We Used to Be Best Buddies

by Sketcha-Holic

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad, Original Character, Cheese Sandwich
Length: 2580

A colt tries to get his brother to join him in outings, only to be turned away each time.

Little Tomato Sandwich has a bunch of friends! Every day he's invited to their homes or whatever outings said friends were going on. He's allowed to go--as long as he gets his homework done.

But each outing feels incomplete without his big brother Cheese, and so he implores him to join them.

And each time, the answer is "No."

But little Tommy will not be discouraged, as he continues to ask his increasingly reclusive brother to at least show his friends why he considers him his best friend.

Inspired by "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" from Frozen. Cover art drawn by me. Side story to Midnight Snack and It Broke The Camel's Back.

Published 2014-08-06 04:10:06 UTC
Last updated 2014-08-06 04:10:06 UTC

And Now We're Not

A small, six-year-old colt scribbled the last answer of his math homework down. As he did so, he sported the feelings of relief that he was done, annoyance over having to do homework in the first place, and excitement over his plans for once he was done. He gazed out the window with bright green eyes, where snow was gently falling from the gray sky. Then he glanced over his work quickly, and with a smug smile, spat out his pencil. Hopping up on his stool, he hollered, "Mama! I'm done with my math!"

Not long after, his mother walked in, her expression holding a subtle tiredness and aggravation at her son's loud voice. Still, she looked over his homework and nodded in approval. "Very good, Tomato. Now, put this in your saddlebag."

Tomato nodded enthusiastically and sprung off of his stool in a red-orange flash. He had stuffed the paper into his saddlebag faster than was thought possible, and was now bouncing around the room. All the while, his mother watched tiredly, sighing in resignation to the fact that he wasn't going to be caught. All she could do was wait for Violet Verses to come and take him to the park, where Tomato, Violet's son Bluejinx, and a bunch of other colts were planning a snowball fight.

She didn't wait long, for there was a knock at the door. She answered it, and sure enough, a purple-maned, lavender mare stood there, with a white-haired, sky blue colt beside her.

"Oh, good, I was worried about Tomato breaking another of my vases."

Tomato stopped his bouncing to glare at her, but it didn't last long as he spotted the blue colt and sped to the spot directly in front of his friend. "Hiya, Jinx!"

Jinx smiled. "'Sup, Tommy?"

"The ceiling's up, Jinx! Don't you know anything?"

Violet giggled. "Looks like little Tommy's got a lot of energy to burn. Are you ready for an exciting snow war?"

"You bet I am!" Tommy squealed, bouncing some more. However, his bouncing stopped and his brow creased as he realized that he was forgetting something. "Oh, right, I need to go get Cheesy! My big brother can build an awesome snow fort... believe me, I lost to him in snowball fights a lot."

Jinx tilted his head. "Are you sure? I mean, he's kinda boring."

Tommy glared at him. "No, he's not! Look, if you just give him a chance, he'll really show you and the others just how cool he is! I'll be right back."

Tommy turned and went down the hall. Sliding to a stop in front of a door, he noticed that it was closed. He thought about barging in and jumping on him, but he remembered that Cheese punched him on the nose the last time he did that. So, he decided to use the more polite approach.

"Cheesy?" He knocked on the door.

"Do you want to build a snow fort?
Let's go to the park and play!"

There was no answer. Tommy stomped his front hoof, wondering what was going on behind there.

"You're never happy anymore
Come out the door
Why must you waste the day?"

He started pacing back and forth, not liking Cheese's silence.

"Come with me and my buddies
I told them you're so cool
I wish you would show them why..."

He reared up and leaned on the door, in yet another plea.

"Do you want to build a snow fort?"

His eyes and smile widened as he thought of an alternative to his request.

"Or maybe we could build a snow colt!"

Finally, from behind the door, there came Cheese's voice answering his plea. Unfortunately, it was only a tired and grumpy-sounding, "Go away, Tommy."

Tommy's face fell into a frown. Go away? But why? He wanted to ask this, but he heard his mother calling him, asking him what was taking so long. Hanging his head in defeat and walking away, he sighed, "Okay, bye..."

The light orange colt knew better than to just jump in and answer without all the details. The very moment that Tommy mentioned his friends, Cheese's thoughts went into panic mode, and ended up replaying the same scenario he had dealt with at school time and time again. Imagining all of those colts mercilessly pelting him with snowballs the moment Tommy's back was turned, he instantly went sour, and ordered him to leave.

He sighed, leaning against the door and staring at the ceiling. Why were most of Tommy's requests to play including those obnoxious friends of his? Cheese preferred the one-on-one playtime that involved their "cowspy" game or their creative uses of their toys. But now they all had to involve those friends that Cheese so despised, and he was sure they also despised him.

Doesn't matter now; Tommy was off to the park, going to be partaking in a snowball fight. He thought about how Tommy would be creamed without Cheese's superior fort building skills. Still, with all his friends, what did Tommy need him for?

Cheese stood up, adjusted his large glasses, and headed to his bed. He figured he might as well practice his accordion.

A couple years later, a now-bespectacled Tomato was invited to a friend's birthday party, which would have cake and goodies and games, and since it was that time of year, there was bound to be a snowball fight. Despite Bluejinx voicing his doubts, Tommy was going to drag his brother for the ride. Catching Cheese on the couch, reading one of those old Western comics he enjoyed so much, Tommy slid forward, and started to poke him.

"Do you want to build a snow fort?
At the party down the street?"

Cheese buried his muzzle deeper into the book, and Tommy huffed in frustration.

"Cheese, your company is overdue
I've got some friends that you would surely like to meet"

Cheese swatted Tommy's hoof away with a sharp "NO!"

Tommy sat on the floor and pouted at him. When will he stop refusing and just come along? It wasn't as if a single party was going to kill him. What was with him and wanting to be alone, anyway?

"It must get kinda lonely
Shut up in our home
Just watching the hours tick by..."

To emphasize his point, he started clicking his tongue, imitating the old grandfather clock that they had. It was then that their mother came in and hushed him, and then shooed him away so that he could go to the party. Once Tommy had dejectedly left, she turned her attention to her older son.

"I hope you can explain why you failed your science test, Cheese," she said with an eerie calmness.

Cheese rolled his eyes. "It was only a C, Mom."

"Well, I expected better from you. You're a smart colt, but yet you keep wasting your time and energy on that ridiculous instrument, when you could at least study for your future."

Cheese snorted. "My accordion is not ridiculous! What if that ended up being my cutie mark?"

"You're at the age that your cutie mark should appear, and I'm hoping it's not that. I'm worried that you'll grow up to be a freak who's wasting his life! I'd hate to imagine my son becoming a failure, with a job that doesn't pay well, a wife and children that you'll disappoint, and Celestia forbid that you become a hobo!"

"Mom, calm down. I'm gonna be fine."

"Not with that attitude about a C! Honestly, you won't get far unless your grades are at least as good as your brother's!"

Cheese lowered his book, an icy glare held in his eyes. His eyes went to the fridge, where papers with A's had been attached to it. All of them were Tommy's. 'Tommy's Brother', why can't you be more social like Tommy, what is Tommy's brother's name, why wasn't Tommy born first, why weren't your grades ever like Tommy's, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, TOMMY! Cheese was nearly ready to scream. Why was his baby brother being treated like the best thing since sliced bread, and yet he was constantly being criticized for not being like him? It was driving him nuts.

He slammed his book shut, slid off the couch, and stormed to his room.

"Cheese Alfred Sandwich, I'm not done talking to you!"

"I am!" And with that he slammed the door, and proceeded to take the pillow off his bed and scream in it.

Bored, bored, bored.

Tommy was home alone for the first time in his life. And frankly, it wasn't all that fun; in fact, it was boring! How could Cheese stand it?

Still, that meant that he was trusted enough to look after their home on his own. After all, with Dad working and Mom taking Cheese to a dentist appointment, somepony had to make sure there were no burglars breaking in. What if they stole Cheese's accordion, and used it for their evil parties?

Hm, a party? With that, he got an idea. He was going to share the joy of this milestone of life, despite a warning from his mother.

"Tomato Matthew Sandwich, I told you that you were not to invite anypony over while we were gone! What were you thinking?! Your friends could have broken something valuable!"

Tomato winced, his eyes still watering from the fact that he did break something valuable, and that the owner was upset about it. The sharpness of Cheese's voice still rang in his ears, and that icy glare had pierced him to the core. The fact that his mother was yelling at him made things worse, and he was expending a lot of energy just to keep himself from crying.

His mother sighed. "Now, personally, I'm glad that ridiculous instrument is no more... still, it's best that you apologize to him for the incident. Hopefully he can set his mind to more important things."

Tommy gulped, and slid off his seat. He took deep breaths as he marched to the room he and Cheese shared, hearing a death knell in his ears. He had a gut feeling that Cheese wouldn't forgive him, no matter how tearful he got. He could only hope that he wasn't going to get beat up for breaking the accordion.

He solemnly opened the door, and croaked, "...C-Cheese?"

There was no answer. Tommy walked in, and looked around. There was the broken instrument in front of him, the messed up beds, all the toys strewn on the floor... where was Cheese?

It was then that he noticed the window was open. Alarmed, he ran to it, and stuck his head out. He looked at the surroundings, which were built as if to assist a colt down, and then his eyes widened in horror as he put two and two together. He turned around and bolted for the door.

"Mom! Mom! Cheese is gone!"

They couldn't find him.

Tommy always knew Cheese was good at hide-and-seek; now he was doing it at a larger scale. He could be anywhere in the city; or worse, he was out of the city. Tommy started worrying that he was dead, and could only pace frantically around the house for any news involving him. Any attempts by his parents to calm him down would only result in a more antsy Tomato. And so, he'd spend his days pacing his room.

He wanted to blame his friends for breaking the accordion. After all, they touched it first! He wanted to blame his Mom for leaving him home alone. She should have known he was going to be dangerously bored! He wanted to blame his Dad for working all the time. He could handle the house better! And he wanted to blame Cheese, for running away before Tommy could apologize. Couldn't he have waited? Why was he so eager to leave? Was the accordion really worth this?

He stopped his pacing, and went to the window. It was already nighttime, and he could see the moon shining brightly. Leaning on the windowsill, he sunk his head into his front legs. With shallow breaths, the only reason for Cheese running away he could think of was one that really hurt.

He hates me.

He could only stare at the moon, with the dark shape of a mare printed on it. The mare seemed to be glaring at him, taunting him about his failure to be a good little brother. Soon, the image was blurred as his eyes began to water. He sniffed and wiped his eyes, staring forward into space.

"Cheese, I know you're out there
I am wondering where you are
I'll say I'm sorry, and I'm dying to
I wasn't meaning to drive us apart"

He choked, cleared his throat, and wiped his eyes again.

"I miss you, my big brother
Don't you miss me?
What am I gonna do?"

Images of the days they would play together came to mind. Whether they played as pegasi or unicorns, as cowspies or pirate ninjas, or as rivals in a snowball war. Despite his effort to fight it, a tear slid down his cheek.

"Do you wanna build a snow fort?"

Somewhere out in the wilds of Equestria, Cheese found a soft patch of grass to sleep on. With a sigh, he curled up around his small bag of supplies, and looked up at the stars. He started to wonder if he had made a mistake, and it felt tempting to head back home.

He shook his head. What was there to be home for, anyway? All those bullies that made fun of his appearance and shyness? All the disappointed looks that he'd receive? His hard-to-please mom? His never-home dad? The little brother that he was always compared to, and had annoyed him with his attempts to get him to socialize?

He looked down at the grass. "Am I just a wind-up toy for you? Did you think you could just make me perform for those stupid colts? Couldn't you tell that I was under a lot of pressure from Mom? And I told you not to touch my accordion, and yet..."

He gently brushed his hoof against the grass. His heart felt heavy at the thought of his brother having found that he left, and he tried to imagine how Tommy felt. He had always hated seeing Tommy sad, and it hurt worse when it was because of him. Part of him wondered if he was being selfish.

But then there was another part of him didn't care. He left because he was unhappy, and nopony else was going to help him, especially since very few knew his name. He wasn't going back, not unless he wanted to bathe in all the collective disappointment and mockery. Maybe, just maybe, if he kept walking forward...

He would find his destiny.

Author's Note

I wrote this on a whim.

Was thinking about Frozen, thought of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman", and randomly decided to apply it to Cheese Sandwich, and the OC brother I created, Tomato Sandwich. I ended up reworking the lyrics to fit them and their situation (since, well, there are no ice powers involved and Cheese isn't always behind a door), and then BAM, this story appeared.

But, yeah, this could be applied to either the main 'verse or the Rock Farm AU.