Brother Bothers

by Sketcha-Holic

Letting Go

Cheese was alone on the bridge. Well, aside from Boneless Two.

Still, the evening air was cold and unforgiving, and the sun was just setting. The fragrance of the crisp autumn leaves and the food was nonexistent to him, as were the remaining sounds of laughter during the evening activities of the festival. All he could feel was a heavy heart that he was too weak to lift, a numbness where his party pony instinct once resided, and a hole in his very soul. All he could see was the pony in the water staring back at him.

That pony's curls were frayed and bristled in every direction, in such a manner that made him look feral. Bags were under his eyes, and the emerald irises had lost their shine. His face was covered in splinters, and he was holding the biggest frown that Cheese had ever seen. No doubt about it, this pony was a mess.

That was not Cheese Sandwich. That was a monster.

He couldn't believe that he had let himself snap like that. All the other times that he had been angry, he kept it in check and remained relatively peaceful and friendly, even to the offender. This time, his colthood resentment had outright exploded in front of all of Ponyville, shocking everypony who saw him as Pinkie Pie's equally cheerful party pony buddy.

He sighed and ran a hoof through his mane. "I'm such an idiot, Boneless Two. A lot of ponies had their day ruined because my brother and I couldn't stop fighting. The bouncehouse, Cheese Supreme Cannonball Surprise, the petting zoo, tug-of-war, karaoke... and especially that forced performance I gave that ended in a broken leg."

Boneless Two leaned to the side, threatening to fall into the water.

"Hey, now, don't you jump ship on me." Cheese dragged the rubber chicken closer to him and leaned on his hoof. "I never thought I'd see Pinkie so disappointed in me. I had the power to make it stop... but I didn't. She's depressed at home, thinking she's a failure, and angry with me for being so stubborn. This feels worse than the Birthaversary incident..."

He looked down in the water, and the image of the madpony was replaced with a pair of colts wrestling playfully and laughing while they did so. It then morphed into those two same colts, now full grown stallions, wrestling angrily and yelling as they did so. He sighed. "And Tomato... I was so focused on how he hurt me, I didn't see that I was hurting him. No wonder he hates me now, and he must hate me even more for breaking his leg."

Boneless Two's head flopped into Cheese's face.

Cheese quirked an eyebrow. "Forgive him and apologize? But... what if he doesn't accept it? He has all the reason in the world to just reject it."

Boneless Two leaned back with a squeak.

"Huh... you're right. Not only does he need it... but I do too."

---

Tomato Sandwich had enough.

He knew that going to a party would just bite him in the butt as hard as it could. Just thinking about them had hurt him before, since the one time he threw one, he had lost the one thing he had treasured most. All he felt like he could do was stay as far away as possible, put up a sour shield, and deny that sort of "fun" the chance to hurt him again. To him, being a grouch was safer than being a screw-up that managed to get a party pony to hate him. No, he managed to get two party ponies to hate him. That was a record that nopony should be proud of.

Oh, wait... he was still a screw up! He picked a fight, and got a bone and a second accordion broken for it.

Despite protests from his friends, he was going home tonight.

His foreleg was now in a cast and held up with a sling. There was a crack in his glasses that was bugging him like crazy. And he felt weaker and more downhearted than ever. All he wanted was to be alone.

When he climbed onto the platform, he was surprised to find that Cheese was there, wearing the most awkward and nervous of grins. He couldn't help but stare at the grin, wondering what it was all about. Still, he scowled at him, hoping it would scare him off as it always did. He started marching toward the ticket booth, only for Cheese to pop up in front of him.

"Wait!" Cheese cried. "Please... don't be like that..."

"If you're wanting me to force a smile, you're out of luck," Tomato replied. "I don't force smiles."

Cheese shook his head. "No, I'm not asking you to smile. I'm asking you to hear me out."

Tomato walked around him. "Why should I? How do I know that your words aren't as hollow as mine?"

Cheese blinked and squeezed his eyes shut. "Because... I admit it. I was jealous."

Tomato stopped in his tracks. He considered turning around, but he only sighed. "Well... you have nothing to be jealous about anymore. Just one look at me should tell you that much."

Cheese shook his head, and then popped back in front of his brother. "No... my mistake was letting that resentment of mine follow me to adulthood and paint an unflattering picture of you. I've often ignored it while I traveled, reasoning that if I just forgot about it, the pain would go away. Well, my Cheesy Sense won't ever let me forget. That's why I kept visiting, even when I didn't want to be there--my Cheesy Sense was telling me that you needed me, even when I kept thinking, 'What does he need me for? He's got everything else.'"

Tomato backed up, biting his lip. "So what if I do? None of that can change the fact that I drove you away with my selfish cluelessness."

"Well, actually, it was mainly everypony comparing me to you, the bullies, Mom being a nag... but that's beside the point." He grabbed Tomato by the shoulders. "Point is, just because I can't forget... doesn't mean I can't forgive."

Tomato looked at him almost fearfully, his voice cracking, "F-Forgive? Shouldn't I apologize in order for you to do that?"

Cheese chuckled and hugged him as carefully as he could to avoid aggravating the pain of Tomato's broken leg. "You don't have to, baby bro. I'm making my forgiveness unconditional for you. I'm sorry for not doing it sooner."

Tomato blinked, and his lip trembled. "No... I... I..." His body automatically tensed up, unused to being wrapped up in a hug. "Let me go! I'm not worth your time!"

"Don't be silly; of course you are! You're my little brother, and despite the feud, I still love you."

Tomato was quiet for a moment, taking shallow breaths as he was processing what was happening. It would be easy to assume that Pinkie put him up to this, easy to believe that this was a lie, and easy to just push him away and tell him to leave. That's what his brain was telling him, reminding him of all the hurt of the past.

His heart, however, was telling him to give Cheese the benefit of the doubt.

"I... I-I'm sorry for everything." He slammed his face in Cheese's shoulder, and for the first time since he was a colt, he let the tears flow. Any semblance of self-control burst in that very moment, and he felt silly for letting himself cry like this, especially as a full grown stallion. But there was also relief washing within him, as if he had finally released all the pain which had threatened to make him burst. Despite the cold evening air, the hug Cheese was giving him was the warmest he had ever felt in a long time.

Still, he couldn't help but list off his own sins as he sobbed. "I'm sorry for breaking your accordion... I'm sorry for bugging you so much... I'm sorry for making you feel inferior... I'm sorry for punching you in the face that one time... I'm sorry for turning into a sarcastic jerk... I'm sorry for being a coward... I'm sorry for crying on your shirt..."

"I don't mind a wet shirt," Cheese said, patting his brother's back. "You had a really bad day, and I was no help. You're a big colt... and big colts DO cry." He grimaced as he silently noted the awkwardness of the hug, partly due to Tomato's injury. "I shouldn't forget to apologize for your broken leg."

He released Tomato, who backed up and wiped his eyes. With a sniff, he muttered, "I... guess I needed that." He looked up, and jumped when saw Cheese standing there, grinning and wearing a pair of bunny ears on his head.

"I thought about a clown nose, but then I remembered your fear of clowns." He lifted up Boneless Two, which Tomato swore hadn't been there before. In a squeaky voice, Cheese added, "'Hi, I'm Boneless Two! And I like fun parties!'"

Tomato blinked at the silliness. He scrunched his muzzle, bit his lip, and then a smile graced his face, followed by a few chuckles. "You're ridiculous."

"That's the point, baby bro." Cheese nodded happily, and then wildly shook his head, the bunny ears flying off. Once he stopped, his mane had gone from the feral jungle of madness to the bouncy chocolate curls. "Ah... much better. Say, you know what? Why don't we actually try to bond again? Like... uh... we could play cowspies, just like we used to!"

Tomato raised an eyebrow. "Um, foreleg."

"Oh, right." Cheese tapped his chin. After a moment, his eyes widened. "Oh, right! Pinkie!"

"What about her?"

"Oh, dear, she still must be upset about the whole thing! Uh... do you have any ideas on how we can make it up to her?"

Tomato pursed his lips. "Well... I kinda have mixed feelings about that. On the one hoof, she meddled and tried to force us to make up, aggravating the both of us until somepony got hurt. But on the other hoof, if it weren't for her, we'd most likely still be fighting right now instead of going for a more peaceful approach. Huh... life is crazy." He glanced at Cheese, who was giving him puppy-dog eyes and pouting. He sighed. "What does she like?"

Cheese grinned and jumped up. "She has a sweet tooth! Say, we could give her a cake! Let's go bake a cake!" Cheese landed back on the platform, still grinning, but yelling in dismay, "I cannot bake!"

Tomato rolled his eyes. "Relax... I can. Lead the way."

"Uh, foreleg?"

"We are working together, aren't we? We'll figure out a way." The both of them walked off the platform and started going back into town. To pass the time, Tomato asked, "Okay, Cheese, how did you meet her?"

Cheese chuckled. "It actually ties in to my cutie mark story--that's an overdue one."

---

Pinkie Pie sat on her bed, sifting through her photo album. Her raspberry curls drooped in ringlets, and small bags had developed under her eyes. After what she had been through today, she was tired and sad.

Her friends had come by earlier, trying to comfort her about what had happened. Even though they did lift her spirits for a time, she still felt horrible about how "Brotherly Bonding Time" turned out. Not only had she worsened the relationship of Cheese and Tomato, but she had sabotaged her own friendship with Cheese and left a bad impression on Tomato.

She turned the page to find the birthday party she had thrown for her sister Maud years ago. It was a quiet affair, as a water party--a tea party with water and some of their mother's old wares--with a bunch of rocks. Still, it had been wonderful, and Maud had loved it. She softly smiled at the memory, but sighed upon thinking about the Sandwich Brothers. All she wanted was for them to have a bond like she and Maud did.

She turned the pages, seeing the various parties she had thrown over the years. She stopped at the Birthaversary, and looked at the pictures of everypony having fun. Rainbow was definitely having a blast, and she and Cheese looked so happy to have collaborated to make it the best party ever. To have seen that grinning stallion so angry today was such a shock, especially the moment when he outright attacked somepony. She felt disappointed that her attempts to get him to reconcile with his brother had ended badly.

She shut the album and laid it on the bed beside her. She looked out the window, wondering if there was any way she could make it up to Cheese.

There was a knock at her door. She turned, bounced from her bed to the door, and answered it. To her surprise, there was Cheese and Tomato, wearing sheepish grins, covered in flour and batter, and holding with their tails a blue and yellow frosted cake on a platter.

Cheese cleared his throat. "I, uh, hope you don't mind but we baked you a cake to say we're sorry for ruining your day."

Tomato shifted on his hooves, eyeing the cake cautiously. "Yep."

Pinkie stared at them for a moment. She put a hoof to her chest. "No, I'm the one who should be saying I'm sorry. I can't accept the cake if all I did was just make you two angry with each other... and... me. As much as I'd like to see you have a wonderful relationship with each other like I do with my sisters, I can't force you into it. It's not my place to decide how you two should behave toward each other."

Cheese and Tomato looked at each other. Tomato then said, "Look, if it helps... we could make this cake into a forgiveness cake." He narrowed his eyes. "Seriously, just take it. We didn't bake this thing for nothing."

"Hey, not in that tone," Cheese ordered. "But, yeah, consider it a forgiveness cake now. I mean, we couldn't have made it together if we didn't apologize and forgive each other."

Pinkie Pie perked up. "You mean... you're being best brother buddies now?"

Cheese rubbed the back of his head. "Not quite, Pinkie. We just barely started over."

Tomato nodded. "And we're not sure if we could be exactly as we were at youth. I mean..." He quickly yanked his forelock, and his mane promptly exploded into curls not unlike Cheese's, though noticeably shorter. He shook his head, removed his glasses, and said, "What I'm showing you here is Tommy--the kooky and energetic runt that just annoyed everypony. He grew up and was conditioned into a more jaded stallion."

"Aaaand you know what happened to the shy colt I was."

Pinkie just beamed at them. "That's okay. As long as you're not fighting anymore... seriously, that was just... bad."

The brothers muttered something along the lines of "Yeah, yeah, we know."

Pinkie then added, "Oh! Will you Pinkie Promise me that you'll better your relationship from now on? No more of those nasty fights, have your own brotherly bonding time, and write each other letters?"

Tomato raised an eyebrow. "Pinkie Promise?"

Cheese nudged him. "It's serious business... now, follow my lead." He set the cake on the floor in front of Pinkie, and began to do the motions, with Tomato mimicking him. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Tomato finished the motions as much as he could, and turned to Pinkie. "Well, okay, I guess that seals the deal."

Pinkie nodded and picked up the cake with her head. "Come on! Let us eat cake!"

Author's Note:

It's a good thing broken bones are not that big a problem in the MLP world--in real life, most horses who break their legs have to be euthanized...

So, yeah, I was more than likely predictable in the ending of their feud. So, why did I end the feud instead of keeping it going? Simple: there's actually more to do with them when they're allies instead of bitter enemies! For instance, offscreen they must've had an interesting time baking a cake (I was debating on whether or not Pumpkin Cake should've been chewing on Tomato's tie).

Also, Tommy revealing his hair was naturally curly via yanking his forelock? Well, I meant for that to be a surprise when I first came up with it months ago--unfortunately, if you follow Tommy's Ask Blog, it's pretty much spoiled.

But, that's enough of my ramblings--how do you suppose I will end this tale?

Comments

[Bluegrass Brooke]

Awwweee. The apology scene was so cute! They both were holding back, huh? How you fixed it with the cake baking was very clever. I can imagine Tommy got a little frustrated with Cheese making it. Great chapter!

[-Brutus]

DUDE! Congratulations on getting featured!

[Drifting Heart]

Daww that was pretty sweet. I think you would end it with the festival and Cheesie saying goodbye to tommy by hugging him before he goes on the train. and as the train pulls out Tommy looks out the window and smiles at Cheese who is still waving goodbye to him. just something that will be a huge tearjerker. Also if you dont mind me point out why do you say nag so much? it that a reference to a mare also being called a nag? or were you trying to say b**ch without actually saying it? I don't mind its just nag is a little too polite for Cheese and Tommy's mother since I really do not like her character at all. Anyone who treats their kids that way is just rotten in my books.

[Sketcha-Holic]

5263621 I just call her a nag because... well, she nags her sons. A lot. My mom's a nag, but she's a quiet sweetheart unlike the Sandwich mom.

And yes, I'm too polite to swear.

[SageBrony07]

That was a nice story. I think it needs one more chapter, where cheese and Tomato read a letter from each other. This was a great story. I loved how they were able to work things through. I do hope their relationship improves.

[Sonata_Dusk]

I just looked at the box right now YOU GOT F
FEATURED!!!! CONGRATS

[Drifting Heart]

5263635
I understand swearing is quite rude. I know what you mean a lot of moms nag their kids but they mean well its the sandwiches mother who is not nice. she's a perfectionist and expects way too much from her kids pushing your kids too hard can lead to them rebelling. Cheese did sorta rebel since he ran away and Tommy poor Tommy couldn't get away. I really am falling in love with your version of Cheese here he's so adorkable! After reading this chapter the story feels like its coming to a close and its going to be a tearjerker i bet. BTW congrats on the feature XD

[Puddinghead Wishes]

I... I honestly teared up when Tomato cried...

This story is truly beautiful. Great job!

[BouncyBerry]

Away, best brother buddies eveer *yay*
Uuuh, Monster Cheese.. seriously, I don't wanna imaginate this, even if you wrote it good, though..
Well yeah, hope for a little CheesiePie in the end..

[Grif_Bladefeather]

i still find this situation over stacked in cheeses unfavor, still a good ending.

[ChaoticKindness]

THEY MADE UP!!
Yay! Are you going to have them be friends on Tommy's ask blog now?

[Sketcha-Holic]

5268256 I'm planning on it.

Just trying to think of a good way to announce it.

[Drifting Heart]

5268316
So will that mean you change the title from disgruntled tomato sandwich to ask plain old grumpy tomato sandwich? Because if they made up then he wont be disgruntled anymore right?

[Blank Person]

(response to author's note) yes horses with broken legs tend to be euthanized... but you have to remember, these are 'magical ponies' so they probably have some way to heal using magic

[Fionn]

7327640 Also as i understand it the reason or a major reason horses with broken legs are put down is a horse with broken leg with keep trying to weight on it no matter what so it will never really heal properly. A equine with human level intelligence isn't going to do that.

[Godslittleprincess]

But, that's enough of my ramblings--how do you suppose I will end this tale?

With cake obviously.