//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: Endermare // Story: Button Mash and Sweetie Belle Play Minecraft // by QuilliamPenn //------------------------------// Chapter 9: Endermare Button was crying again, rather profusely at that. Though, hard to believe as it may be, especially considering the circumstances that he and his friend had been put through in the time they had spent in the hellish video-game-turned-real, they were tears of joy, happiness and hope. Sweetie Belle had moved. That alone was enough to bring him to tears, in this situation at least. It probably could be explained away in a more medical and scientific fashion. Though, those sorts of things were bound to have inconsistencies in them, due to the nature of the world they were in. Whatever the reason, Button didn’t care, Sweetie Belle was alive. “Button…?” She whispered curiously, her voice barely audible over the sobbing of the very colt holding her. “You’re alive…” He whispered softly, hugging her form closer to his and even going so far as to stroke her mane before pulling his muzzle out of her shoulder so that he could look at her clearly. She stared back up at him with a look of bewilderment, as if she was unsure why exactly she was being held by a sobbing eight-year-old who normally shrunk away at the mention of physical contact with somepony of the opposite sex. “W-why are you hugging me?” She asked softly, wincing a bit as she let out a tiny cough. “Because you’re alive, you doofus!” Button replied with a soft chuckle, sniffling a bit as he rubbed some of his tears away and smiled down at her. Sweetie Belle shifted a bit, still unsure as to what was going on; at least until she pulled her gaze away from her companion and unintentionally over to the horribly mangled corpse of a zombie-pony that lie on the floor only a few blocks away from her; a dirtied Iron Sword protruding from the beast’s motionless head. “The Creeper…it exploded!” She said, speaking softly at first; her voice slowly starting to grow louder in worry. “It exploded and knocked us both off that bridge, I was afraid you had died…” Button replied, letting out a gentle wince of pain as the unpleasant memory replayed in his mind. The show of displeasure that Button let out; though only slight, seemed to bring Sweetie Belle out of her dazed state to some extent, and she quickly pushed herself up onto her haunches, eyes frantically inspecting Button; her own seeming somehow unharmed in any non-aesthetic way. Button Mash, however, wasn’t faring quite as well. His mane was a mess, his eyes bloodshot and his coat covered in a mixture of dirt and zombie blood. There was a small bit of his own blood caked into his mane, his head had received a small cut after being thrown off the attempted bridge in the explosion and there was a small bit of blood on the corner of his mouth from all the coughing he had done prior to waking Sweetie Belle. All in all, he looked more worn and battle-weary than any eight-year-old should ever look. His mother would have near passed out; though she wasn’t there, so instead, Sweetie Belle was having a fit of extreme worry. “Button, your head! Are you ok? Ohmygosh, you need a doctor, we need to get you laying down and bandage you up and-“ Button coughed lightly and waved his hoof at her, quelling her stream of worry before he wiped away the blood from the corner of his mouth. “I’ll be fine…” He said with only the slightest hint of self-reassurance; pushing himself up onto all fours and giving his companion a hard, stoic look. “You don’t look fine!” Sweetie Belle started to protest, she was just about to move closer to him and try to take a look at his head and see how bad it was, when her legs appeared to suddenly give out. She toppled over onto to cold stone floor with a soft yelp of surprise. “Sweetie Belle!” Button cried worriedly, moving to try and help her up as quickly as he could. “M-maybe I’m not a hundred percent just yet…heh.” She replied sheepishly, taking Button’s hoof so she could shakily pull herself up onto her haunches; finding herself then met with her comrade’s steely gaze and his hoof on her shoulder in a manner that was most reassuring. “We’re getting out of here…” He said, his tone comforting and reassuring. Though, Sweetie Belle didn’t really feel she needed reassurance, she knew they would get out of here, she had always trusted Button to get her out of here. So maybe this was because Button was weird and felt like he needed to reassure her; she wasn’t quite sure. Button sighed softly and rose to all fours once more, turning his gaze over to the corpse from which his sword protruded and shooting it a faint snarl. He wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to look at this blasted game ever again without a sense of hatred overwhelming him, but right now that was the least of his concerns. They were getting out of here, he was getting them home, he was not going to let Sweetie Belle get hurt again. Never again. These thoughts in his mind, Button slowly made his way over to the motionless form of the zombie-pony and wrapped his hooves around the handle of the sword protruding from its skull. With significantly less trouble than the first time he had tried to dislodge the sword from the undead-equine, Button yanked the sword free with only a minimal amount of effort; sending small specks of blood splattering out onto the cold stone floor as he did so. Making sure as to not lose his balance upon dislodging the sword, Button stepped backwards and steadied himself, then turning his gaze over to Sweetie Belle; finding her to look just slightly disgusted at what she had just witnessed. Even through all of this hell, she was still Sweetie Belle, after all. “What weapons do you have…?” Button asked her; taking note of the armor she still wore for this first time since the explosion. “Uh…one second.” She replied softly, a look of concentration washing over her face, only to be replaced by a look of confusion a few moments later. “What’s wrong?” Button asked; his own look of worry creeping across his face. “Button, I can’t access my inventory!” Sweetie Belle said with the softest hint of a whine; stomping her hoof gently and then wincing from the slight twinge of pain that followed. “W-what do you mean?” Button let out softly, disbelief lacing his tone as he tried his best to will his own Inventory into existence; he found it a futile venture that left him with a slight headache. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks, any plan that would have been formulated based off of the gear they had prior to the explosion was now as useless and trying to dig through bedrock. Though while this would certainly put a damper on the ease of which they escaped this mad world, Button decided it best to not let it get him too down. Too much had happened already for him to let this be the thing that brought him to his knees. “What do we do now…?” Sweetie Belle said softly; her tone more than just a little worried. Refocusing his gaze to lie just beyond where his companion sat, Button slowly limped his was over towards the soft, pleasant glow of the lava-filled ravine he had almost forgot was there. The orangish glow illuminated only a small bit of the cavern as usual, though for some reason he felt like it was more…muted, more restrained than before. Exactly why, he wasn’t sure. “We get to my computer…” He said softly, making his way past her and continuing towards the ravine. “And we shut it off.” Button knew they would probably have a bit of trouble crossing that ravine. He was already formulating a plan. They could maybe jump across it, or if anything he could always toss Sweetie Belle over and then try to jump over himself. Whatever they had to do to get to that computer and shut it off, they would. “That actually seems simple enough…” Sweetie Belle replied, moving to follow after Button. However, much to Button’s surprise and Sweetie Belle’s dismay, her attempt to follow him was met only with a sharp jolt of pain that rocketed up her front leg and sent her down onto the harsh stone floor. Button’s ears perked up at the sound of his friend’s pained cry and he snapped around to see she was lying on the ground, grasping at her front left leg with her uninjured right, small tears welled up in the corner of her eyes and she looked nothing if not pitiful. “Sweetie Belle?”He said sharply, worry overtaking him as he made his way over to her side and ignore his own painfully aching body. “I...I’m not sure if I can actually walk, Button…” She whimpered, biting her lip to hold back her whines as Button crouched next to her, inspecting her leg. On the outside it looked fine, but he remembered the time Scootaloo had hurt her leg trying to perform some crazy scooter stunt, on the outside it had looked fine, but once they got to see Nurse Redheart, it turned out she had a severe fracture. Now that Button thought about it, Sweetie Belle had been thrown off of a rather high point via a force of literal explosive proportions, so it was entirely possible her leg had fractured like Scootaloo’s had; way back when. But this also meant something else, they didn’t have a health bar any longer…Or if they did it wasn’t measured out like that of normal Minecraft, now they took actual damage. He should have realized it earlier when he had been coughing up blood. They bled now, they could break now. This was real now, moreso than it had been previously. “Come on, I’ll help you. We’re on the home stretch, Sweetie Belle!” Button said encouragingly, letting Sweetie Belle put her weight on him as he pulled her up to her hooves. She held her injured leg close to her body, keeping it off the ground so that it wouldn’t be injured further. She was definitely going to need a hospital as soon as they got out of here. Slowly, the two young ponies-turned-survivors made their way closer and closer to the ravine. It wasn’t in sight quite yet, but the glow was growing closer and the sound of bubbling lava began to grow louder and louder. As they moved, Button had begun to try and formulate some sort of plan as to how exactly they were going to get across the bridge, how he was going to get Sweetie Belle’s injured form over the gap safely and manage to get himself over it as well. Though upon rounding the corner, he found he wouldn’t have had to. The ravine was almost exactly the same as they had left it. Almost. The short stone cliffs still protruded out of the sides of the wall, the stone now looked slightly scorched from the lava bubbling against it; but that wasn’t surprising, and the lava itself still sat down at the bottom, broiling and churning like some evil being waiting to swallow them whole. What was different, however, was the fact there was now a makeshift bridge built across the ravine. There were three blocks that had been used to make the bridge itself, two of dirt and one iron ore. How was this possible? Button didn’t build this and Sweetie Belle certainly hadn’t done it, so how was it possible for these blocks to exist in this place where they hadn’t previously; if not for outside intervention? This was an extremely unsettling sight, it couldn’t even be blamed on the world generating new chunks because there were no chunks to update or generate! “Button Mash, did you…” “No…” He said solemnly, though he did know what had done it. The only beast that could possibly be the culprit of this bridge, the only monstrosity that could possibly be responsible for this, was an Endermare. “We need to go.” Button said flatly, tugging a bit on Sweetie Belle so she would follow along with him. “Button, what’s going on?”She said worriedly, her eyes filled with uncertainty as they gazed upon the bridge that spanned the small gap. Button said nothing, he just wanted to focus on putting one hoof in front of the other and getting out of here, getting Sweetie Belle to safety, getting himself to safety and getting out of here before the architect of their newfound bridge decided to show itself… Slowly, they shuffled across the bridge, Sweetie Belle had latched herself tightly to Button’s side so as not to fall over the edge and meet a fiery doom. Button knew that they could have just gone across one at a time, but Sweetie Belle might have ended up falling with the condition her leg was in and that was the absolute last thing he wanted. By the time he had started to argue with himself over his course of action, they had already traversed the makeshift bridge and found themselves on the other side of the ravine, safe and as unharmed as they were going to get at that point in time. Button sighed and set his companion down against the wall; carrying her had been more taxing on his system than he had originally thought it would. He found himself breathing heavier, enough so that he ended up collapsing against the wall rather than sitting down, as he let out an unpleasant cough that sent copper-tasting blood out onto the stone floor and into the lava below; his sword clattered to the ground beside him as he did so. “Button?” Sweetie Belle said worriedly, using her back legs to scoot over closer to him and put a hoof on his back. “Are you alright…?” She asked, after his coughing had subsided. Button groaned with displeasure and wiped some blood off the corner of his mouth, resting his head against the cool stone behind him and trying to ignore the pain in his lungs. “I’ll be fine, we just…we need to get out of here, Sweetie Belle…” He said grimly, looking over at her with tired, bloodshot eyes; Eyes that had seen more than they should have at such a young age, though even despite all that, there was still a sense of…strength that lingered. “We’re going to get out of here, and get home, and we’re going to get you some apple juice!” Sweetie Belle said sweetly, trying to cheer her friend up as she nudged him gently with her uninjured hoof; giving him the best smile she possibly could. Button couldn’t help but smile back at here, apple juice did sound nice, although just being home sounded much, much more pleasant. With more drive and determination than he had possessed previously, Button took his sword into his hooves and used it to help himself up onto all fours, then offered a hoof to Sweetie Belle and helped her up onto her hooves, and then, together, they made their way across the side of the ravine and towards their final destination. As the doorway to the kitchen came into view, Button couldn’t help but feel a sense of hope flood his body. This was it; they were almost there, the home stretch and the end to what had been the most terrifying and bizarre experience of his entire eight years of existence. They were almost home. As they duo rounded the corner, they took in the most refreshing sight they had seen since they entered this horrifying world. An oak tree, standing proud and tall amidst the otherwise stony and unpleasantly cold feeling the kitchen-turned-cave gave off, seemed to almost shimmer as it swayed gently in a nonexistent breeze, illuminated by sunlight from a tunnel in the ceiling that probably stretched on so far it would be impossible to climb out of. Flowers had sprouted up around the tree, red and orange tulips swayed gently amidst the refreshing green grass. Though as beautiful of a sight as this was, it wasn’t going to be as exciting as the moment Button laid eyes on his computer once more. If it was where they had left it, it would still be on the other side of the tree, which meant that their salvation was only a few blocks away. “Almost home, Sweetie Belle…” Button said with a relieved sigh. Though the feeling of relief didn’t last long, because even after everything he and his friend had been through, after all the trials they faced, the bizarre things they had witnessed and the unnatural and unholy abominations they had combated, nothing could have prepared Button for what happened at that moment. Something, spoke. “Well, well, well. Finally, you arrive…” The voice was like silk, almost motherly even. It was too soothing. Like honey, it was as if it could attract flies then kill them with its sticky properties. It sent a chill through the spines of both young ponies and caused them to freeze in their tracks. All was silent for a brief moment, even the bubbling lava behind them seemed to have quieted down in the presence of this new voice. “And don’t you look rather worn…” The voice spoke again, female in nature, obviously, though from where it originated, neither Button nor Sweetie Belle could discern. “Button...who is that?” Sweetie Belle whimpered softly, pressing herself against his side in utter fear, he could feel her form shaking and her breathing getting more and more panicked. No matter what happened, he would protect her. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for you…We haven’t seen each other since our little adventure in the hallway, not since the white one met my gaze…” “Impossible…” Button Mash breathed, tightening his grip on the sword and scanning the room for what he thought to be the owner of this new voice. “Not entirely.” The voice was suddenly directly behind them, right next to their ears, even. Instinctively, Button and Sweetie Belle scrambled forward and fell to the ground. Both a little dazed from the fall; due to their already injured state, Button Mash and Sweetie Belle slowly rolled over onto their backs and found themselves now face-to-face, with a purple eyed, sleek-looking, alienesque, Endermare. Though she wasn’t like a normal Endermare, not at all. While locking his gaze on the forehead of their new enemy; out of pure instinct from already somewhat expecting this creature to indeed be the one that they were about to face. Button was able to take in the new form The Endermare had taken. Her face had changed to become slightly shorter, eyes elongated and become less alien and more feminine, the ears had grown out to an almost abnormal length and her lips were parted in a disturbing smile, shiny, white, newly-grown teeth gleaming in the sunlight that shone over the tree in the center of the room; purple eyes scanning them over intently, not with hunger, but fascination and also anger. Her body was less pony-like now and more hunched over, shiny, white claws had sprouted from her front hooves and The Endermare now stood on her back hooves entirely, able to walk in a bipedal manner much like a Diamond Dog or some Dragons. Her body was a mottled mix of black and grey, and seemingly devoid of any markings whatsoever, as if that all weren’t enough, she was tall; very, very tall. She easily was four blocks tall at the shoulder, making her a colossus compared to the two of them. “Oh, I’ve been waiting so long for you two to arrive…” She said with a voice as fluid and cool as ice water. Button and Sweetie Belle both could do little to withhold their horrified cries as they scrambled backwards in the grass, doing their best to push themselves away from this monster that had somehow gained the ability to speak. “Don’t look at its eyes, Sweetie Belle!” Button cried out, shutting his eyes as he scrambled away. The Endermare snarled at them for a moment, her face contorting into an expression of hatred, just before she poofed out of view in a small plume of purple dust that floated up into the air and dissipated. The two young ponies instantly went silent, their eyes wide in shock as to what had just happened. Though before they could do much more than think there was a soft ‘Poof’ behind them. Button slowly turned his head to find The Endermare now behind him and Sweetie Belle both, and yet again the cries of terror ensued. However, this time, the cries came more from Sweetie Belle than Button Mash. Button knew what he had to do, and that was killing this beast. So as Sweetie Belle drug herself away as best she could, he scrambled back about two blocks and pushed himself upright and brandished the sword at their new foe, snarling angrily and locking his eyes on the monster’s ankles as his friend crawled behind him and sat upright. The Endermare sounded as if she were trying to hold back laughter. “Hmm, little one, you are awfully confident in your ability to defend your friend with nothing more than a glorified push-pin….” She crooned, grinning in an almost sultry manner as she gazed upon Button’s smaller form. “How in Equestria are you talking?” Sweetie Belle cried out from behind her protector; apparently finally gaining the courage to do something other than scream profusely. The Endermare shrugged; seemingly content with holding her ground for the time being “Your guess is as good as mine, all I know is that shortly after I ran you, white one…” The Endermare raised a single, white claw and pointed it directly at Sweetie Belle. “I was…enlightened.” “What are you talking about?” Button hissed, glaring down at the feet of the beast in an effort to not lock eyes with it for fear of infuriating her, his sword brandished in as defensive of a stance as he could muster. “I gazed into the eyes of the white one and I was able to peer into her very soul, I was enlightened on what lies outside these bedrock walls…Equestria, Ponyville, these so called deities that seem to rule your lands…All her memories and the things she has seen became known to me.” The Endermare’s demeanor seemed to change; her voice became more and more forceful and less smooth with each word she spoke. “I want that world for myself…” Her voice was suddenly right in front of his face. He could feel her hot breath on the top of his head as she desperately tried to make him meet her gaze. It was all he could do to keep himself from looking up, for some reason he had the urge to meet the gaze of the one who owned the voice, like some unknown need in his brain to give in and look into those deep purple eyes… “But you two, you two are going to try and stop me, yes? You wish to shut off the source of my existence and the reason I am alive…” She cooed. Button found himself unable to formulate a plan of response as he felt one of The Endermare’s claws press gently against his lower jaw and start to lift his head up. His body felt heavy and his hooves were suddenly lead, it was like the touch of this creature had turned him to stone. He wanted to resist, but for some reason he couldn’t. He could only allow what was happening to happen as The Endermare slowly raised his head up to meet her gaze, still speaking all the while. “I will raise an army of these newly mutated mobs…build a force to escape this bedrock prison and unleash my might into this world you call ‘Equestria’ that lies just behind these walls…I will slay your rulers, burn your towns, slaughter your people…” Button suddenly found himself looking eye to eye with The Endermare, staring straight into her deep, purple, entrancing eyes. A feeling of longing seemed to overcome him, he suddenly never wanted to stop looking, they were so mesmerizing, so enticing… “I will burn your world and only when my armies of the undead are feeding upon the flesh of your kind, will I rest…” The Endermare’s jaw suddenly opened wide, slowly stretching to an unnatural extent as she slowly moved closer to Button Mash, he wanted to move. Every fiber of his being suddenly screamed for him to move away, to not allow this beast to murder him in such a brutal manner… And then suddenly, the jaws, as well as their owner, moved rapidly to the side, as if stumbling away; accompanied by an unnatural shriek of pain. Instantly Button snapped out of his trance-like state, looking around him and finding that Sweetie Belle had been the one responsible for saving his life. She had managed to limp all the way around him, whilst their enemy was busy trying to eat him, and what she had done to save him was instantly evident by the small bit of purple blood dripping off her horn. She had stabbed it in the flank, it would have been comical had the situation not been quite so grim. “Slime!” The Endermare suddenly roared, drawing the attention of both ponies as she pushed herself upright and faced them both with an angry snarl. “Button…!” Sweetie Belle let out a startled cry of fear as The Endermare bore her sharp claws and let out an unpleasant roar, then lowered her head and charged straight for the tiny white mare. Button slipped into attack mode almost instantaneously, he tightened his grip on his sword and held it like a baseball bat, waiting until just the right moment and hoping The Endermare wouldn’t notice what he intended to do. As hoped, she didn’t, and he swung as hard as he possibly could. The Endermare hadn’t been focused on him at that moment, too enraged to seemingly care about anything other than slaughtering Sweetie Belle, as a result of this; she hadn’t noticed the edged blade of Button’s weapon as it swung straight for her head until it was too late. The blade struck true, slicking through the slick-looking, black flesh and effectively ruining her right eye as it sliced through, cutting just deep enough to severely wound but not enough to kill. The Endermare let out an ear-splitting shriek and teleported in a plume of purple dust almost as soon as the blade had hit her, coming out of the teleport on the other side of Sweetie Belle and slamming into the wall with great force. Sweetie Belle cried out in surprise and limped away as fast as she could, allowing Button to put himself between her and The Endermare. “Sweetie Belle, the computer!” He cried, brandishing the now purple-covered tip of his sword in the direction of their enemy, who was; surprisingly enough, recovering from the horrible wound that had been inflicted upon it. It was clutching its right eye with one bloody claw, as if trying to stop the flow of purple blood currently gushing from her wound. Normally this gore might have had an effect on Button, but recent events had been sure to desensitize him to such sights, she he didn’t even so much as cringe. “Right!” “No!” The Endermare suddenly shrieked, removing her bloodied claw from her eye and suddenly teleporting over to the tree, hunched over so that she would fit under it and stabilizing herself with on claw. The other claw was extended out in Sweetie Belle’s direction in a fist that connected with her side, sending her flying backwards and across the floor of the cave; she hit the wall of the cave and let out a pained cry, unable to right herself at that moment. Again, Button sprung into action, with a roar of fury unlike any he had uttered before, and fueled by both adrenaline and the need to protect Sweetie Belle, he gave it everything he had and charged his foe; not even paying mind to the fact his body was screaming for rest. Unfortunately, this time, his enemy saw it coming. She teleported at the last second, leaving Button only able to strike at a faint purple cloud and slam the tip of his sword against the cold stone floor, sending a few sparks flying out from the point of impact. There was a familiar ‘Poof’ behind him, and Button wheeled around and brought the sword in a deadly arc. Though he only managed to catch a glimpse of his foe before she yet again warped out of the path of danger, sending his sword to strike at nothing but a purple cloud, yet again. Another ‘poof’, this time to his right. Button spun around with a passionate cry of fury and managed to do nothing but repeat his previous actions, as yet again, his foe teleported out of the way of his strike. ‘Poof’ Now panting softly, Button turned yet again to see The Endermare now standing in front of the tree under which the computer sat. Her face was one of pure rage, where a functional eye once sat, now only a dead, purple orb lie. Motionless in its badly damaged socket and gushing purple blood from the long gash that railed from near the base of the nose all the way back to the ear. “You…you think you will kill me, me?” The Endermare snarled and let out a feral roar. Button gulped in fear, but held his ground. Running would get him nowhere. Though even now he was formulating a plan…this beast never attacked head on, so maybe, just maybe, if he could get lucky enough to guess where it was going to teleport to…. “I know I can, you pathetic excuse for a monster!” Button growled, wondering if maybe he could have been a bit more colorful with his insults. Hey, he had been through a lot today. Dishing out good insults wasn’t on the top of his priority list. “Ha, you will die slowly!” The monster returned, grinning even through the blood that ran down the right side of its face. It was like something out of the cover of a video game, at that moment. The Endermare charged, claws outstretched and maw agape, showing off its shiny white teeth; half of which were now stained with its own blood. Button raised his sword and held his ground, trying his best to make it look like he intended to stab the creature directly in the stomach as it charged at him, and hoping that it would interpret his movements that way as well and not catch on to what he was doing. It didn’t. The Endermare teleported at the last second, and instantly; making use of the slight delay before she reappeared, Button wheeled around and stabbed into the air behind him. Just as The Endermare teleported back into reality. Her momentum was too great for her to try and stop, too fast for her to even try to avoid the blade or minimize the damage to herself as the sword pierced her smooth black flesh and drove itself through her stomach. She fell forward, half charging and half doubling over from the pain, falling on top of Button and nearly crushing him beneath her surprising weight. For a moment, she writhed on top of him, the sword protruding out of the back of her midsection and dripping with thick purple blood. She shakily pushed herself up with one clawed hand, the other grasping at the sword in her gut as she stood upright and shakily stumbled backwards, seemingly unable to form any sort of word or cry, save the soft gasp that left her black lips. Button shakily righted himself, watching as The Endermare struggled to keep herself upright by leaning against the doorway to the kitchen-turned-cave; her free claw grasping at the edge in an attempt to not fall. She brought her gaze from the sword lodged in her gut, to meet the eyes of Button Mash as he slowly stalked towards her, watching as that stalk turned into an all out sprint. Button launched himself at her with all his might, slamming his shoulder into her knee with enough force that she stumbled backwards, and right to the edge of the ravine. The look on her face just then was one of shock and surprise, more than pain or fear, and as she stepped back and found naught but air behind her, The Endermare found herself falling downwards into a pit of boiling lava beneath her. And for a half second, Button thought that it would be the last he ever saw of her. Until suddenly he was on his side, being dragged rapidly towards the edge of the ravine, along with his foe. Without any sort of word or warning, The Endermare had managed to latch one of her claws around Button’s tail, as evident by the fact he now found himself rapidly sliding towards the lava filled pit below him. Just as he started to fall, Button; using every bit of strength and willpower he could muster, latched his front hooves onto the edge of the small cliff and held on with all he had. Yet, even though after all he had been through, and all he had survived. His strength was not enough, and he suddenly found himself falling. Everything seemed to slow down in that moment. He turned his gaze down towards the lava in the last few seconds before he would hit it, watching as The Endermare’s face contorted into one of unimaginable pain upon her body touching the lava, instantly igniting as flames crawled across her body like angry orange ants. This was it then. This was how Button Mash met his end. In that last moment before he was about to hit the lava, he found himself able to take peace in at least one thing. He had saved Sweetie Belle; he had protected her at all costs and kept his promise to get her to that computer. All she had to do now was go and turn it off, she didn’t need him. She would be safe. The lava was only but a few hoof-lengths away from him now, and he closed his eyes and prepared to accept his fate. Yet…it didn’t come. In fact, it was suddenly getting farther away. Button Mash reopened his eyes to find her was retreating upwards and away from the lava with increasing speed, he watched as the somehow still-living Endermare’s form was yanked from the lava, though she was alive she was burning, she writhed in pain and agony as the unimaginable heat covered her flesh, burning it away and exposing what appeared to be black bone. Then the lava started to rise after them, and then the blocks that made up the walls seemed to shift and shake. As he tumbled upwards and slammed into the underside of the cliff, Button watched the pool of lava beneath him suddenly rise upwards and disappear over the edge, followed by the blocks that had resided below it and those that made up the walls. Not entirely sure what was going on, or why he wasn’t extremely crispy right now, Button could only watch this transpire, and then find himself faced with a different issue as the burning form of The Endermare hit the bottom of the cliff against which the seemingly reversed gravity now pressed him. She let out the most unnatural, ghoulish scream he had ever heard, he could have sworn she had been screaming ‘Die!’ at him, but at that moment he didn’t bother trying to interpret, he wanted to know how in the world he was going to get away from this monster! As it turned out a few seconds later, he didn’t need to. The cliff itself began to shake and shudder, and one by one the blocks that it was comprised of were ripped from their places and disappeared over the edge and into the kitchen. Now Button was moving again, rapidly so. However now he was tumbling over the edge and back into the kitchen, with a cry of defiance he latched his hooves onto what remained of the edge of the ravine and held on for dear life. There was a white life behind him now, bright and harsh, whatever it was it was most definitely responsible for creating this bizarre Minecraft-apocalypse. The Endermare unwillingly was dragged up the side of the ravine and now had latched herself onto the edge of the ravine just like Button was, her form still burning and the smell of her flesh cooking filling the air, she roared and turned her charred head over to Button, extending a claw to grab at him, however at that moment the very block to which she was holding shook and shuddered, then came loose and disappeared into the white light now emanating from the kitchen. And took The Endermare with it, just like that. One moment she was there and the next…gone. And though, try as he might, with a powerful wind unlike any he had ever seen pushing against him, and the feeling like something was trying to drag him backwards doing its best to overpower him… Button Mash held on. Though the block that he had been holding on to, hadn’t, and suddenly he found the world falling away from him as his vision turned to pure white, nothingness.