Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

17.6--Sing Your Heart Out

As soon as the police arrived and took Midnight Bell and Dusk Knight away (and got the Countess down from the stage roof), the group of those who were in the know about Tomato and Snap's switch were gathered behind the stage away from everyone else. The show went on, with another grunge act keeping the audience captivated while the group took a breather from the kidnapping attempt--as well as shoving the two lookalike stallions into the trap room below the stage and making them swap back into their own outfits. Cheese and Dandy leaned beside the door on opposite sides, while Creamy helped the Countess fix her wig and outfit, though there wasn't much she could do about smeared makeup.

After a few minutes, the two stallions came back out in their own garb, with Snap pulling at his own shirt and grumbling, "Why the hay is there tree sap on this vest? Well, at least I'm not putting too much effort in trying to keep the stupid forelock up anymore."

Dandy and Cheese turned to face their respective charges, and said charges winced at the glares resting on them. With both sighing at the same time, they said in unison, "We know, we know... our switch could have ruined the show."

Cheese nodded. "Correct. After all, Tomato, a good singer you may be, but a performer you are not. Even if you hadn't broken down from extreme stage fright, I don't doubt that you'd trip all over yourself like you did in Halterside! The only reason Snap could pose as you for so long is because Acorn, Cocoa, and Creamy don't really know you. I'm surprised Dandy didn't suspect anything when you were posing as Snap."

Dandy shook his head. "Ponies always said I was a bit of an airhead... Snap, why must you get yourself into these situations? You could have just told me that your throat wasn't completely healed!"

Snap rubbed the back of his head. "I didn't want to disappoint my fans by canceling my appearance... I mean, me, blowing my voice out? After building up the image of being Mr. Invincible, with eyes that change color, for so long?" He lowered his sunglasses to show off his one gold eye, squeezing the other eye shut. After readjusting his sunglasses, he sighed, "But, I guess I did end up disappointing them after all."

"Ah, Tomato disappointed them for you," Cheese growled. "The sheer fact that he only agreed to this insane plot out of greed absolutely disgusts me! I should have known that he'd have a mind for profit. Thanks for taking advantage of the pitfalls of his special talent, Snap!"

A couple of curls popped out of Tomato's mane. "Listen, Cheese, the only reason my talent has ever been acting up is because I was trying to help ponies! I wanted to help Silver Shill pay his sister's medical bills, I wanted to help shave off Silk Shimmer's debt, and I wanted to help that town convince that ski committee that it was a good area for ski business! I know that this time what I did was stupid, but the only reason I even wanted to get that money was just in case of any emergencies like, say, your freakin' mind going haywire again!"

Cheese snorted. "Emergencies? Puh, it's not like bits can do what party pony magic can do."

"For goodness' sake, stop thinking that you're invincible!" Tomato grabbed Cheese's foreleg and pointed to the bandages wrapping it. "This is proof that you're not! Nopony is!"

Snap jumped in between them. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, time out! You two are getting a little bit too tense, and I think it's scaring the ladies over there."

Creamy paused in cleaning off Coloratura's makeup and turned to raise an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're not just covering for your own apprehension? You seemed pretty scared of Cheese last night."

"After what happened on the roof, I can see why," Coloratura mumbled. She looked up and said, "I'm surprised you didn't think of lip-syncing first. That's usually anyone's first thought when they blow out their voice."

Tomato gave her a funny look. "I'm disturbed that you say that so casually."

Then, Svengallop came suddenly galloping to the area. "Me oh my, Countess! You scared me half to death with that stunt! I was expecting you to go flying into a tree and getting sap and leaves and pine needles all over your clothes!" He pushed Creamy aside, much to the mare's annoyance, and examined the outfit himself. "Oh, dear, your makeup's gone, you've got roof dust on you and you don't glimmer as much!"

"Sven, calm down, I'm not horribly injured," Coloratura said. "The most I have is a few bruises."

He ignored her and leaned to the side to look past her at Dandy. "You're Snapdragon's manager! Can you explain why your kid is crazy?!"

Dandy shook his head. "I don't know where he gets his outlandish ideas. Sure, his mother did have crazy ideas, but not to this extent..."

Cheese rolled his eyes. "Heh, ponies would say that crazy runs in my family, too."

Svengallop cringed and backed up. "I had no idea it could be genetic. Please don't reproduce."

Dandy sighed. "But, to be fair, most of the crazy stuff that happened was due to certain fans trying to kidnap our charges. We're lucky that they finally got caught, even if they unfortunately had to have their wings broken to catch them..."

Cheese huffed. "That was just a side effect of trying to pin them down."

Tomato grimaced, thinking of how Cheese looked when he finally saw him on the roof. He had a feeling that there was more to it than that, but he didn't dare bring it up now--somepony might get the wrong idea! So, he tried to will away the thought with a poor excuse of Cheese probably not having enough sleep the night before.

Svengallop scooted behind Coloratura, eyeing Cheese suspiciously for a moment before continuing with an upturned nose, "Well, this whole thing started because a certain young stallion artist got stage fright. I have to admit, it's pitiful to see that the colt is truly putting on some bravado, leading everyone into thinking that he's some sort of hotshot on the music scene before he inevitably chokes. Maybe it's just as well that an Apple doesn't belong in the spotlight unless it's some dirty rodeo."

Coloratura nudged him. "Hey, I was friends with an Apple."

With a redder-than-normal face, Snap leapt forward and yelled, "Oh, so you think that I don't have what it takes?! That I can't handle the spotlight? That that one panic attack I had wasn't just because of built-up stress from the past week? Well, screw you, I'll show you that Snapdragon Apple means business! I'm getting back on that stage, and blowing that audience away! I guarantee that I sure as Tartarus don't need any fancy lights and fireworks to get that applause!"

Dandy gasped. "Snapdragon!"

Coloratura stared at him wide-eyed, then groaned as she put a hoof to her face. Her manager on the other hoof snickered. Fixing his tie, Svengallop said, "Well... best of luck to you. Here's hoping you don't choke again." He turned and walked away. "Come along, Countess, you need to reapply your makeup."

Coloratura nodded, and then followed, giving Snap a look of both pity and annoyance.

As the Countess left, Creamy shouted, "Aww, don't reapply the makeup! Your face is prettier without it!" She paused for a moment, and then added, "Feel free to drop by my ice cream stand! I'm really good at making homemade ice cream!"

After panting for about a minute, Snap turned to the other ponies behind him, who were all gaping at him. "What?"

"Snap... please tell me your voice is better."

Snap's eyes widened and his frown deepened as he realized what he had done. "Oh... uh... voice check!" He cleared his throat, and out came an unnaturally gravelly, "TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAAAAARRR...."

All four of the others covered their ears, with Tomato shouting, "Good grief, you sound like a dying animal!"

Snap stopped, and he pulled at his mane. "Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap... if I get up there and sing like that, I'll embarrass myself with my croaking... but if I don't, the tabloids are going to run some stupid story about how I backed out of a concert on finding out that it was a charity event, and that Svengallop guy will blab all about how I'm just some poser!" He looked at Tomato. "Maybe we should switch back!"

"Oh, for the love of--" Tomato stomped on the grass. "I'll get stage fright again! Imagine that in the news!"

Snap pulled down on his eyelids. "Oh... what am I going to do?"

Creamy rubbed her leg. "Well... we could try that lip-syncing thing the Countess mentioned."

All four stallions snapped their heads toward her, gaping at the scandalous nature of that suggestion. Cheese was the first to speak, with the exclamation of, "Whoa, whoa, whoa... Creamy, I thought you'd be against that kind of deception!"

Dandy was next with, "You're suggesting trading one scandalous action for another?!"

Snap hollered, "I had that idea, but decided against it because it'd be easy to get caught and ruined!"

Tomato rubbed one of his temples. "Wow, Creamy... just wow."

Creamy looked away. "Well, okay... I just figured that those tabloids you mentioned were unreasonable and would give a worse punishment to Snap than Dandy would, and that Svengallop guy seems to be the type to slander a rival pop artist..."

Cheese snorted. "I hate that guy."

Dandy sighed. "Well, even if I did like the idea, I only brought instrumental records to play for Snap's performance. It's going to be hard to let the show go on without stumbling or outright having to make a last minute cancellation. I'm sure we could use the good old health excuse..."

Snap piped in with, "Okay, well, Tomato's still got a good voice."

Tomato's eyebrow twitched. "I'm not going up there again!"

Snap grinned. "I didn't say you had to."

---

Minutes later, Tomato was hanging out in the trap room underneath the stage. He had a headset on, magically linked to stereos above him once he turned it on. Surrounded by various stage implements, and even sitting on an extra stereo, all Tomato could do was look up and listen to Cheese as he reclaimed the host title and forced a cheerful attitude as he performed an intermediate comedic song. He could clearly hear the underlying growl of his big brother's voice, knowing that while he accepted that the show must go on, he wasn't all too thrilled with it. Tomato even sensed that Cheese fully expected him to mess up. Again.

Snap slipped through the door before prancing toward him. "So, have you decided what song you want to sing yet?"

Tomato sighed. "Nope. They all blended together in my head, and I just hear one big mindless dance number."

Snap groaned, sitting on a nearby stool. "You can't be serious! You listened to those songs on loop and you can't remember any of them? Come on!"

Tomato snorted. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but I'm not exactly fond of your kind of music. Believe it or not, I actually found the songs on the demo more memorable than any of your 'hits'."

"Wait, really? I always thought they were too sappy for a guy like me to sing."

Tomato shrugged. "I didn't think they were that sappy. I don't know, maybe I just like songs that have more of a message to them than 'I'm the coolest pony around' or 'I'm so dateable' or 'I can party enough to rival Cheese Sandwich'. Question is, what makes them so 'sappy'?"

Snap sighed. "I'm sure you heard about my mom." He lowered his sunglasses, bringing his gold eye and his pink eye into sight. "And see my left eye? That thing's pretty sensitive; I had to wear an eye patch over that when I was a colt. Basically, my classmates locked on to those two things and picked on me for them. The patch got stolen a lot, I got called a pirate, was told to go crying to my mommy... doesn't help that I was a crybaby. I got my mark for writing and singing a song, and they still thought it funny that I was essentially still crying for mommy with my song. I decided that if I was going to make it in this business, I had to stop being such a sappy little crybaby. So... any song that made me look weak was out and I just had to be bold and confident in whatever I sang."

"Ah. I think I get where you're coming from. Still, I don't think it'd hurt to mix it up a little."

"What?! Whoa, whoa, whoa, do you realize how risky mixing things up is? I'll lose so much if I change my style!"

Tomato snorted. "I didn't say you had to change genres, I just said you can sing your 'sappy' songs with the 'not-sappy' ones. Besides, the ladies do have a thing for emotional songs..."

"Oh..." Snap rubbed his chin, and looked up when he heard Cheese finishing his song and the crowd cheering. "That so? Maybe... I guess it's worth a shot. Dad always has a habit of accidentally putting the instrumental demo with the official records, so I suppose we could get the DJ to play that. Now do you know what you want to sing?"

"Uh... the Rising song? It reminded me of one of my favorite songs."

"Okay, okay." Snap stood up and galloped over to the door. "As long as you remember the lyrics, the show will be great! After all, you've got fantastic pipes!" With that, he slipped out, the door echoing as it closed shut.

Tomato took a deep breath. He didn't really want to sing. He already messed up in the middle of the show once, and he was sure that he was going to choke again. The audience may not be able to see him, but they'd be able to hear him and whatever flubs and pauses he'd make. Holding his tail like a teddy bear, he wished that he could just skip forward to a better day, when he wasn't about to let everyone down.

"Hey... you seem a little down, buddy!"

Tomato's ears perked up, and he looked around for the source of the mysterious voice. When his eyes landed on a mirror just a stone's throw away, his skeleton nearly leapt out of his body at the sight of that other Tomato--the bright-eyed and curly-maned goofball wearing that green shirt with the red polka dots. The other Tomato waved at him, wearing a face not unlike Cheese's normal demeanor.

Tomato groaned. "This again? Sheesh, I need to see a therapist about this." He sighed and faced his reflection "What do you want now?"

Other Tommy beamed. "I'm here because you need my help."

Tomato waved his hooves in front of himself. "Oh, no no no no no. The last time I accepted your help, I nearly destroyed a small town."

Other Tommy pouted. "I never advised you to drink coffee; just draw from the magic deep inside of you."

Tomato scoffed. "Well, sorry if I had no other way to access it. In fact, I usually only access it on accident, and without fail, I've always ended up in trouble and being considered a freak." He leaned in his hooves. "When Cheese Sandwich does it, he's amazing and whimsical and fun; when Tomato Sandwich does it, he's either terrifying or embarrassing."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Other Tommy said. "But you have accessed it on purpose! How else did you get yourself out of that closet in the Crystal Empire? Or launch yourself and a passenger onto a roof with no outside help? I personally think you're getting the hang of it."

"Oh, are you sure?" Tomato sneered. "Then tell me how the magic is supposed to help me here."

A laugh came from Other Tommy's mouth. "Simple; just sing. Let your spirits be high and your emotions be free, and the tune will carry you. Think about what the song means to you, how it relates to your life, and how ponies would be happy to hear you. Music is quite magical, especially for those with special talents in that field... or those with good ol' jester magic. Trust me, you've done it before, even if you didn't quite realize it. Remember singing to Flora?"

Flashing back to the dance in Spires Garden, Tomato suddenly wondered just why he had been singing to her. What had he been thinking; no, what had he been feeling? Still, whatever that had been, Tomato knew that his own singing erupted when he was overcome with emotion. His mother had told him "No singing", because that wasn't his special talent, was it?

No, it wasn't... but that didn't mean he couldn't do it just because it was fun.

Above him, he heard Snap saying, "Thank you, thank you for being patient! I was just all wound up from the stress of fame, and it unfortunately blew up here earlier. Well, no worries, I'm all better now, and I'm finally going to sing for you!"

The crowd cheered, and Tomato somehow cracked a smile. If a professional singer had faith in him, then surely it was worth a shot.

Other Tommy smiled, and started to fade back to a regular reflection. "Good luck."

Tomato listened as Snap continued, "Tonight, I'm going to give you guys a special treat. I'm going to sing something that you haven't ever heard before! It's something I've written from the bottom of my heart, and I hope you like it."

The music started to play, and Tomato took the cue to turn on his headset. He took a deep breath, recalled his listen to the song the night before, and smiled, just seeing the words pop up right in the front of his mind. From there, the melody rolled on out.

---

The stage lights had dimmed down to a softer setting, and ponies sat and stood in their places, looking up to hear what new song Snapdragon Apple was going to sing for them. The artists themselves sat by, whispering to each other about what this one was going to be about. Svengallop was ready to witness the trainwreck with a smile, while the Countess just looked at Snap with pity.

Now Cheese had fully expected Tomato to choke again, and beside him, he could hear Dandy's teeth chattering through a closed mouth. Even without all eyes on him, Tomato would have been cowed by the fact that ponies would still be hearing his voice. This plan, no matter what excuses were made for it, was stupid, and both Cheese and Dandy braced themselves for its failure and for the crowd to start booing.

And then, the voice rang to match Snap's lips.

"It's easy to see a small pony
And say that they won't ever amount to much,"

Both had blinked, and Cheese leaned forward cautiously, wondering how long they could keep it up.

"It's easy to dismiss their strong points
Easier to see the places where they need a crutch,"

So far, so good, Cheese had to admit. He still awaited the moment where they'd trip up.

"It's easy for that pony to sit down
Easy for them to cry and wallow in their weakness
Easy to give up on their dreams
Easy to believe every nasty thing said about them

But there is no way I'm taking the easy way
I'm not gonna let the doubters win
Taking to the sky like the pegasi
I'll break through the clouds as my ascent begins..."

Then, with a power comparable to a sonic boom, Tomato's voice belted out:

"I am rising!
Like Celestia's sun,
Here to bring my warmth across the land

I am rising!
Like Luna's moon,
Glowing in the night sky, a sight so grand

If you're in need of another star
Then keep watching the horizon
Because... I am rising!"

A premature cheer erupted from the audience, ringing throughout the park. Cheese nearly jumped at the crowd's reaction, and scanned the various faces in there. Some gaped in surprise at the vocals, some cried, and many others stomped and clapped. On stage, Snap grinned and hollered, "Thank you, thank you! You're all amazing!"

Dandy whistled. "Do impressive vocals run in your family too?"

"Yeah..." Cheese pursed his lips. There was one part of him that wanted to shout, Yeah, that's my baby brother's voice! You hear him? He sounds so happy! That part of him also wanted to dash off to where Tomato was hiding, and give him a hug of congratulations. That part of him really wanted to be happy that his brother was doing so well, in spite of how close they were to scandal.

And for some reason, he felt like the lyrics were speaking to him somehow, as if he had a childhood like that. Odd, he was sure that he had a pretty happy one with little trouble. His head ached just trying to figure it out.

But there was another part of him that wanted Tomato to just shut up and embarrass both himself and Snap. This one incident could very well label the young pop star as a fraud, and Cheese was not going to swallow the stupid "emergencies" excuse Tomato had come up with for agreeing to the switch in the first place; he was certain that it was greed. That same part of him also worried that if given the chance, Tomato could actually upstage him. If anything, they were idiots that deserved to be punished.

---

Tomato was amazed by the crowd cheering, and he had to keep himself from releasing any gleeful laughter. It was incredible that despite not knowing who was really singing, the audience loved Tomato's voice. He hoped that they didn't complain about any difference, but maybe Snap could come up with an excuse. It was a one time thing, hopefully brushed off with "recovering from a sore throat".

He had to start the next verse.

"It's hard to think of the many times
Both the sneers and the pity born out of their doubt in you

It's hard to admit your own mistakes
It's hard to get back up when you've been pushed down
And they keep treating you like you never grew!

But there's no way I'll have your pity today
I'm here to fight, I'm here to struggle
I am learning to love to see what I'm made of
You'll see me burst out of the rubble!"

The chorus rang out, and he wondered how Snap looked up there. Hopefully he was looking great, despite the sap that Tomato got on those clothes. He probably hated having to mouth the lyrics, but it was just as well. Besides, Tomato was having a blast down here, singing with an intense happiness that he hadn't sang with since he was small.

"A fighting spirit has been born
With the power and grace of an alicorn
It's time for me to defy the scorn
Because...

I. AM. RISING!"

As Tomato sang the chorus again, he truly felt that he was rising. He felt like he could literally fly around the room, letting the tune truly carry him. He was no stranger to being caught up in euphoria when singing a show tune from Bridleway or a classic rock tune by his favorite artist, but there was just something about this time that was just... liberating. He didn't feel as if the ghost of his mother was standing there, watching and judging him. He didn't feel like anypony was going to laugh at him for whatever reason. In fact, he felt the presence of his friends, both his school friends and those he had made all summer, and they were all cheering for him. He felt like a little colt again, feeling fun and free as a little foal could be.

"I'm rising! Hey! I'm rising! Whoo! Rising, rising, rising high..."

---

At last, the song ended. The audience roared in their applause, the noise comparable to a stampeding herd. Snap took a bow of thanks, while Cheese, mustering up the least fake smile he had, slid onto the stage and announced, "And what a song that was! Golly, that's not what we usually hear from you, Snap. What brought this on?"

Snap chuckled. "Oh, this song's a few years old... it just got updated very recently considering at the time I wrote it, there wasn't any Princess Luna around." He had a momentary look of irritation before continuing, "But, a friend suggested that I try something more meaningful for once."

"Mixing it up is quite risky--you never know what songs are going to appeal to the masses," Cheese said. "But, from what I can tell, these Seaddle folk like it, am I right?"

The crowd cheered again, and Snap blew kisses toward them as he trotted off the stage. "Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! Have a good night, everypony!"

---

Once the concert was over, the ponies behind the scenes had started to pack up. From Acorn and Cocoa collecting the rest of their fruit-flavored fireworks, to Creamy packing up her ice cream supplies, and to Cheese storing some of his extra lights, treats, and party and stage implements, the stage and park were being stripped bare. The artists and musicians put away their instruments, and some were partaking in idle chitchat. After Golden Glee expressed happiness over the amount of bits they earned to help the local homeless shelters, Cheese simple nodded happily, and went back to his gathered family members.

He paused when hearing Svengallop complain to the Countess, "Ah, who cares about how he sang? He's no spectacle like the Countess. He was visually uninteresting up there if you ask me! All he had was that sparkly vest and hat."

"Svengallop, you know these charity concerts aren't about us," Coloratura retorted.

"But image is still everything! What if somepony had caught you eating homemade ice cream?!"

"Hey, that ice cream was good, and I'm sure a lot of fillies would trying making some because of me." Coloratura sighed, and then paused to look at Cheese and his family. She briefly smiled and winked at them, while Svengallop tried to urge her along, staring fearfully at Cheese. Then they trotted away, still having their little debate. Cheese took a moment to ponder what that was for, and wondered if she knew what had been really going on during Snap's performance and was going to keep that secret.

Creamy squealed. "I had the Countess eat my ice cream! And she says it was good!"

Cocoa Butter laughed. "A dream come true, huh, sweetie? I'm just happy we made actual fruit-flavored fireworks and set them off without a hitch. Heh, pays to have a crazy husband that just won't give up."

Acorn grinned. "Say, we should have them at Peanut Butter's wedding next week! I'm sure he and his bride would enjoy them."

"Well, I know Jelly Jubilee would like them--she's kind of goofy like that." She turned to Cheese. "Hey! You and Tomato going to the wedding?"

Cheese looked at his cutie mark. "Uh... we'll try."

"Okay, now where is he?"

Acorn pointed over to the stage. "Conversing with his twin."

Cocoa turned and saw Tomato talking and hoofbumping with Snapdragon Apple, before the latter was seemingly dragged off (by the ear, no less) by Dandy. As Tomato came trotting back, Cocoa mumbled, "That is still really weird to me. Almost as weird as the Snapdragon guy's singing making me think of my dad..."

As soon as Tomato made it back to them, the family went off back to the house. While their aunt, uncle and cousin were in front, talking about how they imagined the upcoming wedding to be like, the Sandwich Brothers hung back, both being eeriely quiet. Both had things on their mind, mostly relating what had happened during the concert. Tomato glanced at Cheese briefly, and grinned.

Cheese responded with a glare and scoffed. "I should have just revealed the stupid plot and gotten you both in trouble."

Tomato's heart sank. "Why didn't you?"

"Would you want to have somepony associate a charity concert with a lip syncing scandal? And I sure don't want my brother to be in the news for something as idiotic as that. They wouldn't have listened to the claim that it was only a 'one-time' thing."

Tomato pursed his lips and turned away. "I suppose so. I'm sorry."

Cheese snorted. "Just stay out of entertainment."

Author's Note:

Aaaaand that's a wrap for the Seaddle arc. Next up... well, take a wild guess what they're going to do next.

Writing songs is always tricky...

Comments

[SageBrony07]

Great chapter. Wow though. Cheese is starting to lose it big time. I wonder how much longer it will be before he really gets into trouble. I love little Tommy though. He's so cute. I hope he helps his olderself again soon. I love the song. Great job.

[Goldfinch142]

That same part of him also worried that if given the chance, Tomato could actually upstage him. If anything, they were idiots that deserved to be punished.

... And Cheese called Tomato greedy. Like, wow. Where did that come from? Cheese is being excessively mean for no reason...and not just to Tomato, he was fine with ruining Snap, who he barely knows, too.

Still, it's great that Tommy had fun singing for once, and the song looked nice. Though I see Svengallop is still being his lovely self.

[Wolven5]

Oh... The lyrics were beautiful and now I want to hear the melody and the song itself sung!

[Wolven5]

On a side-note, Sketch, I hope that things get better between Cheese and Tomato and that this psychopath who's screwing with Cheese is stopped and that Tomato finds happiness and that he isn't defined by his cutie mark

[Godslittleprincess]

Okay, those missing memories needed to be found YESTERDAY.