Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

18.3--Taking It Around Town

With the sun beating down on him and his hooves sinking in the hot sand, Tomato spent much of the walk down the beach just tailing the two families. The lab coats and aprons of one family and the flannel from the other had been removed in favor of light shirts and sunscreen for the trip, with Tomato himself borrowing a light green Haywaiian shirt for a more casual appearance (though he had questioned why his white button shirt wasn't casual enough). As he walked behind the two chatting families, he looked around.

Around them, there were a whole variety of ponies kicking up sand in either playing volleyball or playing fetch with their dogs, lying on towels to soak up sunlight, crafting castles out of sand, or playing in the waves. The streets nearby housed cages full of basketball and tennis courts, and a ten-minute walk away was a pier that held a small aquarium.

He seemed to slow his pace, and ended up bumping into a couple of young mares. "Oof!" He stumbled back in embarrassment. "Uh, excuse me."

The girls turned with a pout, only to gasp, break into smiles, and scream, "O, M, Goodness! It's Snap!"

"Eh?! But I, eh, uh, duh--" Tomato stopped his brief panic when he remembered the reason they called him that. He pursed his lips and turned to show them his cutie mark. "Sorry, wrong stallion."

The mares visibly sunk. One said, "Aww... but you look like him..."

The other smirked and purred, "Yeah, he does..." She turned to her friend. "You know, the glasses are, like, so cute!"

The first one squealed. "They are! They so bring out his eyes! Look at them, so green! They totally match his shirt!"

Tomato flushed and backed up some more. "Uh, thanks? I've, uh, never been randomly complimented by strangers before... especially in this manner!"

Both mares giggled, and one whispered to the other, "If he wore black, he'd totes be the definition of tall, dark, and handsome..."

Tomato was thankful when Peanut Butter had noticed him missing from the group, looked around, and called out, "Hey! Tomato, stop flirting with strange mares! We've got a whole day of sunshine ahead of us!"

He backed up some more, and said, "Oh, would you look at that? My cousin's calling me! See ya!"

As Tomato sped off, the two girls giggled, with one whispering, "He's so shy! So cute!"

He caught up to the group at one volleyball net, and watched as they inflated a beach ball, and divided into two teams in a family vs. family duel. Tomato sat on the sidelines, ready to watch the battle. As he settled onto the sand, he wondered how Flora's family would have been divided in this game, how Bluejinx could play without popping the ball, or how Cirrus and Nimbus would play compared to non-pegasi.

"Hey!" Aunt Cocoa came trotting up to him, prompting him to look up. "Aren't you gonna play?"

Tomato blinked. "I, uh... I'm just a cousin... kind of a third wheel in this get-together..."

Cocoa raised an eyebrow. "Just a cousin?" She hoisted him up by the collar and started dragging him onto the 'court'. "Buddy, you're the son of my brother, so even if he's being an apathetic douchenozzle, you're still part of the family. Come on, we can't get to know you if you're not involved."

Tomato was about to protest that he didn't know how to play, but Cocoa seemed to read his mind and explained the basic rules of not letting it touch the sand or go out of bounds, and just bump it over with whatever body part he's got--no catching it or touching the net. With that said and done, he just hung out in the back on the side of the net where his aunt, uncle, and cousins were, and faced Jelly Jubilee's family.

First serve, Tomato watched as Peanut Butter launched the ball over the net with a whack of his tail, only for Jelly to spring into action and spike it; one look at Peanut's proud smirk and waggling eyebrows told Tomato that he was finding that attractive. Second serve had the other family bucking the ball around on their side before it was bumped over the net, followed by Creamy managed to bump it back, and then by one of Jelly's brothers, and then by Acorn before another point was made. Third serve had heartier bounces over the net over the course of a few minutes, before Cocoa leapt into the air, threw a fierce punch, and then gained a point with an explosion of sand. There was shock, and then there was laughter.

Back and forth the beach ball went, and somehow, Tomato hadn't had the chance to strike the ball, and he hoped it would stay that way. Still, it was nice just watching them laugh with every ridiculous move made--from sand explosions to hitting a seagull to somehow getting tangled in the net. In seeing both families so happy, he pondered the question of how a game like this with his own parents would go, in a world where they had been more lighthearted. The thought of his own parents, smiling and laughing along with him and Cheese, bouncing a beach ball between each other, was bizarre.

"Tomato, heads up!"

Tomato just barely looked up when the ball hit him squarely in the face, with enough force to send him stumbling back and sprawling onto the sand. As he lay there, he had been busy reeling in over what just happened, only for cheers and laughter to erupt. As he sat up, he heard, "Wow! His face just got us a point!"

By the time he was fully sitting and brushing sand off his tail, he noticed a couple reporter-like ponies and photographers accosting Peanut Butter with, "Holy smokes, what a strike! Was it on purpose that you set up a game just to plow Snapdragon Apple's face with a beach ball?"

Peanut growled and facehoofed. "What? No! What kind of logic are you on? I was just having fun with my family; that's my cousin there!"

"Oh, so Snap's your cousin?"

"No... Tomato just happens to look a lot like him." Peanut narrowed his eyes and flicked his tail. "Now, get lost."

---

Cheese had no idea what possessed him to chase after a cat, but by golly, making a new friend seemed like a good idea to him. It didn't matter where they were going, he was going to catch that cat! It didn't matter to him that when speeding through an intersection, two fancy carriages had to screech to a halt to avoid crashing into him. The drivers of said carriages glared at him, while the young stars popped their heads out of the windows and shouted in unison, "Hey! That is not cool!"

Down the Trot of Fame the cat went, and Cheese followed in its wake. Barreling down the aisle of golden horseshoes, he was just bowling ponies over left and right, and they soon were seeing stars. One young rebel about to vandalize one horseshoe had his paint kicked in his face, and his friend was kicked into a lamppost. There were shrieks as some were launched upward, grunts and yelps of pain as some were left sprawling on the street or into a tree, and ponies jumping out of the way when they realized what was happening, some into a nearby fountain.

At last, after Celestia-knows-how-long of running into who-knows-where, Cheese managed to pounce on that cat. It wasn't without the cat screeching and yowling, but it was otherwise unharmed. His prize squirming in his hooves and clawing at his forelegs, he couldn't help but laugh and twirl around on a hind hoof.

"Woohoo! I caught my new friend!" Cheese stopped spinning, took a few sniffs to get its scent, and looked face to face with the cat. "Hey, how are you today?"

The cat glared at him for a moment before hissing and resuming its struggle.

Cheese wrinkled his nose. "Hey, don't be like that. I get enough hissing from my brother." He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Nevertheless, you're my new friend! After a certain rubber chicken I won't name refused to talk to me, I need someone to talk to while I..."

He started to look around, realizing that he had wandered into a movie studio and right onto a set. "...get the, uh... cake."

It didn't take long for him to notice that he was in line of sight of one of those fancy movie cameras, though the crew behind it were obviously focusing on three actors. One was wearing a saddle on fire, galloping around and belting out screams in an obvious show, another was chasing him, whipping his back with a blanket, and and the last was busy whacking a fire hydrant with a wrench, glancing every so often at the other two. Cheese didn't know how many whacks had already been made, but a few clangs later, a geyser exploded from the ground, sending the actor stumbling back and launching the hydrant in the air.

The hydrant came down right next to a straight-faced Cheese. Feeling that burn of his acting up from watching that blazing saddle, he decided that it was best to back away from the movie set and try his best to not interrupt that out-of-context slapstick scene.

He bumped into a unicorn security guard, who promptly grabbed him with his magic. "You think I didn't see you just running in?"

---

Out onto the street Cheese went, landing face first on the pavement. Miraculously, he still held onto the squirming cat.

"Tours are closed!" the guard shouted, before shutting the gate behind him and marching back to his post.

Cheese peeled himself off the street, and rolled to the sidewalk. Sitting up and scratching himself with a hind hoof, he murmured, "Sheesh, no need to be so rude. You're lucky that I didn't bite you, pal."

He stood up and shook the dust off himself. Looking up at the city around him, he whistled and said, "Dang, I really missed the mark! I go out to fetch a cake and end up all the way over here." He looked at the palm trees, and then to his kitty friend. "What do you think, Whiskers? Shall we catapult across town with one of these things? Don't worry, I have a way to avoid hitting--"

"Meow."

Cheese's ears perked up, and he turned to see another cat grooming herself on the other side of the street. A pretty little calico she was, and would make the perfect companion for Whiskers. Another urge to chase buzzed within him, and without thinking, he bolted forward, Whiskers screeching in terror as he did so.

The calico did not hesitate to run for it on seeing that crazy horse.

---

After fun in the sand and the surf and some lunch, the two families hit the court to scratch Peanut's basketball itch.

Basketball was a bizarre sport. While Peanut Butter had explained that it was originally invented by pegasi, Tomato was still confused over how other ponies had apparently adapted to it. Pegasi could dribble with their hooves, only allowed to hover near the ground, while most earth ponies dribbled the ball with precise hits from their muzzle, and unicorns with brief magic spurts. A more powerful bump or even a buck was used to shoot the hoops, and in rare cases, slam dunks could be made. With that in mind, it was a little disconcerting that Peanut Butter had asked him to shoot a few hoops.

Tomato shifted uncomfortably. "We just played volleyball. Are you sure?"

"Of course! I know dribbling is hard with your muzzle, so I'll let you know that there's no rule against the tail." Peanut waved his tail for emphasis, then pointed to Creamy, who talked with Jelly. "It's how I taught my sister to play with me."

Tomato looked at his own, and pursed his lips. "Well, I guess I could try."

Peanut punched him on the front leg. "Haha! That's the spirit!"

"Ow."

While the older adults sat on the sidelines and watched, eating remaining snacks from the beach, the younger ones played. Four-on-four, with Jelly's brothers on one team and Jelly with Peanut's relatives on the other, the eight 'kids' of the group played, scurrying back and forth and bumping the ball wheresoever they could.

Tomato tried dribbling with his muzzle, and got a chin ache for his troubles. He tried dribbling with his tail, which was significantly easier, but he forgot to run, and thus, had it stolen from right under him by one of the twins. When the ball was passed so that Tomato could shoot for a point, he panicked and got hit on the nose, which led to the ball bouncing out of bounds.

He felt silly, especially compared to Peanut, who essentially glided back and forth and side to side across the court. There he was, Tomato's older and shorter cousin, effortlessly switching dribbles between muzzle and tail. There he goes, zooming right under Jelly's brothers' noses--literally--to knock the ball from under them and claim it for his own. And Tomato couldn't recall the last time he had done a springing move with his tail, like how Peanut did to make a slam dunk.

Hearing praises like "It was like you were flying!", "Darn, I didn't even notice you before you took that ball!", and "That tail of yours is like an extra limb!", Tomato couldn't help but be impressed at Peanut. He also couldn't help but feel a little ashamed for holding him back, just like what happened in Halterside with Cheese.

However, Tomato did finally score his team a point when the ball hit his head in a flubbed pass mid-court, and it bounced far enough for a three-pointer. He was on the ground with a headache, but he still pumped a hoof and said, "Yes! I did something right... sort of."

Jelly called for a time-out, and then helped him up. "Are you okay? It looks like a bump is forming."

"Eugh... I've had worse."

"Hmm..." She turned to her fiance. "Why don't you guys keep playing, I'm going to give him a little checkup."

Peanut Butter exhaled. "If you say so... we'll rearrange with some three-on-three until Tom's all better. I hope he's not banged up too bad, because we've still got a whole day ahead of us, and I want us all to have fun."

Jelly nodded, and then took Tomato to a bench. Opening a cooler and pulling out an ice pack, she set it on his head and asked, "Doesn't seem like you play any sports all that often, huh?"

Tomato held the ice pack in place. "Nah... haven't done so since I was a little colt. I don't know how Peanut does it."

"Aw, don't fret about it! We're all good and bad at different things!" She gestured to her brothers. "We're all fruit farmers at heart, but Grapefruit's a builder, Apricot's musical, Mulberry's an artist, Huckleberry likes science, and I enjoy sports!"

Tomato chuckled. "I can see why you and Peanut are attracted to each other."

Jelly blushed and looked at the short stallion just owning everyone on the court. "Well, when we were getting to know each other, I helped him practice during the off-season. We got talking about our families and hobbies and stuff... and he's such a handsome gentlecolt!"

Tomato leaned back. "That wasn't what I thought when we were kids. Every time his family visited, his parents would argue with mine, and he'd terrorize us. Cheese and I hated him and Aunt Cocoa, because anything with them involved ended in misery... though we did like Creamy and wanted to rescue her. Uncle Acorn was just there. We were happy when they moved away... but..."

Years later, and Tomato finally got to see them in a casual setting. It was only now that he truly realized that his aunt and uncle weren't bad ponies at all, fighting with his parents for no reason. Looking at Acorn and Cocoa, being not just cordial, but really friendly toward Jelly's parents, he wondered if the arguing was born out of concern for his own parents' dysfunctional relationship.

Still, Peanut had been a jerk as a kid, and he was glad that he grew out of it.

"But what?" Jelly asked.

Tomato sighed. "Nothing. I had to grow up a bit to get that adults have problems too."

They both noticed flashing cameras, followed by a crowd dispersing when a scowling Peanut Butter bucked at the fence. Jelly groaned, and grumbled, "Like paparazzi. Where are the Peanut Butter clones when you need them?"

---

Neither Cheese nor the calico were paying attention to what was behind the tall fence. The calico swiftly climbed over, while Cheese rapidly dug a hole right under it, holding Whiskers by the scruff on the neck, and slipped through the resulting tunnel. The chase resumed--only to stop when the calico slipped into a large pond, and Cheese outright jumped into it.

His head bursting out of the pond, he quickly realized it wasn't water.

He lifted a purple, goopy hoof and sniffed it, pulling away. "Aw, gross! What the heck is in this pond?!" He noticed a few viewing areas around the fences, where ponies stared at him in horror and started to take pictures. He groaned, and then looked down at his scowling cat, similarly drenched in the goo. "Okay... my bad... this is the Ooze Hole, not a pond."

He noticed the calico screaming as it tried to swim out. Cheese marched forth to sniff the cat, grab it, pull it out, and then pull himself out of the Ooze Hole. He heard the crowd gasp and murmur, and he completely ignored them as he tried--and failed--to shake the goo off.

With a sigh of defeat, he slipped back under the hole in the fence, popping up onto the other side with a layer of soil caking his first gooey layer. With both cats in mouth, dug at the dirt pile he left earlier to refill the hole. Grumbling about how that dumb thing was within city limits, he finished off the dirt pile, and patted it into the refilled hole before leaving.

As he walked away from the site, dripping with dirty goo, he told the two cats, "Okay, Whiskers and Dotty, let's go get cleaned--"

"Meow."

Cheese looked across the street once more, and there sat a skinny, messy-furred black cat. "...right after we get that one."

---

Next stop for the two families was the aquarium on the nearby pier, which wasn't quite grandiose, but it was at least informative about the sea and its life, especially those that the building housed. Tomato was mildly amused by it, his mind hearkening to a time when Bluejinx mentioned his uncle was a marine biologist in Baltimare, but otherwise, he didn't think much of fish.

Once again, Tomato ended up somewhat isolating himself from the two families, the feeling of not really belonging in this outing creeping up on him again. He took to staring at some starfish, while glancing at the others either making faces at the fish or learning from the staff. The moment he was joined by Jelly's twin brothers singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" at that pool, he slipped away to look at another tank with fish in it, though his attention was focused on the pair of eels, one yellow and one brown, slithering through the water.

Jelly's father, Marmalade, was suddenly right next to him. With a shudder, he said, "Those things look evil."

Tomato shrugged. "Well they do seem like they'd be henchfish to some water-based villain."

"That they do. I wonder what seaponies think of eels."

"Who knows? Certainly not me, I haven't had much interest in the ocean ever."

Marmalade nodded, his lips in a tight line. With a scratch of his whisker-covered chin, he asked, "Say, I was wondering... since you and your brother are here, are your parents coming? I heard Cocoa Butter mention her brother earlier, and I found it a little odd that he doesn't seem to be around."

Tomato pursed his lips, still staring at the pair of eels. Thanks to their colors, he easily imagined the faces of his parents on them, from the curly red mane and distinct forelock of his mother, and the drooping jet black mane of his father. He glanced around at the others. Cocoa and Acorn were getting excited over the importance of pH level in different water environments, while their daughter just stood there giggling and basking in their enthusiasm; Peanut Butter and Jelly made kissy faces while imitating fish; and Jelly's mother and brothers were all softly singing songs about stars near the starfish pool.

He turned back to the eels, still seeing his mother's classic sneer and his father's grand look of absolute apathy. He could have sworn he'd seen his mother smile once, but he couldn't quite remember what it looked like. The best he could recall was that Cheese got his dimples from her.

He sighed. "Nah, they're not coming. They're too busy."

After a fair amount of fish imitation and goofily chanting "glub glub" with his fiancee, Peanut Butter started to walk out, saying, "Okay, I'm going out to see what the cafe has got, I'll be right back."

As he opened the door, flashing suddenly erupted, followed by a barrage of questions and statements such as:

"I didn't know you were interested in marine life!"

"Ooh, I hope you're not afraid of the water once learning about the scary fish and monsters in the ocean!"

"Does this trip make you crave seafood? How about your bride-to-be, does she like seafood?"

"A little off-topic, but did a Kraken ever attack Manehattan when you were little? Because you said you were born there."

"Hey, look, it's the Snap clone! Hi, Snap clone!"

Peanut Butter blew a heavy snort, turned around, and gave the crowd a little warning kick, complete with a whip of the tail. "This is private family time! Go away!"

Luckily, the staff was on his side, shooing the crowd away and scolding them for scaring the fish. They, along with both families, shoved the annoying group out, with Cocoa Butter even punching one that had apparently touched the wrong place.

Once the doors were shut, they sat against the wall to catch their breath. As they did so, Tomato complained, "As a Manehattan native, I can honestly say that we haven't had a Kraken attack in years. I think the thing died before I was even born."

Jelly also grumbled, "No, I don't like seafood."

---

Several wet cats tied to the poles of a pier, with bits and pieces of hardened purple ooze from Applewood's Ooze Hole still clinging to their fur. Beaten by waves and sprayed with mist, they were glaring at the pony jumping around in the surf, still washing off the sticky slime off his fur. It took longer than it should have, given that he had been catching any wayward frisbees that came his way, but it appeared that he was nearly finished.

Of course, then Cheese saw another cat, clinging for dear life on a piece of driftwood. Once he started to doggy-paddle toward the driftwood, the cats groaned in exasperation. Yet another feline was going to be added to the group, and they all looked at the giant hamster ball that the stallion had acquired on the way to the beach.

"Are you positive he's not going to let us go?" one cat asked.

Whiskers licked at his paw. "Trust me on this, he's been acting far worse than a dog in regards to chasing us. He actually caught and collected each one of us, for one thing."

"Well, he smells like a dog," another cat grumbled.

Dotty grimaced. "Is he planning to eat us? I don't like the idea of being dinner."

Another cat laughed. "Don't be silly, dude! He's a pony, they don't eat meat!"

Cheese waded back to the pole, holding the shivering kitty by the scruff of her neck. "Look who I saved, guys!" He dropped the cat into his hoof and lifted her up for the others to see. "I don't know how this little lady ended up out there, but rest assured, she's safe with us."

The rescued kitty shyly mewed, while the others just nodded in acknowledgement. Cheese chuckled, took a good whiff of the cat, and said, "I call thee 'Chelsea'."

He untied them from the pole, and then waddled to the hamster ball on the beach, with the group of felines bunched up in his front legs, squirming in a vain attempt to break free. They were dropped into the ball, and once it was sealed, Cheese started rolling the hamster ball across the beach, murmuring, "Okay, okay... I've dilly-dallied long enough, it's time to get the stupid cake."

A pony walking his dog paused for the passing Cheese, and stared at the ball. "Dude... isn't that, like, animal cruelty?"

Cheese stopped and leaned on the ball. "What are you talking about? These cats were alone, so I figured it'd be nice to start a pack so that none of them would be lonely."

The cats rolled their eyes.

"Uh... I'm pretty sure a 'pack' is a group of dogs." The other pony rubbed his chin. "I think my grandma said that a group of cats is a, uh... clowder, or somethin'."

"Yeah, yeah, sure..." Cheese bent down to start sniffing the dog. "It's really nice to meet you."

"Uh, why are you smelling my dog? I mean, like, I'm really happy that you like my dog, but, that's really weird, dude. You can just pet her--I don't mind that, and that's much less creepy. Hey... hey... hey! Don't sniff there, you weirdo!"

The pony pulled his dog away, and kicked sand in Cheese's face before walking off in a huff.

Cheese wiped the sand off his face, and spat some out. He growled at the pony, tempted to chase him down for that, but then his rational thought process came back to him with the memory of the cake... and the wedding... and the other planners that were waiting for him--or worse, ruining the party planning with a mish-mash of poorly thought out ideas!

He continued rolling the hamster ball across the beach, grumbling, "Aw, geez, how long was I gone for? Well, I better get back to busi--"

A wagon made for carrying food passed by, and one of the most glorious smells wafted right toward Cheese's nose. He stood there for a brief moment, stomach growling and his mouth starting to water, and slowly turned his head, sniffing once again. He hopped on top of the hamster ball, and started rolling it with all four hooves. The cats tumbled and rolled in the ball, complaining about the rolling, while he followed the wagon in a trance.

---

In a nearby mountain valley, Peanut and Jelly had arranged a little tour of the fruit farm that they met at, and often worked together at during the basketball off-season. Melon patches were the closest to the homestead, showing off their watermelons, honeydews, and cantaloupes. Behind them were half-grown pumpkins, set to be ripe by Nightmare Night. Rows of trees were explained to be citrus fruits, though it seemed only the grapefruits and lemons were visible, with other citrus fruits being out of season. Other trees were bearing fruit like apples and peaches. Fences covered in vines divided the separate types of trees, themselves bearing either strawberries or grapes. Among them all, many ponies were working among the plants, saying friendly greetings to the bride and groom.

The sun was hovering just over the western waters when the two families had a little fruit party with the owner and some of the workers. Doing as much as he could to socialize, Tomato got tired of correcting ponies who thought that he was a brother of either bride or groom, who thought that he was Snap once again, or just got excited over his name being Tomato. After telling stories to some who were curious about Manehattan, he decided to trot to the fence, and just sit there to catch his breath.

Facing outward, that point of the mountain looking over the city and having a view of the sea, Tomato idly munched on an apple, still slightly sour but still nice and fresh. He still heard laughing behind him, not even needing to look at the rich friendships and family ties being nourished. Looking back on the summer so far, the various families he had met had come to mind.

Limestone and Marble Pie showed impressive teamwork in fighting off bandits Diamond Dogs, and their parents didn't hesitate to jump into the fray when things got tough. Bluejinx's father must have been pretty good for Blue to miss him terribly. Silver Shill knew his sister enough to not be fooled by the Flim Flams' deception. Silk Shimmer was hoping to find her brother Party Favor, and was most likely happy to hear the news that he's okay; meanwhile, as horrid as Kazam was, Party Favor was still sad over hearing of his arrest.

Judging from stories he heard and his interaction with Princess Celestia, he didn't doubt that she was overjoyed over her sister's return from banishment. Cirrus and Nimbus had parents who made up for their disappointment hurting their children by choosing to be supportive of their talents. Ponyacci and Juneflower were surrounded by happy children and grandchildren celebrating their anniversary. Platinum Pen must have had a soft spot for him because of her son, and because Tomato helped her brother.

Flora's large family had been celebrating a beloved holiday together, and even though they failed, they tried to steer cousin Creme Brulee from a destructive nature. Even if Dandy had been overbearing and kind of airheaded, at least it was clear that he loved his son Snapdragon Apple. And finally, his own aunt and uncle clearly raised two well-adjusted foals, both having chased and lived their dreams, and one was set to begin the cycle anew with his beloved the next day.

And then there were his own parents. They did the bare minimum of providing for physical and education needs, no doubt about that, but imagining them in any of those positions was nearly impossible. Not even a month ago, his mother had beat him down with how always wrong he was, how she knew better about who he should be and how he should listen to her. His father had barely acknowledged him, just the same tired stallion that he had seen at that table for years.

No comfort, no kindness, no laughter... just the same dull, lonely routine, day after day, with harsh, overbearing words, bullies, and unfortunate circumstances peppered in to kill his joy.

Every muscle in his body was tight as he thought these thoughts, and all tension was released when he threw his apple core, farther than he'd ever done before. What he'd have given to have a family like his friends, old and new, his cousins, and even the strangers he'd see in the Manehattan parks.

Aunt Cocoa Butter walked up beside him, leaning on the fence beside him. "You've been looking kind of glum all day. Are you okay?"

Tomato rested his chin on the wood and sighed. "I'm sorry if I'm being a killjoy. I'm just... frustrated about my family."

Cocoa looked offended. "What? What did we do?"

"Ugh, no, Aunt Cocoa, I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about my parents! What's their problem that they couldn't let me and Cheese just be goofy, happy kids? Grandma and Grandpa let me and Cheese be kids when they were alive, and your kids are perfectly happy with their lives! I don't get why... why..."

Cocoa tilted her head. "Why what?"

Tomato's ears drooped down, the rest of his body seeming to deflate. "... why Mom only seems to love me for my special talent. Why Dad doesn't even give a crap. An admittedly cool memory spell even revealed that maybe, just maybe, I was an accident. Cheese always implied that I was the favorite, but if I am, I sure don't enjoy any privileges from it."

Cocoa nodded and pursed her lips. She let a moment pass for Tomato to calm down, and then said, "...my brother wasn't always so apathetic. If anything, he was just really shy. So much, that it annoyed me and I picked on him for it." She grimaced, and a more somber look followed. "Looking back... I may have started his habit of outright shutting down whenever he gets stressed out. Marrying your mother just sealed his fate, as she was always kind of bossy."

Tomato huffed. "What's her excuse?"

Cocoa shrugged. "Maybe if you ever meet that sister of hers, you could find out. The most I can say was that... well, your father and your other aunt were friends. They were both shy weirdos, and played a lot of games together and did homework together, up until they were teenagers. And then, for whatever reason, they had a fallout, and she skipped town. I didn't care at the time, I really did not like Honeydew, but your father was heartbroken."

"And, what, did my mom have a crush on him, and was so jealous of her sister that she sabotaged her?"

Cocoa shrugged yet again. "Who knows. All I know is that he started out scared of her, but slowly got friendlier and more used to her as time went on. I guess she wasn't really a bad pony back then if super shy Hay Burger got used to her and actually started to like her. They were even a pretty good academic team in college, so they just thought marriage would work out, but..."

"Yeah, here I am now," Tomato grumbled.

Cocoa patted his head. "I'm sorry it turned out that way. Maybe her sister running off hit your mother hard, maybe he and she just can't handle marriage with each other, maybe both of their parents dying twisted the knife... I don't know, maybe it was just life beating on them too hard, and they couldn't handle it."

She ran a hoof through her mane, and wiped an eye. "Honestly, it's unfair that it had to be taken out on you and Cheese. I could tell that you were both sweet kids, especially since you two got scared of me when I argued with your parents... I'm sorry about that. Maybe if I hadn't been such a big bully to Hay, he wouldn't have contributed to his mess. Would he stand up to his wife, or would he even have married her at all? I don't know, but... the could-have-beens still bother me to this day. I feel like I failed my brother."

Another silent moment passed, and Cocoa glanced at him. "Oh, uh, sorry for the tangent, I just thought you needed some idea of why your family's so dysfunctional. It can't reverse anything that happened, and they're still guilty of making you and Cheese such messes." She swept her eyes up and down Tomato's face and sighed. "You look so much like Hay... I just wish he looked as bright as you do."

"Your sentiment is familiar to me..." Tomato raised his head. "Welcome to the 'I alienated my sibling' club."

Cocoa chuckled. "Well, at least you made up with yours. I think you two would make a great team."

Tomato nodded, though he could feel a chill down his spine. Yeah, true, but... he's lost a memory, and I can't shake the feeling that something else is going on with him. I hope I don't lose him again.

Cocoa nudged him. "So, can you spit? Because a watermelon seed spitting contest sounds fun after getting things off our chest, hm?"

Tomato laughed. "Okay, you're on."

---

Cheese still followed the scent of the wagon, even when it was out of sight. The trail led to the mountains, past even the neighborhoods that climbed the slopes. Through shrub and grass he went, with birds flying over him, snakes slithering through the grass, and crickets leaping away. On his back, the cats still complained in their giant hamster ball.

Cheese felt parched, his tongue lolling out in an attempt to cool down. His stomach still groaned and ached for yearning of food, thus spurring his nose to pull him through the brush. There was something in that cart that smelled good, and he was going to find out what.

He came across a few buildings, where the wagon was parked. Cheese perked up, his tail wagging... which stopped briefly when an apple core suddenly fell from the sky, and clunked him on the head. It was a brief sting, enough to glare at the core for a few seconds, but at least he didn't have a bump. Still, he looked up to see just where it came from, only for the lack of trees to confuse him more.

A strong smell made him forget about the apple core, and he walked forward. Careful sniffs of this strange scent made him realize that it was strangely familiar, but he couldn't quite place why. It was no alfalfa, or hay burger, or pizza. It didn't smell like any sort of food a pony like him would eat. But it was a savory smell that made his mouth water, one that the back of his mind told him was a foul stench, but his nose was singing in delight. What could it be, what was in the wagon, the buildings, the--

He turned to the wagon, and gasped. Right there, in big, bold letters, read, "APPLEWOOD PET FOOD INDUSTRY."

It finally hit him that he was smelling meat of all things. A stench that normally made him vomit each type he passed one of those meat-cutting shacks, such as the one he stood before. A product that all of ponykind shunned from their diets, and an industry that nopony liked to think about. Unfortunately, pets like cats and dogs were carnivores, and they needed to be fed somehow.

He could one recall one time that he intentionally went into a butcher shop (he was sure there was another time, but trying to think of it just gave him a headache), and that was when as a colt, executing a crazy idea to save his little brother from a pack of dogs. He knew that he had thrown up from the stench, and had done so every time he was unfortunate to pass buy one. Curiously, he still stepped forward instead of turning back, and instead of repulsive, the smell was alluring.

A stocky mare trotted out, and halted from surprise of seeing someone up here. "Hey, what's a pony like you doing up here?"

Cheese felt like melting. How was he supposed to explain that he was liking the smell of the meat. "Uh... I was just, uh, hiking. Yeah, hiking, and I had the misfortune of, uh, stumbling here."

The mare looked at him funny. "Can you explain the ball of cats?"

He turned his head to look at the cats. For the first time that day, he wondered, Why was I collecting cats again?

"If you're catsitting them for your grandma, I sure hope you didn't run out of food for them." The mare scratched her chin. "Good heavens, those cats look so hungry! Are you avoiding the store so that whoever you're catsitting for doesn't see you?"

Cheese whined like a dog in shame.

"If you have money on you, I could give you some meat and water for your cats." She lowered her eyelids halfway. "Just don't hike with them like that again, they might get overheated."

Cheese started to rummage through his mane for some spare bits. "Uh... okay."

---

The cats were quietly eating their meal inside their hamster ball as Cheese left the butcher shop in the hills. It was hard to break away from such a wonderful smell, but he knew he had made too many detours that day. So much precious party-planning time wasted, and he had a sense that he was going to be spending all night sorting whatever mess the others had made. Or maybe, by some miracle, they actually managed to make something good out of all their junk.

Well, if anything was for certain, he couldn't go to the bakery while hauling a ball of cats and some extra meat for the felines to "take home". The latter especially would earn him horrified stares, even if he explained that the meat was for the cats, and he was going to give them to a good home.

His stomach growled yet again, and he groaned. He may have taken care of the cats' hunger, but not his own.

Normally, by now, the grass or shrubbery would look appetizing, or he'd pull a leftover cake or nachos out of his secret compartment. However, this time, his eyes were on the meat that he carried.

He knew it was taboo, he knew that ponies were vegetarian--save for a few lunatics that were rightfully shunned--and he knew that giving in would probably make him some kind of monster. He kept turning his nose up and away from it, like a good pony should. Anypony with any sort of decency would know that meat is for carnivores, not for civilized ponies. The meat was for the cats, not him.

Besides, he reasoned to himself, it probably didn't taste that good anyway. It wasn't like crunchy oats, or a juicy apple. Nor was it like a sweet cake, or a savory hay burger. It wasn't like cheesy pizza or chewy bubblegum. Nor was it like delectable bread and butter, or some nice, sunny-side up...

He paused. What the heck were eggs? Don't those come from a chicken? And the cheesy pizza... isn't cheese made from milk? Which comes from cows? He already ate animal products, so what was the big deal about eating meat?

He shook his head. "No... no, no. Eggs and milk don't require killing an animal to get them. That meat stuff does. And though I'm sure cats have no qualms killing mice, I would not dare take the life of another. So, no, stupid illogical thoughts, I'm not falling for it."

He kept on going forward, aiming to get back into Applewood as soon as possible. As soon as he could get back, he could have a nice, reasonable vegetarian lunch... and he'd have no worries about the siren call of meat. He just had to stay strong, bear the hunger pangs, show that crazy temptation who's boss. He just needed to think about good meals, like pizza, or veggie empanadas, or maybe even his namesake! He chuckled at the thought of Cheese Sandwich eating a cheese sandwich.

His eyes fell on the meat again, and he involuntarily licked his lips. He started to imagine just how juicy it must be, and how it would feel to sink his teeth in it. He could feel that sensation of ripping it to shreds, his teeth cutting into it like a knife, and his tongue launching it down his throat, like how he had seen an Cragodile swallow a hapless deer that one time.

Slapping himself, he chanted, "It's cat food... it's cat food... it's cat food..."

It was cat food all right, and he was a pony. What was going on with him? Why did that stuff suddenly look appealing to him? Was he turning into a cat? Before it was nausea inducing, but now it was hunger inducing! He could feel drool pouring out of his mouth in a waterfall, his lips smacking and teeth clicking for a chance to bite, and his heart and thoughts racing. His normal pony thoughts were fighting against some strange new instinct, arguing over whether he should satisfying his hunger or not. His body quaked, and his pace steadily slowed down as he tried to ignore the cuts of meat calling to him.

One loud, painful hunger pang later, he had enough.

He cast the hamster ball of cats to the side, causing the curious felines to see what was going on with their captor. Their eyes widened and they backed up into a bush, watching as the ravenous pony tore open the bag, and started wolfing down its contents. Stuck where they were, they could only stand petrified at Cheese looking more like a dog than a horse.

Dotty the calico then asked to one certain other cat, "...what was that you said about ponies not eating meat?"

Author's Note:

Whew! This was was more of a doozy than I thought it would be! Of course, given a previous adventure in exploring Manehattan, I should have expected that exploring Applewood would be a tough task as well. Ah, well, at least I could say I tried my best with Google at my disposal.

So, we join Cheese on a silly adventure (which... quite frankly, turns just so wrong at the end--I was disturbed while writing that part, brrr!), and Tomato having a more emotional story this time around. Given that Tommy's with relatives, the subject of his parents had to come up sometime.

Even I find it weird that Cheese is trying to justify chasing cats with "rescuing them and giving them friendship". Yeah, sure, you can keep telling yourself and the audience that, but in the end, you're still questioning it yourself.

Comments

[Tygatodd2000]

Cat food is aparantly very tastey (I Can't Spell)

[redmar]

Cheese is getting worse. I hope it doesn't take long before he regains his memories. Wayer Runes should be thrown into the fountain of youth for this after his daughter told him how terrible he has been.

[k88a]

Well...now I'm hungry for meat

[Godslittleprincess]

Aww, at least Tommy is having a bit of fun.

Also, that ending!