Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

18.1--Peanut Butter and Jelly

Cheese had been planning to leave soon. He had been concerned about his Cheesy Sense acting up now that the concert was all cleaned up, but his aunt and uncle insisted that he and Tomato stick around and at least help them pack. Sure, why not, Cheese had thought, helping them pack suitcases of wedding decor, a tuxedo and two dresses, and the fruit-flavored fireworks. As much as it'd be nice to attend cousin Peanut Butter's wedding, Cheese wasn't sure if his Cheesy Sense would agree with it, and expected to be sent to the other side of the country. Whatever party it was, he had to plan it--and keep Tomato from meddling.

It was funny how Tomato had complained about being a burden earlier that summer and how much Cheese denied it, having had been sure that his baby brother could do something worthwhile in a party. Well, after the role swap fiasco with Snapdragon Apple, Cheese had to concede with that mindset. Tomato and parties just don't mix.

Even so, he had a month left of Tomato's summer vacation, and was waiting for Cheesy Sense to tell him where to go.

When they went to sleep that night, he waited for the familiar twinge, watching that half-moon in the sky. His tongue lolled out in a pant, for the hot summer night was not being gentle, and he found that he was cooler when he did that. He could feel magic tingling in his veins as he stared, his eyes drinking in the moonlight like it was a long-awaited glass of water and drawing enchanted sustenance from it. As he leaned on the windowsill, he wondered how the magic would feel during a full moon.

In the bed beside him, Tomato had been looking up at the ceiling, deep in his own thoughts. Cheese had not cared what those thoughts were, but was about to learn anyway when Tomato asked, "Hey, Cheese?"

Cheese sighed, not wanting to pause his panting. "What?"

"I keep thinking about Dusk and Midnight... how you fought them and, well..."

Cheese growled. "For the last time, it was an accident! Why are you so bothered about it, anyway?"

"Because you're not." Tomato rolled over onto his stomach. "Cheese... do you think you might be, uh..."

"Might be what?"

Tomato gulped. "Are you turning into a vampire?"

Cheese gave him a weird look. "Um, what? Where'd you get that crazy idea?"

"Well, the way you were acting last night, looking all animalistic and such, and how you're getting kind of grumpy... it just reminded me of how I was acting when I lost my temper as a vampire. And if the guy who stole your memory is a friend of Kazam, maybe he or she picked it up from him and cast the spell on something you were going to eat... or drink... or maybe directly on you as we slept?"

Cheese shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Nice theory, but I doubt it. Wouldn't I be craving blood if that was the case? And tell me, how long did it take you to transform?" Cheese hung his hooves from his mouth to imitate fangs. "Do you see fangs here? Or wings?"

Tomato sighed and buried his lower jaw in his pillow. "Few hours. Still... don't you suspect that the Rooney guy last week did something? Because I doubt that elixir was just for curing your headaches."

"Oh, psht, why would they do more than steal a memory of something that... frankly, I'm not sure I want to remember! From what I hear from you, it wasn't any fun whatsoever. Whatever you think Rooney's doing, it doesn't add up, and if they wanted to kill me, they would have done so by now. Don't blame random hermits for me being mad; I'm mad because you could have ruined the concert, and yet you're rewarded for it with a big bag of bits that I'm sure you'll be happy to spend on any 'emergencies'."

Cheese turned back to the window and stared at the moon once again. "Go back to sleep; I'm still waiting for Cheesy Sense to give us our next destination."

Tomato groaned and rolled over to his side. He glanced back and said, "We still have your medicine in case--"

"Good night."

---

He waited for Cheesy Sense as a breakfast of omelets was set on the table in front of him, and he gobbled quite a few in one fell swoop. He waited as he and Tomato spent some time tuning his accordion and reading respectively, waiting for the time to take their aunt, uncle, and cousin to the train station. He waited as they went off to the train station, expecting to wave goodbye to the three of them and wish them a good time at Peanut's wedding. And he waited as he and Tommy somehow ended up on that train.

It was a couple of days on the train before they made it to Applewood, and Cheese had convinced himself that maybe he was supposed to be there, and Cheesy Sense was just far more subtle than usual. It was weird, but at least he was going somewhere.

The five ponies stepped out of the train station into the sunshine, still stretching from the long ride. Gulls squawked above the palm trees lining the streets and erupting from the mini-garden islands bearing a fair amount of green. Several buildings poked into view of an otherwise clear sky, though there was no doubt in anypony's mind that larger buildings were not far off.

"Okay," Acorn said, pulling out the map, and scrambling in its unfolding. "To get to Peanut's place, we oughta take a carriage to, uh... okay, which beach was it... his house has a nice view of the ocean, and his place has a nice court for him to play on and a pool and a pretty big trampoline, aaaaannnd I'm holding the map upside down." He turned it right-side up. "At least the ocean helped me see that I was looking at San Pinto..."

Tomato looked back and forth, and up at the trees. "Not gonna lie, the greenery is lovely." He pulled at his shirt collar and grumbled, "But it's kind of hot here..."

Cheese idly rubbed his foreleg, glancing away and trying to pant as quietly as possibly. Even though he wasn't wearing his poncho, he still felt as if he was wearing a thick coat, and he wondered if it was possible for sweat glands to dry up like his apparently did. "It would be wise for you to take off your jacket while we're here. I'm tempted to take off my shirt."

"Please don't--I know most ponies don't wear clothes, but I think passersby will look at you weird if you do that." Tomato took off his jacket and tied it around his barrel. He wiped sweat off his brow. "But, you're right, this isn't jacket weather. Say, I'm thirsty, you mind sharing your--"

Cheese dumped the contents of his canteen onto himself, and panted like a dog even louder, and simply glanced at Tomato with a cocked eyebrow. There was a few moments of silence between them, made even more awkward by passersby staring at the wet Cheese.

Tomato groaned. "Never mind."

Thankfully, on his other side, Creamy was gracious enough to pull a water bottle from her saddlebag, uncap it, and stick it straight onto Tomato's mouth. "Geez, Cheese, the way you were doing that almost seemed spiteful."

Cheese just blankly stared at Tomato just sucking all the water from the bottle in one gulp. "He's like a little water bottle vampire."

"To be fair, everypony turns into one in the heat." Creamy pulled another water bottle out and drank from that one. "I hate hot weather."

Cocoa was just staring at the younger three during their exchange. "If you guys are done taking in your first look at Applewood, we'll go to the nearest carriage stop and take one to Peanut's place. He'll be happy to see us." She looked at Tomato, who still held the bottle in his mouth. "Especially you, he hasn't seen you for years."

---

The carriage ride provided the group with a scenic route through Applewood. If Tomato wasn't distracted by the variety of palm trees that kept lining various streets, he was looking up at the skyline or down at the streets that quite honestly needed some cleaning up, idly comparing it to Manehattan, or gazing at the icons of the city such as the studios that experimented with the relatively new and evolving form of entertainment known as movies. When there was a break between skyscrapers in certain spots, there was a view of the famous Applewood sign on the nearby mountain. If the driver pointed out movie stars, Tomato was lost, given that he had only visited a movie theater once and didn't like the movie.

When counting much of the greenery, he looked up at the sign when it was in view and scoffed, "You know, for a place called Applewood, I sure don't see very many apple trees."

"Hm, no, it's just named after a guy; I've personally seen more citrus," Acorn said.

Just before they completely eased into the residential areas, Tomato saw a group of delinquent teenagers hanging out in an empty lot, painting sloppy anti-harmony slogans on the walls. He briefly wondered what their deal was, and wished that gangs--from big city thugs to desert bandits--weren't a thing. From what he could tell, the oldest was about his age, and they briefly locked eyes until Tomato looked away and started counting the houses that looked 'deserty', from stuccoed walls to red-tiled roofs.

At last, they made it to the last street just before the beach. As they turned the corner, Tomato watched beach goers as they played on the sand and in the water. Ponies in skates and on scooters zoomed by on a nearby path, alongside brisk trotters and those just walking for leisure. He could see plenty of ponies standing by and taking pictures, likely being tourists. The ocean stretched out beyond the horizon, the blue waves shimmering under the sun.

With homes now obscuring the ocean view, Tomato took a gander at them. Some were larger homes from the ones they had earlier, and some he guessed were apartment buildings (and with a view of the ocean like that, real estate most definitely put higher value on those spots). The buildings were a variety of muted colors--not too bright as to look gaudy, but not too samey either. Plenty even stuck to the stucco theme he kept on seeing throughout the ride.

The carriage stopped at one house. Surrounded by walls with hanging gardens, it was a three-story house alternating between cream and teal. Semicircle windows provided a view of the street, and with a little bit of leaning, Tomato could just barely make out balconies in the back that took advantage of the ocean view. Putting the little house in which he grew up in his mind's eye, he squeezed it into the yard within the walls, and it was only a little more than halfway tall.

Cocoa and Acorn paid the driver, and they and the three younger ponies all grabbed the bags and carried them to the gate. Cocoa said to the Sandwiches, "Here we are, boys! Tomato, this is Peanut's home, and he's going to be so happy that you and Cheese are attending his special day!"

He blinked; this was where Peanut Butter lived? He imagined that spiky-haired twelve-year-old of various browns that liked to terrorize Cheese whenever they visited, and Cheese would only fight back should Peanut turn his attention to little Tommy. He knew that Cheese said he mellowed out, but he couldn't help but be a little bitter that Peanut got a bigger home than he needed--even if the one resident was soon to become two, and a foal or two would likely be added for years to come.

At the gate, Acorn pulled at a string hanging out of the wall. They heard a bell ring inside the house, followed by galloping. They saw the door open, and there he was. With a coat like his namesake, messy grayish-blonde mane, and a freckled, brown-eyed face, Peanut Butter Sandwich was now out in the open. He wore a green button shirt in the same vein as Tomato's white one, his tail was longer than Tomato would expect an athlete's to be, and powerful muscles were spurring him forward when he saw his parents and sister, his face in a wide, cheerful grin.

Peanut swung open the gate, and shouted, "Mom, Dad, Creamy! Give your favorite Nut a hug!"

Cocoa laughed and squeezed her boy. "Hey, buddy! I see you've been working out!"

Creamy jumped on him. "It's good to see you again, bro!"

Acorn hugged all three of them. "Ha ha! I see the athlete life is treating you well."

Peanut chuckled. "I swear, you're all as crazy affectionate as ever..."

Tomato inwardly sighed. He couldn't ever recall their family having a group hug like that; the fact that he was watching his father's sister going at it first was salt in the wound for his own family dynamic. The best things that he could remember from either one of his parents were pats on the head and being given lip service about how proud they (mostly Mom; Dad usually just grunted) are of him for not screwing up or not following his brother's path.

The group hug broke, and father nudged son with a click of his tongue. "So, I hear you found a nice mare to settle down with. And here I was thinking that every girl you ever met was just a friend, like that Lightning Dust you played ball with as a teenager, or otherwise less important than sports. But, when we got the invitation, well, we were excited to meet the lucky lady."

"Yeah, I always thought you'd be a good catch," Cocoa said. "So, where is she?"

"Doing business that really shouldn't be interrupted; she'll be out soon." Peanut looked beyond his immediate family, and grinned at the sight of Cheese. "Cheese! You're here too?" He leapt forward as if he had been sitting on a spring, and landed right in front of both brothers, his stature being a full head shorter than both. "Ha! I was worried that with your Cheese Sense... thing, that you wouldn't be able to come."

Cheese smirked. "Well, it was more subtle than it usually is... almost like it wasn't even there, but I got the hint that maybe I should be here for my cousin's wedding. Congrats, by the way."

The two hoofbumped as Peanut said, "Heh, thanks." Then, Peanut turned his attention to Tomato, this time with a cock of the head and a curious pout. "Hold on... the colors are familiar, and the forelock matches yours, Cheese, but I'm not entirely sure... I mean, there's no way that the ketchup squirt grew up to be so... so... uh, stiff."

Tomato's eyebrow twitched, and he opened his mouth to say something--only to be interrupted by Cheese just yanking on his forelock, leading to Tomato's natural curls bursting out, and then taking off his glasses. With a grand gesture, Cheese said, "Ta-da! You recognize my brother now?"

Tomato glared at Cheese. "I can speak for myself, Cheese."

"Yeah, sure, sure..." Cheese waved a hoof dismissively. "But, come on, giving him a visual is more fun."

Peanut stared for a few moments, scanning Tomato up and down, and even leaning to the side to look at Tomato's cutie mark. Looking up at Tomato's face, he snorted and said, "You've got to be kidding me; you're taller than me, too? Dang it!"

Tomato couldn't help but snicker at how his oldest cousin, older than him by eight years, was apparently the shortest member of the family. Did Creamy ever mention if she was taller than him? He thought she might have, and to see it right in front of him made the snickers evolve into giggles. Looking at Peanut's annoyed scowl, Tomato said, "Sorry, sorry... it's not my fault I got struck by the tall genes because both my parents are on the lanky side."

Peanut's scowl relaxed into a milder glare, and right before Tomato's eyes, Peanut stood up on his hind legs before leaning back to use his own tail as a chair. He crossed his hind legs and smirked. "Well... at least I have my balancing act to even things out. The tail's how I survive amongst the giants."

After staring for a moment, and then glancing back at his own tail, Tomato immediately copied Peanut's action, flashing a smirk of his own.

Peanut blinked. "Are you kidding me?!"

Cheese shook his head. "Tommy, you little show-off."

Before Peanut could go further, however, he noticed passersby staring and whispering, squealing at the sight of Peanut Butter, and possibly even Cheese as well. There even seemed to be the first smatterings of a paparazzi peeking from behind trees, bushes, and corners. With a groan, Peanut hopped back to all fours and grabbed both his cousins. Pulling them and the rest of his family through the gate with his tail, he said, "Okay, let's go inside before they become a 'flash mob'."

---

Peanut Butter had sat them down at his couch and gotten them glasses of juice, setting them on the coffee table in front of them. In the floors above, his guests could hear some ruckus going on, which Peanut explained was his fiancee getting guests like her parents and a few others settled in. He reassured them that he'll open guest rooms for his family members as well, though he raised an eyebrow when Cheese said, "Meh, Tommy and I will sleep on the roof."

Sitting down in a circle chair across from them, he put both hooves behind his head and laid back. "Sorry about those ponies out there; ever since I've gotten into the basketball scene, ponies around here have been hopped up on my crazy playing style. I mean, who else is a shorty that performs maneuvers across the court and with the ball using his tail? Most ponies can only use short bursts of magic every once in a while to grab things with their tail; and then there's me, who does it all the freakin' time."

"Ahem," Cheese coughed.

"Cheese, you're weird, you don't count."

While Cheese put a hoof on his chest in an offended manner, Tomato grabbed his glass with his tail and sipped it. "There's me."

Peanut leaned to the side to take a good look at Tomato's cutie mark. "Okay, you have no excuse... you're, like, a banker or something, what the hay? Is Cheese's crazy contagious?"

Tomato shrugged and kept on sipping.

Peanut blinked and shook his head. "Anyway, there's always somepony somewhere trying to snap a casual photo of me, be it souvenir or trying to sabotage or blackmail me. But, well, they don't usually snap a photo of the real me."

"Wait, you have a doppelganger too?" Tomato asked, ignoring the glare and huff of Cheese.

"What do you mean 'too'--no, wait, I think I've got it. You look like Snapdragon Apple." Peanut laughed and smacked his knee. "Oh, sweet Celestia, if it weren't for your forelock cluing me in, I'd have been confused! Gee, if you two switched places and managed to fix each other's hair and cutie marks, I'd be none the wiser."

Cheese fake laughed and shot a dirty look toward Tomato. "Yeah, wouldn't that be something."

Peanut let his chuckles die down. "Anyway, I probably do have one, maybe two, somewhere around here. I mean, last week, according to gossip magazines, I was hanging out at both Santa Manzana pier and Whinnyland at the same time, when really, I was just having a picnic with my sweet Jelly. Heh, these doppelgangers happen so often that every celebrity and athlete here joke about them being changelings."

Creamy raised an eyebrow. "Okay, weird..."

"Hey, it's not like there are actual changelings hanging around the city." Peanut's hind hoof kicked the table to launch his glass in the air, and he caught it with his tail. "There are only so many colors for ponies to be; there's bound to be repetition."

"Well, if we were to be technical, there are millions of unique combinations of genes making up every individual in Equestria." Acorn took his glasses off and wiped them with his shirt. "Between you and Miss Jelly alone, your genetic composition combined could create a near infinite number of unique individuals."

Peanut, who had been taking a swig of his juice, blocked his mouth from doing a spit take, and swallowed. "Okay, one, we're not discussing foals yet, and two, I doubt we're able to have a family that big. I think just having two or three of them will suffice for me and Jelly."

Creamy had a big goofy smile on her face. "I'm just amused that you actually found a pony named 'Jelly'--I remember that joke from when we were kids."

"Ha! Have you found Cookies yet?"

"No, not yet. Maybe someday, I guess." She looked up at the ceiling. "Say, when is she coming down? I've been dying to meet my new sister-in-law-to-be."

Then, a feminine singsong voice called from upstairs, “Hey, Peanut! We’re almost done with all the unpacking! What are you doing down there?”

Peanut called up, “Oh, oops! I got a little caught up in catching up with my folks!”

“Wait, your folks?! Why didn’t you call me down sooner?! I want to meet them!”

As hoofsteps started to descend down the spiral staircase not too far from where Peanut sat, Creamy gave her brother a dirty look and asked, “Okay, why didn’t you bring her down with you? I had assumed that she was in the bathroom.”

Peanut rubbed the back of his head. “She’s kind of, uh… scatterbrained. If I interrupt her when she’s doing anything, she’ll either forget about it or lose motivation to finish it.”

Briskly trotting down the stairs, Peanut’s fiancée casually presented herself to her future in-laws. A freckled face mare of soft pink, with her purple and hot pink mane tied up with a green bow, Jelly held a blissful aura that rivalled the warmth of sunshine. It wasn’t too hard to notice the skip in her step and the fruity scent wafting from her, and her hot pink eyes were large to take in any sight she came across. Naturally, she beamed when she first laid eyes on Peanut Butter’s family.

“Hi, there!” she chirped.

Peanut stood up and walked toward her. Slinging a leg over her shoulders, he said, “Mom, Dad, Creamy, cousins… meet Jelly Jubilee. I met her working in a local strawberry farm off season.”

Jelly nodded and clapped. “I’m so happy to finally meet you guys in person! After all, it’d be a crime if I didn’t get to know Peanut’s family—I mean, you are going to be my family, too.”

Both Cocoa and Acorn stood up and approached her. Acorn shook her hoof and said, “It’s really nice to meet you, Miss Jubilee. We’ve got a lot of letters from Peanut that have paragraphs about you.”

Cocoa flinched when Jelly hugged her, but she patted her back and said, “Yep. From what we’ve heard, you’re a wonderful girl full of life and not about to waste it on some of the more… shallow things that a major city like this offers. I’m glad that out of any pony that could manage to get Peanut to break away from a one-track mindset of ‘sports, sports, and only study because of sports’, it was somepony like you.”

Jelly broke the hug. “Aw, thank you! Though, I will admit, I love the beach, and I very much enjoy playing sports every so often.” She turned her attention to Creamy standing up, and then pulled her into a hug. “Hi, Peanut’s sister! I’ve always wanted to meet you, and now, we’re going to be sisters!”

Creamy grinned. “Sweet, I’ve always wanted a sister!”

“So did I! I only have brothers,” Jelly huffed. “So, Ice Cream’s your name? Do you make ice cream?”

“Sure as sugar I do!”

“Yay! Maybe sometime we can make strawberry ice cream as sisterly bonding!”

“Sounds like a plan.” Ice Cream hoofbumped her sister-in-law-to-be.

Tomato leaned in his hoof, watching the exchange from where he still sat. “Is it just me, or is Jelly the combined forces of Pinkie and Flora’s happy sides? Do I dare ask if her upset side is the combination of their upset sides? Because the thought of that is scary.”

Cheese rolled his eyes. “It’s just you.”

Jelly had then turned her attention to the brothers, tilting her head curiously. “So, Peanut… these guys are your cousins, right? Or did I mishear you again?”

Peanut was by her side in a flash. “Oh, no, you heard me right, Jelly. Allow me to introduce super duper party pony Cheese Sandwich and uh… young banker Tomato Sandwich.”

“Correction, I’m a business student,” Tomato said.

Jelly gasped. “Peanut, I thought you were kidding when you said Cheese Sandwich was your cousin!”

Cheese laughed. “Nope! I’m the real deal!” He pulled out a noisemaker and blew it, then took her hoof to shake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, little filly. You surely completed Peanut Butter’s sandwich.”

Jelly snorted and laughed. “Hehehe, everypony was right, you are funny! And I guess you’re right! Peanut Butter and Jelly… hee, and Peanut’s told me about the ‘Cookies n’ Cream’ joke with his sister… so, I guess you ought to find somepony named Macaroni.”

Tomato then said, “I hate to burst your bubble, Jelly, but the slot of ‘Cheese’s love interest’ belongs to a Pinkie Pie.”

Cheese glared at him and bonked him on the head. “No, it doesn’t.”

Tomato rolled his eyes and snorted. Looking at the slightly disappointed Jelly, he said, “He’s just in denial. But, hey, I’m positive that you and Pinkie would get along.”

Cheese growled. “I’m not in denial. Seriously, where’d you get the crazy idea of me and Pinkie being a thing? She’s just a fellow party pony that I put up with from time to time.”

Tomato shot him a half-lidded look. “You lit up every time we bumped into her this summer.”

Cheese scoffed. “How do you know I wasn’t just being polite?”

“Who lights up when they’re just being polite?”

“Okay, okay, I think we get the idea,” Peanut said. He smiled at Jelly. “Classic sibling squabbling, am I right?”

Jelly sighed. “They remind me of Huckleberry and Mulberry in their squabbles. Are they twins?”

“Nah, three years apart. But, hey, their relationship used to be worse. I wasn’t really a witness, but I got a vibe that they were fighting every time I met Cheese for the past several years. He’d be all cheerful and stuff, and then if one made the mistake of mentioning his brother, he’d turn cold. It shocked me, really, because they were best friends as colts, and Cheese would tear into me if I hurt a hair on Tommy’s head.”

Cheese perked up and bristled. “When was this fighting? Are you talking about when Tomato was a moody teenager that decided that I was embarrassing and my parties were lame? Ugh, I hate teenage hormones.”

Tomato felt the twang of a popped curl. “Cheese, you know there were more than just hormones involved.”

Cheese rolled his eyes. “I see that you haven’t completely recovered from teenage angst yet.”

Jelly furrowed her brow. “I thought you were supposed to be nice.”

Cheese looked up at her, and rubbed his head, wincing a little bit. “Sorry about that. Tomato just gets on my nerves sometimes, like all little brothers do.”

Tomato huffed and grumbled, “A missing memory is screwing you up more than it should, sheesh.”

Suddenly, another mare came down, with a daintier gait than Jelly had done earlier. Pale blue with a fluffy, sky blue mane, the first thought that the Sandwich Brothers had was that of dentist, thanks to her mint green scrub shirt and her tooth cutie mark.

With a little smile resembling a waitress, she said, “Okay, everyone’s all unpacked…” She looked at Peanut Butter’s family, and then to their luggage at the front door. She groaned under her smile. “Except for the newcomers… related to the groom… oh, Sweet Celestia, do I have to carry all that?”

An off-white, red-headed mare followed right after, answering in a drawl, “Now, now, Miss Pearly, don’t be frettin’ about it. There’s more than just you here supporting sweet Jelly’s special day in the overmorrow.” The older mare looked up at the sound of racing. “I think them little friends of Peanut’s are up to it.”

A golden-maned, turquoise pegasus came gliding down the stairs, followed by a tan earth pony with a mane of three-toned brown, tied up in a red headband. The pegasus landed, and with a smirk said, “Well, well, I guess Lightning Dust has beaten you again.”

The tan pony blew a raspberry. “If it wasn’t for your wings, I could have won easily.”

Pearly groaned. “Oh, yay, the athlete brigade has arrived. I wonder how much they broke?”

Cheese and Tomato looked at each other, and then to the engaged couple in a silent question of who these ponies were. Acorn, Cocoa, and Creamy only looked confused in regards to Pearly and the redhead, though the other two they were hardly surprised with. So, in order to answer the question, Peanut said to the friends, “Hey, you guys, you mind introducing yourselves to my family?”

The older redhead smiled. “I was just about to do that! I’m Jelly’s Auntie Cherry Jubilee. She’s the daughter of my dear sister Strawberry, and I’m happier than a frog in a big bayou that she found such a handsome colt.” She looked at Cheese. “Well, I’ll be! Ain’t that Cheese Sandwich?”

“Yes, Cherry… he’s my cousin,” Peanut said.

“Cousin? Well, now that you say it, I do see the family resemblance.”

Cheese made a motion to tip his hat, only to remember that he wasn’t wearing it. So he just plopped a boater on his head, and tipped that. “How you doing, ma’am?”

“Oh, sweet as a freshly baked cherry pie. I haven’t seen you in Dodge Junction in a long time! When you comin’ back to throw a party?”

Cheese shrugged. “Whenever the Cheesy Sense says I should go.” He pointed to Tomato beside him. "By the way, this is my brother, Tomato."

"My, my, ain't he a handsome feller," Cherry said. "Bet he makes the fillies swoon."

Tomato's face turned redder than normal in response to that.

Pearly cleared her throat. “Anyway… hello, Peanut Butter’s family, my name is Pearly Whites, and you can call me ‘Pearl’. I’m a longtime friend of Jelly, from way back when we were teenagers in a faraway little town called Halterside.” She looked at Cheese and Tomato, who perked up on hearing the name of the town. She waved at the two and said, “Hi, I’m Comedy Gold’s other sister, I heard about your visit.”

She turned back to the rest of the group. “How Jelly and I both got here is a long story. I’m also her current roommate and maid of honor.”

The turquoise pegasus hopped onto the couch right in front of her and perched there. “Most of you already know me, but I’ll bite for those two.” She pointed at Cheese and Tomato. “Name’s Lightning Dust. Peanut Butter was a coach and tutor for me for a bunch of sports back in the day, and he’s like the cool big brother that I’ve never had. Though he's into basketball and I'm a flyer, we're still buddies. Without him pushing his limits to become a great athlete, would I have truly been inspired to push mine?”

The tan pony rolled his eyes. “Too bad you got kicked out of the Wonderbolt Academy.”

Lightning conked him on the head. “Shut up! You know nothing!”

Rubbing his head, the stallion glared at her. However, instead of hitting back, he just boosted himself up to the same perch as Lightning, took a deep breath, and hollered, “I’m Victory Screech! Also known as Vic! Peanut was also a big sports mentor to me back in school and he was also like a cool big brother to me!” He crossed his front legs. “Cooler than my actual big bros. As for me, I'm more of a hoofball guy. And at least I got into my sport without getting into trouble.”

The rest of the ponies in the living room were frozen with shock, trying to recover from the ringing in their ears before even moving. Both Cheese’s and Tomato’s ears were even visibly pulsing from the stress that Vic’s loud voice had given them. It took several moments for Tomato to say, “…ow?!”

Vic smiled. “So, we all know each other’s names now?”

Jelly took a deep breath and exhaled. “Well, I gotta go get Mom, Dad, and my brothers and introduce them, too.”

---

After getting the Nuts’ luggage into a guest room and sleeping bags set up on the roof for the Sandwich brothers, all parties took to conversation that evening. The main families sat on the chairs and couches, while the rest of them sat on pillows on the floor, save Pearl, who sat next to her best friend. Bouncing around from subject to subject was fun, especially as Cheese and Tomato recounted their summer adventures so far. At some point, the fruit-flavored fireworks had been mentioned.

Peanut laughed. “What? You can’t be serious! How can you make an exploding rocket fruit flavored?”

Acorn grinned. “Oh, we simply recreated a chemical reaction that made a soda brand explode on store shelves, and then concentrated it into orbs that’ll burst when exposed to great air pressure. Add some fruit flavoring, and viola! We had a couple of engineers help us out with how to launch them, and we tested various compounds… with, uh, various results.”

“One of them turned me blue,” Cheese said.

Cocoa leaned back. “Anyway, since they were a hit at the charity concert, we thought having them at the wedding and the reception would be pretty fun.”

“Uh, is it dangerous?” Pearl asked.

“Don’t worry! They’re non-flammable and completely safe to eat.”

Jelly clapped. “Well, I like the sound of them! Let’s put it in and let all the guests taste the tasty sparks.”

Her brothers cheered at the idea, her parents scratched their chins in thought, and Cherry Jubilee just shrugged and said, “Well, sure, if ya say its safe… putting that on the list of things to put in the setup tomorrow.” She looked up at Cheese. “Oh, right, I forgot to mention I was asked by my sister to do some planning for this hoedown. Strawberry can’t keep her head straight.”

Cheese looked at Jelly’s mother, who shrugged sheepishly. He sighed and said, “Okay, I guess working together could—”

“Hold on!” Pearl exclaimed. “Not only was I promised to be the maid of honor for my best friend’s wedding, I was also told that I’d help plan it.” She gave Jelly puppy-dog eyes and leaned against her. “Somepony needs to pay attention to the little details…”

Jelly looked uncomfortable. “Uh…”

On Jelly's other side, Peanut gently pushed Pearl away, much to the mare's annoyance. "You're being creepy again..."

Cheese interrupted, “Okay, Pearl, what do you know about party planning? You’re clearly a dentist.”

Pearl shrugged playfully. “Oh, I’m sure that if I just ask myself, ‘What would Comedy Gold do here?’, that I can at least be sufficient for this wedding. Plus, I know my best friend, so I’ll give you my valuable input.”

Jelly relaxed. “Well, when you put it that way, I guess a third planner wouldn’t hurt…”

“Hey, wait a minute!” Vic exclaimed. “This planning thing’s too heavily in favor of the bride! What about someone on the groom’s team throwing out some ideas?!”

Peanut looked at him funny. “Uh, Vic, that’s nice and all, but—”

Cheese growled. “I’m the groom’s cousin!”

Lightning then retorted, “So? How often do you visit him? What do you know about him besides sports?”

Cheese opened his mouth, and then closed it again. “You two want in? Fine.”

Tomato then asked, “Okay, okay… what are the immediate families doing then?”

Parents of both bride and groom looked at each other, as did Creamy and Jelly’s brothers. Then, turning back to him and leaning in her hoof, Cocoa said, “Oh, we’re going out and about the town for us to get to know each other better; we’re kind of overdue on that front. I’ve done my share of collecting items and planning things for the wedding, and I’m sure that with a professional party planner, and two ponies on each side to help arrange this thing, it will all go swimmingly.”

Acorn nodded. “So, we’ve got plans for everyone… except Tomato. Say, Tommy, what are you doing?”

Tomato shrugged. “I guess I’m helping set up the—”

Cheese’s mane and some of his fur bristled, and he shouted, “No! No, no, no! You are not allowed to touch this party! If the insanity we’ve been dealing with all summer is anything to go by, you’re a bad luck charm in the party department!”

Tomato flinched, and then glared at him. “Geez, you don’t need to be so rude about it.”

Peanut kicked Cheese’s head. “Yeah, that was uncalled for. You don’t just call a pony a bad luck charm, brother or not. Sheesh, maybe you haven’t completely recovered from that fight.”

Cheese rubbed his head and snorted. “Well, I propose that he goes with you guys. I’m not letting him go off on his own because he has a tendency to get into trouble. Besides, cousins can catch up on the years they’ve spent on literally opposite sides of the country.”

Peanut sighed. “All right. He’s family, too, so I guess it won’t hurt.”

---

Sitting up on the roof that night, Cheese found himself gazing at the moon again. Though the magic had waned from the last time he seen it, it still entranced him with a silent siren song. He tingled from how much it still managed to shine, even at lower than a quarter of its power, and make the nighttime ocean shimmer. The sea air didn’t smell the best, but it managed to keep him from being too hot.

Tomato had been reading a book for some time, balancing a flashlight in the crook of his forelock for light. Though he tried to ignore his brother’s presence, he still looked up at Cheese and his mesmerized state every so often. As pretty as the moon was, Cheese hadn’t been that interested in it before. It was weird, even for him.

He snorted and tried to shove his nose back in a book where it belonged. He couldn’t be a bad luck charm if he just kept on reading his books. It was a good thing that Cheese was specific about the area the bad luck only affected, as he sure as heck wouldn’t want to end up jinxing his cousin.

He shut the book. His breath tasted funny, and his teeth had finally grown a layer of plaque after the whole Whitening Gun incident. Maybe he could let off some steam by brushing his teeth as aggressively as possible.

As he made his way to the door, and trotted down the stairs, he wondered what had gotten into Cheese. As much as he wanted to believe that it was just one memory stolen and screwing Cheese up, Tomato couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something else involved. They ruled out vampire given the details of Tomato’s own transformation, but what else could there be?

Meanwhile, throughout the city of Applewood, canines howled.

Author's Note:

Now, I've tried my best to research L.A. like I did with the other cities... forgive me for getting some details wrong. Also, don't blame me for the Applewood thing, blame the show staff for not using Pegasus for an Angeles pun, as I still believe it would have made better sense than Vegas. I'll forever be miffed about that...

And now, we have met Peanut Butter Sandwich! In contrast to our tall dorks, Peanut's a short athlete.

Also, canon ponies of this episode are Cherry Jubilee and Lightning Dust. Along with Cheese, Silver Shill's sister Pearly Whites, and Quibble Pants' brother Victory Screech, they'll be doing some wedding planning. This should be fun.

BTW, while Lightning and Vic are friends with Peanut, they're a few years younger than him.

Comments

[SageBrony07]

Wow. Great to see the next arc up. Man! Cheese is becoming a jerk. I wonder what Tommy is going to do? I love how he is getting more and more intouch with his magic. I would love to see Peanut and Tommy play some hoofball, and see how Tommy works with this tail. Great chapter.

[Goldfinch142]

Still... don't you suspect that the Rooney guy last week did something?

Yes! He's getting closer to figuring it out! Next time they meet Rooney, maybe Tomato can find a way to get the memories in and the wolf out.

Cheese...come on, dude. Don't be a jerk. Although, the fact that his Cheesy Sense isn't activating anymore is worrying...

Peanut stood up on his hind legs before leaning back to use his own tail as a chair.
...
Tomato immediately copied Peanut's action, flashing a smirk of his own.

So that's where that came from! I never even considered that he might have picked it up from someone else. I guess the tail thing runs in the family.

[Godslittleprincess]

Jelly snorted and laughed. “Hehehe, everypony was right, you are funny! And I guess you’re right! Peanut Butter and Jelly… hee, and Peanut’s told me about the ‘Cookies n’ Cream’ joke with his sister… so, I guess you ought to find somepony named Macaroni.”

Isn't Macaroni also their great-aunt's name?

I guess without his regrets keeping his pride in check, Cheese is more self-centered and jerkish than normal.