Button started coughing as the smoke entered his throat. His eyes became watery.
"Sweetie Belle?" he shouted, rapidly coming out of his sleeping bag. It was already catching fire.
The world around him was a complete inferno, and since everything was made out of wood, the whole village was burning brightly. He was surprised he hadn't heard anything before.
Button rushed to the house, and to his horror, saw that the roof was burning up.
Some fire flared up next to him and burnt a small patch of fur on his back leg. He quickly jumped to the side and entered the house, just as the fillies were waking up in a hurry with terrified expressions.
"What's happening?!" yelled Applebloom, getting out of bed.
"There's a fire in the village and it's spreading fast... Your roof is already caught in the flames. We need to go now," he quickly explained.
Sweetie grabbed her saddle pack and stuffed Helper in it, who already seemed to be suffering from the smoke. "Don't worry little buddy, you'll be fine..." she murmured.
"Everypony get out!" shouted Applebloom, violently coughing.
They all rushed out and suddenly stopped, observing their surroundings in a kind of shocked daze.
"No time to stare!" urged Button. "We're getting away from here right now."
He grabbed Scootaloo's hoof and the others followed as he led them out. Thankfully their house had been placed near the outskirts of the village.
"Where's the wall?" shouted Sweetie Belle. "I can't see it!"
"I think they took it down so that anypony could easily escape."
They rushed into the darkness of the night, further away from the flames. It was only when Diamond Tiara tripped, stumbled and fell to the ground with a cry that they stopped.
"I th... I think we're... safe..." panted Sweetie Belle.
"Are we all-"
Button halted. He looked at them all, an expression of terror rising on his face.
They immediately caught on and stared at each other, an empty feeling of coldness growing in their stomachs.
"We forgot..." Applebloom murmured.
"Rumble..." breathed Sweetie.
"We need to go back!" cried Scootaloo, tears suddenly spilling out of her eyes due to the accumulation of shock and fear.
"Calm down! He's probably fine! I didn't see him next to us when we left, so maybe he already got out..." Button said, shaking his head incredulously. "We'll go look for him once we're sure we're all safe...!"
"How could you say that?"
Sweetie's scream was so loud in the middle of the quiet plain that they all jumped.
"You're so selfish... I can't believe you're actually proposing that we leave him in that... that hell!" she spat, her eyes burning with rage. The stress and fear were getting the better of her usual calm demeanor. "Would you do the same if it were Helper? If it were Applebloom, or Scootaloo, or Diamond Tiara...? Or me?"
Button was taking a small step back at every word she said, his ears down. He was painfully watching her with eyes filled with regret.
"N- No, I-" he uttered.
"You know what Button...?" Sweetie Belle lifted her head up, inhaled sharply and stared back at him with cold eyes. "Next time you have a problem, don't expect me to ever come to your rescue..."
And she took off, galloping at full speed.
Button fell to the ground with wide eyes, trembling. "D... Did I do... something wrong?"
Scootaloo cast him a long look before trotting past him. "Sorry Button, but we don’t leave anypony behind."
Applebloom followed after adding a: "Yeah. You're not usually like this."
They left him and Diamond in the plain, in the dark. He looked at the last pony with him and she looked away with a little bit of embarrassment.
"I think I twisted my hoof when I fell. Can't really move at the moment."
Button slowly nodded, his gaze wandering off into the distance. He was so lonely...
"Rumble! Rummmmmmble! Where are you?" cried Sweetie Belle, her eyes already stinging from the smoke.
Screams. A lot of screams. Where was everypony?
Were they burning...? Was that smell in the air the smell of burnt bodies...?
Sweetie Belle felt some bile rise up in her throat.
Oh Celestia.
She took a few wobbly steps towards the middle of the village, towards the big table, where ponies had gathered around just a few hours with joyful smiles. What had happened? Why had Rumble come back in such a hurry? What had he done?
"N- No," Sweetie breathed, slumping to the ground. "What have we done?"
All of this, everything was her fault. And perhaps Button's, but just a little.
She was the careless filly who wanted to turn the camera on all those years ago - could it be years now? - and got them both trapped in the game of a psychopathic stallion that would surely break out of prison after that and come after them again.
Button just happened to be with her when they set the camera off, and a year later, Diamond Tiara, Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Rumble were only once again victims that happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
With the wrong friend.
Tears streamed down Sweetie Belle's cheeks as she realized all her previous mistakes. "My fault! It's all my fault!" she yelled at the sky that she couldn't even see anymore due to all the grey smoke, tainted here and there by the orange glow of the torches.
It was a beautiful and terrifying sight at the same time. The crackling of the fire burning through the wood all around her as well as the wind blowing smoke in her wailing mouth, interrupting the sobs so that she could cough.
Sweetie felt her consciousness gently leave her as the flames started to grow close.
Button grabbed a blue colt and threw him towards Diamond, who rushed him into the small hole they had dug up in a hurry... The villagers that managed to get out of the village were now faced with things they usually never had to see. In the middle of the night, surrounded by monsters they had no chance of staying safe, so it was up to Button and Diamond to protect those who had previously helped them.
"Button! There's a creeper behind you!" yelled Diamond as she desperately tried to scramble backward.
Button took a running start, then turned around and shot the creeper in the stomach. The thing flashed a few times without quite disappearing. Button was about to shoot once more when a villager came running past them, escaping an Ogre.
The creeper exploded into nothingness and the whole area was blown apart, sending blocks flying into Button.
Diamond’s scream ringed through his ears as he felt small shards of rock dig into his body. Though he immediately got up, stumbling around and trying to grasp a few bits of reality.
“Celestia, Button! How are you even standing up…?!”
Button coughed a few droplets of blood and took in the damage of his burnt body. A lot of patches of fur were missing, as well as red, bloody wounds that covered his stomach. The sight made him gag.
“A- Adrenaline I think…”
Diamond was in tears. “Button I- I don’t know what to do! What if we don’t make it out of this game? What if we die…?!”
Button groaned. “Now might not be the best time to have a mental breakdown!”
Diamond took a deep breath, eyes closed. “You’re right. Here, lean on my shoulder, I’ll accompany you to the hole.”
With a grunt, he did as asked and they retreated to safety. Upon entering, they noticed the terrified glares crossing theirs as well as the soft weeping coming from a few foals.
“M- Mommy…” cried a small unicorn. “I want my mom…”
Diamond lowered her eyes. For some reason, she had the feeling that all of this mess had happened because of them.
“Stay here and look after the villagers okay?” she whispered in Button’s ear.
He nodded, opening his backpack and distributing food to everyone. Diamond’s heart squeezed when she realized he always prioritized others over himself. She brushed Timid Deer’s flank while exiting the hole: “Make sure he also heals.”
Timid slowly nodded, her eyes lost in the distance.
Diamond stepped outside covering the hole again as she left. A zombie was waiting for her a few hoofsteps away, groaning.
“Now, let’s get serious,” Diamond murmured, a smile stretching across her face as she lunged at the monster.