the table, still taking scoops of her yogurt with her tongue. "And now they have to replace the chalkboards. Be glad that you ditched those monsters--you would have become a criminal by the time you hit your teen years."

Tomato blew on his forelock. "Technically they ditched me because I was crying over my brother."

"Well, crying over your brother is neither going to bring him back nor boost your standing in school."

They way she had said that made him fear that Cheese was dead. Having run away a couple years before, he had been impossible for the police to track down. Manehattan was a big city, and he could have been anywhere in it. Or he could have left it. Either way, Tomato kept imagining worst case scenarios where Cheese got hit by a cab, or fell off the bridge, or got eaten by a dragon or a hydra or even Cerberus. No matter what happened, it was all Tomato's fault.

Mom tapped her chin. "But perhaps participating in that fundraiser will get the other students to notice you."

"What if I don't want to be noticed?"

"Oh, please, you were always wanting attention before."

"I changed my mind."

"That's no excuse. I wonder what excuse you have for your grades slipping."

Tomato rolled over and buried his face in the couch cushions. "What's the point?"

Mom finished the last of her yogurt, and then crushed the cup. "The point is, I want you to grow up to become a respectable stallion, one who is well-behaved, diligent, and in control of his emotions. Honestly, what pony in this city would hire a stallion who still cries over something that happened in colthood? You know that big colts don't cry."

Tomato groaned. "I don't wanna do the fundraiser..."

His mother sighed and turned around to look out the window. "Very well... I guess you just want to wallow in that puddle of self-pity of yours... which will only get deeper as you disappoint the whole school... all your little friends will be sad you didn't join in. Your teachers would be disappointed that you didn't help get those new chalkboards. Your poor mother would be disappointed that you didn't contribute anything to such a noble cause."

She glanced back, seeing Tomato with a still buried face. "And your brother would be so shocked and disappointed to see you like this. Imagine if he came back through that door, seeing you on that couch and behaving so selfishly. After all, wasn't it your selfishness that drove him away?"

He rolled off the couch, landing on the floor face up. He bit his lip, guilt stabbing him in his heart. What if Cheese did return and saw that Tomato was still a selfish colt? No doubt he'd turn around and go back to being a runaway, definitely never coming back. And there was no doubt that of the few left that still liked him at school, like his friend Bluejinx or his teacher Miss Periwinkle, they'd turn against him for not doing anything to help the school.

"I... I guess you're right, Momma... I should stop being selfish..."

---

It was the time when school was supposed to be out, yet the classroom was still full of foals. Tomato sat in the back, casually wiping his glasses with his cloth, glancing around at any shapes ready to make a move toward him. He noticed a shape walking to the front of the class, and he placed the glasses on his muzzle and the cloth on his desk.

The class looked at the bare wall where the chalkboard once was. An easel stood there in its place, with several posters resting on it, the cover being that with a picture of smiling ponies surrounded by dollar signs. Beside it was a dark-haired, purplish-blue mare with a sweet smile.

"Wow! I'm amazed that so many of you are participating in the fundraiser!" she exclaimed. "Already, I can tell that this is going to be fantastic."

A butter-yellow, dirty blonde filly tossed her hair. "Well, of course I'm participating, Miss Periwinkle. I'm an upstanding citizen, unlike the barbarians that destroyed all the chalkboards."

"Now, now, Creme Brulee, we don't call other ponies names," Miss Periwinkle said. "Especially those that have been suspended."

Creme Brulee crossed her forelegs and pouted. "Well, if they had behaved, I wouldn't have called them barbarians."

"Calling them names won't encourage good behavior."

Tomato sweated when he heard Creme Brulee speak. He could feel his heart beating and his face warming up as he looked at her. It felt so weird and awkward, and he didn't dare speak to anypony about it, lest they laugh at him for it. The only pony he had ever told about it was his brother Cheese, and he thought it was silly. So, he just suffered in silence, staring at her, and somehow wanting her to be his very special friend.

But, alas, she hated him, so all he could do was fruitlessly pine for her.

Miss Periwinkle clapped her hooves and let her eyes sweep the class. "Anyway, the school has put me in charge of the fundraiser this year. Our fundraiser project is going to be a white elephant sale."

One colt piped up, "We're selling elephants?!"

"Well... not exactly. You see, a white elephant sale is where ponies sell items that they no longer want or can use. We're going to donate old things that are not needed in our houses anymore and sell them to ponies who'll find them valuable. It's akin to the saying, 'One pony's trash is another pony's treasure'."

"So I can sell that banana peel that my maid forgot to pick up five weeks ago?" Creme Brulee asked.

The entire class recoiled in disgust at that statement. A horrified filly even shouted, "Ew! Why didn't you pick it up yourself?"

Creme Brulee tossed her hair. "Because it's not my job. Sheesh, that idiot didn't even find it yet."

Miss Periwinkle gagged. "Well... whatever the case... no, you may not sell a banana peel. Selling literal garbage is not going to get us anywhere." She took a deep breath. "Anyway, our goal is to raise over 400 bits, which we will earn by selling the donated items. All of you will be letting ponies know about this event, helping run tables, pricing the items, counting the money... and I need a special helper to help me track the progress of the fundraiser and make it go as smoothly as possible."

One filly cried out, "You mean... like a boss?"

"More like an assistant, but this student will be my co-manager. So, who's willing to be my special helper?"

A bunch of excited foals threw one hoof in the air, chattering and pleading to be picked. Tomato looked around, amazed at all the foals who jumped at the chance to be the boss. He wondered if they were doing it to help the school, or just because they just liked the idea of being in charge--sort of. A simple glance at Bluejinx sitting beside him, who was one of the few who didn't raise his hoof, made him consider just a lowly job of running one of the tables.

However, for some reason, he felt something compel him to raise his own hoof. Some sort of magic was making this position call out to him, and was driving him to make his hoof be seen, as he ended up climbing up on his own desk, standing up on his back hooves, and waving the raised front hoof like a maniac. For a moment, he felt like his old self, and unable to be embarrassed at his own action. He was confused at his own actions, though, as was Bluejinx.

His efforts paid off when Miss Periwinkle spotted him, smiled, and said, "Well... how about our own Tommy Sandwich back there?"

All the foals simultaneously shouted, "WHAT?!" and turned to the red-orange colt standing on his desk in the back. Tomato cringed at the stares and the glares being shot his way, and he just wanted to melt into a puddle.

"Come on up to the front, Tommy," Miss Periwinkle said.

Tomato hopped off his desk and made his way to the front of the classroom. He could hear the whispers about him, and a bunch of them mentioned his brother in some way or form. He heard "crybaby", "why's he so lame now?", "my mom says his mind is sick", "he's going to ruin the fundraiser", and "the only way this could be worse was if his brother was here."

He found himself at the front of the class, facing all those who had been former friends. He had learned the hard way that they had merely been fair weather friends that only liked him because of the attitude he portrayed on the surface. They had never cared for Tomato's love of his brother, nor did they care that he was a smart kid. As long as Tomato had been wacky and playful and random, they kept him around.

While he was thankful that Bluejinx still had his back after the accordion incident, he was still terrified of the other students, who believed he had betrayed them over his geeky brother. It was a good thing that Squirt, Carpet Burn, and Jumbo Thumbo weren't there--they were merciless.

Still, why did he raise his hoof?

Miss Periwinkle smiled at him. "Thank you for raising your hoof. I'm really happy that you're getting involved with this, and I'm sure you'll be a big help."

"Well, thanks," Tomato murmured.

Creme Brulee gaped at the two. "If I may, Miss Periwinkle... but just why did you chose that airhead?"

A bright red colt shouted. "Yeah! Everypony knows all he ever thinks about is that brother of his who's probably dead!"

Tomato glared at the colt, feeling an urge to punch him on the nose. But he held still, not wanting to disappoint the teacher.

Miss Periwinkle shook her head. "Brick, if there's anything you don't do, it's mock somepony's lost loved one. If you're going to bring up Tomato's brother just to tease him about it, then I'll have to talk to your parents about it. He has every right to be sad about it, so I don't want to see or hear anypony bullying him about it. Understand?"

Brick rolled his eyes. Creme Brulee glared and said, "But, really... him, over me? Um, hello, rich filly over here!"

"Rich filly who refuses to pick up her own banana peel," Bluejinx snickered.

Miss Periwinkle clapped her hooves. "All right, everypony, let's design fliers."

---

"That Creme Brulee filly sounds an awful lot like Diamond Tiara," Apple Bloom stated.

Tomato assumed that this Diamond Tiara was Ponyville's local rich, snobby filly. Why he once had a crush on one of those, he had no idea. "Well, she was adamantly against me being the teacher's assistant and above everypony else. She thought that I had no idea what I was doing. Though, to be fair... I thought the same thing and wondered why I even volunteered."

He looked up at the castle spire a ways away, and figured that they were halfway there. They kept on walking. "At first, the only donations we had were white elephant figurines. It was kind of funny, but it wasn't enough. So...

---

The ink-stained duo waltzed out of the print shop, holding more fliers than could conceivably be carried by two ten-year-olds. Still, the little red-orange colt and his blue unicorn buddy had decided that it was high time to go above and beyond, especially after seeing the pitiful donations at school earlier that day.

Bluejinx used his magic to keep his obscenely tall balanced. "I think we made too many extra fliers. Are you sure that you can convince ponies to donate better stuff to our school?"

"Please, we're adorable," Tomato said, balancing his tower with little effort. "Besides, if there's a kind of advertising that ponies will listen to, it's a song."

Bluejinx raised an eyebrow. "Um... have you forgotten where we live? Besides, I can't sing."

Tomato waved his free hoof. "Relax, I'll do the singing, and you just be cute and hand out fliers. Now..." He set his eyes on a random stallion just walking down the street. "Watch..."

Tomato set his stack down, and zipped in front of the stallion, who jumped at the sudden appearance of the little colt.

"What the--?! Hey! What do you think you're doing, kid?" the stallion yelled.

Tomato summoned his best puppy-dog eyes and started to sing,

"Mister, give me a moment please
To tell you of my cause
My school needs some new chalkboards
And our learning's now at pause..."

The stallion rubbed the back of his head. "Eh... listen, uh, kid, that's sad, but I'm not sure if I could--"

"I may be unimportant now
I'm still quite very young
But me and my classmates will grow up
And we'll be stupid if my song goes unsung..."

"Uh... I don't get how--"

Tomato stomped his foot in the beginning of a little dance.

"Do you want morons to be your workforce
Do you want to deprive foals of learning?
Of course you don't! That's why I'm pleading
For you to help us with some money-earning!

I'm honestly not asking much
Your contribution reduces chance of fail
You just have to donate what you don't need
To our white elephant sale!"

The stallion blinked. "White elephant sale? Huh, I was expecting Filly Guide Cookies..."

Tomato pouted and raised an eyebrow. "I'm a colt, thank you very much."

"I know, I know! I just don't want to be sold anything right now!"

Tomato took a deep breath, continuing with continued dancing and cartwheels,

"We won't sell you chocolate or cookies
We'll just be taking old stuff off your hooves
You don't even have to come to the sale itself!
Just donate, and give our school a chance to improve!"

Tomato cartwheeled back to the front of the stallion in a big finish, and panted as he hoped his message got through to the guy. The moments were long and still, even as both the target stallion and a few others stared at him. The staring made him feel like he was about to fall to pieces.

The stallion nodded. "Well... I've got a few old records I don't want anymore... still in good condition. I suppose those could suffice."

Tomato hopped to his hooves. "That'd be great, sir! Thank you!"

He beckoned Bluejinx to come forth, and the unicorn complied, levitating the flier to him. "The information's on this paper. We look forward to your donation."

The stallion stared at the paper a few moments, and smiled. "Well, I have to admit, you put on a cute little show. I like your singing voice; I'm surprised you haven't earned your mark yet."

Tomato looked at his flank. "Eh, what you gonna do?"

As the stallion left, Tomato and Bluejinx high-hoofed each other for a job well done. But they didn't have time to rest long, for some other pedestrians were approaching them to ask about their little fundraiser.

---

"Did you go around all of Manehattan?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Eh... no. Frankly, I'm sure the majority of Manehattanites wouldn't have cared about one school's white elephant sale. Still, after handing out fliers and singing to potential donors--"

Scootaloo interrupted, "I thought you hated singing, if your last visit told us anything."

"Hey, I was more liberal about singing in my younger years. Besides, our pitch was great, since we not only got a lot of donated items, we also managed to sell the majority of the stuff to many of the residents from all the neighborhoods we visited. That week was surprisingly better than expected! Heck, some of the fillies decided to bring homemade cookies to hand out to the patrons, we managed to convince Creme Brulee's father to have a bouncehouse installed to distract the younger foals, and I was in charge of collecting the money earned each day from each table.

"Believe me when I say that they had not said a word against me... in fact, they were scared of me. Bluejinx told me that I was not only getting hopped up over my excitement at actually doing something worthwhile, but I was also being rather abrasive when chewing out some of my classmates for not doing their work, or for trying to sneak some of the profits away, or my personal favorite, sticking a wet slice of toast on the brick wall."

The Crusaders stared at him blankly.

"...eeyeah, I don't know how they did that either. I didn't notice that Creme Brulee might have been getting jealous of how I was doing so well. Rumor has it that she saw my cutie mark appear and got mad because I was of a lower class--I shouldn't get a rich pony mark!"

"Wait, are you saying you're actually poor?" Scootaloo asked skeptically.

"Nah, just lower middle class. As for how much we managed to raise..."

---

Sitting in the classroom, a weary Miss Periwinkle wrote in the book that was open in front of her. "All right, just need to add up all these bits that we managed to raise. How many did we manage to earn at each table today, Tomato?"

Tomato set aside the last box of bits he was counting. "Well, Mr. E's table earned 38 bits, Mr. Jasper's table earned 40, Mrs. Paper's table earned 32, Miss Glimmerheart's earned 21, Mr. Yodel's earned 29, Miss Chalkdust's earned 14, Mr. Starmaker's earned 26 and our table earned 35. In total, that'd be..." He clicked his tongue as he processed the answer. "...235 bits."

Miss Periwinkle put a hoof to her mouth, and started chuckling. "Oh, my goodness! You're fast. So how did you convince so many ponies to come? You're really doing more than what is needed."

"My house is kinda boring, so I been doing more stuffy-stuffs and stuff around here. Also, ponies like singing."

Miss Periwinkle laughed some more. "Lots of ponies like music." She started to jot down the number Tomato told her.

Tomato drummed the desk with his hooves. "I'm gonna tell you right now that we got more than twice our goal... so can we brainstorm what the extra money should go to? Maybe a new school bell 'cause the one we have is kinda rusty? Adding to the playground? Or we could give it away to charity."

Miss Periwinkle looked at him and set down her pencil. "You're right about that, Tomato. I mean, we ended up with 875 bits! I'll discuss what we'll do with the extra money with the other teachers, but goodness! I didn't think we'd get that far..."

Tomato hopped out of his seat and approached her. Miss Periwinkle patted his head, and said, "I bet your parents would be so proud of you and your contribution. And I think the other students have a little more respect for you now."

Tomato raised an eyebrow, ready to dispute that. He wasn't sure if hiding from him was considered respect, but at least they hadn't said a word about Cheese during that week.

He sighed sadly. If only Cheese could see that I did something good. He turned around and started to head toward the door.

Miss Periwinkle looked up. "By the way... love the cutie mark."

Tomato stopped in his tracks. "Wait, what?"

He turned around and looked at his flank. Emblazoned there was what looked like a fusion of a tomato and a money bag. Blinking, he gingerly touched it with his front hoof. He turned to find the exact same mark on his other side, and he moved his leg, spun around, and sat down.

"I... I don't believe it..." He looked up at his teacher. With a great leap, he exclaimed, "I got my cutie mark!" He started to bounce around the room as Miss Periwinkle watched.

He hopped from desk to desk, the same energy from a few years before returning to him. "This is great! This fundraising stuff got me my cutie mark! Does that mean I'll be rich when I'm all grown up? Oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy, I got to show this to Mom and Dad!" He landed on a desk in the front and stood up on his back hooves. "Today, Tomato Sandwich is a colt no more! He is a proud, strong stallion!"

He tumbled off the desk in an ungraceful manner.

---

"And there you have it. The story of how I earned my cutie mark." Tomato rolled his eyes. "I wasn't even really trying--it just came when I was ready, apparently."

"I guess you don't have to do taxes to earn that cutie mark, huh?" Sweetie Belle said.

"Pfft, I wasn't willing to touch 'grown-up homework'."

Scootaloo stuck her tongue out. "I sure wouldn't want to. Still, it was a better story than I expected."

"Cheese's is better--he's the better storyteller."

"Speakin' of Cheese, what did he think of your cutie mark when he first saw it?" Apple Bloom asked.

Tomato felt a chill run through his body, and a pit formed in his stomach. The words exchanged that day came to mind, and he could already feel the hot tears well up once again. His tail reflexively covered his cutie mark, and he ended up walking faster, almost in an effort to get away from them. That memory was not one he wanted to relay, and it was something that he wanted to forget. If anything, it would almost certainly rekindle his anger towards Cheese.

"Tomato?" Sweetie Belle asked.

His composure fell as he spun around and barked, "NO!"

The three fillies froze at Tomato's tone. Seeing the look in their eyes made his heart feel heavy, and he stroked his mane. He knew that his tone of voice was uncalled for, and Apple Bloom didn't know better. From their point of view, he must have looked like a huge jerk. He looked away from them and sighed.

"I don't want to talk about it." He looked forward, with the castle grounds in view. "The castle's right there... go ahead and make yourselves useful."

The Crusaders looked at each other, and silently passed him. He watched them run forward, hoping to find their special talents in helping Cheese and the townsponies set up the party. Tomato sighed once again.

"Maybe I'll just find the library and read a book there."

Author's Note:

None of the sources on fundraising I checked really specified if students could be assistants to teachers like Tomato was here, but, eh, Equestrians are more trusting of their kids than a lot of real life adults are, so I personally think this issue is minor.

Next thing that happens is somebody telling me off for inaccuracy of a common thing in real life.

We only sold chocolate bars and cookie dough in my day... although recently my sister was selling mattresses.

But, yeah, fundraiser was the best thing I could come up with for Tomato's cutie mark story. That question came up on Tommy's blog a while ago.

Comments

[Jordan179]

... sticking it to the mare...

I like this turn of phrase in a matriarchal society.

Be glad that you ditched those monsters--you would have become a criminal by the time you hit your teen years.

Then his Cutie Mark would have been a black eye-mask over an Inmate Number, like the Beagle Bays.

[SageBrony07]

Nice chapter. I think you did a great job. Good luck with the next one.

[Jordan179]

... I guess you just want to wallow in that puddle of self-pity of yours... which will only get deeper as you disappoint the whole school... all your little friends will be sad you didn't join in. Your teachers would be disappointed that you didn't help get those new chalkboards. Your poor mother would be disappointed that you didn't contribute anything to such a noble cause. ...

... continuing the thought ...

"It would hit the newspapers and the whole city would be disappointed. The news wires and the whole country would be disappointed. Other countries would laugh at Equestria for having such a self-pitying colt among us. You would be forced to don a mask and hide in the sewers, eating mold and rats and occasionally sneaking out at night to raid garbage cans for stale bread. Eventually you would become a legend of disappointment. Generations yet unborn would be disappointed with you ..."

Why yes, my own mother used to come up with improbable scenarios when nagging me. Why do you ask?

[ChaoticKindness]

Poor Tomato

Great chapter, though! ^__^

[Angel Halo]

you took my advice last chapter!!!!!! still AWESOME

[Sketcha-Holic]

5530490 Um... what advice?

[Drifting Heart]

"Speakin' of Cheese, what did he think of your cutie mark when he first saw it?" Apple Bloom asked.

Tomato felt a chill run through his body, and a pit formed in his stomach. His tail reflexively covered his cutie mark, and he ended up walking faster, almost in an effort to get away from them. That memory was not one he wanted to relay, and it was something that he wanted to forget. If anything, it would almost certainly rekindle his anger towards Cheese.

Nice going Apple Bloom. but she's a kid she didnt know she is lucky enough to still be innocent to all that stuff cheesie and tommy went through. Still poor tommy the cutie mark crusaders unknowingly brought up painful memories.

[Angel Halo]

5530516 Tommy and Sweetie getting Along jk but it wud b cute

[Goldfinch142]

Uh...Tomato might have a bit of a hard time finding the library...seeing as it was blasted to bits by Tirek and all...

Anyway, great chapter. The cutie mark story was a lot more interesting than I expected, like Scootaloo said. I thought he got it during math class or something. I look forward to reading more!

[RadicalDishonesty]

Tomato's cutie mark story involved him selling like Flim and Flam do?

That's great.

[Godslittleprincess]

That was such an adorable cutie mark story. His mother sounds like a pain in the butt though.