Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

17.2--Voices of Unreason

After what seemed like an eternity of sweating inside a musty bag, Tomato was finally rolled out onto a soft carpet. Once he was free, he gasped for a breath of fresh air, only for his exhale to come out as a hiss at the very next pony he saw. Said pony jumped when he did that, as well as his minions. Seeing their fright brought at least a smidgen of satisfaction from Tomato. He didn't even care that it almost seemed like he was looking in a mirror, save for clothing; whoever decided to kidnap him this time was not getting off scot-free.

"Whoa, dude!" his apparent twin said, keeping his sunglasses perched on his face. "Chill, there's no need to get all hissy."

"Oh, there is a need for it!" Tomato said, hopping to his hooves and looking around. He took in the shag carpeting that was all shades of white and yellow, the mirror and bean bag chairs, and the dressers in the small dressing room he occupied. He looked straight back at his doppelganger, who were a black shirt, green jacket, and had a wavy mane. "Mind telling me what this is all about?"

The doppelganger silently shooed away his bodyguards, who quickly left the room. Once the two were alone, he slung a front leg over Tomato's shoulder. "Okay, so, hi, name's Snapdragon Apple, handsome stallion heartthrob of the music industry, feel free to call me 'Snap'. How ya doin'?" He grinned and offered a hoof for him to shake.

Tomato swatted the hoof away. "Name's Tomato Sandwich, business student that frankly has no business being in here. Seriously, why'd you kidnap me?"

Snap shook his head. "Yeesh, grouchy. Anyway, it's kind of hard to go out when you're mobbed by preteen and adolescent fillies. I wanted to meet my lookalike, and I didn't want to attract any attention when I did."

"You could have ended up attracting police attention, you know."

Snap broke away and started to pace around Tomato. "I have to say... getting a closer look at you makes our twin-ness even freakier than it was when I saw you yesterday on that train. Same coat color, same hair color, same build, same face shape... like, wow, how is that even possible when we don't even have the same parents?" His mouth sunk into a horrified frown. "Unless we were separated at birth."

"Oh, please, I'm entirely certain that I'm not adopted. My brother could give you a couple of key details about the day I was born."

"Okay, I gotcha. Now, why don't you relax? Those bean bags are made for sitting, ya know!"

Tomato fell back and plopped on a bean bag, crossing his front legs. "I was relaxed until you kidnapped me."

Snap stopped and leaned on one of his shorter dressers. "You're not going to let that go, are you? Don't worry, I'll give you back when we're done getting to know each other." He examined his hoof. "So, I heard you singing on the train. Awesome voice, nearly as awesome as mine."

Tomato's head sunk into his shirt. "Uh, thanks."

"So, were you planning on being part of the amateur acts in this charity concert?"

Tomato scoffed and laughed. "Ha! As if. I don't really like singing in public, not to mention..." He leaned in the bean bag just enough to show Snap his cutie mark. "...this isn't exactly a mark denoting a talent in showbiz."

Snap scratched his chin, briefly glanced at his own mark--a microphone with its top part replaced by an apple and surrounded by stars--and asked, "If you don't like singing in public, why were you singing on that train? That's kind of public, you know."

Tomato grimaced and blushed. "Er... sometimes strong emotions make it come out. I was caught up in fanboy glee because I hadn't heard that song for the longest time." He shook his head. "Regardless, I'm not all that fond of it when I remember I'm surrounded by other ponies."

"Awww, sounds like you might be the type to serenade a lover," Snap snickered. "So, not part of the show, huh?"

Tomato shrugged. "Eh, my brother will be because he's Cheese Sandwich. I'm content sitting on the sidelines."

Snap blinked. "Wow, you must be the luckiest pony on the planet to have such an amazing brother... but enough beating around the bush, you're going to forget about sitting on the sidelines this time, Tomster."

"Tomster? That's new." It took a moment for him to process the rest of that sentence. "Wait, what are you suggesting, Snapdragon?"

Snap slid over to him. "Ever wonder what it's like to be a famous pop star like moi? Well, I'm giving you a chance to live that life for a couple of days and indulge in the sweet, sweet perks that the high life brings to a pony. Trust me, you'll love it."

Tomato leapt out of the beanbag and onto a dresser. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Are you suggesting we switch places? Are you out of your mind?!"

Snap held up a hoof. "I know, I know, our cutie marks will give it away--but, I assure you, I have special stamps that'll disguise those marks with another, and nopony will suspect a thing! Plus, I've got this really cool crystal technology that--"

"Okay, no, no." Tomato took a sharp inhale through his nostrils and pushed the bridge of his glasses hard between his eyes. "You said that you'll release me when we got to know each other."

"Well... yeah." Snap shrugged casually. "What better way to get to know each other than by walking in each other's horseshoes?"

Tomato grit his teeth and twitched his eyebrow. "Why the hay are you even doing this? You're outright avoiding participating in the concert! Do you have something against charities?"

Snap waved his hooves and replied panickedly, "No, no, it's not that at all! It's just... I kind of blew my voice out the other day."

Tomato blinked. "Really?"

Snap bit his lip and nodded sheepishly. "Family get-together. Sang karaoke. Unfortunately landed on a heavy metal song with lots of screaming." He shook his head just a tiny bit. "Not my genre."

He started to pace around the room. "The doctor told me that my voice wouldn't be back to normal for a few days, and I lied to my manager about how my voice was this morning! I'm lucky enough that my speaking voice sounds normal, but my singing still sounds gravelly and squeaky when it's supposed to be rich and smooth! I'd demonstrate, but singing would only prolong my ailment... and now, I'm stuck with the possibility of canceling this gig and letting my fans in Seaddle down!" He jumped forward and grabbed Tomato by the shirt. "You've got to help me!"

Tomato pushed him away. "No. Take it like an adult and let the concert organizers know that you can't do it. I'm not about to switch identities, even temporarily, to help somepony I barely even know. Especially if it's likely to land me in trouble if anypony finds out I'm not actually you!"

Snap twirled one of his jacket's drawstrings. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Not even if I pay you?"

Tomato pursed his lips and looked away. "Well, no..."

"Really? I could pay you a handsome sum of bits if you help me."

Tomato twiddled his hooves. On the one hoof, he always told himself that he wouldn't accept bribes for looking the other way for an immoral action or even doing one. After all, money may be his talent, but he wasn't the personification of greed. And whether or not this particular situation was immoral, it was still going to put him in a situation where he'd be uncomfortable, and probably tarnish this pony's name.

On the other, he would never know when he and Cheese would be in a situation where they owed somepony or some organization bits. What if Cheese had another incident landing him in the hospital? What if one of them wound up in jail and needed to be bailed out? And surely it could be used to take care of the already existing hospital bill in Salt Lick City--he didn't want Flora's family to handle that on their own. As much as Cheese loved to rough it, there were still possible incidents that would require some bits on hoof to help them out.

And if it didn't come to that... well, it'd be a lot of help with his tuition, and it'd be easier to move out of Manehattan once he finished school.

Still, he couldn't help but feel like that this would end in disaster. The battle with the Flim Flam Brothers back in Halterside came to mind, and he cringed at how that ended in humiliation for not only him, but Cheese as well. Tomato wasn't sure if he wanted to ruin a singer's career with his inhibitions--even if he was miffed about the whole kidnapping thing.

But when it came down to situations that Cheese's party pony powers couldn't cover, better safe than sorry. Besides, it wasn't like anypony would know it was Tomato Sandwich on that stage, and maybe he could get himself sufficiently excited enough to not care that he was being watched.

Then again... he didn't even know any of Snapdragon's songs!

Snap tapped his hoof. "So..."

Tomato gulped. Why was this decision harder than it needed to be?

---

"Aw, come on, Svengallop!" Cheese complained. "I'm sure that she'll enjoy the parody. She has expressed that a song parody by Cheese Sandwich is a badge of honor, and well, I couldn't leave a friendly acquaintance of mine hanging."

At the picnic table they sat at, Svengallop slurped at his barley smoothie, casually looking away from Cheese. He kept an eye on Coloratura, who was signing autographs of stallion, mare, and foal alike at the pavilion, giving them uplifting words and her trademark "hoofsies" in the process. She was flanked by a couple of bodyguards, who were eyeing each fan suspiciously.

Svengallop smacked his lips after his swig. "Oh, sure, defiling the Countess' image with your mockery is something to be proud of."

Cheese groaned. "Come on, nopony else complained when I poked fun at them... okay, one guy did, but there was a misunderstanding involved and we worked that out. I don't really see what the problem is--Coloratura's a tough mare, she can handle a little teasing."

Svengallop sucked up the last of his smoothie. "Yes... a little teasing..." He stood up and trotted to the nearest trash can, which was a ways away enough for Cheese to follow him. "But, the outright mockery of everything that I put into to make sure she has a fantastic image, the possibility of said parody being more well-known than the original, the Countess being treated like a joke instead of a serious, hard-working musician..."

Once he reached the bin, he turned all the way around to glare at Cheese and drop the cup straight in. "Clearly, you don't know how to take anything seriously. So, no, that little parody of yours shall not see the light of day."

Cheese growled. "Well, maybe you just take things too seriously."

Svengallop laughed and pulled at Cheese's cheek. "You're just too cute and naive. Ponies outgrow cute novelties like you. Now, since you're helping with the organization of this charity concert, I hope you'll ask for me where I can try some of Seaddle's delicious seaweed--"

Cheese grabbed him by the maroon tie, and yanked at it to choke him. Now that the only sounds that came out of Svengallop's mouth were those of strained half coughs and squeaky groans, Cheese pulled him to his face. Muzzle to muzzle with the annoyance, Cheese mocked in his low voice, "Oh... so you dismiss me simply because I'm a cute novelty. Oh, ho ho, that's adorable."

Cheese then slammed him to a tree and pinned him. The glasses had flown off Svengallop's face, making the terror in his eyes all the more apparent. He snarled, "Listen here, you little pig! I have been traveling around Equestria to throw parties for ponies for over a decade! I was a literal cute kid when I started, and let me tell you that I haven't been outgrown! Parties are an art, and I've evolved in a way no other party pony has in order to please everyone I ever meet! So, don't tell me that I don't know anything about entertainment! Besides, the other musicians I've covered are still well-known with their songs, so stop being such a stuck-up and paranoid meatbag!"

Cheese dropped him at the base of the tree. "Now, go ask about that seaweed stuff yourself. I'm not your servant."

He turned around and stomped away, leaving Svengallop to scramble to his hooves and scurry away. Cheese grumbled about how annoying that manager still was. How a nice mare like Coloratura had that little nuisance as a manager was beyond him, and he was almost sorry that Svengallop wasn't an actual pig, because he definitely would have made for a nice pork chop.

He idly looked to a pony playing with his dog, and was about to continue on his way, but the shout of "Go get it!" had him stop in his tracks, and involuntarily wag his tail. The moment the frisbree sailed over his head, Cheese didn't hesitate to chase it, his scowl having transformed into a grin.

He looked up at the frisbee, slicing through the air. His hooves carried him in his pursuit of the disc, leaving the competing dog in the dust. Closer and closer he galloped, nearing the toy, and he geared his legs for a great leap to catch it.

Unfortunately, he crashed into his brother, who had been taking a walk around the park.

Now with both in a heap, Cheese watched in dismay as the dog bolted past them and claimed the frisbee for his prize. The pony's shout of "Good boy!" threw salt in the wound. He got up, dusted himself off, and glared at Tomato.

"Sheesh, watch where you're going, Tomato!" he scolded.

Tomato blinked and scrambled to his hooves. "I was watching where I was going! I wasn't the one chasing a frisbee."

Cheese rolled his eyes. "You could have had the common courtesy of stepping aside and letting me catch it."

"Err..." Tomato shook his head. "Okay. Okay, it's Cheese Sandwich, don't question it."

Cheese tilted his head. "Eeyeah... but you're Tomato Sandwich, you can't help but question everything I do. It gets a little annoying, so I appreciate you actually learning not to do that." He leaned forward and sniffed him, only to snort and rub his nose. "Goshdarn my nose..."

"Uh, your nose?"

Cheese idly squished it, wincing from the sting. "Don't play dumb, you know I'm the example for how not to smell chemicals."

"Oh! I, uh--" Tomato stood stiffly, in a more unnatural manner than usual. "Oh, I was just wondering why you tried to smell me?"

Cheese shrugged. "Dunno. I guess everything just smells nicer here for my nose to act like this."

Tomato said flatly, "I smelled pee in one neighborhood."

At that moment, Creamy came on the scene, trying to carry a large table with both her head and her tail. She swayed and stumbled side to side in her walk, nervously trying to keep the table balanced. Swaying to one side had her nearly drop the table before she managed to right herself, only to tip to the other and have to right herself again. Her forward movements were mostly in zigzag, and passersby would give her space and gasp with each of her tips.

Cheese sped to his cousin's side and grabbed the table. "Whoa, there, missy! What are you doing trying to carry this by yourself?"

Creamy huffed and puffed. "Oh... just... I carry heavy stuff... at work... all the time..." She took a deep breath. "I thought I could handle this big table by myself!"

"Well, it's kind of hard to keep balance when you're just one skinny pony." He smiled and slid to her side to ease her burden. "Two skinny ponies could be enough." He looked up at Tomato. "But let's make it three just to be safe. Come on over, Tommy!"

He pouted curiously when he noticed that Tomato was staring at Creamy with wide eyes and a slack jaw. Thinking that odd, Cheese glanced at Creamy to see what was so different about her that Tomato was so shocked about. He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, and he didn't get why their cousin carrying a table was so shocking. He thought of one other option, but the familial relation obviously ruled that one out.

Cheese cleared his throat. "Hey! Are you going to help our cousin or not?"

Tomato's ears perked up in surprise. "Oh! Uh, sure! Imma help our cousinly cousin carry the table."

He sheepishly slunk toward them and took his place on the other side of Creamy, biting his lip nervously. The three set off to where the stage was, with Creamy telling them that she was going to give out homemade ice cream to the patrons not too far from the concert. She rambled on about her ice cream making skills in the bubbliest of manners, leaving Cheese nodding and Tomato entranced with her cheer.

As they passed by the pavilion that the Countess was meeting her fans, Creamy gasped. "The Countess! In the flesh!"

Cheese chuckled. "Yep, that's her all right. Once we're done with the table, I'll have you meet her."

As Creamy squealed, Cheese looked back at the Countess and her many, many fans. After scanning that crowd, he ended up in eye contact with Svengallop. The bored manager had turned paler than normal upon seeing Cheese, and scooted behind a bodyguard for safety. Cheese narrowed his eyes, and a snarl rumbled from his throat.

"Bruh, what's with the growling?" Tomato said.

Cheese snorted. "Nothing. Let's just carry the table."

Tomato forced a big smile. "Okay, yeah, sure! Just carrying the table with my cousinly cousin and brotherly brother! Nothing all too wrong and creepy about such a simple task..." He started to pant. "Dang this table's heavy..."

Creamy rolled her eyes. "It's not that heavy. Just use your tail."

The other pony's eye twitched. "Tail?"

---

Unbeknownst to Cheese and Ice Cream Sandwich, Tomato was not with them.

Instead, he was still in Snapdragon Apple's trailer, sitting in a fluffy chair and staring at himself in the mirror. The image he saw was not normally his, but was instead borrowed for a short time, he hoped. A green hoodie instead of his brown suit jacket, a black tee instead of his white button shirt, sunglasses instead of his eyeglasses, and wavy locks instead of a mane slicked straight. The only thing that remained of Tomato was the Sandwich forelock, which he had tried in vain to hide, only for it to pop back up like it always did. Now he just had to come up for an excuse for it being there instead of it parted in the middle.

"I cannot believe I agreed to this," he grumbled. "Of all the insane incidents I've been involved in this summer, this one I had the most power to stop! My stupid forelock's going to give me away because it won't cooperate."

He slumped in the chair, letting his tail make the seat rotate. Each mishap from the summer came to mind, from the bats in Ponyville to Cheese the Candy Cannon Commando in Salt Lick City, and he was reminded that the summer wasn't over. In fact, looking over to the calendar, he could see that it was almost August.

"I wonder what'll happen after this," he mumbled. "Whatever happens, I probably could make up my own parody with them..."

As he continued to slowly turn in the chair, he sang, "We didn't start the fire... it was always burnin' since the world was turnin'..."

He fell out of his seat when a grinning, bespectacled, gold-furred stallion in a suit burst into the room, shouting, "Am I hearing you practicing for the charity concert? Oh, I'm hearing you practice all right! Granted, it's advisable to practice with your own songs and keep a glass of water handy, but still!"

He laughed heartily, prompting Tomato to grab the chair and use it for a fort. But, the older stallion grabbed him and squeezed him. "I'm so happy you recovered from the karaoke incident... then again, you always have a way of bouncing back from the tough things!"

Tomato could barely choke out, "Uh... gee, thanks."

He was placed face-to-face with what was clearly Snap's manager, and stole a glance at the name tag on the suit jacket, which was Dandelion Burst. Given the guy's coat, fluffy white mane, brown eyes behind large lenses, and lanky figure, Tomato thought that the name fit. Heck, even personality-wise, it seemed to fit.

"My son, do you know how happy your mother would be that you're participating in a concert for charity?" Dandelion Burst asked.

Tomato blinked. Snap's manager is his father too? Why didn't he mention this? Nevertheless, he replied, "Oh... I'm sure that she'll be very happy that I'm doing this." My actual mom wouldn't like me doing this, nor would Snap's mom appreciate the deception.

Dandelion Burst sniffled and wiped his eye. "Yes... she would've loved it." He stood up and said, "Now, we're going to go out and meet your fans, so I'm here to make sure that you're in tip top shape for the meet and greet! Okay, what contacts are you using today?"

Tomato lowered the sunglasses, showing off his green eyes.

"Ooh, green! Nice. Now, to see what we can do about that forelock..."

As Dandelion reached forward, Tomato pushed the hoof aside and said, "I'm, uh, trying a new look! Yeah, the, uh, Cheese Sandwich forelock has always fascinated me, and I thought that I could see how it looks on me!"

Dandelion sighed and shook his head. "I think it looks ridiculous... but, if you say so..." He perked up. "Oh, that reminds me! Cheese Sandwich is going to be there, and you'll finally get the chance to meet him!"

Tomato forced a grin. "Really? Awesome."

Hearty nodded, and then recoiled in disgust at the smile. "My stars! Your teeth!"

Tomato blinked. "What about them?"

"You can't go out with your teeth looking like that!" He came in close and whispered, "Have you been using a toothbrush?"

Tomato licked his teeth, noting how smooth they felt and how little plaque there was on them. He didn't think that they were that bad, and he at least brushed as often as he could on this trip. "Uh... yes? And I floss too."

Dandelion gasped. "Oh, no no no! You can't be reduced to a simple toothbrush, son!" He rushed over to the wardrobe and opened it, starting to rummage through it. "You know you're supposed to use the Whitening Gun every day!"

Tomato's heart stopped. "Uh... Whitening Gun?"

Not a second later, Dandelion heaved a large, hoofheld cannon thing that had the image of a smiling tooth plastered on the side. Tomato was shocked in how that was used for cleaning Snap's teeth, and wondered how that didn't knock any teeth out. His jaws hurt just looking at it.

Cocking it, Dandelion smiled and said, "That was a close call, wasn't it?" He aimed straight for Tomato's face. "Now, say 'cheese'..."

Tomato grinned nervously, hoping his brother would hear him when he said, "Cheese..."

Author's Note:

I am so sorry for taking so long with this one! Got busy with Halloween, and then I got sick. And I mean terribly sick. Heck, I still kind of feel like garbage. I'm just lucky enough that I managed to get the energy to do the Birthday Bios and write this thing. November's not being kind to me...

Anyway, I admit, I had a bit of trouble trying to decide what the Seaddle plot should be--I just figured it out relatively recently, and hopefully I'll be able to pull off this switch (at least it's not an actual body swap like Cheese and Celestia was--just a Prince and Pauper sort of thing).

Also... I was so excited to do that ending joke, but again, couldn't jump into it sooner for the above reasons.

Comments

[Goldfinch142]

Well, at least Snap seems to be nicer than Tommy Fresh.

Still, he can't keep up the ruse forever. Neither can Tommy. Soon enough, they'll say or do something too suspicious, be found out, and everything will come crashing down. But they can at least have some fun first.

Even if Snap did develop feelings for Creamy, looking and sounding like a carbon copy of her cousin would make things more than a little weird.

Ouch. Just...ouch. I can't imagine how it must feel to be shot in the mouth by a gun every day, even a Whitening one. How would that even work?

[SageBrony07]

Good idea for the arc here. It seems like tommy is going to taste the good life

[howard035]

Cheese is an unaware wolf.

[Sketcha-Holic]

9112594
I don't know whether to laugh or to cringe at that pun.

[Godslittleprincess]

Oh boy, this won't end well.