//------------------------------// // Set in motion // Story: Meddling to the Max // by SC14 //------------------------------// Button awoke to his alarm ringing, on any other day he would dread that sound but, today was the day that he and Rumble would set their plan in motion. Whether it would work or not remained to be seen. But he liked to think that it would all work out fine. He jumped out of bed and practically floated through his morning routine as his mom watched on with a confused look. She couldn't think of a reason that her son would be so happy, not that it was a bad thing. It was just odd to seem him in such a good mood before school. As Button grabbed his saddlebag from his room he realized a minor flaw in the plan. They only had one tape recorder, when they were going to show Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo the messages they would need two tape recorders to do it. He looked at the clock, he had enough time to go by the store and buy one if he could convince his mom to give him the money for it. He grabbed the back up copy of the voice clips from his nightstand before he left his room. "Hey mom," Button said cheerfully. His mom looked at him with a smile. "Yes, Button?" She asked. "Can I have Thirty bits?" Button asked. His mom gave him a puzzled look. "What for?" She asked. "You remember that tape recorder we were using yesterday?" He asked. His mom nodded. "Well, we accidentally broke it and we need to buy a new one," She seemed to buy into his story. Button justified this lie to himself by reasoning that what he was going to do later was going to be worse than lying to his mom. "I guess so," She said as she reached for her purse. She pulled out Thirty bits and handed them to Button. He smiled to himself their plan was already shaping up. He exited his house and headed towards the store. It was a short walk, he walked into the store and made a b-line for the electronics section. He grabbed the first tape recorder he saw it was twenty-four ninety-nine. He made his way to the front to checkout. He bought it and left the store. As the school came into view he started looking around for Rumble. He walked around the school and to the playground where he found Rumble who appeared to be sleeping against the school. He sighed before shaking his sleeping friend. Rumble shook awake, looking around his eyes settled on Button and he let out a sigh. "Thanks, Button," Rumble said sarcastically. Button laughed and handed him the second tape recorder. "When did you get this?" Rumble asked after he realized that this was not the one his brother let him borrow. "This morning, I figured we would both need one," Button explained. Rumble was glad that Button had thought of this because the plan probably wouldn't have worked without it. Truth be told, Rumble was a little bit scared. What if this plan didn't work? It would probably ruin his whole life well, maybe not that far but, it would definitely make the rest of his school life hard. Button seemed to catch on to Rumble's concern. "Would you quit worrying, It's going to work to perfection," He said. Rumble sighed. "I guess," He said. Button rolled his eyes. "Let's get to class," Button said. Rumble nodded and followed Button into the school and to class. They sat down and anxiously awaited the end of class. The rest of class was a blur for the two colts they were preoccupied. The bell rang out and fillies and colts started to file out of the class their plan was about to come together nicely. They happened to be the last ones out of class which meant they had some catching up to do. They practically sprinted to catch up to the trio of fillies. "Hey!" Button shouted. The crusaders turned around to face the two. One of them said some sort of greeting but, neither colt was listening. "Hey, Scoots I need to talk to you," Button said. Scootaloo looked confused. Her confusion was furthered when she heard Rumble tell Sweetie Belle almost the exact same thing. But, she figured it was important considering she had never seen Button act so serious. Apple Bloom started to follow Button. "Alone," He said without turning around. She turned to go after Rumble but was met with the same response. "That was odd," Apple Bloom nearly jumped into the stratosphere. "Sorry," The voice said with a chuckle. Apple Bloom turned around to see Limestone Spy Standing behind her. The lime green earth pony looked at her with a stupid grin on his face. "Now I know why your name is Spy," Apple Bloom said sarcastically. Limestone Spy chuckled. "I wasn't spying," He said playfully. "But seriously though, What was up with those two?" He asked, his tone turning serious. "Ahm not sure but, I think they're up to something," Apple Bloom said thoughtfully. Limestone Spy gave her a confused look. "What makes you say that?" He asked. Apple Bloom looked at the ground, she wasn't quite sure how to explain her suspicion. "Well, yesterday they were actin' mighty suspicious, and Rumble kept reaching into his lunchbox yesterday," Apple Bloom said. It was a valid suspicion, why would Rumble keep reaching into his lunchbox yesterday. And she saw Button hand Rumble a tape recorder this morning why did he need that at school? Were they recording? All good questions that she would quickly get an answer too. "What is so important that you couldn't just tell he other crusaders?" Scootaloo said, getting more and more impatient as they walked. "I think you will understand," Button muttered. Scootaloo muttered back some insult but, it was too quiet for Button to hear. Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief as they stopped at a tree. "So I was working on a project that Miss Cheerliee gave me and I accidentally recorded this," Button pressed play on the tape recorder. Scootaloo was shocked to hear Sweetie Belle's voice saying 'I think Scootaloo is using me for attention, I mean her parents don't care about her,' Scootaloo looked at the ground, She didn't know what to believe. Sweetie Belle didn't say that right? But it sounded so real and Button would make something like that up, "S-She said that?" Scootaloo stammered. Button was a little bit shocked, Scootaloo didn't usually stutter like that, this was way going better than he thought! "I'm sorry Scoots, I just thought you should know," Button said with fake sadness. He was giving himself mental pats on the back for how well his plan was working out. "No! Thank you for telling me I'm going to go teach her a lesson!" Scootaloo shouted as she stormed off in Sweetie Belle's direction. Button smiled to himself. He decided to move in a little closer so he could enjoy the show. Sweetie Belle wanted to ask Rumble where he was taking her but, she was too shy. She wasn't really sure what Could be so important that not even Apple Bloom could hear. Sweetie Belle looked up just in time to stop seconds before hitting Rumble. "What did you want to tell me?" Sweetie Belle asked. Rumble looked at the ground and took a deep breath. "So I was working on a project and I accidentally recorded this," He hit play and Scootaloo's voice started Speaking. 'I'm only using Sweetie For attention' Sweetie Belle couldn't believe what she was hearing. 'She is so annoying especially when her voice squeaks," Sweetie Belle sat there staring at the ground, She thought that she had something good going with Scootaloo. 'I think she will become a whore, just like her sister,' Sweetie Belle couldn't take it anymore she started crying, Rumble patted her on the back and confronted her to the best of his abilities. "Do you want to speak with Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle didn't want too but, she knew that she had too. Reluctantly, she got to her hooves and walked in Scootaloo's direction. "I wonder what they could be up too?" Limestone Spy thought out loud. Their attention was drawn to Scootaloo who was storming back towards them. Apple Bloom and Limestone Spy gave each other confused but concerned looks. Scootaloo pointed, they thought she was pointing at them until they heard Scootaloo yelled. "YOU!" Their eyes landed on Sweetie Belle who was also approaching them. "I think I know what they are up too," Limestone Spy said. Scootaloo pushed passed the two of them. "I thought We had something!" Scootaloo shouted. "I did too!" Sweetie Belle blurted out. "Now wait girls-" Apple Bloom was cutoff by Scootaloo. "Stay out of this!" Apple Bloom took a few steps back. Scootaloo had never shouted at her like that. "I thought you loved me," Sweetie Belle sniffled. "I did! But now I know how you really feel!" Scootaloo fired. Sweetie Belle's mood shifted, She started off sad but, the way Scootaloo was talking to her in an accusatory fashion was starting to anger her. "How I really feel? I think you are the one who feels that way!" Sweetie Belle retorted. "Don't try to turn this on me!" Scootaloo shouted. "It was always on you!" Sweetie Belle returned. "Whatever! We are done!" Scootaloo shouted. She turned and stormed in the direction of her house. Sweetie Belle, on the other hand, lost all her anger and realized what she had done and started galloping back home. Apple Bloom and Limestone Spy looked at each other, eyes wide in shock and confusion. "You think they did this?" Limestone Spy asked. "They had to, Neither one of them would say anything bad about the other," Apple Bloom explained. "Let's get to the bottom of this," Limestone Spy said. Apple Bloom agreed and the two of them set off for Sweet Apple Acres for a brainstorming session.