Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

2.5--Fun Times

The matriarch of the Sandwich household wished that her son could express his excitement in a more subtle way.

It had been two years since Tomato had expressed his joy by running and bouncing around the house, leaping on furniture, and coming dangerously close to shattering her vases and knick-knacks. His whoops and hollers gave her a headache, and his boundless energy made her heart race, especially when he nearly jumped on her. All the while that he did this, she wondered what the point of his zipping around was, since it served no purpose in any place.

Tomato took time to bounce on each cushion on the couch, weaving the tale of how his days at the fundraiser went. He jumped over the lamp, his tail knocking it over. His mother nearly had a heart attack upon seeing it fall, but Tomato caught it with his tail and set it back up, before continuing on his energetic rampage. She was so dazed, she could have sworn she saw him scale the wall, run on the ceiling, and slide back down the opposing wall. At least, she thought she was just imagining him doing that.

The colt's words were coming out too fast, and they were garbled in her ears. Rubbing her temples, she thought about how she had preferred it when the foal had been depressed. At least he had been quiet then.

Tomato leapt over the coffee table and bounced around some more. "...and then when I was heading home, Miss Periwinkle pointed out my cutie mark!" He turned and proudly showed off the picture on his flank. Waggling his eyebrows, he said, "Pretty nifty, eh?"

His mother blinked at the design of the cutie mark. For years, she had expected that when Tomato's time had come, it would have indefinitely been a ridiculous mark matching the colt's energy. Not even him doing well in school had made her think otherwise. She had still expected a squished tomato symbolizing bad comedy, or a bottle of ketchup blasting off like a rocket. But, what she saw in front of her was a tomato shaped like a money bag, complete with a dollar sign.

She pursed her lips. "What a surprise."

Tomato nodded and started bouncing again. "Yep! You were right, Mom, doing the fundraiser was the best thing I did! I got a good idea of who I'll grow up to be!"

His attention was diverted to the opening front door, where a tired, tall, cinnamon-coated stallion carrying a suitcase in his mouth ambled in. Tomato grinned and sped to him. "Dad! Dad! I got my cutie mark!"

His father merely glanced at Tomato's flank, patted his head, and said, "Good job, kiddo."

With that, he simply walked into the kitchen, presumably so he could do that 'grown-up homework' he always did. Tomato sighed, and shook his head. Didn't he ever get tired of those dumb papers? Would it kill him to be more excited that his son earned his cutie mark?

After a brief pout, Tomato turned to his mother once again. Resuming his bouncing, he asked, "So, Mom, Mom, Mom, how should we celebrate? Ice cream? Pizza? Trip to the park? Museum? Ferry? Mare Liberty? Come on, Mom, don't leave me hanging and pick something!"

"Tomato Matthew Sandwich," his mother replied. "We don't need any fancy nights out to mark this milestone in your life."

Tomato frowned, and plopped onto his haunches. "Why not? Bluejinx went out for ice cream when he earned his cutie mark."

"If Bluejinx jumped off a cliff, would you do it?"

"Mom, Bluejinx is not stupid. Ice cream is harmless!"

"Too much can make you sick and rot your teeth." His mother stood up and stretched. "Celebrating something every foal goes through is a waste of time when you could be doing more productive things with your newly earned cutie mark. Besides, you had enough fun at the fundraiser itself, no? Isn't that celebration enough? You have no regrets, right?"

Tomato's ears drooped and he drew on the floor with his hoof. "I have one regret."

She raised an eyebrow. "And that is...?"

"...that Cheese isn't here to see it."

His mother sighed. "Tomato, the longer you keep moping about your brother, the less seriously anypony will take you. In fact, it's hard to take you seriously when you're bouncing around like a kangaroo in this house." She pointed at his cutie mark. "That mark is for serious ponies only, and since you can't trade it away, well, we'll just have to work on fixing that careless attitude of yours. No one appreciates a careless pony. Is that understood?"

The excitement of receiving his cutie mark evaporated, and once again, Tomato felt crummy. Not only had he been selfish, but he was careless too! No wonder his brother and most of his friends abandoned him--he was a bad pony.

"Yes, Mama."

She nodded. "Good." She glanced at the clock. "It's time for bed, young colt. I want you to be a well-rested pony."

Tomato nodded, stood up, and walked to his room. After slowly making his way through the hallway, he slipped into his room and shut the door behind him. With a sigh, he looked up at the two beds before him.

They had neglected to remove Cheese's bed from the room, mostly in the assumption that he'd eventually come running back from wherever he ran off to. It had been two years since he left, and the bed still remained.

With a sigh, he climbed into his brother's bed, with the blue-and-yellow quilt and the striped pillow. He looked at his own bed for a brief moment, before turning away, and curling up in a ball. He pulled the quilt over himself, and lied still, hoping to feel Cheese's presence once again.

"Hey, big bro," he mumbled. "I earned my cutie mark. Do you like it?"

---

Elsewhere in Equestria, in the mountains outside of Salt Lick City, that other colt felt the muscles in his flank tightening and relaxing in succession, and a tingling sensation buzzed through his body. Accordion notes rang in his ears, and the name of his destination popped into his mind. He jumped at the feeling, dropping the rubber chicken he carried on his back.

Once the sensation had passed, he picked up his chicken.

"Cheesy Sense is telling me to go to Manehattan, Boneless," the colt said, his voice cracking. He gulped. "I guess I'm ready to return..."

He looked at his cutie mark, a grilled cheese sandwich torn to look like an accordion. He took a deep breath. "Well, we'll see how much of a loser Cheese Sandwich is now."

He turned his nose to the east, and stood up. Though just a colt of thirteen, Cheese already felt like a worn, rugged traveler. He looked like one too, a brown poncho draped on his body and a cowboy hat atop his head. The only thing that kept him looking completely like one was his large glasses.

He started working his way through the woods, wondering what changes had taken place since he had left. If there were any big changes to the city, he'd have read about them in the newspaper. He doubted the neighbors were any nicer, or that his parents would put in a better effort of raising him and his brother.

And then there was Tommy. The little rascal that seemed to never run out of energy. The little twerp who was way too friendly and way too reckless for his own good. The little ketchup squirt who had broken Cheese's accordion.

Cheese sighed. He never really gave Tomato a chance to apologize. After all, it was an accident, and Cheese did have a couple of years to cool off. Even when trying to hate him, he couldn't help but miss the one pony that had thought he was worth something. And maybe, just maybe, Tomato missed him.

He reached the peak of the mountain, and looked over the valley. He then turned to Boneless. "Yeah, I think I'll check up on my baby bro. What is he, ten now?" He chuckled. "Yeah, it's about time we catch up... and I need to introduce you two."

---

Cheese trotted down the hallways of the castle, looking for the room that his brother was hiding out in. The entire set up was all finished, and somepony was out fetching Pinkie and Rainbow Dash. He was going to have Tomato at least participate in the big holler of "surprise."

He had the directions to the castle library that Twilight had told him in his head, though he forgot which door it was. He had been in the castle before, having been given a tour by Pinkie before, but he never really cared for the library to memorize where it was. He kind of regretted it now, but how was he supposed to know that he'd make up with his brother? And how was he supposed to know that Tomato would become a bookworm? Just how did Tomato turn into one?

He knocked himself on the head with his hoof. "Geez, Louise, Cheese, stop it. There's no need to compare his old self and his current self. He just... grew up, is all."

He passed by a mirror, and only took a mere glance at it. However, that one glance was enough for him to notice something was off. He backed up, and gazed at his reflection. He was taken aback by what he saw.

The stallion in the mirror had his hair, coat, and eye colors, as well as his build and face, but he didn't see it as himself. The stallion was dressed in a black suit jacket, with a yellow tie. His hair was slicked back, with curls at the end. And he had those large glasses on his muzzle, with a sharp glare behind them accompanying the large frown his mouth made.

Cheese backed up, and immediately looked at his shirt and felt his muzzle. No glasses, and he still had the yellow polo on. He looked back up at the image, and rubbed his eyes.

He blinked, and his normal reflection was in the mirror, with a look of confused horror on its face. He scratched his head. "That was weird."

He looked around for anypony who happened to be in the castle and saw that, and shook his head. He continued to meander through the hallway, looking for a door.

---

Tomato had long since finished "Chip the Magic Pebble", and moved on to a longer book. He had grabbed one on Equestria's wilds, it's creatures, and it's myths and lore, and balanced the open book on his tail for his usual reading position. He was aware that his holding of the book was unusual, but it was quite comfortable for him.

He had already gone through reading about the wild and rugged Clydesdale known as Bighoof, a fierce dream demon that infected innocent ponies with toxic magic until Princess Luna defeated and imprisoned her, about hydras, Changelings, Cerberus and Tartarus, and sirens. There were mentions of Discord trapped in stone--obviously the book was outdated now--and of that magic-stealing centaur, Tirek.

Tomato shuddered at the memory of that beast storming Manehattan and quickly and effortlessly draining the magic of the entire city. Everypony had been left so weak and tired when it happened, and Tomato could only remember just sitting in defeat and staring into space until all the magic was returned to all Equestria.

He turned the page, and read about a dark magic spell used to fuse animal instincts into a pony. Tomato rolled his eyes, figuring that no unicorn would be stupid enough to use it. What was its use? Shaking his head, he found himself thankful that he was an earth pony.

He continued to read. "...it has been said that this spell was once used to fuse the user with a wolf, and thus the first werewolf was born. Pleased with the development, the unicorn cast a spell on several ponds to give others this blessing. Unfortunately, most ponies who drank from this pond became bloodthirsty and feral, and it was soon contagious by bite. An epidemic filled the land, and Celestia herself had to put a stop to it before too many ponies were either infected or killed. She created a spell to cure ponies, and evaporated all the ponds that held the spell. Almost as quickly as the werewolf epidemic had began, it had ceased."

"Hey, baby bro! Whatcha reading?"

Tomato looked up at the grinning Cheese Sandwich leaning against the doorframe. "Something about dark magic that creates unnatural animal-pony hybrids. It's horrifying, but that makes it interesting."

Cheese nodded and straightened up. "Makes me wonder what it's like, being part animal. You think I could be part chicken?"

"Psht, as if. Everypony know dark magic corrupts, so there I doubt you'll run into a unicorn who's powerful enough and willing to try it. Plus... part chicken? Really? I'm sure that if we did run into somepony willing to try it, he or she would more likely choose, say, a wolf, or one of those vampire bats in the apple orchard."

Cheese shook his head. "Anyway, baby bro, party's finished, and you're going to help us with shouting 'Surprise'."

Tomato stood up, still holding the book and reading it. "Hm, okay. Pray I don't blow my voice out."

Cheese raised an eyebrow at the casual strolling Tomato did, with his head turned to the book that his tail still held. "Do you really have to keep reading?"

"This book has some interesting information--I don't want to put it down! Besides, I kind of want to know what we might encounter this summer."

Cheese whickered in annoyance. "Tomato, I've lived on the road since I was eleven--I know how to survive in the wild. We don't need some guidebook on things that I've either met before or most likely don't exist. Besides, we have a surprise party to unveil, so just quit stalling and put the book down."

"Funny, I pegged you as the type to believe in Bighoof. What if I want to read it when I'm bored?"

"Ugh, it's Twilight's book, not yours. If you wanted to read during this trip, you should've packed a couple of books. Besides, who needs to read when you're having a party?"

"You'll tick off a lot of bookworms with that sentence. And I meant for the in-between down time for when you're busy planning things with Boneless Two. I'm quite uncreative, so I need something to do when you're talking to an inanimate object!"

Cheese gasped and glared at him. He grabbed his tie, and yanked him out of the room, making the younger brother drop the book. Cheese proceeded to drag Tomato through the hallways of the castle, grumbling under his breath.

Tomato groaned. I suppose I should have packed a couple of books before going out of my niche.

---

Once Cheese had dragged Tomato outside, everypony took their places, with Cheese hiding out in the top layer of the cake so that he'd pop out. Tomato just sat beside it, keeping himself out of sight. Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Spike were sitting in front of it, with everypony else sitting various places by it, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the guest of honor.

Tomato was close enough to the cake that he could smell it, and he could feel his mouth water. The blue frosting looked sweet, light, and fluffy, laced with a beautiful golden yellow on its edges and covered in balloon-shaped cookies, enticing his stomach to growl. He tried his best to look away from it, but it still drew his eye. It also drew the attention of his hoof, which attempted to sneak a bit of frosting while no one was looking.

He grabbed it, and hugged it close to his body. "Nuh-uh, Tomato. Sneaking frosting off someone else's cake is rude."

However, he found himself leaning over, opening his mouth wide, and breathing in the aroma of the frosting. He could already feel the taste of it on his tongue, and his stomached roared as he leaned.

"What are you doing?"

He realized what he was doing, straightened up, and slammed his hoof into his mouth. He looked at the trio of fillies sitting near him, and sheepishly scooted away from the cake. He noticed several other ponies staring, and he continued to scoot until he was behind a tree.

Taking his hoof out of his mouth, he attempted to spit out the unpleasant taste. With a sigh, he stood up and peeked from behind the tree, looking at everypony smiling as they stared straight forward, hoping to spot any of the ponies that had been out. Once either the pegasus that was doing the fetching or Rainbow Dash arrived, Pinkie Pie was not far behind.

Tomato knew Pinkie was a good pony. A little irritating and intrusive, but still a good pony. Her good intentions could have made his and Cheese's feud worse back at the Fall Festival, but things did miraculously work out. If she really did a lot of good things for Ponyville, he wouldn't blame the townsponies for celebrating. Heck, Cheese did tell him that she inspired him to become a party pony.

Part of him felt like he should be out there on the front lines, since it would show he acknowledged her intervention in the feud. But another part still hated how disastrous the entire thing was, and wanted to hate her for meddling. Another part felt like that the only reason he even liked her was because Cheese did, and he hated that shallow reasoning.

Rainbow Dash and another pegasus had arrived, taking their places near the cake. And soon enough, Pinkie trotted onto the castle grounds, and everypony jumped up, threw confetti, and hollered "SURPRISE!"

Pinkie gasped. "A surprise party? For me?! Is it my birthday again already?"

Pinkie's friends jumped forward and wrapped her in a group hug, all giggling. Rainbow laughed and answered, "Pinkie, your birthday was a couple of weeks ago."

"Well, then, that was a fast year!"

"Oh, no, darling," Rarity said as the group broke the hug. "We just felt awful for missing your birthday due to that adventure we had that week."

"And we thought, 'Why not the anniversary of the day you came to Ponyville?'" Applejack added.

"And then we figured that everypony could help out as a thank you for being their friends and going out of your way to make them happy," Twilight said.

Fluttershy nodded. "And we are all very lucky to know you."

Pinkie blinked, looking around at the smiling ponies all around her. When she spotted Tomato behind the tree, Tomato feigned a smile so he didn't ruin the moment. She continued looking around until she was on the brink of tears, and she wrapped her friends in a big group hug.

"You're all the best! All of you!" She released them and bounced back. "You guys are the best!" She pointed at the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "And so are you fillies!" She pointed at the Cakes. "And so are you!" She pointed at another pony, and another, and another, all the while saying, "And you! And you! And you! And you! And you!"

Tomato just leaned on the tree, looking up at the cake and wondering when Cheese was going to pop out. He shook his head and looked at Pinkie excitedly point at ponies and refer to them as 'the best.' He recalled when he was a colt that happy and excitable, and he could easily see his younger self in Pinkie's place.

She pointed at him, and hollered, "And you, too, Tommy!"

Tomato took a step back at that statement, and felt warm inside from being pointed out like that. However, before he could smile at her in response, he heard somepony grumble, "Him? Hmph, he didn't even help set up this party, that lazy stick in the mud."

His urge to smile was gone, and he remembered a key difference between his younger self and Pinkie Pie.

He had been selfish.

Pinkie looked around, trying to locate a pony that she hadn't called 'the best.' Her smile fell into a frown. "Wait a minute. Where's Cheese?"

And that was when the top layer of the cake exploded, and a bright orange pony leapt from within the cake, doing a back flip. Once he landed back on the cake, fireworks exploded behind him,blue, yellow, and pink balloons rose, and he flashed a grin Pinkie's way, waggling his eyebrows at her. "You rang?!"

As the crowd cheered, Pinkie stared up at him, her jaw slack and her blue eyes shining. Blush was gracing her cheeks, and her blinks were slow. Her friends took one look at her, glanced between her and the smiling stallion atop the cake, and most of them let out giggles and "awws", while Rainbow just blinked and rolled her eyes.

Cheese stood up on his hind legs and laughed. "So I hear you're calling everypony 'the best!' Don't leave your party pony pal out!"

Pinkie shook her head and giggled. She took a deep breath and shouted, "Well, Cheesy, you're the best party pony friend I've got!"

Cheese laughed some more, pulled out an umbrella, and leapt off, using the umbrella as a parachute. "Glad to hear it! And now... once I land, we can get this thing started!"

Pinkie giggled. "Okey-dokey-loki!"

---

The party was a blast.

Everywhere that one could look, there were ponies having fun. Some were bouncing around in a bouncehouse; some were jumping into the ball pit. Some were playing tug-of-war; some were singing at the karaoke. There were ponies chowing down on the cake, ice cream, nachos, and other refreshments that were being served.

Cheese was having a blast, playing his accordion and singing and dancing for the crowd. He happily took note of how they were bouncing to the beat and singing along, and added a few tricks to his act. He managed to cartwheel with his accordion still in his hooves, and did a back flip. When he landed on his back hooves, he leaned back far enough to look at the foal behind him upside-down, and made a silly face for the filly. When the filly giggled, he sprung back up and summoned several small balls to juggle with his tail.

Tomato, on the other hand, just hung back and munched on some pizza, watching the partygoers have their fun. He especially had his eyes on the colts and fillies running from activity to activity, shouting and laughing as they did so.

He didn't want to admit that he was a little envious of their carefree nature. The way that they just enjoyed the simple things in life, the freedom to be themselves, and sing and dance and play, and being loved by the adults in their lives. He especially was a little pleased to see some of the foals being encouraged by their parents to try an activity in the area.

He hadn't been as happy as those foals since he was eight. And even then, he never recalled either of his parents being like the ones he was seeing. These ponies were acting more along the lines of Bluejinx's mother.

He glanced at his brother, who was still being goofy to entertain the crowd. He sighed.

"How do you do it?" he mumbled.

Pinkie Pie suddenly popped up beside him. "Well, he's been doing it for years! He's got the party pony gig down! Of course, between you and me, his act needs a little polish."

Tomato blinked. "Huh? Uh, no, Pinkie, I'm just wondering how he can keep high spirits, despite the crud that he went through when he was a colt? Despite being alone all the time with only a rubber chicken for company? Despite me, his own brother, pretty much ruining his life until he threw me out of it?"

Pinkie gave him a funny look. "Tommy, don't say mean things about yourself."

Tomato scoffed. "Well, sorry, I'll apologize to myself."

Pinkie patted his head. "Yeah, you should do that. Because both Sandwich brothers are super duper! Cheese is the Super Duper Party Pony, and you are the Super Duper..." She looked at his cutie mark. "...uh, Business Pony? How did you earn your cutie mark?"

"Fundraiser."

"Were you happy to get it?"

"Well, yeah, I was excited to get it."

Pinkie clapped her hooves. "Goody! Because after all, if you're not happy with your cutie mark, then why'd you earn it?"

Tomato's ears drooped, and he looked at his cutie mark. Staring at it, he replied, "I, uh, guess I'm just glum because I'm just out of my niche and feel I just don't have a place here."

Pinkie patted his head again. "There, there, Tommy. It's only the first party on your trip, and I'm sure you'll find some way to help in the next party. And it's okay if you want to stop being super serious and enjoy the party." She pointed to the karaoke tent. "May I suggest the karaoke tent?"

Tomato was about to retort that he doesn't sing, but he was interrupted by, "Hey, Pinkie! You want to do the pie-eating contest?"

Pinkie gasped and bounced. "Boy, do I!"

She was about to run off, but paused to whisper, "And one more thing: the saddest ponies have the brightest smiles."

With that, she sped off to partake in some pies, while a confused Tomato just stood there. He sighed and shook his head. Taking the last bite of his pizza, he walked toward the karaoke tent, figuring that there was no harm in watching other ponies sing.

---

He didn't know how long he was there, but he found himself entranced by each song that was sung--with the exception of some of those who were just terrible singers. He recognized some of his favorite songs, and under his breath, he sang along.

"What's the matter with the carriage I'm pulling?
'Can't you tell that's it's out of style?'
Should I get a fresh white coat of paint?
'Are you gonna run a miracle mile?'"

All of a sudden, Cheese sat right next to him, and plopped a bowl of ice cream in front of him. Blinking, Tomato gave him a funny look, to which Cheese shrugged in reply.

"I'm full," he simply said. "You want it? That is... if you like the flavor."

Tomato stared at him for a moment, picked up the bowl, and replied, still singing along with the music:

"It's still rocky road to me."

And then he took a bite as Cheese snorted and laughed. Cheese put a hoof to his face and shook his head, muttering, "Okay, okay, that was good timing..."

Tomato rolled his eyes. "It was a lame joke. The ice cream will melt in embarrassment for me."

Cheese let a few more chuckles out, and then straightened up and exhaled. "Well, baby bro, the party's wrapping up, and we'll have to leave soon."

Tomato swallowed his bite of ice cream. "Is that so? We're not spending the night here?"

Cheese clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Tommy, Tommy, Tommy... I don't like taking advantage of a town's hospitality. I'm afraid that I'll get too comfortable, and spend more and more days there, when the rest of Equestria needs a party pony to come in and help with their big shindigs!" He leaned a little too close to Tomato's face. "Not every town is lucky to have their own party pony like Ponyville is."

"So you don't want to settle down."

"The road is my home, baby bro."

"Huh. So... how often do you visit?" Tomato asked, taking another bite of ice cream.

"Huh?"

"How often do you visit Ponyville?"

Cheese scratched his front leg. "Well... I visit every so often to catch up with Pinkie, that's all."

"You visit for Pinkie?"

"Of course, she's my friend. And her friends are my friends too."

Tomato stirred his ice cream. "And you don't have any other friends in any other towns?"

"I have a pal in Appleloosa. I know a magician. I know a few other party ponies in Equestria. My little brother is my friend, and I consider his friends my friends."

Tomato ate some more ice cream. "Aw, I feel so special. But not as special as your girlfriend, eh?"

Cheese's face flushed red. "Tomato! I thought you stopped calling her that!"

"Oh, you just love this place so much then," Tomato took another bite, and swallowed before continuing, "I bet that if you ever do decide to settle down, it'd be here, in this happy little small town, home to the one mare who inspires you, who you adore, and you will not allow anypony to speak ill of her name!"

Cheese pouted at him. "Oh, ha ha, you must think you're so funny. Look, just like you and Flora, Pinkie and I are completely pla--"

Suddenly, said mare jumped on him, hugging him tightly. "Thank you so much for coming and helping, Cheesy! I'm glad you came and celebrated my late birthday, anniversary of coming to Ponyville, and Thank You party! My friends told me just how much help you were!"

Then, without thinking, she planted a big smooch on Cheese's cheek, which made the stallion freeze up. Once Pinkie released him, he crumpled on the ground in a heap, delighted sighs coming from his mouth.

Pinkie blinked. "Cheese?"

Tomato looked over him. "I think you broke him." He sighed, set down his ice cream and stood up. "I'm not dragging him out of town. So, you have a spare couch or something?"

Author's Note:

And here's another chapter! And this is the last of the Ponyville arc, which was frankly longer than I intended. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable thing for me to write.

And the song that was playing at the karaoke (with altered lyrics, of course):

And you CheesePie fans may squeal now.

Comments

[scoots2]

Squeal!

No, that was utterly cute. And I like the way you're not letting it steal focus.

I hope Tommy starts loosening up a bit soon, and I can't wait to see where they go next!

[howard035]

I really like the flashback that gives us more insight into the Sandwich parents. I'm guessing for Ma Sandwich, her special talent is collecting Hummel figurines and other knicknacks. That or something to do with sand, because her name is Sandwich and she's a real w!tch. For Pa Sandwich, my guess for a special talent is... something that has nothing whatsoever to do with his life or job, that he hasn't been able to do since he got married.

[Drifting Heart]

One smack the sandwich parents two squeal with joy at the ship tease and three I love the references to the ponies Cheese has befriended in an tumblr blog and in other stories. You made me love Tommy I feel so sorry for him. his witch of a mother pretty much broke his spirit so he's having a hard time loosening up.

[SageBrony07]

I wonder that that mirror may due. I mean. Tommy and Cheese are both still in ponville. I am wondering what would happen if they fell through the mirror and talked to their other selves to sort out their problems. After all the best place to learn is to teach. I can't wait for the next chapter. Good job.

[Jordan179]

Rereading this, it's sad to see how Tomato's mom is crushing his joy at getting his Cutie Mark -- even though it's for something she values. And his dad doesn't even seem to care.

"It's still rocky road to me."

Brilliant reference dropping!

[HeyAreYouListening]

aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA OTPOTPOTPOTPTOTPOTP HGFEHGOIWH

OHMYGOSH

THIS FANFIC IS SO WELL WRITTEN

I FORGOT HOW ADORABLE THE CHEESYPIE BIT WAS

AND HOW GOOD EVERYTHING ELSE IS

[Dashie04]

Weird Al actually parodied that song, he parodied it as ‘It’s Still Billy Joel to Me’ but he thought it was a bit too mean-spirited, so he never released it. However, Billy Joel loves the parody and even performs it himself somtimes.

[Godslittleprincess]

Those two are going to have to talk about that day sooner or later.