A crowd had gathered in the town square, watching as Cheese had cleared a space and began to build a stage within seconds. He could hear the murmurs between the townsponies about what he was planning, and he could feel their excitement permeating the air. However, he had put up a shield deflecting this excitement, his nerves making every whack of the hammer echo in his ears. He glanced every so often at the crowd, a rare bout of stage fright making his stomach queasy.
Get a grip, Cheese! he thought, pausing to wipe his forehead. You've sung for many a grumpy pony, and you managed to turn most of them around. Why should this time be any different?
He smacked his forehead, and continued to hammer the floorboards in. That was a dumb question. In all the other cases, all those grouches were strangers having a bad day, and he managed to cheer them up, aside from a couple who just didn't like polka. He had been awfully disappointed in those cases, but at least they weren't haunting him all the time.
In this case, it was no stranger. This was his brother. That baby brother who he'd crawl to and tickle, just to hear him laugh. That baby brother who'd be following him everywhere, watching him admirably as Cheese went about his day and emulating some of his behavior. The little brother who'd he play the ever-exciting "cowspies" game with, who he'd entertained with his accordion, who he'd scarf down pizza at their grandparents' pizzeria with, who he'd grab and pull away from danger in the nick of time, and who'd be the first one to give him a hug upon Cheese returning home from school.
Cheese snorted, and chucked the hammer offstage. He pulled out some sandpaper, and started to sand the floor. Yep, the pony he was going to perform for was his brother. That baby brother who'd always rudely wake him up in the middle of the night, when he just wanted some sleep. That little brother who made lots of friends and got so swept up in the attention, Cheese felt like merely a side note. The brother who kept on knocking, pleading for playtime for him and those awful friends of his. That brother, despite how annoying, clueless, and destructive he was, was praised by peers, teachers, and parents for being sociable and smart, while Cheese was either overlooked or picked on by those parties for being shy and just falling short of the mark. That brother who, without any respect for the arts, broke his accordion, and hasn't apologized.
That brother who, without any good reason, did a 180 on his personality, turning into the grumpiest and most boring lame-o that Cheese felt repulsed by. That last part especially frustrated him, and within him a battle between his feelings and his party pony instinct took place during those times he had to force himself to try to make Tomato crack a smile. And every time, he failed.
The stage was smooth after all his musing, and he crumpled up the sandpaper and tossed it off the stage. He ran his hoof over the wood, and there was nary a splinter to be found.
"Whatcha buildin' a stage for?"
Cheese looked up to find three fillies, which he recognized as Rarity and Applejack's sisters and their pegasus friend. He grinned at them.
"Oh, I'm just going to perform on it," he said, patting the floorboards. "Normally I don't need a stage, but I want to burst out of a pair of curtains this time around."
"Oh, that makes sense," Apple Bloom said. "Buuut, you might wanna fix your hair."
"Huh?"
"Yeah, you look like a mad scientist," Scootaloo stated. "Are you sure you want to give off that vibe? Unless you're planning to experiment on that rubber chicken of yours."
Cheese rolled his eyes. "Oh, you girls... if I was going for the mad scientist gig, I'd do something like this." He pulled out Boneless Two and dropped him on the stage. He pulled forth a random machine and attached wires to the chicken. Then, with a wicked smile, he flipped the switch, stood on his hind legs, and cackled, "It's alive! Mwahahahaha-HAHA! Arise, my chicken!"
The fillies stared at Boneless Two, who lay still, while ponies behind them chuckled. A confused Sweetie Belle then said, "I don't think it's working."
Cheese shrugged. "Eh, electricity doesn't work on rubber chickens anyway." With that, he kicked away the machine somewhere offstage. "But, really, does it matter what my hair looks like? The crowd's just going to focus on my epic accordion skills!"
"Just why is it like that?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Hm? Oh, my hair tends to bristle when I'm mad. Like, mad mad. Seriously mad, the kind that is rare for me. You catch my drift?"
"I... guess?"
Sweetie Belle frowned. "You're mad about your brother, aren't you?"
Cheese took a step back. "Let's... not jump to conclusions, little filly. Why do you say that?"
"Well... I talked to him earlier. He said something about cow pies, and how he'd rather be no fun than mess up something."
Cheese gave her a funny look. "Cow pies? Why would he--oh, right, cowspies!" Cheese chuckled. "That game was loads of fun, I haven't played it in years!"
"Cowspies? What are those?" Scootaloo asked.
"A fusion of cowponies and spies, of course!" Cheese reared up and took a fighting stance. "Me and my brother were a pair of cowcolts, always on secret agent missions and fighting the evil Dr. Sauerkraut and his pirate ninja army!"
The fillies giggled as Cheese punched and kicked at the air, shouting "Hyah!" and "Take that!" over and over. He whooped as he did a backflip, and he sat on his haunches, and jutted a hoof out and squeezed an eye shut as if he was aiming at the fillies. "Fear my laser rope!"
Apple Bloom laughed some more. "Wow, Cheese Sandwich, that sounds like a lot of fun!"
"Yeah..." Scootaloo said, scratching her chin. "Say, what if we got our cutie marks in being cowspies?"
Sweetie Belle gave them a funny look. "What would they even look like?"
"There's only one way to find out, Sweetie Belle," Apple Bloom said, turning around. She started to canter away, but stopped and beckoned her friends. "Now, c'mon! Let's use some of Applejack's spare hats to make it work!"
Scootaloo happily followed. "This is going to be sweet!"
Sweetie Belle was slower in leaving, looking back at Cheese. "By the way, Cheese... I think Tomato's kind of sad. Maybe he just needs a hug?"
Cheese stared at her as she broke into a gallop to catch up with her friends. With a quirk of his eyebrow, he turned around. He went behind the curtains, sat down, and hoisted the accordion case that was there up onto the stage. He quickly opened it and pulled his accordion out. Playing a few test notes to see if it needed tuning, he was thinking about what Sweetie Belle had just said.
"If he needs a hug, why doesn't he just get one of his friends to do it? After all, he's got everything; what does he need me for?"
He sighed. "No turning back. I'm going to have to try to entertain him, even if it kills me."
Pinkie had at first dashed to the field where she and Cheese had been, but once there, she turned on a hind hoof and sped back to town. Her teeth were clamped on the dark brown tail of Tomato Sandwich, who had his front legs crossed and an annoyed look on his face. He felt like a kite as he was being towed around, and much to his dismay, he could tell that Pinkie had tuned out his protests. So, he idly searched his memory for any time that day where he wasn't dragged into something.
They were in the town square before he knew it, and Pinkie was just hopping over ponies left and right, chirping, "'Scuse me! Coming through!" Several ponies stopped in their tracks as she bounced along, and Tomato was being thrown up and down haphazardly, his head hitting the ground every so often.
She stopped her bouncing when she came across a stage that had inexplicably been built in the town square, which ponies were surrounding and awaiting the show that would be put on it. Pinkie instantly knew that it was Cheese's doing, and with a squeal, she threw Tomato onto the stage. She spit on the ground a few times, wondering what Tomato had been putting on his tail and for what reason. Then she looked up at him with a smile.
Tomato had landed right side up when he was thrown on the stage, and he was looking around in a daze. "Where did this stage come from?"
"Cheese built it! Duh!" Pinkie answered.
Tomato blinked. "Why didn't he just use an existing stage? I've seen plenty around this town."
"Becaaaauuse he's making it extra-special for his little brother! Ooh, this is going to be great!" Pinkie clapped her hooves, jumped on the stage, and turned to the crowd.
"Everypony, listen up! Cheese Sandwich has a special performance going on tonight, and it's for none other than his little brother..." She grabbed the red-orange stallion and hoisted him up for all of Ponyville to see. "Tomato Sandwich!"
The crowd murmured amongst themselves. Some were confused, having been completely unaware of the visiting party pony's sibling. Some recognized Tomato and rolled their eyes, and some snorted in disgust and grumbled some sort of insult about him, having heard about this killjoy that Cheese was putting up with. And there were a few that focused on Cheese doing something nice for his brother, and softly said, "Aww..."
She looked down at the front of the crowd, and to her delight, her friends and that of Tomato's were in front, giving her looks that asked her, "What are you doing?"
"Don't worry, guys, this'll work out just fine," she said with a wink. She turned to the curtain. "Cheesy, you can come out now!"
There was silence. Pinkie put Tomato down, and repeated, "I said you can come out now!"
A few more moments passed, and Pinkie stomped her hoof. "Cheese Sand--"
Cheese's head popped out from the curtains. "Give me a second, I'm just finishing tuning my accordion."
"Oh, okay." She shrugged at Tomato, who sat there, pulled a cloth from his pocket, and cleaned his glasses. "Don't worry, once he starts playing, I'm sure you'll be grinning from ear to ear, and you two will hug, make up, and be best brother buddies like you used to be."
Tomato put his glasses back on his muzzle and stuffed the cloth back in his pocket. With a sigh, he replied, "Even if we did make up, our relationship still wouldn't be the same as it was when we were colts."
The first few notes of a song played, coming from an accordion behind the curtain. Pinkie heard this, and jumped off the stage to join her friends in the audience. The ponies were quiet as the accordion sang it's song, and started to bounce as the tempo ran faster and faster. Tomato stood up, brushed off his coat, and faced the curtains as he awaited them to open. Although his heart pounded, his head still bobbed to the music.
The curtains exploded open as Cheese burst forth from them in a front flip, his front hooves pumping the bellows of his accordion in rapid motions. He landed on his hind hooves, and almost immediately wrapped himself in a jolly dance, gliding back and forth across the stage in a tap dance, the sound of which was drowned out by the accordion. He held a wide grin on his face, and used his tail to pull Tomato closer as he sang:
"Hello, baby brother!
I'm glad you're here today!
This song for you is overdue
So, listen to it, I pray
"I know we're very different
But fighting's just not right
So I thought, hey, why don't I say
Let's be friends again tonight!"
Cheese dropped a dazed Tomato on the stage. The younger brother's slicked down mane had some curls popping out, and he looked up at Cheese. He grimaced at the very expression Cheese was holding. Not only did the smile look forced, but the messed up mane and the bags under his eyes gave him such an uncanny feel. It didn't help that one of his eyes was twitching, and the instant thought that came to mind was that his heart was not in it--he was forcing himself to, just like he always did. He glanced at Pinkie, and figured that she was the reason why.
He stood up and smoothed down the stray curls in one stroke, including the big forelock curl. The forelock sprang back up with a boing, but he paid no heed to it as he replied:
"Well, I can see what you're saying,
But your sincerity's in doubt
Please tell me about this so-called change of heart
And what that fake smile is about
"This is just like every other time
That your forced song leaves my head ringing
I keep wondering why you even bother..."
Tomato's eyes widened, and he put a hoof to his forehead and groaned.
"And now I just realized that I am singing."
In the crowd, Cirrus laughed and nudged Flora. "Haha! I told you he's no slouch at singing!"
Flora grimaced. "He's no slouch at criticizing, either." She leaned forward and whispered to Pinkie three ponies down. "Pinkie, are you sure this is the proper method to get them to reconcile? I'm having a bad feeling about this."
Pinkie waved a hoof in dismissal. "No worries, they'll get off this hump."
Cheese gave Tomato a quizzical look, and then chuckled nervously. He cleared his throat, grabbed him, and then began to juggle him and several rubber balls as he sang:
"Hey! You are singing along!
That is a very good start
But your attitude needs some more fixing!"
Cheese stopped the juggling, grabbed Tomato by the collar, got into his face and glared at him.
"And this is not a fake change of heart!"
Tomato pushed him away and sang,
"That contempt in your voice
Leaves me very convinced
That I'm just part of a checklist
"Under that grinning face
I can tell that you do not
Even want to be doing this!"
Cheese huffed at him, and furiously kept on playing.
"Excuse me, I'm a party pony!
And I really love my job!
But you wouldn't understand just how serious it is
Because you're such a humorless snob!"
Pinkie's smile fell into a frown. This was not the direction it was supposed to go. She glanced at her friends, who were developing looks of worry, and forced a smile. Maybe this was just a bump in the road, and they'll get over it.
Tomato gritted his teeth and stomped a hoof.
"Oh, yes, you are the paragon of fun
I hope it's not getting to your head!
But, honestly, would you rather have me
Be a killjoy or an annoying, clumsy kid?"
Cheese could feel his mane bristling more and more, and while he wasn't sure if anypony else could hear it, he was certain that he was starting to get off tune.
"I swear, you are so stubborn!
Hey, at least I'm trying!
You're just making this harder than it needs to be!
Now stop accusing me of lying!"
Tomato's mane was bristling as well, but this time, he was not going to smooth it back down.
"Maybe I wouldn't be having doubts
If your visits hadn't always been so cold
What should have been my sunshine was my dark pit
As you were obnoxious or inclined to scold!"
Cheese slid to the curtain and used his hind leg to pull a ball from behind it. He jumped on and bounced on it, his glare fixated on that irritating stallion before him.
"Me? Your sunshine? What an epic lie!
Considering that you had so many friends
You were such a special snowflake that everyone had loved!
While I was an embarrassment to be condemned!"
Tomato watched as his brother circled him with a fierce and hateful scowl. This time certainly was different from the other times; instead of being cold, they were burning hot.
"I had never condemned you!
What makes you think that?
If anything, you condemned me!
"Most of my so-called friends bailed
After seeing I was depressed
Because I drove away the brother that gave me so much glee!"
Cheese rolled his eyes.
"Oh, please, quit your whining
You had everypony praising you
Being 'social' and 'smart' and 'all around fun'
When in reality you were just a little nincompoop!"
Tomato looked at the stage floor, the scowl still fixed on his face and his teeth clenched to keep himself as composed as possible.
"That was only true when I was little
Adolescence was a nightmare!
Used and abused, losing friends, but kept my mouth shut
Because my own family didn't care!"
Cheese stopped his bouncing for a brief moment, and then shook his head and resumed his bouncing on the ball.
"Well, I had nopony's shoulder to cry on
When I was feeling all alone!
Mom's nags, those bullies, all those comparisons to you
With the grades, and the friends, and your few good qualities overblown!
"I couldn't talk to Dad because he's a zombie!
I couldn't talk to Grandpa because he's deceased!
But I couldn't talk to you, because I really hated
How a reckless colt that ruins everything is so overrated!"
Tomato's head swung up, and he growled.
"So you spite me out of jealousy? That's why you hate me?
Even now, when your life is so much better?
If anything, I should be jealous of YOU!
Running around Equestria without a fetter!
"Meanwhile, I'm stuck with our loveless family
So awful that I developed a shield of snark
And apparently, because of your little sob story,
It gives you free reign to insult my cutie mark!"
Cheese leapt off the ball, and put his accordion down, bearing the same expression.
"There is also the fact that you're not 'Tommy' anymore!
How did that colt grow up to be such a bore?"
Cheese pushed Tomato, and the latter gnashed his teeth and pushed back.
"How did such a shut-in grow up to be a clown
With the most annoying voice around?!"
Cheese pushed him again. "Oh, that's definitely an insult because you're afraid of clowns!"
Once again, Tomato pushed back. "At least I can say that I'm not afraid of frowns!"
Pinkie was pulling her hair, watching as the show fell apart right in front of her. "Cheesy! Tommy! Stop it!"
Cheese yanked Tomato by the tie. "At least I don't break other ponies' stuff, especially when told not to!"
Tomato yanked his tie back. "At least I don't scorn others' cutie marks, especially one that is new!"
Pinkie climbed on stage and ran to them. "Stop, stop, stop! You weren't supposed to argue again! Come on, stop the fighting!" Much to her dismay, she was being completely ignored by both, who were getting so caught up in their fight that they forgot about their surroundings and the increasingly uncomfortable audience. She jumped in between them and shouted to the crowd, "Show's over!"
Cheese leaned forward. "Oh, you pompous little ketchup squirt!"
Tomato mirrored his brother's action. "You headache-inducing pile of curds!"
"Hey! No name calling!" Pinkie snapped.
"You clueless little megajerk!"
"You master of the hurtful words!"
"Backstabbing little traitor!"
"Super bitter smile-faker!"
"Sarcastic dope!"
"Asocial mope!"
"Accordion smasher!"
"Hope thrasher!"
"King of frowns!"
"Dirty clown!"
"Momma's boy!"
"Madpony!"
"Rotten Tomato!"
"Moldy Cheese!"
"Little dummy!"
"Big dummy!"
Cheese snarled, and with a wild look in his eyes, all his hair standing on end, and a great leap into the air, he bellowed, "THAT'S IT!"
In one swift motion, he tackled Tomato, and the both of them were now wrestling, throwing punches and kicks and delivering bites on each other's forelegs. They rolled around on the stage in a ball of violence, yelling and cursing at each other, much to the disbelief of the audience. At one point, Cheese's accordion somehow got swept up into the fray, and Pinkie stood there, looking absolutely broken.
Pinkie's friends and Tomato's friends were about to jump onstage to separate them, when all of a sudden the stage collapsed under the brothers, and both of them fell with yelps. Pinkie didn't even shriek when she fell, but everypony else backed up, and watched in disbelief as the stage crumbled and kicked up dust.
The dust cleared, and the two groups in front coughed for a bit, before they looked up and stared at the wreckage in horror. They were all mentally scratching their heads, wondering how that sturdy stage had just decided to give way like that.
Twilight gazed at a pile, where Pinkie sat on top of Cheese and Tomato, her curls drooping and her eyes wide. "Pinkie!"
Twilight and the rest of the two groups ran toward her, and Rainbow lifted her off the dogpile. Setting Pinkie down, the pegasus looked at the wreckage and said, "What the hay happened? That thing was holding them up fine two minutes ago!"
Cirrus and Nimbus shrugged. The latter said, "Could be a fatal flaw in the design."
"Maybe some of them wood's rotten," Applejack stated.
"I'm sure Cheese is smart enough to know not to use rotten wood," Twilight said.
Cheese coughed and lifted his head. Looking straight at Twilight, he said, "None of it was rotten. None of it! I-I-I am at a loss as to how it happened! Did I sand it too much? Did I screw in something wrong? Was it sabotage?"
Tomato, laying under and perpendicular to Cheese, lifted his head as well. "Hey, you mind getting off? I'm laying on something uncomfortable and I want to get off of it."
Cheese huffed. "Well, boo hoo."
Pinkie hopped to her hooves and snorted. Turning to them, Pinkie stomped a hoof, and it loudly reverberated in their ears. "You... two... are... AWFUL!"
Cheese jumped. "Pinkie, calm down--"
"No! No, I will not calm down! All you've been doing all day is fighting and saying mean things to each other and destroying things in your arguments and ruining other ponies' day! This Fall Festival not only celebrates friendship and sisterhood, it... celebrates... BROTHERHOOD! And you two are the worst example of brotherhood I have seen in my entire life!"
She hopped to the side to face Tomato. "You've been a uptight grumpy-grumpypants and making lots of mean comments and making Cheese mad a lot! You even turned this show into an argument... no, you turned everything into an argument! What, do you like fighting or something?!"
She slid to in front of Cheese. "And you let your anger over foalhood turn you into a meanie-meaniepants! Did you forget what being a party pony is about? It's about making ponies happy, not letting your pride blind you to the fact that you're hurting somepony! Especially if that somepony is your brother!"
Pinkie snorted and turned around. Her mane drooped some more as she started to walk away. "You know what? I'm going home..."
Cheese jumped off his brother, and cried out, "Wait, Pinkie--"
"Alone."
Cheese stopped, and backed up a little. He watched as she galloped away, and the numbness that had been there while she had been yelling was turning into a heavy heart and a pit in his stomach. He looked at the ponies around him, showing great surprise at Pinkie's rant, and then the crowd dispersing one by one. He glanced at the pile where Tomato was trying to get up, but did so with a grimace and a look of horror as he looked under himself.
Cheese looked closer at the pile, and under him was his accordion, with the bellows and the keys damaged. Some bits were sticking to Tomato's jacket and tie. But what got Cheese's attention was the fact that Tomato's left foreleg was stuck under the accordion, and the pained looks that he had indicated that it was possibly broken.
Twilight came to his side. "You know, Cheese, it wasn't Pinkie's place to dictate what your familial relationships should be like. Still, you and Tomato both let this feud of yours get out of control. Maybe it's time you two just bury the hatchet and move on... before anypony else gets hurt."
Twilight walked away, along with the rest of her friends, presumably to see if Pinkie needed comforting.
Meanwhile, Cheese just watched as Cirrus and Nimbus lifted Tomato, and Bluejinx used his magic to remove the accordion. Tomato grunted in pain, and Flora quickly went to work on making a makeshift splint with some wood and her bandanna. Bluejinx spotted Cheese, and sheepishly carried the damaged instrument to him.
"I'm, uh, sorry that your accordion was damaged..." he muttered.
The accordion was set down at Cheese's hooves. With a deep breath, he replied, "It's okay... I've had worse damage than this."
"Really? Because those are expensive..."
"I have my ways."
Bluejinx blinked, opened his mouth to say something, and then shook his head. He turned around and walked away, along with the rest of the group, obviously to the hospital. Cheese stared, watching Tomato intently and expecting him to look back and shoot a glare at him.
The glare never came.