Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

16.2--Welcome to a New Day

All eerie hoots and howls had been replaced with jovial twitters and chirps. The breeze rustled the green canopy of the forest, and the air smelled sweet with the scent of lilac. All water in the canyon gleamed under the rising sun, with the river calling out to the canyon's residents to come and drink. In one particular hollow, sunlight spilled into the barren tree where the Sandwiches slept, providing the peace and warmth that daybreak brings.

The room warmed enough for Tomato's tail to whip the poncho off his body, and the young stallion sat up with a good long stretch and a yawn. He rubbed his eyes awake, taking a look around at inside of the hollow tree he and his still-asleep brother occupied. While the simple bedding and the rock nightstand holding Rooney's memorabilia were nice enough, the walls and floor made him shrink a little bit.

Claw and bite marks marred them, scattered around every foot of the tree's inside. They were all nearly the same size, made by a creature that was roughly the size of a pony--perhaps larger--and could likely snap Tomato's neck with a swipe of the paw or the crunch of a jaw. Curiously, the scratches were smooth and sparse on Tomato's side, but were all gathered more heavily on Cheese's side, peeled and splintered like something had tried to attack him, but somehow didn't even come close to drawing blood. Then again, the marks were probably old.

Cheese was curled up into a ball, his bed being a circular nest around him for some reason. Still, no matter how long Tomato stared, it wasn't long before Cheese poked his muzzle up, loudly sniffing the air. Unrolling from his ball, Cheese stretched, scratched his ear with his hind leg, and yawned in quick succession before somersaulting to standing position. "Morning, Tommy. Do you smell that?"

Tomato took a sniff. "Smells like oatmeal."

"Oatmeal flavored with daisy petals, alfalfa leaves, and honey! I think our host's making us a nice breakfast and--" He wobbled and fell back to his haunches, clutching his head. "Ow... stood up too fast and now the head rush hurts..."

Tomato stood up and adjusted his crooked glasses, noting that he hadn't taken them off before falling asleep. "Sounds like it's medicine time."

Cheese rummaged through his mane. "Yeah... I don't want my head to feel like a drum all day and make me see stuff again... imagine if I saw somepony as something to eat, wouldn't that be something? They better hope I hallucinate them as sauerkraut..." After a few moments of rummaging, he looked up with wide eyes, and pulled at his mane when he couldn't find the pill bottle in there. "Where's my medicine?" He jumped up, and grabbed Tomato by the jacket. "Where's my medicine?!"

Tomato grimaced at the wince of pain on Cheese's face. "I don't know! I was out like a light since you laid me on the bed last night."

Cheese threw him down and started to pace back and forth, growling. "Well, this is just perfect! I get new medicine and already it's gone before we even have breakfast. Now the next party's going to be ruined because I'll be thinking that a dragon's chewing on my head!"

Tomato dusted off his jacket. "Calm down, calm down... maybe we could see if Rooney had seen anything."

Cheese blinked. "Oh, good idea. And maybe he'll share some of that oatmeal with us!"

"You seem a little too fixated on food right now."

"I'm hungry!"

Cheese followed his nose outside, his brother right behind him. They were led right to the cauldron under the stone canopy, where Rooney was stirring up the aforementioned oatmeal in the large, black pot. Tomato took a whiff of the hot cereal's aroma wafting around him, which was enough for his mouth to water and for hunger to gnaw at his stomach. Seeing the older stallion look up and tilt his head toward a long, flat rock behind him, he and Cheese went ahead and sat at the little stone table. Once there, Tomato watched as Cheese sunk his head and massaged it in hopes of shooing his headache away.

Rooney levitated a couple of bowls toward them. "Good morning, boys. Have a good night's rest?"

Tomato stared at his breakfast before dipping a tongue in to taste test. "Oh, yeah, I slept like a rock."

Cheese's head rubbing got to the point of stretching his face. "Me too... but I have a killer headache!"

"Oh, yeah, did you happen to see if anyone stole away into the hut and stole Cheese's medicine? He kind of needs that."

Rooney raised an eyebrow, and then chuckled. "Oh, that's right, I was studying it last night in order to brew an elixir to take care of that."

Cheese's head perked up. "You did what now?"

The unicorn turned to him. "You may not remember it, but you gave me permission to do so." He levitated the pill bottle from one of the nearby shelves and stuck it in Cheese's mane, with it sticking out like a shark fin in the ocean. He held a pout on his face, wondering how Cheese managed to store it there. "You may keep the bottle just in case I ended up mixing the wrong thing, but..."

He turned to the shelf once again and grabbed a vial of pink liquid, floating it over to Cheese. "I assure you, I know what I'm doing and you'll be well."

Tomato was in the middle of chewing the oat porridge, savoring the honey and plant additives that sweetened it. He paused to give Rooney a funny look, and eyed the vial with the bubbling liquid inside. For some reason, it looked like some sort of poison to him, even if it really wasn't and was just a simple potion. He couldn't help but feel like he was in the Kazam situation all over again--except with his brother as the unwitting victim.

Cheese, however, took the vial and smelled it carefully. "Whew, smells kind of like cotton candy... but I don't smell anything particularly dangerous in it."

Rooney chuckled. "Well, drink up--and drink it all, it won't work unless you drink every last drop."

Tomato watched as Cheese guzzled the entire thing in one fell swoop. Once again, he dreaded the possibility that that elixir was just a farce, or some kind of poison that would get Cheese physically sick or put him under a spell. That led him to wonder if that was the case and it was intentional, why didn't Rooney offer him any? Surely he wouldn't want any witnesses, right?

Cheese finished the elixir, licking his lips like a dog and letting out a hiccup. He rubbed his head, shoving the pill bottle deeper into his mane in the process, and remarked, "Oh, wow, it even tastes like cotton candy. And even better, my headache's gone already!"

Rooney nodded. "See? A fair combination of certain chemicals, potions, herbs, and magic can bring instant relief to any chronic pain."

Tomato raised an eyebrow. "Okay, what's the catch?"

The unicorn turned to him. "Oh, there's no catch. I'm simply helping because I like you boys, and a party pony not feeling well just breaks my heart. After all, my wife was one, and it saddened me whenever she was ill." He patted Tomato's head. "Now, eat your oatmeal, you two; you'll need as much strength as possible to make it to your destination on time."

Tomato looked at his oatmeal, now wondering if that was poisoned. If so, he was going to die because he was stupid enough to have already eaten some. The thought of it made his stomach churn.

Cheese blinked, leaned across the table to smell Tomato's bowl, and then sat back down with a soft glare at him. "Come on, Tomato, this guy helped us before, so he's not going to hurt us. Besides, I don't smell anything suspicious in it. It's just oats, daisy petals, alfalfa leaves, honey, a pinch of salt, water, and some cream!" He frowned. "Wait, where'd you get the cream, Rooney?"

"In town," Rooney said. "There's a nice dairy farm there."

Cheese smiled. "Nice." He turned to his bowl with greedy eyes. "Now..."

Tomato flinched when Cheese practically jumped into his bowl of oatmeal and gobbled it up. The older Sandwich looked a lot like a dog the way he was eating breakfast. The younger Sandwich didn't know if they were in that much of a hurry, but he might as well follow his brother's lead.

Tomato wasn't even halfway done when Cheese finished and asked, "So... are you going to finish that?"

---

Tomato made sure that his mane and tail were as slick and smooth as ever, as well as shaved his muzzle once again, while Cheese filled up his canteen with the water from the spring, since it was sweet even without the magical properties it gained under the full moon's light. After brushing their teeth and taking a drink, they trotted off, saying their goodbyes to Rooney.

The unicorn had been jotting something down in a journal as they left, a warm chuckle coming out of his throat. "Such nice boys."

Dipping his quill into his inkwell, he went back to writing, "The subject has taken the Alpha Elixir. It has successfully concealed the pain and should be adapting to his mind and the magic in his body soon. Though, I feel as if the vampire was onto me for a moment..."

---

Now that the pair were trotting through the canyon during the day, its beauty was more evident. Many shades of green hung from the branches above them, whether they be deciduous or coniferous. The scent of lilac filled the air, carried by the wind blowing past the ponies. In the nearby river, critters had come out for a morning drink. A couple of deer clothed in leaves and flowers looked up, and nodded at them in a warm greeting. One fawn even chirped a "Hello!" to them, to which they waved back.

They passed a treeless stretch in the canyon, bearing all sorts of flowers that held sparkling pollen. Bees and butterflies hopped from flower to flower, partaking of some of the sweet nectar it had to offer. Some animals wandered into the field, collecting some of the magical pollen and scurrying away, as if it was stealing some sort of treasure.

Several river crossings made for a splashy good time, at least on Cheese's end. Tomato was ready to grab a fish and slap Cheese with it every time he splashed him. On the other hoof, the younger brother had to admit to himself that the water was nice under the heat of the late July sun. The last crossing even had him splashing Cheese back, up until a river troll came along and threatened to eat them.

Tomato had staggered back when instead of pulling a trick like a joy buzzer or a pie to the face, Cheese outright bit the troll. When the troll ran off to nurse the resulting wound, Tomato was still staring in shock, while Cheese brushed it off and told him to forget about it.

It was nearly noon when they emerged from the canyon and headed to the town of Sorrelsteed. Now dry after their time in the river, they were ready to go out and find some lunch, and stuck with the path they still walked. The path winded between two farms, with one being the dairy farm that Rooney had mentioned, with cows lumbering around and talking with each other and some pony employees in picnics, and the other being a sheep farm, with the sheep sitting in circles with the shepherds and their dogs, apparently playing card games.

"...and now, I kind of regret not waking you up last night to drink some of that water!" Cheese cartwheeled, laughing as he did so. "I haven't felt this great since the beginning of the summer! I swear, it seems like the world was against us the entire trip so far."

Tomato rolled his eyes. "Oh, please, we've had plenty of ponies on our side. For example, a certain pink party pony friend of yours."

Cheese pouted to think for a moment, and immediately Pinkie Pie came to mind. Oh, sure, it seemed like she was trying to be his friend all right--he had a bunch of memories ending up in Ponyville somehow, and her being there to greet him. There was spotting her being entertainment for others when they were small, being a little impressed with her tricks. There was the birthaversary, where they worked together to throw her friend a birthday party. Sure, she sulked that day, but what did he care, she was too much like a whiny foal anyway. There was also that Fall Festival, where she stuck her muzzle into his and Tomato's family time that day and ruined everything. He wasn't even sure why he visited Ponyville in his down time; there wasn't really anything special about it aside from Princess Twilight. So... why was it--and that pink mare--so prevalent in recent memory?

"Yeah... I guess that Pinkie is an ally," he said coolly.

Tomato raised an eyebrow. "What? Okay, remember the three... four times this summer when we met up with her? You were pretty happy to see her all those times. You know, throwing Ponyville's appreciation party for her, going out on a walk with her while I recovered from the... Las Pegasus incident, fixing the Summer Sun fair, and of course, Ponyacci's anniversary, where you two were dancing. And now, all you say it that you 'guess she is an ally'? Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine." Cheese snorted on thinking of those times. What did she do to deserve an appreciation party anyway? And if it hadn't been for her yammering, the Summer Sun Fair wouldn't have been destroyed in the first place! And he should have done Ponyacci's anniversary by himself--he was the great clown's apprentice, not her! As far as he was concerned, she was nothing special.

"Do you have a headache? Because maybe that elixir stuff isn't working after all and you still need to take your medicine?" Tomato pouted in inquiry, though Cheese could tell there was an air of smugness around it.

"I said I'm fine," Cheese growled. He knocked on his head. "The noggin's not hurting, and hasn't hurt since this morning. Seriously, put more faith in magic, bro--maybe there's an elixir out there to wipe away your sour, whiny attitude."

"What? Hey!"

Cheese shrugged. "Or maybe you're just hungry, and a little cranky because the pangs are unbearable." He walked to the fence of the dairy farm and looked around the field. "Now, let's see if any of these cows or ponies know of a good place to... Great Gorgonzola! Is that who I think it is?"

When Tomato leaned on the fence beside him, Cheese pointed to one picnic blanket, with a couple of cows, their calves, and a cream-coated mare sitting atop it. The mare had her dark brown mane tied up in a bun, most likely for work, and her blue eyes were focused on her coleslaw. Her apron was covering her thin body just fine, and while she appeared taller than average for a mare, she didn't quite reach the cows' height.

Tomato narrowed his eyes and scratched his head. "Well, uh, she seems vaguely familiar... where did we see her before?"

Cheese stuck the tip of his hoof in his mouth and whistled. "Hey! Ice Cream!"

The mare, Ice Cream, perked up, and saw the two stallions at the face. With a gasp, she stood up and galloped over to them, skidding to a stop and then leaping up to her hind hooves with her front legs up in the air. "Cousin!"

Cheese pointed back at her. "Cousin!"

Tomato blinked. "Cousin? Ooooh, Ice Cream Sandwich!"

After a hoofbump between Cheese and Ice Cream, the mare asked, "What brings you to Sorrelsteed? There's no big parties being planned around here that I've heard about."

Cheese waved a hoof. "Nah, I'm just passing through, Creamy. I didn't even know you moved out."

Creamy stood proudly. "Well, there was a job opening here that came with boarding, and since it aligns with my talent, I decided that I should take it." She showed off her cutie mark, which was three scoops of ice cream stacked atop each other, in descending order of vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate. "Plus, in a way, I am kinda sorta an independent adult now."

"Good for you," Tomato said.

Creamy turned to him with a puzzled expression, and glanced at Cheese. "Cheese, who's your friend?"

Tomato gave her a half-lidded look. "You don't recognize me?"

Creamy scratched her chin. "Maybe? You kind of look like Cheese's brother, but I'm not so sure... his hair is curly."

Cheese nudged him, knowing that her seeing the curls would confirm his identity. He didn't have to do it twice, for Tomato sighed and yanked his forelock, and his mane popped into its natural curls once again. Almost immediately after, Creamy gasped.

"So it is Tommy!" She squealed and clapped her hooves. "I'm so happy to see you two getting along again! You ended your big fight?"

Cheese raised an eyebrow and said, "I assure you, there's no quarrel between us. We're having a summer vacation together, aren't we?"

"Nice. I bet your and your little brother have been catching up a lot." She scanned Tomato up and down, her hoof to her chin. "Well, you're not so little anymore, Tommy; in fact, you're tall. Wow, is Peanut Butter going to throw a fit when he discovers that you grew taller than him. I know he did when he found out Cheese beat him in the height department years ago, and even when I did."

Tomato stifled laughter. "Are you saying he's short?"

Creamy nodded. "Well, yeah, he is. Sports magazines mentioned it all the time when he first started playing in the big leagues."

"Wait, he's a professional sports star?"

"Yeah, basketball."

Tomato turned and scowled at Cheese. "Why didn't you tell me that?"

Cheese shrugged. "I assumed you knew, considering he's appeared on magazines and newspapers."

"Well, I don't read the sports section!"

"Okay, you two, no need to fight over this. I'm still just surprised that that's Tommy... he's just so different now..." Creamy gestured to her cow friends on the picnic blanket. "Come, have lunch with us! I'd like to catch up with you two, and my friends would definitely like to hear any stories you've got."

---

In less than a half hour, all the coleslaw and biscuits, the daisy and lettuce sandwiches (and much to the brothers' horror, Creamy's sauerkraut sandwich), and the peanut butter chocolate chip cookies had been devoured. It felt odd for Tomato to be talking with cows, but they were friendly beings, and had their own funny stories to tell. He especially laughed at the story of the protesters that accused the pony farmers of stealing the cows' milk, especially since they knew nothing of dairy farming. After some chuckle-worthy stories, the cows got up, off to prepare for resuming work.

Cheese was a little too busy gobbling up his food to really talk. Even if it did taste a little bland for some reason, he still stuffed it in his mouth and chewed as fast as he could. That prompted an odd look from Creamy, who stated, "Whoa, slow down, Cheese! I'm the one who's on break and has to resume work soon."

Cheese swallowed that bite and retorted, "You should eat faster. You never know when some crook will steal your food."

After having his fill, Cheese laid back on the blanket, and watched the two calves--having also finished their lunch--frolic around the field in a game of tag. He had to smile at how cute the little ones were. The little mooing laughter, the kicking up of dandelion fluff, their tails like a whip, the jiggling of the already thick flesh of their bodies... that last one Cheese was especially focused on, and he couldn't help but admire the healthy weight that was thick enough to sink teeth into.

"So, where are you guys headed?" Creamy asked.

Cheese snapped out of his trance, and sat up. "Oh, we're on our way to Seaddle. Don't worry, we'll make time to visit your folks."

"Oh! Your next party's in Seaddle, huh? I wonder if it's that charity concert that Mom and Dad volunteered to help set up at the park."

Tomato perked up at the sound of that. "Charity concert?"

Creamy nodded. "Yep! From what I hear, artists like Countess Coloratura, The Piano Ponies, and Snapdragon Apple will be there! Plus, there are opportunities for Seaddle youngsters to show off their musical talents. My parents say that it's going to be a lot of fun--and with Cheese Sandwich there, it'd definitely be double!"

Cheese puffed up his chest. "I do have a way of making things epic."

Creamy nodded happily. "They invited me, since they know I'm a fan of the Countess and the Piano Ponies... not so much Snapdragon Apple." She crossed her forelegs and rolled her eyes. "I hear he's got the ever-macho 'swag'... and I really don't like 'swag'." She stuck her tongue out in disgust and looked at Tomato. "And scarily enough, Tommy, you look a lot like him--except you look classy, and that's honestly a whole lot better."

"Oh, please, just because he's the same colors as me doesn't mean we look exactly alike," Tomato said. "I hear he's got a schtick of changing his eye color every time he appears. Nopony knows what his real eye color is, but I bet it's something embarrassing."

Creamy sighed. "But, regardless of that guy, I'm excited to see the other artists."

Cheese grinned. "Maybe I'll finally show the Countess the parody of one of her songs I wrote." He crossed his front legs and rolled his eyes. "If her stupid manager doesn't get in the way again..."

Tomato put a hoof to his mouth. "What are your parents doing for the concert anyway, Ice Cream?"

"Oh, they're working on the fireworks," Creamy said. "Mixing up certain elements to make certain colors, you know?"

"Oh, right..." Cheese grinned and rubbed his hooves together. "Say, you know what would be cool? Fruit-flavored fireworks!"

Creamy tilted her head. "What?"

Cheese nodded. "Yeah! One time, Tomato read a book about failed inventions and recalled products. It was the story about exploding soda that gave me the idea. And, well, since both your parents have talents in chemistry, I thought they could make it."

"Uh... as cool as that sounds, is that even possible? My parents are great chemists, no doubt, but I don't think even they could do it."

Cheese smiled and patted Creamy's head. "Oh, don't you worry, my cousin, I have a lot of faith in them."

Author's Note:

When not under the full moon and doing that creepy ghost thing, Sorrel Canyon is one of the most beautiful places in Equestria.

As another note, we at last get to meet the extended family of the Sandwiches. And first on the roster is Ice Cream Sandwich, the sweet dairy farmer cousin that makes friends with cows over other ponies. We'll get to her parents when we get to Seaddle in the next chapter--but not her brother, Peanut Butter, who's not going to appear until after Seaddle (he lives elsewhere).

Cheese's thoughts about Pinkie here should be a BIG red flag.

Comments

[superfun]

I don't know if at this point I'd rather this arc be one of the shorter ones or one of the longer ones based on what's happened so far.

[Goldfinch142]

...not so much Snapdragon Apple.
"And scarily enough, Tommy, you look a lot like him--except you look classy, and that's honestly a whole lot better."

Hey, look! It's Tommy Fresh!
65.media.tumblr.com/31fd04f096164e04e9c3ae48fc387d8d/tumblr_o6ejnbE08J1sukofyo1_1280.png

Those scratch marks are worrying. At least he won't actually turn into a werewolf for another month. Oh no, he'll just bite people and act like a dog...but at least he won't go full-wolf super saiyan on them.

I would love fruit-flavored fireworks. And if anyone can do it, the chemist couple can.

Wow. With each memory removal, Cheese's opinion of Pinkie gets lower and lower. What's next, will he outright hate her guts?

[KawaiiShadow]

Wait! is cheese turning into a vampire?

[SageBrony07]

Great chapter. It seems like Cheese is fixed. or is he? Only future chapters will tell.

[redmar]

I wonder how long it will take until the situation with Cheese's memories is fully resolved.
Tomato is also suspicious of what's going on.

[Princess rosa]

Okay is it weird that I straight up want to kick cheese's flank now for saying that stuff about pinkie? imagine if he just said that stuff to her face and she be all sad and heartbroken and run off crying and he sees her friends glaring at him for saying all that stuff and Tommy be all like 'Dude that wasn't cool.'

[ChaoticKindness]

I'm catching up on this story, and holy crap I did not see werewolf Cheese coming

I'm really loving how intense things are getting with Cheese

[The Wind King]

If this story doesn't include a Vampire vs. Werewolf slobber knocker, beatdown, drag out, brawl I will be most disappointed.

Also, what's been up with all the genre blindness so far? Cheese I accept, he's suffering from psychomancy, and recently Manchurian candidate style enthralling, but Tomato really should be putting at least some puzzle pieces together.

[Dashie04]

You’re sure great at writing villans, you make me hate them with a burning passion.

[Godslittleprincess]

Oh boy, I REALLY don't like where this is going.