Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

15.8--Ever Onward

"I'm really sorry that we were unable to teach Creme properly. If I could have done more, I would have."

Flora sat across from her aunt and uncle at a picnic table, under the shade of Livery Park's trees. Being a hop, skip, and a jump away from the fair--where ponies were taking part in dutch oven cookoffs and two-wheeled cart races, playing pioneer games like a stick pull or flying hoops, dancing, and going to nearby tents to learn more about pioneer life--neither one of the couple felt like participating in anything. Some funnel cakes and other treats were given to them by Flora's siblings popping in and out of the fair as presents to at least comfort them.

Jasmine Flower dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief. "Qui--quite frankly, that's exactly what we were thinking about ourselves."

Custard was leaning in his hoof. "Indeed. A successful businesspony I may be, but an attentive father I am not. I always thought the servants could handle her just fine, but that wasn't what she needed. I never wanted her to fall the way she did."

Flora twiddled her hooves. "Me neither. Only bright spot right now is that she's beginning a turnaround."

"Yes... I do hope that once her punishment is through, she'll come out a better mare."

Jasmine sniffled, still wiping her eyes. "I wish we weren't dealing with this in the first place."

Flora reached forward and patted her aunt's free hoof. "Same here. But, I talked with her as she was cleaning up the parade route, and she wants the rest of us to enjoy the holiday despite her actions, so that's a good sign."

The older couple glanced at each other and nodded.

Flora smiled wryly. "I also wanted to make her apologize to Tomato for her effort to ruin him, but Tomato didn't want it. He'd rather wait until she's absolutely ready to do it on her own and with sincerity. After his issues with his brother, it won't ever be too late to apologize to him."

"Oh, that reminds me," Custard said, straightening his suit jacket. "Where is he? I'd like to apologize for my assumptions about him, and tell him I'll try to put in a good word to other Manehattan business leaders. Can't say if I'll be successful, since he was absolutely terrifying to everypony at my party, and his crazed coffee high might frankly be all they'll see him as. First impressions can have quite the impact."

Flora smiled and shrugged. "All I can say is that he's somewhere in the fair, spending time with his brother."

---

"Little pig, little pig, let me in!"

Tomato hoped that the silly Timber Wolf getup that Cheese was wearing was comfortable; his own getup of a simple pig nose was too tight on him, squishing his muzzle to the point where it was hard to breathe through his nose. Still, Willow and Kernel needed a third pig for the little play that they were having. Sitting on a stage in the fair set up with all sorts of props and costumes for whatever skits any foals wanted to do, Tomato still wasn't sure how he and Cheese got roped into doing The Three Little Pigs.

Amber Waves, sitting to the side as the storyteller, said, "And then the third little pig said:"

Tomato boosted Kernel up above the cardboard house, and the little toddler shouted, "Not by the hairs on my chinny chin chin!"

Amber grinned at the little audience made up of other foals waiting their turn to use the stage. "The Big Bad Timber Wolf got annoyed over hearing that same exact phrase for the third time in a row! Because, really, why do the pigs keep saying that? Is it an integral part of pig culture to sass predators with pathetic excuses for beards? Anyway, he roared:"

Cheese complied with a growling voice, "Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blooooooow your house in!"

"And so the Big Bad Timber Wolf blew and blew," Amber said, with Cheese doing said actions at the stage. "And he blew all day and all night, huffing and puffing at hurricane force winds! The roof shingles blew away, but the brick walls held strong! Helps that their foundation was on a rock, and as you know, the wise pony built his house upon the rock, while the foolish one built his upon the sand. And so the Big Bad Timberwolf blew in vain, and worse, the pigs were taunting him!"

Willow and Kernel poked out from the sides of the cardboard cutout, squealing, "Na-na na-na na na!"

Amber looked at Tomato, who just smiled and shook his head. "Except for the pig who had the straw house. He was still traumatized."

She noticed Cheese getting a little tired from his blowing "And so, the Timber Wolf blew until he caved in on himself, becoming a pile of sticks in the process!"

Cheese mock fainted, crying, "Oh, what a world!" Some of his costume fell off when he hit the floor and he laid there, lolling out his tongue like he was dead. His dramatic pose made the audience giggle, and even more so when he pulled out his accordion and played a death march.

"And thus, the little pigs had a bonfire that night. They roasted yummy marshmallows and made s'mores!"

The three "pigs" marched out of the house, picked up a couple of the sticks that Cheese dropped, and pretended to roast marshmallows over the remains of Timber Cheesewolf, even as he still played his death march. While the other two giggled along with the audience, Tomato looked at the area that his stick hovered over: the burn that Cheese got a few days ago, and still hadn't healed if the freshly changed bandages were any indication. His heart sank, knowing that while all the other ones healed quickly thanks to party pony magic, that one still stayed. It was like the magic had somehow failed to protect him right there.

Amber cheerfully continued, "And they lived happily ever after! Except the Timber Wolf. 'Cause he's dead."

After a some laughter and round of applause, the group all faced the crowd and bowed. Then they removed their costumes and got off the stage to let other foals make their own skit. And so, they trotted away from that stage, off to find something else to do.

"Thanks for helping us with our skit, you guys!" Amber chirped. "Usually Bananas and Alfalfa would be with us, but Al's got a Scout thing and Bananas is helping the committee run the fair. Still, Cheese made a pretty good Timber Wolf."

Cheese rubbed the back of his head. "Aw, shucks. Playing with you guys was the least I could do for Bananas after he agreed to take my place in the running of this thing." His hoof slid from the back to his forehead. "Doctor said I needed to take it easy and try not to stress myself out for a bit. But, with my new medicine--" He pulled a pill bottle out of his mane, filled to the brim with blue-and-white pills that could not be easily replaced by mint. "--I should be back to, uh... some semblance of normal."

"Looks like candy," Willow said.

Cheese stuffed the bottle back in his mane. "It's not. Don't eat it."

Amber looked around. "Aw, fetch! Where'd Kernel go this time?"

Willow looked straight ahead and pointed forward. "To Mom."

Amber looked ahead, seeing her little brother hopping in front of their mother, who was ready to share some of her dutch oven cornbread with him. "Oh, so he is!" Grabbing her little sister's hoof, she walked forward and waved to the Sandwiches. "Meet us at the pavilion at dinnertime! We'll eat, then go to a Tabernicker Choir concert, and then go up to Uncle Spruce's house on the mountain to watch the fireworks! Bye!"

The Sandwiches waved to the fillies as they trotted off to meet their mother, and then looked at each other. Cheese chuckled and said, "I sure hope this fair makes up for me missing the Summer Sun fair earlier this summer."

"Heh. Shall we go look around?"

"I don't see why not. Maybe we could get some souvenirs."

---

The two had walked around the park, going through the path that marked tents holding merchandise, simple carnival games, and ponies eager to tell history lessons. During their walk, they spotted Ash Tree attending a reptile show, being the lucky pony to hold a large snake. They also waved at Bananas as he was inspecting one of the carnival games, and cheered for Olive and Alfalfa--apparently having finished his scout thing--in a two-wheeled cart race. And true to Cheese's word, a couple of souvenirs were bought--including a new suit jacket for Tomato, which was almost exactly like his old one. That made Tomato quite happy.

In between those, Cheese brought up several parties past for him and Tomato to laugh over; but while Tomato went along with it, there was a clear nervousness accompanied by fake laughs and forcing random subjects into their conversations to keep the silence away. And at times, Cheese stared off into space, and looked around at random places where nothing was.

It was when they made it to the playground when Tomato finally said, "Okay, I'd like to know what the doctor told you."

Cheese's face went pale. "Oh... uh... basically the same thing we found out at the Crystal Empire--you know, the chemical imbalance thing and the magical damage. They just adjusted my medication to account for recent developments..."

"What, nothing else?"

Cheese's eye twitched. "Nope, not at all!"

Tomato gave him a half-lidded stare. "Cheese, you're obviously hiding something."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

Cheese stomped in frustration. "For goodness' sake! Why are you pestering me about something that isn't your business?"

"It kind of is my business," Tomato said. "You're my brother, and if you don't spill it, we might have more situations like what happened in the Crystal Empire and earlier today. Between the headaches and the hallucinations, I'm not sure if it's a good idea for us to continue with this trip! I think both of us need to stay in one place for the rest of the summer."

"Tomato! How am I going to find that missing piece of my mind if I stay put?" Once he realized what he had just said, Cheese covered his mouth. He glanced at the nearby playground, blushing at the sight of the foals staring at him.

Tomato blinked. "Wait, what? What do you mean 'missing piece of your mind'?"

Cheese's hooves slid off his mouth and he slumped in defeat. "All right, all right... the doctor said that the magical damage I received was centered around the head, and that it was akin to somepony plucking a chunk of my mind out without any physical damage to my brain." He looked at his bandaged foreleg and sighed. "Ponyacci and Pinkie Pie were right in guessing where the headaches came from... I just... didn't say anything about it because I didn't want you to worry."

Tomato pursed his lips. "Well, you made me worry anyway. How can you even literally lose a chunk of your mind?! If it wasn't magical, I'd have assumed you were actually going insane!"

"Tommy, cool it! It's just... uh... I don't know how I lost it. Best guess is that somepony stole it while I was asleep."

Tomato's mind flashed back to Wayer Rune's scroll earlier, Flora telling him about what her psychology textbooks mentioned about him, and than much earlier to the memory exhibit back during the Summer Sun Fair. Was Cheese going through the same thing as those poor soldiers? Considering his whole denial of the Las Pegasus incident, Tomato wouldn't be surprised if his memory of that had actually been stolen. But why would anypony want to steal any of Cheese's memories unless...

"Kazam! Of course! He must have an equally powerful friend that is trying to aid him in his trial! He's making sure you can't testify!" Tomato grinded his teeth, feeling a little hiss come from between them. "The whole pretending that Las Pegasus thing didn't happen thing... it wasn't pretending or even that weird forgetting thing that I saw Pinkie do once; it was magical thievery! That explains everything!"

Cheese furrowed his brow. "Huh, I think one of the other party ponies mentioned that... but, wait, why didn't they steal yours?"

Tomato rubbed his head. "I don't know. You'd think they'd want to prevent the testimony of somepony who actually turned into a vampire."

Cheese stared at him with wide eyes and backed up a little. "Yeah... so, we're going to find the pony who did it and get the memory back."

Tomato sighed and muttered, "I'm not entirely sure it's one you'd want back... but regardless, how do you propose we do that? Equestria's not exactly a small country and there's thousands of unicorns that the pony could hide among. Plus, we don't know much about who Kazam mingled with at any point in his life!" His eyes widened in realization as he remembered two key ponies. "Except his siblings."

Cheese blinked. "Who?"

"Ha ha! Maybe Silk Shimmer or Party Favor could help locate the memory! They probably have an idea on who could be doing this!"

"Wait, Party Favor is the vampire guy's brother? And who's Silk Shimmer again?"

Tomato's eye twitched, and he had to remind himself to keep calm. "Oh... she was that mare who was working with the Flim Flam Brothers back in Halterside, but then remembered she had a conscience and quit working for them."

"Oh, that's right..." Cheese rubbed his chin. "I guess we could contact them..."

Tomato smirked. "You do realize that in order to keep in contact with them, we'd have to stay put so they can answer?"

Cheese scowled. "Tomato, you're forgetting one thing."

Tomato raised an eyebrow. "And what is that?"

Cheese opened his mouth to answer, but the sound of an accordion played from his flank, and his tail spun and yanked half his body to the north. He blinked for a moment before closing his eyes and finally answering, "My magic may be a bit weaker than usual, but Cheesy Sense still works. It's telling me that we're going to Seaddle. We can't really stay in one place without Cheesy Sense attacking me."

Tomato's eyebrow twitched; never had he wanted to strangle a sense of all things until then. "Well... can't you just... ignore it?!"

"I tried that once, Tommy! I got terribly weary and sick from my magic endlessly reminding me that a party needed me! It's a horrible experience, and I really don't want to put up with that again. Not to mention my itchy hooves would kill me." Cheese shook his head. "I can tell that you like it here, but we're travelling all over Equestria together to catch up and bond as brothers. That's why I planned this trip, you know?"

Tomato stared for a moment, his heart sinking. Cheesy Sense just wasn't going to let them try to investigate, was it? At this rate, that memory of Cheese's was as good as lost, and he'd be stuck in a cycle of headaches and hallucinations for a very long time. His eyes downcast, he replied, "I... I just want you to be okay."

Cheese sighed. "Well, unless a miracle from the sky comes, there's not much we can--OW!"

A paper glider had crashed right onto Cheese's forehead, and fell straight to the ground after its momentum was disrupted. Rubbing his head, he noticed that it had his name on it, followed by a "From: Pinkie Pie" on it. Curious, he picked it up and opened it, wondering what she had to say.

Tomato read the names as well and snickered. "Well, well, she dotted her i's with hearts."

Cheese rolled his eyes and read:

"Dear Cheesy,

"Hi! How's it going? How was your party in Manehattan? Was it a lot of fun? Where'd you go to next? The next time you see me, you better give me all the details on what parties you've been throwing around Equestria!

"I threw a great birthday party for Mayor Mare. I made the biggest cake I ever made for her and her family and everypony in town! I had no idea she had such a big family. There was also a jell-o trampoline because they all love jell-o, and lots and lots of whipped cream! We had a whipped cream fight and it was a blast. You should have seen me, I had this big, whipped cream beard that made me look like Santa Hooves, tee hee hee.

"Anyway, I told Twilight about your memory problem, and she's working on finding a way to find it for you. Sadly, she's also suuuuuper busy with princess stuff, so it's taking her a little while to find anything. How about you, did you finally tell Tommy about it? I hope he's not too upset about how much it's been hurting you. And I really, really hope you didn't lose any more! It'd be awful for you to forget something important like your friendship with me or making up with your brother. The thought of it makes me really sad.

"I gotta go and bake now--I've got the most scrumptious batch of cupcakes to make with the Cakes for a super important town meeting! Can you write back? I really enjoy getting letters from friends, and you're definitely one of my bestest friends! Say 'Hi' to Tomato for me, and remember to make everypony you meet smile!

"Love, Pinkie Pie"

When they both finished reading, Tomato glared at Cheese. "Okay, how much about this situation does she know?"

Cheese shrugged. "Who cares? They're already investigating it!"

Tomato sighed. "Well, at least Princess Twilight's involved--with her magical knowledge, she might find some convenient spell to track it down. Still, we might as well share our idea about Kazam's siblings with them."

"Okey-dokey. If we bump into the thief and get the memory back on our own, that'd be great too. I hope he or she doesn't steal any more if we do meet him or her." Cheese rubbed his ear, sticking his tongue out in disgust, only to pull out a piece of paper and a pencil from behind it. "Better write my reply. And thus, we have our plan... not perfect, but it'll do."

Tomato nodded silently, defeatedly accepting it. Why was party pony magic so hard to fight against? Still, part of him wished that if they found the creep, he'd show them what kind of monster that Kazam created in the most up close and personal manner. Scaring the wits out of them with an actual vampire would be quite cathartic, and Tomato could feel his teeth grow sharper at the thought of it.

Thankfully, he snapped out of his stupid daydream when he heard Flora calling him. Looking around until he spotted her beyond the playground beckoning him, he glanced at the writing Cheese and said, "I'll be right back."

Cheese looked up, spotted Flora as well, and waggled his eyebrows at Tomato. Tomato gave him a shove back before trotting over to Flora.

"Hey, what's up?" he said with a smile.

"My uncle wants to have a word with you."

Tomato frowned. "Oh."

---

That talk went better than anticipated, but even with Rich Custard's apology and vow to fix things in Manehattan, Tomato found himself not really caring. The fact was, he wasn't sure he wanted to live in the same city as his parents and former bullies anymore.

He couldn't imagine living anywhere else before this trip; he had daydreamed about moving away from that house he couldn't even call "home" before, but he assumed moving across town would be enough to avoid his parents. Now, his immediate thoughts were wondering what it'd be like to live in his current surroundings. Rolling mountains and a dry valley would definitely make for an interesting change of scenery, and he wouldn't mind being neighbors with one of his best friends, her family, and the neighbors that she grew up with.

His thoughts had wandered to other places he had been during the summer. From the smaller towns like Ponyville, Halterside, and Nickerlite to the larger cities like Canterlot and the Crystal Empire, he couldn't help but wonder what it'd be like to live in each one of the cities. He avoided thinking about living in Las Pegasus--aside from vampire traumas, he just didn't like that constant raunchy party there. Still, there were possible other places to visit for the rest of the summer--he wondered what other options he would end up considering.

He simply ambled on throughout the rest of the day, having thoughts turn on and off during events. He could talk during the dinner with the extended Flower and Wood families, and he and Cheese told stories about their adventures in both colthood and that summer to Flora's cousins. Later that evening, the group attended the Tabernicker Choir concert. The harmony of the voices soothed him, though some of the songs did make him wonder about his life, such as one about a young adult pony leaving home to find themselves, or how how beauty was around when there's love at home. He did get a kick out of the Bridleway songs that were in the program.

When they were out of that hall and onto the street, Amber Waves had exclaimed to him, "You should hear them at Hearth's Warming!"

Finally, they had gone up to that uncle's house on the mountain, ready to watch the fireworks show. Their spot provided a view of the city and beyond, letting them see the lake and the salty desert shimmer under the setting sun and the rising moon. Salt Lick City was speckled with lanterns, and the Salt Spires bore a magical glow, shining as a beacon among the dark buildings. Sitting out on spread blankets, everypony had a bit of cotton candy or a caramel apple or even some of Honeysuckle's leftover cornbread. A large blanket held the family of ten plus the Sandwiches, with the parents holding their two youngest close in a protective embrace, and the six other kids scattered on the blanket around their guests.

Flora sat next to Tomato in their little group. "So, did you have a good day... aside from, you know..."

Tomato smiled. "Are you kidding? I love spending time with one of my best friends, her family, and my brother."

"Yeah, it was like a... uh... an eleven in one package deal?" Cheese said.

"I'm pretty sure you counted right," Bananas said, counting the ponies on the blanket.

"Nah," Alfalfa deadpanned. "You'd have to include our cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmas and the living grandpa."

"And the cousins' kids," Ash Tree added.

Cheese chuckled and shook his head. "But it can't last forever. We're heading off to Seaddle first thing in the morning."

"Aww, but we didn't get to show you all the sights!" Amber piped up. "You still need to see the lake up close on Lope Island and meet the bison tribe, see the ranch there, and feel the weird sand on the beach! Or maybe lick the salty desert over there!"

Tomato turned to the filly and shrugged. "Maybe next time?"

"There better be a next time," Olive said with her front legs crossed. "We don't want you to be strangers!"

Flora giggled. "I'm glad you guys came, even if it was kind of a harbinger to disaster, considering your... history with one cousin."

Tomato smiled at her. "Don't worry, Flora. I know that just because you're related doesn't mean you're anything like each other. It would be unfair for me to dislike you just because of your association with her. You've proven yourself with your own merits, anyway."

Flora blushed and idly tugged at part of her mane. "Well, I try. I just wish Creme didn't have to cause a mess."

The rest of her siblings sighed. "Yeah."

After a few moments of silence, the sound of crickets permeating the air, Cheese piped up. "Well, speaking of relatives... we actually have an aunt in Seaddle. So, yeah, we're visiting some family of our own."

"Are they fun? Flora mentioned meeting your mother and..." Bananas grimaced.

Cheese chuckled. "Oh, Aunt Cocoa and Uncle Acorn are actually a lot of fun. They're a pair of mischievous chemists that do a lot of experiments." His eyes widened and he exclaimed, "Oh, Tommy! I just remembered that we were going to ask them to make fruit-flavored fireworks!"

"Oh, right," Tomato said.

"That sounds so cool!" Bananas squealed. Then, at the sound of a boom, he looked up. "And speaking of fireworks..."

From the park they had been in earlier, streams of light shot up and exploded into brilliant colors, one by one. A red beam exploded into a golden waterfall, a white one exploded into a sun shape, a yellow one exploded into a smiley face. Some exploded with a pop, while others exploded with a thunderous bang. Some even screeched as they ascended, ending in their explosions. All the while, the ponies oohed and ahhed.

The pattern of awe was disrupted when Flora turned to Tomato with a soft glare and said, "Tomato, please let go of my tail."

Flushing, Tomato looked behind him, and noticed that his tail had curled up around Flora's. His brother and Flora's siblings were stifling laughter, even as he yanked his tail away and shook his hoof at it, hissing, "Bad tail!" The tail replied by going limp, accompanied by a dog whine. With a sigh, he went on to hold his tail for the rest of the fireworks show, wondering if he was going insane.

With a quick glance at Cheese, who seemed perfectly fine at the moment, he thought, Well, as long as he just takes his medicine and takes it easy, the rest of the summer can go smoothly.

Author's Note:

Aaaaand that's a wrap for the Salt Lick Valley! And we have our next location: Seaddle!

Now, to speculate on what mishaps these brothers get into next...

Comments

[Goldfinch142]

Nice to see Rich Custard apologize. At least that's one problem solved.

Getting ever-closer to getting Cheese's memories back! Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Oh, I've been looking forward to meeting Cocoa Butter and Acorn Compound. And their kids, if they're there. I wonder what crazy shenanigans will involve them.

Flushing, Tomato looked behind him, and noticed that his tail had curled up around Flora's.

Ah, those pesky tails. They have a mind of their own sometimes...

Well, as long as he just takes his medicine and takes it easy, the rest of the summer can go smoothly.

Normally I'd agree, but seeing as it's them...yeah, no.

[SageBrony07]

That was a fun chapter. I can't to see seatattle. Good luck with the next arc.

[redmar]

I'm glad that Cheese has finally told Tomato what happened. It's good that Pinkie decided to tell Twilight about it because she might be the best suited to repair this problem.

[Godslittleprincess]

Please tell me that the next part is a break from all this trauma that the boys are currently going through.