Brotherly Bonding Time

by Sketcha-Holic

20.3--Reworking On the Fly

The quartet was free from the library later that afternoon, though they planned to meet their three volunteers there the next day for their big fundraiser. After Cheese, Lemon, and Toola Roola had their dip in the healing pool, they tried their luck for more volunteers for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, they were met with the same reactions as before their trip to the library, and thus shuffled off back to Fallow's cabin at dusk.

They had opened the door to hear a soft, feminine voice say, "...sounds an awful lot like my brother! I'm so sorry that you--"

Both Sandwiches' ears perked up at the strange familiarity of that voice, but Lemon Zest interrupted their ponderings with, "Hey, Dad! We're back from our big day out in town! We got three volunteers to help out with a fundraiser we're planning!"

Fallow's head poked out from the kitchen. "Fundraiser? You're doing a fundraiser? Why was I not told of this?"

Tomato shot a look at the others, who just shrugged. "Uh... we didn't want to get your hopes up? I mean, we did have a bit of trouble finding volunteers--the town's split and they hate my guts for not picking a side. We were lucky to find three sane ponies in this entire town!"

"The librarian, her assistant, and Tree Hugger," Toola Roola muttered. "And that's not going into the animal situation."

"Dude, we had to run from the Porcupine Mafia!" Lemon complained. "Not to mention all the other animals that thought it'd be fun to pick on us..."

"My goodness! I didn't realize it was this bad..." Fallow's guest trotted out of the kitchen, revealing herself to be...

"...Fluttershy?" Cheese asked.

Fluttershy appeared to have the same inward gasp at seeing Cheese and Tomato. "Oh, my! Fallow, are Cheese Sandwich and his brother those guests that turned out to be your nephews?"

"That they are," Fallow said, nodding. "You know each other?"

"Well... just a little bit, but Cheese is closer to my friend Pinkie Pie." She looked straight at Cheese with concern, and then walked to her saddlebags hanging on the wall. "She's been worried sick about you, Cheese. A couple weeks ago, she suddenly started panicking over your whereabouts, almost like she had been sensing you this whole time, and you just... disappeared."

Cheese scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Okay, last I checked, I can sense her, but she can't sense me."

"I don't know..." Tomato started scratching his chin. "I wouldn't be surprised if she picked that little ability up."

"Well, she'll be happy to know you're okay." Fluttershy pulled an envelope out of her bag and gave it to Cheese. "She told me to give this to you if I happened to bump into you. She made it clear that it was super important. And I mean a literal... in-your-face kind of clear..."

Cheese hesitated for a moment, but accepted the envelope anyway. "Okay, sure... but just what are you doing here, anyway?"

Fallow stepped in. "Well, she's a friend of mine from the Society of Preservation of Rare Creatures. I wrote to her about the situation at hoof and how it's just too big of a job for one pony. I was hoping that an extra nature talker, especially one as persuasive as Fluttershy, could help convince the animals to stop terrorizing the townsfolk and understand that they're in danger if they keep this up."

"And once the animals stop being so mean, perhaps the ponies will have an easier time finding middle ground," Fluttershy added.

"Well... I hope the extra help does the trick for you, Uncle Fallow," Tomato said. There was a growl in his voice and a redder tint in his face as he continued, "Of course, Grapevine will be his stubborn, self-righteous, preachy self, telling us all to share the world, that 'nature talking is a magic we all have', and will probably keep referring to me as a greedy slave of 'The Mare' who wants my corporate overlords to destroy the environment for the bits! Why, next time I see him, I'll--"

"Okay, easy there, Tomato!" Toola Roola said. "I know you're mad, but I don't think violence will get your points across."

He snorted. "But anyway... we're handling the whole 'paying off the damages' thing so that the mayor could let Fallow off the hook."

"Carnival style!" Cheese exclaimed, juggling some of the knickknacks that were lying around. He winked as he added, "And hey, it could serve as a little advertising for your nature park and get it back into gear like the good old days..."

Fallow furrowed his brow. "How do you expect Aura Springs to--"

"We're throwing it in Graze Valley," Lemon said. "And knowing that we have Cheese Sandwich on our side, we'll attract a crowd in no time! And one, two, three, we'll have the money and live happily ever after!"

Tomato sighed. "Not quite. There's still the matter of the big businesspony coming to town. Both the town's and the animals' fates are hanging on whatever he or she is planning to do. I just hope their decision doesn't destroy all Uncle Fallow--and we, for that matter--worked for." And prove the flowerponies right about ponies like me.

"Don't worry," Fluttershy said. "I'll do everything in my power to help both animals and ponies live in actual harmony, and help this super-important businesspony see that the park's worth preserving."

Lemon forced a large grin. "As long as your definition of 'harmony' means that they stay away from me..."

Fallow smiled. "Aren't I lucky to have these kids sticking up for me?"

---

The next morning, Fluttershy allowed the group to borrow the hot-air balloon she had used to come to Aura Springs so that they'd travel more quickly to Graze Valley. After meeting at the library, they and their volunteers packed up to meet Lemon's friend in the other town. Art and supplies from Toola Roola, old records and a karaoke machine from Lemon Zest (as well as some amps she borrowed from a friend), old toys and books of Summer Wind's, jewelry, dresses, and lanterns from Kimono, and woven items and a yoga mat from Tree Hugger were among the items that were donated. Plus, everyone figured that Cheese Sandwich had stashed some surprises in his own 'secret compartment'.

Summer, the lone pegasus, pulled both the balloon and the cart full of items. Back in the basket, the others (save Lemon, who was a little busy rocking out with her headphones) passed the time by pointing out the shapes of clouds, and Cheese talking about how he'd wish for wings when he was a colt. When asked why, he just replied, "I don't know, I just thought flying would be cool!"

"It is cool!" Summer hollered back.

"I sometimes envy your wings, Summer!" Kimono shouted, to which Summer replied with laughter.

"I've felt myself float during meditation before..." Tree Hugger said.

"Oh! I have to show you my painting of a bird's eye view and it's in the cart..." Toola Roola blankly stared at said cart for a moment, and then looked down. "Well, I better memorize this landscape for my next piece."

Tomato scratched his back at the thought of the one time he could fly, and then looked to Cheese. "Hey, that reminds me, did you read that letter from Pinkie yet? Because surely if she sent a message, Twilight must have found something to help."

Cheese groaned, and told Tommy in a less-than-thrilled tone, "I've been a little busy drawing up plans for today's carnival, so no, I haven't read it." He leaned on the edge of the basket. "Why does she have to stick her nose in our business anyway? I don't go barging into her days out with any of her sisters or drag my friends into solving any of her dumb problems."

Tomato forcefully poked Cheese's head. "Friendly reminder of just why she's concerned! Twilight Sparkle is our only chance of getting this fixed, and Fluttershy being around means that we can get to her as soon as possible. Wouldn't have that if Pinkie didn't know about our little problem."

Cheese growled, pulling back like the tide and ready to pounce in a tsunami of aggression. Tomato was thankful that Cheese paused to take a breath, and then straightened back up to say coolly, "Well... I'll read it later. But for now, we've got your fundraiser to throw."

As Cheese shuffled away, Tomato sighed and ran a hoof through his mane. Healing pool or not, that temper that could snap at any moment still unnerved him. So far, he was lucky that Cheese had been holding back, instead taking out any spare aggression on the troublemaking animals in protective spurts. At least there was clearly still some love for his little brother keeping him in check.

But he couldn't help but wonder about Pinkie Pie.

As the balloon neared Graze Valley--which was definitely a bigger town than Aura Springs--Lemon stopped her headbanging and pointed to a nearby field. "Hey! Summer! There's my pal over in that field! You should go land there!"

Summer saluted toward her. "Aye aye!"

She circled down for a landing, though Lemon seemed content to ignore Summer's warnings to hold on tight, instead jumping down when they were close enough to see the somewhat arrogant pout on the bright blue pegasus mare below them. With a cheer of "Sunny!", she landed, rolled forward, and then jumped in for a hug straight after.

"Gak!" Sunny cried. Cautiously patting Lemon's back in return, she replied, "Hey, Lemon. See you're still as peppy as ever."

The balloon had landed when Lemon broke the hug, and then gestured to a certain occupant hopping out and scratching his ear with a hind hoof. "See? I wasn't kidding when I said that Cheese Sandwich is my cousin! Anyway, thanks for convincing your mom to let us use this field for the fundraiser carnival, and let me tell you, with him here, it's going to be sweet!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Sunny looked at the ragtag group of helping hooves. "Sunny Flare, daughter of Graze Valley's mayor, nice to meet you."

Cheese hopped onto all fours, and trotted over to shake her hoof. "Nice to meet you too! I'm glad that you're gonna let us throw a carnival here. It's not gonna be free like my usual shindigs, but this is a fundraiser... you know, raising bits for our uncle and all that. But as far as I'm concerned, I'm going to make this a fun-raiser! Eh?"

Behind him, Tomato facehoofed, while the others cringed.

"Uh-huh," Sunny said, raising her eyebrow. She turned to Lemon. "I thought you didn't like animals."

"I don't, but I love my dad, and his park, his research, and the animals mean a lot to him," Lemon said.

"Hm, they don't play games with his heart, so okay," Sunny said. When faced with Lemon's glare, she backed up, and proceeded to change the subject. "Okay, what have you ponies got? This better be good."

Toola Roola jumped into the cart and held up several paintings with ease. "Oh, I've got plenty of stuff that I painted of various areas in the park and town. There's Unicorn Horn Falls, a bear with cubs, our namesake springs, your namesake valley, the geysers--"

"Okay, I get it. You've got a lot of those, don't you?" Sunny scratched her chin as she gazed at the art. "Why didn't you sell those before?"

Toola Roola shrugged. "I didn't think anyone would buy."

"Oh, I'd buy one, dear," Kimono said. "Especially that one with the wolf and the full moon."

Toola Roola beamed. "Thanks! I actually painted that one last night. There was this wolf howling nearby and inspiration just struck!" She put those paintings down and held up more cartoony posters. "I also do caricatures, and I'll draw portraits in either style for five bits!"

"Wow... trippy stuff..." Tree Hugger said.

Sunny flinched at the caricatures of Toola Roola's family members, and then straightened herself out. "Okay, anything else besides art?"

"I'm cleaning out my closet," Kimono said, holding up several oriental dresses and some fancy jewelry. "Surely there's ponies who'd love these."

"I'm also giving up some of my old books and toys and all of my old dog toys." Summer bounced a ball, squeaked a squeaky toy, and held up a dog whistle. "I wasn't allowed to get another dog after my old dog died, since, you know, certain things in town... anyway, I'm going to miss these things, they're all I have left of Curly... besides pictures."

She blew the dog whistle in an attempt at a mournful tune, despite most not hearing it. Cheese and Tomato jumped in surprise and then stared at the whistle in disbelief. Rubbing their ears, they muttered, "So that's what a dog whistle sounds like..."

Tree Hugger held up a woven basket, almost singing, "My weavings will bring happiness to all. Ah, and also some yoga to help your body and spirit."

Lemon nodded. "And you know I'm bringing the music stuff, because what is a carnival without music?"

Tomato shrugged. "I'm just making sure the money goes where it needs to go so that we reach our goal."

Cheese scoffed. "Well, if we don't reach it, you've got some that you could donate out of the kindness of your heart, nudge nudge, or maybe have a lower goal if you donated all of it, nudge nudge... how much did Snap give you anyway?"

Tomato snorted and grumbled, "It was 1,800 bits, but I sent some to Flora and family so now it's 1,500."

"So just 500 for us to earn, huh?" Cheese ignored Tomato's annoyed growl, and started popping his joints as he walked to the middle of the field. "Well, I've got the biggest, and most important contribution of all! I've done this for years, no matter how big, and let me tell you, that we're going to have the time of our..."

He turned to the others and made a motion to pull something from behind his back. "...lives!"

He threw his hoof out, but that was it. No party bomb, no confetti cannon, not even a single streamer. Seeing the absolute nothing that he threw, Cheese attempted the throw again, this time from inside his shirt. Again, nothing. Gritting his teeth, he attempted to pull something, anything, out of his mane, his tail, behind his back again, from his shirt again, and even jumping to the nearest tree to try to yank any of his stuff from apparently nowhere. The more he failed, the harder he threw, and the harder he threw, the louder his growls and angry exclamations of gibberish when it didn't work.

Sunny blinked numbly, and turned to a confused Lemon. "So, he's supposed to have this weird magic, right? I've heard the rumors and read the news, but... I'm not seeing it."

Lemon chuckled nervously. "Uh... Cheese? Isn't something supposed to happen?"

Cheese was still frantically trying to pull something from behind random shrubs at the edge of town. "Usually something does!" He threw some leaves into the air. "I would have liked for that to be confetti!"

"Oh, come on! Unleash the magic already!"

Cheese ripped off the leaves in clumps and threw them in the air. "I can't! I don't know why, but my magic has gone kaput!"

Tomato had been staring in disbelief the entire time, and now the level of disbelief went up to wide-eyed levels. "What?!"

Cheese came back, stomping hard enough to leave dents on the ground. "Yeah, I'm literally hearing raspberry noises every time I try."

Tomato pulled at his mane. "Are you kidding me?! Now, of all times, when we need to summon an entire carnival?!" Tomato started to pace back and forth frantically. "Argh! This is just great! How could party pony magic just die on the Super Duper Party Pony, when it's his literal job to spread happiness and joy and parties and be some sort of spirit of celebration..." He stopped and glared at Cheese. "Okay, what did you do?"

Cheese pinned his ears back and glanced away uncomfortably. "What did I do? Don't be crazy, I've been focusing a lot on throwing shindigs all summer! You know how my magic is, it's fickle over whether it works or not, depending on the humor of--"

"Well, do we need to make this situation funny for you? Okay, I'll make it funny!" Tomato then pulled Boneless 2 from behind his back, and then slapped Cheese across the face with him.

There was silence for that very long moment. Half of the girls were trying to figure out where the rubber chicken came from, while the other half were gaping at the fact that Tomato just smacked his brother like that.

Cheese himself was stunned by that turn of events, but for a different reason. "Wait... why do you have Boneless 2?"

"You dropped him during the bear attack, and I've been holding onto him ever since," Tomato answered.

Cheese narrowed his eyes. "And how come you summoned him effortlessly while I can't even throw confetti right now?"

Tomato blinked, and then his eyes widened. "Uh..."

Cheese swiped Boneless 2 from him, and then started smacking him on the head. "Give me back my magic, you thief! I need that to throw parties!"

"Ow, ow, ow! I did not steal your magic--ow!--I've been doing crazy stuff since this stupid vacation started! Ow! Why would I-ow!--steal yours? How would I even--ow! Okay, that's it!" Tomato whipped out the fruit firework launcher and pointed it at Cheese's face. "Stop hitting me with poultry or you get a fruit firework to the face!"

Summer was between them in a second. "Okay, cut it out! You're both funny, guys, but I don't think your slapstick routine is helping."

Cheese snorted. "Well, I don't know what will help--unless Tomato has an entire carnival in his pocket."

Tomato unbuttoned and opened his jacket, and allowed the party implements he had picked up earlier to fall out, complete with a burst of confetti. "Well, I've only got what you dropped. Several cans of silly string, a unicycle, the fruit-flavored fireworks--"

"Wait, what?" Toola Roola asked. "How can fireworks--"

"We've got a chemist aunt and uncle on our Dad's side, the latter of which has a bit of a screw loose," Tomato answered. He picked up the accordion and gave it to Cheese. "If anything, I think you can still sing and play the accordion."

Cheese stared at the accordion, and then glanced at the silent rubber chicken on his shoulder. "It doesn't help the fact that now our carnival's nothing more than a glorified yard sale. I'm sorry, but reaching our goal is going to be impossible."

Tomato's heart sunk. All that talk and planning of their great carnival fundraiser, one that'll attract ponies in herds and make them loathe to leave, one where everything is so fun that ponies would pay again and again to play, one where even the volunteers he gathered would have fun sharing their talents... it all seemed like a waste now. Indeed, he could see the downcast eyes and the looks at their items among the others. Even Tree Hugger had an appearance of mournful fatigue.

His eyes lingered on Cheese the longest. The party pony had his back to the others, sitting and moping in an almost-ball as he stared at his accordion and rubber chicken. It was clear that Cheese had been the one most excited to throw it, given his usual confidence in his talent, only to have his own magic yanked out from under him. Tomato didn't know if it was the memory issue branching out and complicating things, or just a response to the whole money factor possible ruining fun. Either way, there was no big carnival today, and Cheese was not happy to be a disappointment.

Tomato's hoof went into his jacket, his eyes closing to think. He felt around in that secret compartment--something that prior to this summer he'd never thought was a possibility for a young business student like him--and lightly brushed the various books he read throughout the summer, a few souvenirs from other places, the surprise pocket watch, his wallet, the money that Snap had paid him...

He opened his eyes, and looked at the town. The money he had was five hundred bits short of their goal, but there was a town, full of many ponies of many different special talents right there. The idea forming in his head was nothing short of a gamble, but he hoped that the sacrifice was worth it.

"Well, this sounds like this was a big waste of time," Sunny groused, turning to leave. "So much for something exciting happening around here."

"No, wait!" Tomato shouted. "We can still make this work!"

Lemon and Toola Roola looked at each other, with the latter asking, "How? Did you forget what happened five minutes ago?"

Tomato grabbed his brother--much to Cheese's surprise--lifted him up, and shook him violently until several more party implements fell out, along with the plans that Cheese drew up. Grabbing the plans, he shoved them into Cheese's hooves and said, "Okay, you might have to do some on-the-fly edits and improvisations with the junk lying around, but I'm going into town to recruit some more volunteers for this. Be prepared to meet whatever ponies I end up sending."

Before Cheese could even respond, Tomato zoomed toward Sunny Flare and asked, "Hey, can you show me around town?"

Sunny replied with a blunt, "No."

"Oh, come on! Why not?"

"I only take my dates flying around town. I don't want rumors spread about me and some out-of-town weirdo."

"Are you kidding me?"

Lemon jumped in. "Relax, I've been here before, cuz, so I'll show you around." She turned to Sunny. "You can stay here and help set up. I know you'll like working with Kimono right there and helping her with the dresses..."

Sunny was clearly suppressing a smile. "Well, those dresses are pretty."

"Hey, thanks, Lemon, I really appreciate the help," Tomato said.

Summer Wind then hopped in and giggled. "Gotta love a stallion that takes charge! If you'd like, I could carry you two and make the trip around town quicker. I mean, I'm strong enough and my wings don't get tired easily, so if we want to get this carnival going ASAP..."

"Well, all right. Just one concern: who's taking care of your stuff?"

"Um, Kimono will, duh." Summer took to the air, and grabbed Tomato and Lemon by the barrel. "Okay, just tell me where to go, guys, and I'll get you there!"

Tomato glanced at Lemon. "Any other friends in town?"

Lemon scratched her chin. "Well, there's the candy mare, Sour Sweet. Might want to be careful, she's kinda spiteful."

Tomato smirked. "Candy mare, you say? Well, what's a party without candy? Let's see if we can convince her to give us a helping hoof."

Lemon blew at her bangs. "If you say so. Take us away, Summer! Sour Sweet's on the other side of town."

Summer grinned. "Okey-dokey!"

And with that, Summer was in the air, and Tomato and Lemon were carried above the buildings, waving their goodbyes and shouting their promises of more volunteers. The others waved backed, and then looked at each other in confusion.

"So, uh... we set up our things, right?" Toola Roola asked. "I think Tomato asked me earlier to paint Summer's book costume to be an advertisement, so I think I better do that."

"Well, Sunny and I will set up the racks and shelves for my dresses and jewels," Kimono said.

Tree Hugger had her yoga mat in her mouth and carried a large basket of her many woven items on her back. "I must find the magic current of this meadow... it'll be easier to connect with others' auras so that I can see them in their maximum traquility..."

"Uh, okay, sure... huh, I wonder what auras look like..." She turned to Cheese, who was simultaneously looking over the plans and looking at the surprising amount of silly string cans that both he and Tomato had on their person. "So, you got any ideas?"

Cheese glanced at her before returning his sight to the cans. "I've been thinking silly string fights."

---

"And here we are!" Lemon exclaimed as they landed. "The candy store!"

Tomato took note of the candy corn shape of the building. "Well, what else could it be?"

Summer touched down beside him. "It could be a Nightmare Night store, for all your Nightmare Night needs! Oooooo..." She waved her hooves around like the spookiest of spooky ghosts, and drew a little too close for Tomato's comfort, enough that he gently pushed her away. Getting the message that she should stop, she added, "But yeah, but it's probably a candy store."

"Well, let's see if Sour Sweet's got nothing better to do." Lemon opened the door and leapt in.

As they followed into a room full of colorful shelves of all sorts of candy, Summer rambled to Tomato, "Okay, but that does remind me that I've got to decide a costume for Nightmare Night. I was planning on being a vampire, but after what happened in Las Pegasus, I think it'd be kind of insensitive to dress up as one. I was thinking of a werewolf as a backup costume, because those are really cool. How about you?"

"Eh..." Tomato said. "Haven't thought about it, I haven't dressed up since I was a kid. Besides, it's August!"

"Never too early to decide a costume, my friend."

They stopped their conversation to hear what Lemon was telling the yellow, freckled-face mare leaning on the counter. Though most of the conversation was clearly about the carnival and how they're recruiting her, Tomato was a little taken aback by what Sour Sweet said next.

"Why, of course I'd help you save your Dad's nature park!" Sour Sweet said with a clearly fake grin on her face. "Never mind the sheer terror that wild animals give you. Why do you even bother?"

Lemon had a hoof to her face. "Look, you don't need to rub that in my face, dude. But I love my dad, so I gotta do something to help him."

Sour Sweet scoffed. "How do you even know if he is your dad?"

Lemon slammed her hooves on the counter. "How dare you! I have plenty of reason to diss my mom, but she's no floozy!" She looked away and grumbled through gritted teeth, "Besides, we took the blood test. He's my pop."

Summer trotted forward and interrupted the conversation with, "Fun fact! Did you know that brown stallions carry a gene that allows them to sire pink daughters, no matter the color of the mother? It's really weird, but really cool."

Tomato was rubbing his chin as he came forward. All of a sudden, Pinkie Pie in comparison to the rest of her family made a little bit more sense. Still, the part of the conversation suggesting something rather unsavory about Aunt Honeydew seemed a little off to him.

Sour Sweet said in plainly obvious fake cheer, "Well, hello! Who are these friends of Lemon Zest's?"

He snapped out of his reverie. "I'm her cousin, Tomato Sandwich, and this here is Summer Wind. Lemon's already told you the situation, so I guess I better cut to the chase and ask you for your assistance and your tasty treats at our carnival."

Sour Sweet idly drew her hooves in circles on the counter. "Oh, I'd love to, but I've got a candy shop to run, stocks to take, a whole cartload of leftover caramel that I have to find a way to get rid of..." She looked straight at them with a raised eyebrow. "Maybe you can take that off my hooves."

Tomato leaned on the counter. "So... is that a no? Sure nothing can change your mind?"

Sour Sweet pouted. "Give me one good reason why I should care about some stupid nature war the next town over?"

Tomato grabbed one of the bags from the roll on the counter, and then rummaged through his jacket for a good few seconds. When he was done, he pulled the bag back out, filled with a significant amount of bits. "So... I guess this won't change your mind, either?"

Sour Sweet blinked, and then twirled a lock of of her magenta hair. "Well... I guess selling my candy at this carnival of yours could help my business..."

Tomato set the bag down. "Glad to know we're on the same page. So, here's what I'd like you to do..."

---

"I'm glad that we came to an agreement, Miss Sweet!" Tomato hollered as they departed. "Meet my brother Cheese Sandwich at the carnival site, and he'll direct you from there!"

Sour Sweet waved goodbye. "No problem!"

Tomato chuckled, and faced forward. "So, where to next, Lemon?"

Lemon scratched her chin. "I need to think a bit about who else could help." She gave him a curious look. "Say, how come you didn't mention that you could summon bits out of nowhere before? Because with that, this whole carnival deal is a waste of time."

"Eh... I can't create money out of thin air, I can only store existing money. I think party pony magic gets that just magically making money like that would be considered counterfeiting." Tomato wiped sweat off his forehead. "I've only got a bunch on me because a did a favor for a wealthy someone, and even then, I was 500 bits short, and I don't know where to get 500 without risking those ones."

"Well, whatever the case, you convinced her with those bits," Summer said. She winked as she added, "Doesn't hurt that you're tall, dark, and handsome."

Tomato scoffed. "I don't think she cared about how I look."

"Hey, it's still a possibility." Summer started to hover around, apparently to free her hooves for a dramatic backward lean. "You're like some mix of a troubled, cute colt..." She gripped her pink sweater vest and held it proudly. "...and a suave, sharp-dressed stallion. And you know, we ladies go absolutely nuts for those character archetypes."

"Well, I'm not a book character, I'm a real pony. I don't think anypony's interested in my 'tragic backstory' anyway." Tomato turned back to Lemon. "Speaking of backstories, what was the deal back there with her taking potshots at your mother?"

Lemon winced, and replied in a low voice, "It's nothing, Tomato. We just poke fun at each other, that's all."

"I don't know, suggesting unsavory things about her seems--"

Lemon faked a smile and loudly interrupted, "Hey! I've just now got a great idea! Why don't we grab some stuff from the hardware store and build some classic carnival games? Can't go wrong with a bean bag toss!"

She turned on one hoof and marched down the street. "This way! Vamanos!"

Tomato and Summer looked at each other and followed quietly. Tomato however still had that exchange in his mind, wondering why anypony would slander Honeydew in front of her daughter. For that matter, why was Lemon herself not that fond of her, even after losing her at four? From what he remembered, his grandparents always said that she was sweet and sensitive, and was just too timid to fit in at Manehattan. Surely she was somepony not unlike Fluttershy.

Surely his mother was wrong in calling her a spoiled crybaby.

---

One hardware store trip later, Summer carried the wooden boards and planks and tools to the field for Cheese and the others to go crazy with. Upon her return, they stumbled onto a farm, with plenty of the classic farm animals calmly munching on cud, rolling in mud, pecking at buds, or playing with their young.

"It is so nice to meet animals that are not trying to kill us!" Tomato exclaimed.

Lemon had a hoof on her nose. "Yeah, yippee."

The farmer came trotting up to them, with several kittens climbing all over her. "Well, howdy, stranger! What can I do ya for?"

Tomato cleared his throat and straightened his clothing. "Would you be interested in running a petting zoo at our carnival?"

---

"Ch'ya, I'm only the fastest cart flyer in town!"

"Oh, come on, Thundersnow! You know I'm faster!"

"Nuh-uh, Tornado Alley, you're like, not as fast as a tornado..."

"Oh, please, you two, you know that I, Cyclone, am faster than the both of you!"

"Oh, there he goes, being his jerky self!"

Lemon whistled loudly to make the pegasi stop. "Okay! We get it, you're all fast! So, can you do the flying cart rides for us or not?" She pointed to Tomato behind her. "He'll pay you."

---

So around town they went, hopping from place to place and from pony to pony, asking for their assistance with any carnival attraction that fit with their talent. Some happily did it for free, citing as helping the environment and saving that old nature park as its own reward. Others needed a little convincing with the bits Tomato had on hoof, but they accepted their tasks with dignity. There were even a few who only volunteered because Cheese Sandwich was in town and they couldn't pass up the opportunity to work with him.

They also made a few stops at stores to buy supplies. Some shelves and racks to hold the items that the others were selling, a lot of toys to use in games or give out as prizes, more art stuff for Toola Roola in case she ran out, and balloons, both for giving away helium filled (they had to grab a helium tank as well) and balloon modeling (which made Tomato wish Party Favor was there to help).

At one point, Summer said, "Wait, if you're paying some of these ponies, then they're not really volunteers, are they?"

Tomato said in response, "Yeah, I'm kind of bribing a bunch of these ponies, aren't I?"

By the time that they returned to the field, Cheese had already arranged all the volunteers (and bribed ponies) into place. There were no fancy rides or big game booths, but as per usual, Cheese still contained enough creativity and planning to make what would be a mess of ponies into a grand fair in its own right. From the 'yard sale' items to the art and yoga Toola Roola and Tree Hugger offered, and from the games run by other ponies to the petting zoo, and so much more, Tomato wondered if there was still a little magic in Cheese left.

Summer flew to Toola Roola to put on the reworked book costume, while Lemon went to check out the karaoke machine that Cheese was kind enough to transform into its own little attraction with its own space for a possible crowd.

Cheese came trotting up to Tomato with a clipboard. "Well, glad to see you're back, bro! I have to say, I was surprised that you got this many ponies over here. I was having a little trouble putting them in place too! But, no worries, I've got it all arranged perfectly."

Tomato smiled at him. "Well, who am I to doubt my big bro's planning ability? You're looking so happily happy, I guess your anger has been wiped away by just how amazing our carnival is turning out, ehehe..."

"Uh... thanks?" Cheese looked at the clipboard and then showed it to him. "Oh, by the way, you should set the prices on everything before we get started. Can't have a fundraiser without funds, you know?"

Tomato grabbed the pencil with his tail, and scribbled down all the prices for all the attractions within ten seconds. "Done."

Cheese blinked, and looked again. "Wow... that was..." His ears pinned back. "...fast. I'll let the others know."

Then came the shout from Sour Sweet many yards away, "Hey! I've got this tub of caramel over here! I gotta get rid of it somehow!"

Cheese scoffed and yelled back, "A caramel apple dipping activity! Duh!"

Tomato cocked his head. "Do we have apples?"

Cheese's eyes widened. "Oh, Stilton, we don't! Quick, is there an apple orchard here?!"

"The only farmer I met is the petting zoo gal over there! I don't know where to get apples here!"

A passerby then answered, "Go to the local produce shop, dude. They ship apples over here all the time."

Tomato blinked, looked at Cheese, and then yelled, "Thank you!" to the passerby. Then, turning back toward town and running off, he yelled back at Cheese, "I'm going to get apples, you and Summer work on advertising this shindig to the rest of the town! Grab your accordion and unicycle and hop to it! I'll be right back!"

Cheese waved goodbye, and then groaned. "Sheesh, what did you think I was going to do?"

As he turned around and looked around to find Summer, he muttered to himself, "I wonder how Uncle Fallow and Fluttershy are doing right now..."

Author's Note:

Right now, my biggest regret is not having Fluttershy and Tree Hugger catch up, but I didn't know where to put it in without it being awkward. I possibly have other regrets about this chapter that I can't really think of right now.

Comments

[redmar]

I wasn't expecting Fluttersy to show up. Cheese should better read that letter fast or else Tomato will do it for him it must be really important. Hopefully they can get heal Cheese and then quickly get the memories back from Wayer Runes.

[SageBrony07]

good chapter. I guess Tomato has more and more party magic now, while Cheese's is falling.I can't wait to read what happens next, when Cheese learns that tomato actually used money to get ponies to help. great job.

[Goldfinch142]

That letter from Pinkie is more than likely important. Hopefully Cheese won't put off reading it for too long.

Also, Tomato seems to be getting more confident and skilled with his jester magic. That and the promising start to the carnival is good news, at least, even if Cheese's own magic took the final plunge.

Aaand I'm pretty sure that's the last of the Crystal Preppers! Now all we need is Principal Cinch and we've got the whole set.

[ChaoticKindness]

I absolutely love seeing Tomato using his special magic

[Godslittleprincess]

Oh, boy. I hope this fundraiser turns out better than the least few celebrations Cheese threw.