• Published 2nd Sep 2014
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Brother Bothers - Sketcha-Holic



After meeting Cheese Sandwich's brother and learning about their feud, Pinkie Pie takes it upon herself to help them mend their broken bond. Shenanigans ensue.

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Life's Too Short

The next thing Pinkie did was drag the Sandwich brothers over to Sweet Apple Acres for a hay ride. She had snatched Applejack as well, who was wary about Pinkie's attempts to force them to bond. Applejack's concerns fell on deaf ears, however, as Pinkie told both Cheese and Tomato about the road trip she had with the Apples.

Pinkie was jumping from tree to tree. "...and then once we got there, I went away for a bit to get some more scrapbook paper for the lots of photos that I had taken." She hung upside down from a branch by her tail. "I returned and caught them apologizing for being all cranky with each other, and I just knew that being an Apple is great because any fighting could not tear that family apart!"

Applejack nodded proudly. "Because despite our differences, I don't think I could bear to live without 'em. They're my family and I love 'em. If anything happened to any of 'em I wouldn't be able to forgive myself."

"I've been on my own a long time," Cheese said with a gruff voice, putting on his cowboy hat. "I can live keeping a good distance away from this pony and our parents." He pointed to Tomato, who had been looking at the apple trees.

Tomato snorted. "Drop the tough guy act, Mr. Distance. They're not going to listen."

Pinkie dropped out of the tree and shook her head sadly. Watching as they walked past, Applejack said, "Are you sure you know what you're doing? I know kin should make amends, but they have to be willing to. Neither seem to be fixin' to be friendly to each other."

Pinkie waved a hoof in dismissal. "Don't be silly! They just need a little encouragement to form the brotherly bond that I know that they really want deep down." She began to trot the rest of the way, with Applejack beside her. "After all, don't cheese and tomatoes go well together? Pizza is proof of that!"

"I dunno, Pinkie. They seem awful ornery to me."

They made it to the barn, where Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom had the cart out. However, it appeared that two of the wheels had popped off, while a third had been smashed to bits.

Applejack cantered forward. "Hey! What happened to the cart?"

Apple Bloom looked up. "It rolled down a hill and crashed into a tree. Three of the wheels just flew off, and one of 'em shattered on a rock! Big Mac says that we can put them unshattered wheels back on and replace the axles, but it'll take awhile to make another wheel to replace the one that did."

"Eeyup," Big Mac added.

Apple Bloom looked up at their guests and leapt up into the cart and back out on the other side. "Howdy, Pinkie Pie! Howdy, Cheese Sandwich! Howdy, pony in a suit!"

Tomato blew on his forelock. "Name's Tomato."

"Well, howdy, Tomato! If y'all are here for hay rides, I'm sorry, cart's broken."

"Eeyeah, we got that much."

Cheese narrowed his eyes. "Not if I can help it!" He pulled out a cheese wheel from somewhere, and stuck it onto the axle.

Tomato gave him a weird look. "I'm no wheelwright, but I highly doubt that'll work."

Cheese rolled his eyes and mockingly repeated, "I highly doubt that'll work."

"Hey, I'm just saying that--"

Cheese groaned, and his tail started to scratch at his cutie mark. "Tomato, I know what I'm doing. Now, just wait somewhere... out of the way. Stay out of trouble if you can."

Then Pinkie said, "Oh, I'm sure he could find some way to--"

Tomato backed away. "I did just say I'm no wheelwright. I'll just relax before the next disaster."

He walked to a tree, sat down, and leaned against it. He looked up at the apples above him, and wondered if they were as sweet as the name of the farm said. Than he looked back at the cart, with the Apples on one side putting the wheels back on, and Cheese and Pinkie on the other making adjustments to the cheese wheel to make sure it was steady. He was especially focused on how the youngest Apple was drinking in the information of how to help, and did a few things at some points.

He sighed and closed his eyes. He hated feeling useless, or that he'd only get into trouble. If this was a different situation he might have been able to provide some assistance. Then again, why would Cheese let him?

He rubbed his temples and stroked his mane. Already he could feel the bristling, and already he was getting tired.

Next thing he knew, he felt a wet, slobbery tongue begin to caress his face, and his eyes snapped open to find a border collie greeting him. His first instinct was to push the dog away, and then wipe his face. When he wiped his mouth, he muttered, "My first kiss and I have it with a dog..."

However, he simply looked up, and the dog was still there, wagging its tail. He gave it a quizzical look in return.

Meanwhile, Cheese spun the cheese wheel on the wagon. With an approving nod, he said, "Well, looks like it's secure and ready for hay rides." He turned to Pinkie. "You think we could use it in a race? Or a monster wagon rally?"

Pinkie giggled. "It doesn't have big enough wheels for a monster wagon rally, silly!"

Applejack poked her head from the other side and raised an eyebrow. "Monster wagon rally?"

Cheese gave her a grin. "Come on, Applejack! It's a great ide--OW!"

He rubbed the back of his head, and looked down on the ground to see what hit him. It was a stick. He snorted in annoyance before a brown and white dog retrieved it, and then ran back to drop it at the hooves of Tomato, who was looking away, biting his lip. Cheese zoomed forward to his face in a millisecond.

"What's with you and throwing sticks at me?"

Tomato closed his eyes. "This is only the second time, and it's an accident."

Cheese just glared at him. "Yeah, sure, everything's an 'accident.' You just think my monster wagon rally's a dumb idea, don't you?"

"I wasn't even listening to whatever you were talking about." Tomato looked down at the dog, nudging the stick.

Cheese took notice of the dog. "Oh, pfft, are you going to tell me you were playing with the dog?"

The dog looked confused at the conversation that they were having. However, Applejack whistled and called, "Winona, come here, girl!" and the border collie barked happily and ran to her owner. The mare and her sister started to scratch the dog's head and back, with the filly giggling.

As Applejack petted her dog, she looked up at the two. "I didn't take Tomato for a dog pony."

Tomato shrugged. "Surprise."

Cheese scoffed and scratched his flank. "He's just hiding behind that excuse. He just doesn't like me."

Tomato crossed his front legs. "I don't recall you liking me, either. Am I too much of a killjoy for you?"

Cheese laughed. "My, my, how'd you know?" He poked his brother repeatedly in the chest. "Am I too much fun for you? Are you... jealous of my epicness?"

"No, I'm tempted to punch you in the nose."

"Enough." Big Mac stepped in between the two, and looked in between them. He first glared at Tomato, and said, "No violence." And then he turned to Cheese. "No taunting."

Both of them huffed, and said, "Fine."

Big Mac gave a nod, and then walked back to the cart. Cheese made a face at Tomato, who simply glared back. That was when Pinkie came in, dangling from a branch. "You know, this arguing is getting really, really, really old. Why don't we try laughing for once? I'll start!" Pinkie started off with a giggle, which turned into a regular laugh, which turned into a full blown-guffaw as she started swinging on the branch her tail was wrapped around. Once she stopped, she flipped off her perch and grinned. "Okay, boys! Start the laughing!"

Cheese forced out a nervous chuckle, and his tail started to rub his cutie mark again. He didn't feel like laughing, since nothing that he considered remotely funny happened today.

Tomato, on the other hoof, sarcastically quipped, "Ha. Ha ha. There, I laughed, happy?"

Still smiling, Pinkie sighed. Don't give up, Pinkie. They're brothers, they love each other deep down... right?


The hay ride went off without a hitch, at least when it came to the cart, which Cheese wasn't afraid to gloat about to an annoyed Tomato. His cheese wheel would be a good substitute until they got an honest-to-goodness wooden wheel, he said, so therefore, Tommy knew nothing about the powers of party ponies. All Tomato wanted was for him to shut up, which he expressed by plucking an apple off a tree with his tail, and then shoving it into Cheese's mouth. Cheese was not pleased, to say the least. Neither was Pinkie, who sat in between them after Cheese spat the apple out right onto Tomato's face.

And neither was Big Mac, groaning and telling them to "Knock it off."


Pinkie dragged them to the bouncehouse next, where she rambled on about it being at its "maximum bouncity" while literally bouncing off the walls. Cheese happily joined her in the bouncing, while Tomato just let himself be bounced. He had taken off his glasses for the ride, and had planned to sit in the corner.

Several foals saw him sitting and crossing his front legs, and thought it'd be fun to try to "crack open the egg". Apple Bloom was there, with a little white unicorn and an orange pegasus that he assumed were her friends. Soon, Tomato was passively allowing the foals to bounce him around the bouncehouse, and being treated as a toy by the colts and fillies bouncing him. Despite his refusal to "crack", soft chuckles were coming from his throat.

Of course, things went sour when a colt launched him, and he ended up smacking headfirst into Cheese. The rebound made them fall at the same time, launching the little white unicorn filly up and then down headfirst so she ended up stabbing the floor of the bouncehouse with her horn.

The entire thing was deflated in a jiffy, and though the little unicorn, named Sweetie Belle, was apologetic, both Sandwiches were still sore and snapping at each other, while an exasperated Pinkie popped up between them, telling them to stop and dragging them to the next thing.


Pinkie was hearing each and every sproing that Cheese's hair was making. Well, Tomato's did that too, but each time it happened, the red-orange pony would smooth it down, and then attempt to continue on as if it didn't happen. Meanwhile, Cheese didn't seem to notice, so she could see the bristling of his mane as the day went on. And it was looking more and more scary as they went through the festival.

Cheese only seemed to be having fun when he pretended that his brother wasn't there or was just sitting out on the sidelines. When Tomato didn't join in with the coverage of the Running of the Leaves, Cheese held his usual energy. When the former stood by while the cart was fixed, Cheese made jokes. And everything seemed fine in the bouncehouse until the brothers crashed into each other.

When they went to town to eat, they both had gotten caramel apples. She caught them glaring at each other, standing side by side, with the exact same look on their faces, held the stick of their respective apples with their tail, and then slowly munched into them in the exact same manner. She wondered if they were twins, since Cheese didn't mention just who had been born first.

Watching Rainbow Dash show off for a crowd would have been more fun if the two didn't stop nudging each other. As would have bingo if they didn't argue when they both ended up shouting "Bingo!" As would have tug-of-war if they didn't end up bumping into each other and started a little kick-fight that made their team lose. And karaoke would have been more fun if Tomato didn't outright refuse to sing.

His twin pegasus friends were there, and tried to talk him into it, which soon turned into a tug-of-war between them and a Tomato clinging to one of the tent poles. Pinkie was trying to talk Cheese into doing a duet with Tomato, even when he said he'd rather duet with her.

Pinkie shook her head. "No, no, no, Cheesy! This is Brotherly Bonding Time! And I'm not your brother! Or your sister for that matter. Are we even related? Some ponies think we're related because of our hair, to which I want to reply, 'Silly, my hair used to be straight!' Even if we were related, we'd probably just share the same great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents! Hm, that would mean I'm related to Tomato too, and you're related to Maud, Marble, and Limestone!" She squealed and clapped before becoming all serious again. "But can't you at least try to bond with him?"

Cheese groaned, and his tail rubbed his flank. "I know you mean well, but we just can't connect. Why bother trying to have fun with him when he just ruins it?"

"Come on... I bet you two would sound just amazing together!"

Cheese snorted. "He just said he doesn't sing. He's probably terrible at it."

While Nimbus continued to pull at Tomato's tail, Cirrus heard Cheese, and jumped toward him. "Oh, no, he's actually a pretty good singer--he's just shy about it."

Cheese gave her a funny look. "What makes you so sure about it?"

"We took him to see Manespray once, and he ended up getting so hopped up on it he just belted out the songs. Not lying, he's pretty good in his own right, even if that isn't his special talent or even related to it."

Cheese put a hoof to his mouth, pondering what had been told to him. He looked up in a random direction with a quizzical expression, and seemed ready to ask a question.

Suddenly, the tent pole Tomato was clinging to snapped, and then he and Nimbus flew across the area and crashed into another. The tent fell down on the occupants, and elicited a groan from all of them.


After leaving the karaoke without anypony singing, off they went to the candy launcher--or rather, Cheese's party tank being used as one. Tomato sat on the sidelines while Pinkie and Cheese gathered as much candy as they could, surrounded by foals. However, Pinkie made sure to toss a few pieces his way, which just landed short of his hooves. Tomato was a little surprised at the gesture, especially since she just happened to throw some taffy, butterscotch, and a packet of gummy bears, which were some of his favorites. He was chewing on a piece of saltwater taffy when his blue unicorn friend came to his side.

"Okay, good, you're still sane," Bluejinx breathlessly said.

"Really? I thought I already lost my mind," Tomato replied.

Bluejinx placed a hoof on Tomato's shoulder. "Didn't you try to convince her that maybe her meddling is a bad idea? Or did she manage to actually improve some aspect of your relationship with Cheese?"

"She's beyond convincing, and you know I'm beyond redemption with Cheese. Let's not forget I committed the great sin of the broken accordion. And any chance I had to apologize, I blew it." Tomato popped a butterscotch in his mouth. "Might as well keep up the image of the killjoy so Mr. Screw-Up doesn't return."

"I don't think that's healthy for either of you. Holding a grudge over breaking his accordion when you were eight? I think you both should have moved on from that by now." A packet of black licorice landed in front of Bluejinx. Immediately, Bluejinx's face broke into a grin. "Sweet! My favorite!"

Tomato gave him a weird look, opened his mouth to say something, and then shook his head. He would never understand why that pony liked black licorice so much. "So... how's your day with your cousin?"

Bluejinx munched on the licorice. "Well, aside from worrying about you, I actually had a pretty good time. We got to participate in the pinewood derby, had a caramel apple sword fight, play a few carnival games, and played bingo. What'd you do?"

"Got hit by a squirrel, dangled out of a hot air balloon, had a hayride, deflated a bouncehouse, lost tug-of-war, tore down the karaoke tent, and kept getting into arguments with Cheese."

Bluejinx gave him a funny look. "Do I want to even know about the squirrel or the hot air balloon?"

"They're connected. Yeah, I'm having a bad day."

"...at least the hayride sounds nice."

They looked up as the party tank fired with a loud boom. Much to their surprise, there was smoke coming from it, and the candy was on fire. They watched as it rained fire on the field, with many foals, as well as Pinkie and Cheese, trying to avoid the burning darts. Unfortunately for Cheese, some of the candy landed in his mane, and it ended up lighting on fire.

Tomato jumped to his hooves. "Quick! Where's a hose?"

The moment was interrupted with Pinkie pulling a bucket of water out of nowhere and dumping the water on Cheese's head. Ponies had already gotten to the scene and were putting out fires with water that they carried in buckets, cups, and bowls. At the sight of this, Tomato slowly sat back down. He curiously looked at the party tank, wondering what had happened to it.

Cheese jumped onto the tank, and crawled into the barrel. "Come on, Tanky, why was the candy on fire? Helllooooo?"

Pinkie trotted over to them. "Do you guys know what happened?"

Both Tomato and Bluejinx shook their heads. Cheese crawled out of the tank, and landed beside Pinkie, scratching his head. Looking at her, he said, "I don't know what's wrong with it. Everything seems to be in tiptop shape in there. I can't put my hoof on why the candy was on fire..."

"Aww, that's a lot of disappointed foals," Pinkie said.

Tomato sighed. "The field lit on fire. Ponies could have been hurt!"

"Thank goodness they weren't... except for my mane," Cheese said, pointing to the singed hairs on his head. He gave Tomato a funny look. "You know, you could have at least fetched some water to help put out the fire."

Tomato snorted in response, but Pinkie stepped in between them once again. "How about we have a nice, relaxing time at the petting zoo? Yeah, Fluttershy's got some super cute animals for everyone to adore!"

Bluejinx piped in, "You know, I think Flora went with her."

"And now we know what all of Tommy's friends have been doing!" Pinkie hugged both the Sandwiches. "Don't worry, if any animal does a no-no, Fluttershy will take care of it in a jiffy! As long as you both behave, nothing will go wrong." And then she sped off with both of them in tow.

Bluejinx sighed. "I hope Flora talks some sense into them."


"Oh, Pinkie, you don't look so good," Fluttershy said.

Pinkie's mane was not as bouncy as it usually was. Her curls were drooping and her face looked a little weary. She watched Cheese and Tomato, having separated once again, petting different animals--or in Cheese's case, making silly faces and singing at them.

Even so, Pinkie gave Fluttershy a big grin. "Oh, no, Fluttershy! I'm absolutely hunky dory! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well..." Fluttershy brushed her hoof on the dirt. "They don't look like they've changed their attitudes... but I could be wrong."

Pinkie groaned. "They haven't! Tommy keeps being grouchy and Cheesy keeps switching between being nice to everypony and being a big meanie to Tommy, which makes Tommy even more grouchy and they keep arguing and breaking stuff and annoying each other! I keep trying to remind them that this is brotherly bonding time, not brotherly fighting time!"

Flora came onto the scene with some feed, which she gave to Fluttershy. "Brotherly fighting time? Huh?"

Pinkie sighed and repeated her frustrations with Flora, who nodded. After Pinkie was done, she said, "Well, fighting is a normal thing for siblings. After all, didn't you ever fight with any of yours?"

Pinkie shook her head. "Uh-uh, never. Well... I admit I get annoyed with Limestone sometimes, but it's not nearly as bad as the Sandwiches' bickering!"

Flora shrugged. "Well, I don't know what to tell you. Being in a big family doesn't make me a family expert. Still, I can't help but wonder if this constant bickering over petty things is just covering up some deeper issue that both of them have, and they're just afraid to face it."

"I still think they should smooth out this deeper issue of theirs with a gentle talk," Fluttershy said.

Flora tapped her chin. "They should... only, one of them has to snap out of their angry funk and approach it peacefully. And, well, neither seem to want to do that, since it'll leave them vulnerable."

Pinkie thought for a moment before smiling brightly. "Flora! Why don't we try to convince them to be a big pony and admit their problems?! You could deal with Tommy, while I handle Cheese!"

Flora blinked. "Uh, Pinkie, don't you think that--YIPE!"

Pinkie had grabbed her by the tail, and was dragging her toward the boys. "Time is of the essence! We don't do it today, they may never be best brother buddies! And that just won't do!"

Fluttershy watched as Pinkie dragged Flora, and muttered, "Well, okay, I'll just be over here if you need me." She took the feed, and carefully poured some into the trough in one of the pens.

"Oh, Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy turned to find Rarity trotting toward her, accompanied by Sweetie Belle. She smiled. "Oh, hello, Rarity. Here to pet some animals?"

Rarity stopped and put a hoof on her chest. "Oh, no, I'm just looking after Sweetie Belle as she does that." She turned to her sister. "Now you'll be careful now, won't you?"

Sweetie Belle was already in a pen and was scratching the head of a bunny, much to the animal's dismay. "Don't worry, I'm good with animals!"

Fluttershy approached the pen and put a hoof to her mouth. "Oh, dear. Sweetie Belle, you have to be gentle when petting rabbits."

Sweetie Belle stopped her petting. "Oh." The bunny kicked her foreleg, blew a raspberry, and then hopped off. She gave it a weird look as it hopped away. "Well, that wasn't nice."

"Being too aggressive with an animal makes them... not like you all that much," Fluttershy explained.

"I was only petting it..."

"Just pet the next rabbit a little gentler and you'll be fine," Rarity said. She turned to Fluttershy. "So how has your corner of the Fall Festival been all day?"

Fluttershy smiled. "Oh, it was just wonderful. Ponies were just absolutely adoring all the animals! Of course, I've had to remind a few to be gentle."

"Well it's so nice to hear that things went smoothly over here. Earlier, the bouncehouse deflated while foals were on it."

Sweetie Belle was in another pen, petting a lamb when she heard that. She turned with a big frown, and said, "It was an accident."

"Right, right, you've told me five times already." Rarity grimaced. "Ooh, and then there was the flaming candy... Cheese Sandwich should really check his tank."

Fluttershy tilted her head. "If you want to speak with him, he's here with Pinkie and Tomato."

"Oh. Well... how are things going for them?"

Before Fluttershy could answer, there were several crashes, some screams, and the roars, hisses, clucks, and squeals of random animals. With a gasp, she squeaked, "Oh no!"

The three of them bolted toward another area of the petting zoo, where they found a good number of the pens' fences smashed to bits, and animals running amok. The running footsteps were audible, and the animals were just making the damage to the fences worse in their panic. A dirty Flora was sitting in a mud puddle in a daze, Pinkie had her head stuck in the ground, and Cheese and Tomato were arguing. Tomato had a goat latched onto his right sleeve, and Cheese's hind leg was raised, while his tail was scratching at his cutie mark.

"...and I swear, you ruin everything!" Cheese snapped.

"Oh, that is an exaggeration!" Tomato said, stomping with his free front leg. "I didn't even touch half the stuff that ended up blowing up in our faces!"

"Well, maybe you're just a bad luck charm! Considering how that one party you planned went sour!"

"Excuse me for not having the best foresight as a colt!"

"It. Is. Common. Sense. To. Ask. Mom!" Cheese stomped with each word for emphasis.

Tomato snorted. "Funny you should say that--Mom's lower on your list of priorities than I am! Besides, she would've said no."

Cheese laughed with harsh derision. "Obviously! She disapproves of my special talent, represented by the handsome picture which is on a part of my body which is crazy itchy!" He shot a front hoof at his flank and began to scratch. Still glaring at Tomato, he added, "No wonder you're so lame! You're turning into Mom."

Tomato's eye twitched. "Why you..." He jerked his right front leg forward, forgetting about the goat. Sure enough, there was a rip as his jacket's sleeve was ripped clean off, much to his dismay and the goat's celebration. He growled in frustration.

Cheese stood proudly. "Your fault, not mine."

Fluttershy rushed forward, and faced the goat, shaking her hoof at it. "No, no, you do not eat ponies' sleeves."

The goat gave out a groaning "Maa" before spitting out the sleeve and walking off. Fluttershy gave it to Tomato, who muttered, "Thanks."

Pinkie pulled her head out of the ground and spat out some dirt. She jumped back up and got between the brothers again. "Ugh, are you two arguing again? Argh! How is anypony supposed to have fun if you colts keep fighting like this?!"

Flora rose out of her mud puddle, her brow furrowed. "I can vouch for that. I'm certainly not having any fun."

Fluttershy sighed. "It's going to take me all night to retrieve all the animals that ran away."

"And that argument sounded awfully harsh--especially on your side, Cheese," Rarity said. "I'd never expect a pony like you to insult another like that."

Cheese shifted uncomfortably. "Well... I guess maybe I shouldn't have said that 'bad luck charm' comment."

Tomato rolled his eyes. "That's a start."

"Oh, no, mister!" Flora snorted. "Don't you go eye-rolling like that, maggot! Seriously, Tomato! I've never seen you this hostile! Not even Olive and I fight like this!"

"Would all this yelling even get anypony anywhere?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Flora facehoofed and groaned. "You know what? Separate them. They need time to cool off and think about the awful behavior they've been exhibiting all day, if Pinkie's reaction is any indication. I don't care what you do with them, I just don't want to hear them yell again!"

A moment of silence followed Flora's outburst. All ponies stared at her, and then looked at each other. It was a few moments before Tomato finally said, "That... was the sanest idea anypony's had today."

"Oh, look, we agree on something," Cheese snarled.

Rarity stepped toward Flora. "Would you like a bath to wash up and soothe your troubles?"

Flora shook her head. "No, no, I can live with being dirty. I'll just help Fluttershy round up the animals."

"I'll get Applejack to help, too," Fluttershy murmured. The two of them left to their task silently, while the others watched them depart.

"Maybe I could go and help," Sweetie Belle said.

Rarity cringed. "Er... no, we'll just take Tomato and fix his jacket." She looked up at said stallion. "Does that sound good to you?"

Tomato looked down at the brown sleeve that hung over the white sleeve that he still wore. With a sigh, he said, "I'll have to go find my book so I can read while I wait."

Rarity and Sweetie Belle left with Tomato, who made sure not to look his brother in the eye as he passed. However, as they got further away, he glanced back, and sighed, shaking his head. He murmured in the softest whisper, "Why can't I ever talk with him peacefully anymore?"

That just left Pinkie and Cheese alone in the cool air of a late autumn afternoon. Cheese turned to Pinkie and grinned, but Pinkie didn't smile back.

"Cheesy... you weren't acting like you."

"Um, huh?"

"The Cheese Sandwich I know is a super nice, super fun, and super funny party pony that I absolutely love to consider my friend! I never thought I'd see the day when he'd be so mean to somepony, especially to one who obviously needed some cheering up! Especially if the grumpy pony who needed cheering up was his own brother."

Cheese stared at her for a moment, and sighed. "Pinkie... please, please, please stop trying to fix my family. How I deal with them is none of your business."

"Cheese..." Pinkie bit her lip, looking at him with gleaming eyes. "I just want to know... why?"

Cheese stared back into a pair of sad, blue eyes. With a sigh, he looked around. "Can't refuse those eyes... fine, you'll get a little more info on my past. Let's go somewhere else... I don't want anypony hearing this."

Author's Note:

*looks at chapter length* Wowza! This is the longest chapter I have written so far in my time in FIMfiction.

So, I've actually had the "Tomato playing with Winona" bit in my head for awhile now. I also imagined a song here, buuuut I don't think I could make it work here. Eh, what can I do? Then again, I actually do have a song planned for this fic... one that has been in my head for MONTHS. Sorry about the spoiler, but it's the scene that I'm looking forward to writing the most in this fic.

And now I'm tired. I've been writing this all day between my busy stuffity stuff-stuffs I've been doing.