Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

2.4--Useless?

"All right, just a little more to the left," Cheese said, waving his foreleg in that direction.

The two pegasi that were putting up the banner nodded, and attempted to obey Cheese's command. The one on the left side moved just fine; however, the one on the right side went too far, and crashed into her fellow pegasus. Cheese winced as they crashed into some panicking earth ponies carrying some food. Popcorn, nachos, and donuts were dropped, and a punch bowl was thrown into the air.

Five seconds later, a now wet and sticky Cheese Sandwich had that very bowl as a new hat. Blinking, he removed the bowl from his head and gave it to the sheepish pony who had carried it before. After the pony left, Cheese licked his lips, and remarked, "Mmm, cherry."

"We're ready to help, Cheese Sandwich!"

Cheese spun around, and there stood the Cutie Mark Crusaders, standing there and grinning. He smiled back at them.

"Well, looks like they got you girls out of the fray! Hopefully that bat problem will be solved in time for the party."

Apple Bloom huffed. "It could go quicker if they'd just let us help."

Cheese took out a towel and started wiping the punch off of him. "I'm sure they know what they're doing, kiddo--now, let's see what kind of assistance you can provide here..." He looked around the place, trying to locate anypony in need of help setting up something for the party. His gaze went from the castle, to the mud pit, to the karaoke, to the two pegasi picking up the banner, to the ponies picking up the food that was dropped, and finally, to Spike putting some balls in the recently built ball pit.

Cheese pointed to the dragon. "Why don't you go ahead and help Spike? He has a few things that I'm sure he'd like some help with."

The Crusaders looked to where Spike was. Scootaloo tilted her head. "Just what is he doing?"

"Several things actually. Filling the ball pit, lighting the tiki torches, making some of the food--" He looked back at the ponies picking up the dropped food, grumbling as they did so. "--sewing some shirts, stuff like that."

"Sewing some shirts?" Scootaloo asked.

"He picked up a few things from Rarity," Sweetie Belle said.

"Twilight wasn't lying in calling him her Number 1 assistant--quite adept at doing a lot of tasks," Cheese said, stroking his chin. He discarded the now-dirty towel, and started drying himself off with another towel he pulled out of nowhere. "Still, it doesn't mean he's a superpon--er, I, mean, dragon. Like I said, he'd appreciate the help." He winked at them.

The Crusaders looked at Spike, trying to open another bag of balls, and then back at Cheese. Applebloom tapped her chin. "Well... okay! Come on, Crusaders, let's be Spike's helpers!"

"What kind of cutie mark would a Spike helper have?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"We'd more likely get a cutie mark in one of the things we're helping him with," Scootaloo said.

"Well, let's go!" Apple Bloom galloped toward the dragon. "Hey, Spike! Want some help?!"

Spike looked up and hollered back, "Sure! I'd love it!"

Scootaloo followed, along with Sweetie Belle. However, the latter stopped in her tracks, and turned back around. "By the way, Cheese, I just remembered... what did you think of your brother's cutie mark when you first saw it?"

Cheese blinked and dropped his towel. "Huh, you really want to know?" He tapped his chin, trying to recall the day he first saw his brother's cutie mark, while at the same time wondering what brought that on. Did Tomato tell them his cutie mark story, or was Sweetie Belle trying to predict Rarity's eventual reaction to her cutie mark?

Clicking his tongue, he finally reached that very moment. Tomato was happy, he was happy, Mom was--oh, shoot. Oh, shoot. What happened after the initial welcome was not something he wanted to tell the filly. In truth, he wanted to forget it himself. At least he didn't have to provide details to answer the question.

"Well... I can tell you I was surprised. Ehehe, I mean, that energetic scamp I called a brother having a talent with money? Who knew? Especially after Mom didn't trust him for awhile after he swallowed a bit..." Cheese shook his head, smiling fondly at the memory of little Tomato. "I guess sometimes life takes you for a loop and gives you a special talent that nopony expected. I've met a few ponies that earned an unexpected cutie mark."

"Is that so?" Sweetie Belle tapped her chin, and then shrugged. Upon hearing her name being called, she turned back around. "Oh well. I've got to join the other Crusaders now!" With that, she galloped off.

Cheese waved to her, and then scratched his head. "That was kind of out of the blue." He then focused his attention to the ponies still cleaning up.

Those very ponies were surprised when he waltzed over to them and presented them with a vacuum cleaner, questioning just where he got it. With a chuckle, Cheese only replied, "Try this; it's a whole lot easier!"

---

Tomato was now meandering through the streets of Ponyville, having given up looking for the library after very little luck in finding it. Perhaps Ponyville was just one of those towns that just didn't have one. It struck him as a little odd, since libraries held a lot of useful information, but maybe they had other ways of learning in this town. As far as he could guess, there might be one in Princess Twilight's castle, given her reputation for loving books.

But that was the one place he didn't want to go. The castle grounds were where the party was being set up, and he really didn't want to be bothered by anypony. Especially not by Cheese, however well-intentioned he may be.

He passed by a window, the interior of the building dark enough so that he could see his reflection. Tomato stopped and turned to the image of the tall, well-dressed stallion staring back at him. He slowly ambled forward, and reached forward with his hoof. He touched the glass, which gave the image of touching his reflection's hoof. He moved the hoof up and down, and jokingly said, "Pleasure to do business with you, sir."

He grinned, and held it for only a few seconds before it fell and his reflection looked glum once again. His hoof still touched the glass, and he gazed into his reflection's eyes, which underneath the nice clothes, the slicked-down mane, and the overall serious, professional look, revealed a soul that was just so... broken.

He couldn't put his hoof on why, though. He and his brother mended their relationship, surely that meant he was better than he was before, right? He was happy now, right? For what reason would his reflection make him look so sad?

He glanced at his cutie mark, but immediately looked away, reasoning that there was no way that it was a mistake. After all, since the day he earned it, he was told time and time again that his mark is a privilege and that he should be grateful. His life was perfect, and he was a shoo-in for success, according to everyone's interpretation of his mark. Nopony could shill any abuse to a pony like him and leave scars.

Heh, too bad that I screw things up. Everything bad that happens to me is my own dang fault...

He looked at the window again. To his surprise, instead of the sharp-dressed stallion from before, there stood a grinning, curly-haired version of him, lacking the glasses and wearing a very tacky, green button shirt with red polka dots. Tomato stumbled back after seeing the sudden change, and immediately looked at his sleeve, which was still a long, brown suit jacket sleeve instead of a short, green sleeve. Blinking, he looked back at his reflection, which hadn't changed from the silly version of himself.

He touched the glass once again, and he was face to face with his other self, who smiled and waved at him. Tomato blinked, tilted his head, and tentatively waved back with his free hoof.

"Hiya, Tommy!"

The sound of Pinkie's voice snapped him out of his trance. He shook his head and found himself staring at the well-dressed stallion once again. He took a step back and kept on staring, wondering what had just happened.

Pinkie Pie was right beside him, looking at Tomato's reflection in the window as well. "Oooh, making friends with your reflection, I see!"

Rainbow Dash landed right next to her. She took one look at the window and scoffed. "Gee, full of himself, isn't he?"

Tomato scowled at her, but he didn't feel like responding with a snide remark of his own. He still stared at his reflection, expecting it to transform and wave at him again.

Applejack trotted onto the scene, raising an eyebrow at Rainbow's statement. "You're one to talk, Rainbow."

Rainbow whirled around to face her orange friend. "Hey! At least I can back up my awesomeness."

Soon, the other three arrived, and Tomato noticed that they were all covered in patches of dirt and bearing several scratches from their time at the orchard. He could hear their heavy breathing, and the majority of the group had their heads slumped forward.

"I assume all went well?" he asked.

"We got 'em back in their sanctuary," Applejack said. "Big McIntosh is making sure they stay in."

Rarity sighed, pulling junk out of her mane and wiping mud off. "But not without sacrificing the full volume and radiance that my new shampoo had provided for my hair. And let's not forget the nasty scratches that mar all of our coats! Ooh, they sting so..."

Fluttershy bit her lip. "The bats may have been just a teensy bit contrary."

Twilight groaned. "I had to cast a sleeping spell on them."

"Hey, it went better than last time," Rainbow said, looking at Fluttershy.

Tomato glanced at Fluttershy, who backed up and hid behind the rest of the group. "Um... what happened last time?"

"You don't want to know," the girls responded in unison.

Tomato blinked. "Okay then... so, you girls going to help with the party?"

Pinkie perked up. "Wait, there's a party?" Her brow furrowed and she looked between her friends. "How come nopony told me?"

The others gaped at her, and nervously looked between each other. Tomato was merely confused, and scratched his head at the thought of Pinkie Pie actually managing to forget about the surprise party that she had seen with her very eyes. However, seeing the clear apprehension on the other mares' faces convinced him to keep his mouth shut.

The tense moment ended when Rainbow Dash suddenly tapped Pinkie on the head, shouting, "Tag! You're it!" and zooming away.

Pinkie gasped and glared at the direction where Rainbow fled. "Nopony tags Pinkie Pie and gets away with it! Oooh, I'm going to make sure you're 'it', Dashie!"

With that, she sped off in pursuit of the rainbow-maned pegasus. The rest of the girls breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay, why are we keeping it a secret again? She already saw the party," Tomato said.

"She still wants us to treat it like a surprise, and she has elected to try to forget about it," Rarity said, still pulling some sticks out of her mane.

"And speaking of the party, what are you doing out in the streets?" Twilight asked. "Shouldn't you be helping set it up with Cheese and the rest of the town?"

Tomato brushed his hoof on the pavement. "Oh... well, me and parties don't mix well, to be honest. I'm a walking disaster in that department."

"Are ya sure that ain't an excuse to be lazy?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I threw a party once, it ended in disaster, and I received..." He clicked his tongue, hoping to say it in a way that wouldn't elicit questions from them. "...uh... a pretty harsh punishment for it. And we all know what happened at the Fall Festival. Really, I shouldn't touch them--just stand back and let Cheese do his thing."

The four mares looked at each other, unsure of whether or not to buy it. Tomato forced a grin, but he couldn't bring himself to look any of them in the eyes. He wanted to hit himself for how he was behaving--he wasn't lying!

He cleared his throat and asked, "So, uh, do any of you know if there's a library around here?"

The girls froze, and almost immediately Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy glanced at Twilight. Tomato nearly jumped at how her eyes glimmered with hurt, even when the rest of her face was stoic. Applejack patted Twilight's back, her expression softening toward her. Rarity and Fluttershy held the same look, glancing at Tomato a couple times but mainly focusing on Twilight.

Tomato felt a twinge of guilt. Was it something I said?

Twilight shook her head, took a deep breath, and calmly answered, "There's one in the castle. I'll show you. Follow me."

Twilight began to walk forward, with Applejack and Fluttershy following. Tomato stepped aside to let them pass, while Rarity started to go, but then took one look at her body.

"Oooh... I need a bath."

Twilight sighed, lit up her horn, and all girls in the vicinity had their mud and grime disappear. "There, better?"

Rarity took one look at herself again. "I suppose it'll do. Thank you, Twilight."

Tomato raised an eyebrow, tempted to call foul. But, seeing as he already said enough, he kept his mouth shut. He only silently followed the girls to the castle, feeling like a useless idiot.

---

Standing atop a large and fantastic playground that he and several others had just finished constructing, Cheese spotted four of Pinkie's friends coming on the scene, as well as Tomato. With a grin, he threw himself onto the slide, and slid down, with front legs raised and a joyful holler ringing out of his mouth. He felt the wind on his face and the pounding of his heart, and he felt just like a little kid.

He exited the slide with a flip, and landed just in front of the group. "Hey, girls! And Tommy. So, how'd the fruit bat thing go?"

"Hello, Cheese," Twilight said. "Well, we got them back in the sanctuary. It only took a lot of fighting, screaming, and a sleeping spell to do it."

Cheese nodded. "Ah, yes, one of those less agreeable types of creature. I've run into a bunch of those over the years. As of now, the only things I didn't encounter would have to be... uh..." He scratched his chin, and shrugged while saying in rapid succession, "Bighoof, vampires, and werewolves."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "That's because Bighoof and vampires are just myths and werewolves became extinct long ago. The ponds were evaporated long before Luna became Nightmare Moon."

"Pardon, Twilight, but what do you mean by ponds?" Applejack asked.

Twilight turned to her. "I've read that long ago somepony enchanted ponds with a wolf plague. Drinking from one under the full moon could turn the nicest of ponies into a bloodthirsty monster."

Fluttershy squeaked. "Goodness... I wouldn't want anypony to turn into a monster."

Cheese took a step back. "Neither would I, but that was more than I needed to know."

Twilight grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that. I just thought I needed to elaborate on why you never encountered any of those."

"Um... about Bighoof... it could be that he's just shy," Fluttershy stated.

"Maybe he just hates ponies," Tomato suggested.

"Okay, can we just stop talking about this? We do have a party to set up." Cheese made a grand gesture toward the large playground he had just came off of. "Now, what do you guys think about that fine piece of work? I just tested the slide, those ponies are testing the swings, some are testing the jungle gym--I think the foals will like this."

Applejack looked up and down the structure, making note of the ponies using the swings and climbing on it. "Looks awful sturdy so far... but I'll go look up close just to make sure..."

With that, she started trotting toward it.

"Anyway, you girls better get back to what you were doing before the... bat thing." After Rarity and Fluttershy nodded and left to do whatever it was that they were doing, Cheese jumped to Tomato's side and slung a front leg over him. "Now... what should I have you do...? Let's see, maybe you could help decorate! Or you could go and cook or bake some things--after all, if there's any Sandwich that can cook, it's you! Or... or... um..." He hoisted Tomato up and hollered, "Hey! Anypony around here need some extra hooves?"

The ponies paused in their duties to look at Tomato, with the wheels turning in their head. Then, with contempt on their faces, answered, "Nah."

Cheese huffed and put Tomato down. "Geez, what's their problem?"

"They associate me with disaster," Tomato answered.

Cheese snorted. "Hey, the Fall Festival was a problem because we were fighting. Last I checked, it was the both of us." Not to mention my mood usually affects the party, and since I was in a bad mood...

"Even so, I can tell they don't like me."

"It was only one party that they saw you at," Twilight said.

"Yeah... one party with multiple events that went haywire, with me present at all of them." Tomato snorted. "Run for your lives, the killjoy screw-up has returned."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Cheese said. "Okay, stop thinking of yourself that way. You're not a killjoy, and you're not a screw-up. I mean, it doesn't matter that you've made a pretty bad first impression while I've been here enough that the town kinda knows me, and that my first impression was pretty good--but then again, I've screwed up trying to impress Pinkie, I sorta made her feel... inferior..." Cheese rubbed the back of his head, blushing over those events. "But, hey, if I can make it up to Pinkie, surely you can make it up to Ponyville, right? You know, show them just how truly of an amazing pony you are?"

Tomato's face had gone from neutral to a fairly intense glower. Forcing a smile, Tomato answered, "Wow, thanks Cheese, that makes me feel so much better! They'll be in awe of how unspecific my amazingness is!" He frowned once again, and marched past him. "I'm going to find a book to read."

As his brother stormed off, Cheese blinked and scratched his head. "Um... what just happened?"

"I'm pretty sure what you meant to say came out wrong," Twilight said. She started following Tomato. "I'm going to help him locate the library."

Cheese stood there, blinking as they walked away. He reviewed what he had just said, and ran a hoof through his mane. He looked up once again, and they had already went inside. He sighed.

"Geez Louise, Tommy," he muttered. "You're a little touchy, aren't you? You weren't ever this touchy as a colt... nor were you this reclusive." He looked at the ground. "That was me who was."

It was so tempting to be bitter about his colthood, but Cheese knew he couldn't do that. It might sabotage his efforts of reaching out to Tomato. He just needed to shove it aside, and just forget about it. If there was a way to keep it out of mind with nothing to trigger the memory, Cheese would take it so that his own problems couldn't get in the way of party planning or bonding time.

He heard somepony cry out, and spun around to find that the swings snapped off of the playground. A couple of dazed ponies still sat on the seats, with Applejack and another pony helping them up. Wincing at the scene, he took a deep breath and set off to go fix them.

---

Twilight opened the door, and proudly presented the collection of books present in that very room. Tomato walked in, and whistled in sheer amazement at how many books there were. They were neatly lined up on the gleaming shelves, all sorted by their genre, their subjects, and their authors. Tomato took a deep whiff of the combined smells of musty old books and freshly printed ones.

He glanced at Twilight. "You must really like this room in the castle."

Twilight nodded happily. "Of course! Whenever I have time to myself, I just go in here and insert myself into any of the worlds that each one of these books hold. What's even nicer is when I get to share one of those worlds with a friend."

"Truth be told, I could hardly consider myself your friend--this is my second time in Ponyville after all. Still, I am grateful that I have a chance to read a book from a library in a princess' castle--oh wow..." Tomato's eyes went wide and he blinked. "I just realized how lucky of a stallion I am. You're my favorite princess now, Twilight."

Twilight blushed. "Oh, you don't have to refer to me as princess. I'm okay with us being just casual acquaintances."

"Ah, gotcha." Tomato walked toward a chair, pulling a random book out with his tail as he did so. He sat in the chair and opened the book, still holding it with his tail. "Perfect place to be out of the way."

Twilight frowned. "Why don't you want to help set up the party? Not only is it the anniversary of when Pinkie moved here, it's also kind of a late birthday party and a Thank You for all her efforts to make ponies smile. And as crazy as the Fall Festival went, she did have a hand in helping you and Cheese begin to rebuild your bond. Not to mention... Cheese really would like it if you helped."

Tomato sighed. "As nice as that sounds... I'll only be in the way. Attending a party, yeah, I could do that. Helping set one up? I'm useless."

"Are you sure you're not just trying to convince yourself of that?"

"No, I'm absolutely certain that me and parties just don't mix like that."

Twilight opened her mouth, and then shook her head. "Very well, have it your way. Just remember that you can't get away with this stunt in every party this summer. Sooner or later, your brother will get tired of you doing this. Make sure you find something you can do, okay?"

Tomato buried his face in his book. "Ugh... okay."

Twilight nodded. "All right, I'm going to help with the set up some more. I hope you have fun reading about..." She leaned close and peered at the cover. "...'Chip the Magic Pebble'."

And with that, Tomato was left alone again.

Comments

[SageBrony07]

I feel sad for Tommy. I hope he can find what he is good at, but I think that may have to wait for the next town and party. Thanks for the update. This chapter was fun to read.

[RadicalDishonesty]

Uuuuugh the mixture of Tomato making himself out to look like a jerk, and the way Twilight is treating it is tough. How encouraging is having everyone look at you with obvious contempt is? It's not... And Twilight just passes right by that, as if he shouldn't be affected by it, and goes straight to what the solution could be... if he didn't feel like crap about it.

... I guess I understand where she's coming from, though. Someone who is too down on themselves can't be simply told they shouldn't feel that way, it doesn't work, so at least trying to make Tomato figure out what could pragmatically go wrong is about the best she can do with just a conversation to him.

[Drifting Heart]

5565263
Kinda how you cant tell a depressed person to cheer up right? its a brain thing if you feel like a crap well its going to be hard to have other people tell you that you shouldnt feel that way because its not true is only going..oh good god you are scrambling my brain here what are you trying to say? Tom shouldnt be so down himself he's a great guy and sometimes he needs to be reminded of that no?

[Drifting Heart]

Poor guy I just wish i can hug him. Sure the way Twilight worded things was a tad bit blunt but she does have a point he's in a funk he'll find something he is good at.

[RadicalDishonesty]

5565896
Basically, that years of convincing yourself (and some sort of widespread evidence) that you are useless will not be turned around by a single conversation where someone tells you you are actually okay (or even good!) And, actually, it can be awkward to hear that someone tells you that you are, in fact, a pretty good or useful person when you don't believe it. You either think they are naive, ignorant, or a liar (even if you think they're lying to try to cheer you up).

There's no universal solution, but a good place to start is with these two:
1. Understand that you are hurting yourself for no reason, that it holds you back from whatever potential or usefulness you do have, and as a result deciding to try to throw away those feelings.
2. Succeed at something.

[Drifting Heart]

5566058
Okay that makes perfect sense thanks.

[Goldfinch142]

"Chip the Magic Pebble." Nice RFD reference. If I recall, it was the book the Pies gave to Lemon Drop and Sugar Glider.

Maybe Tomato could bake stuff? He baked that forgiveness cake in Brother Bothers. Eh, I dunno. Heh, everyone knows what it's like to feel useless sometimes. He'll find his shtick.

I wonder where they'll go next? Ooh, I hope we get to meet their parents. Especially the never-before-seen father.

Also, what was Reverse Tommy doing in the window?

[ChaoticKindness]

I love Tommy's conflict here! He's such a realistic character.

[howard035]

This chapter made me realize, when somepony says "you're my favorite princess" what they probably mean is they are going to start swearing by you. No wonder Twilight is disturbed by that comment.

[Sugarcookie29]

He passed by a window, the interior of the building dark enough so that he could see his reflection. Tomato stopped and turned to the image of the tall, well-dressed stallion staring back at him. He slowly ambled forward, and reached forward with his hoof. He touched the glass, which gave the image of touching his reflection's hoof. He moved the hoof up and down, and jokingly said, "Pleasure to do business with you, sir."

He grinned, and held it for only a few seconds before it fell and his reflection looked glum once again. His hoof still touched the glass, and he gazed into his reflection's eyes, which underneath the nice clothes, the slicked-down mane, and the overall serious, professional look, revealed a soul that was just so... broken.

[Godslittleprincess]

Oh, poor Tommy.