Chapter 2. Ask her a question about herself...
Button Mash couldn't believe it, he had returned home and his mom wasn't there and Sweetie Belle had called him a jerk, things were getting really complicated, but at the moment Button really didn't care about that, he just wanted to sleep and forget all about today.
Button Mash went to his bedroom, tossed his jacket away and threw the sunglasses on the floor, then he went to bed to think about everything that happened today; he had taken Rumble's advice on how to date, he had transformated into a cooler guy and he had gotten closer to Sweetie Belle, but something went wrong, after all, Sweetie Belle just said he was a jerk and had trotted away.
'What went wrong? I did everything Rumble asked me to, then why didn't Sweetie Belle fall in love with me? And most importantly, did I learn how to do acrobatics for nothing?' Button thought while he was snuggling on his bed. 'I'm pretty sure I did everything right, I even saw her BLUSH! Why did she go away?'
Button was just about to keep rambling on and on inside his head, but his thoughts were interrupted when he heard the main door open, he curled into a little ball, he made sure he locked up the door so nopony strange would get inside, who could it be?
"Button? Are you here, dear?" When Button heard her voice, he inmediately calmed down, it was his mom, who else could possibly be? He heard the door of his room open and the light switch turn on, and when his mom entered, he put out his head to see her.
"Button, I'm sorry you had to be alone today, I had an issue with a co-worker, do you want me to cook something for you? Are you hungry?"
Button sighed. "No, mom, I'm fine."
His mom noticed that something was wrong, usually he didn't want to go to bed and he was playing "Legend of Luna" with his door locked, now he was more quiet than usual, he wasn't hiding a game under the blankets and he was laying down on his bed with all lights off and was ready to sleep, all on his own.
"Hey, is something wrong? Are you mad at me for leaving without warning?" Asked his mom, with concern on her voice.
"No, I just think I received some bad advice from somepony I know." Said Button, looking down.
"Bad advice on what?" Replied his mom, with her curiosity growing.
"It doesn't matter, I think everything's okay now, i guess." Sighed Button.
"So is it about somepony special?" Asked his mom, finally knowing what was going on.
"What? How did you know?" Asked Button, completely surprised.
"Honey, your father and I have gone through a lot of things together and apart from each other, and you have the same expression he had when something happened between us."
"Oh."
"Listen, if you don't want to talk about it then you don't have to, but I think you shouldn't give up on matters of love, and if you think you recieved some bad advice, then I suggest you take somepony else's advice." Said his mom, with soft eyes.
"Hmm, maybe you're right, thanks mom! I love you!" Replied Button, getting sleepy.
"I love you too, dear! Have nice dreams and remember, don't give up!" Button's mom gave him a kiss on the forhead and proceded to get out of his room afterwards, turning off the lights on the way.
'Hmmm, maybe my mom is right, maybe Rumble's help wasn't what I needed, maybe I need to ask somepony else about this stuff, but who...?' Button thought, until another one of his friends crossed his mind. 'Maybe I don't need to ask somepony else's help, maybe I should ask somedragon else's help!'
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It was the next day already, and everypony was enjoying the day, well, everypony except Button Mash, who was lookimg everywhere for Ponyville's residential dragon, Spike, maybe he could help Button Mash with his problem. He looked in the castle, but he wasn't there, he looked in the park, but he wasn't there either, there was only one place left to search.
Once Button arrived to the Boutique, he knocked on the door three times, and he waited patiently, if he was lucky, then maybe Sweetie Belle would open the door and he could apologize for his behavior from yesterday, and maybe he could even form the courage to ask her out! No, he was going too far, maybe he would just limit himself to apologizing.
Unfortunately for Button, Spike opened the door, which honestly didn't surprise him at all, he knew about Spike's crush on Rarity, everypony in town did, but what made Button come here was the fact that he heard some rumors about him dating Rarity.
"Hi, Button! What's up?" Asked Spike.
"Hi, Spike! I came to see if you can help me with something." Replied Button.
"Well, it depends, really, I can't really come out since I'm helping Rarity with her dresses and..."
"Spikey? Who is it, darling?" Asked Rarity from upstairs.
"Oh, it's just a friend! Can he come in quickly?" Replied Spike, yelling so Rarity could hear him.
"Yes! Just don't let him enter the kitchen! I have to clean the mess my sister made!"
Hearing this, Spike opened the door completely and let Button enter the boutique, he looked at the surroundings, everything was an organized mess of fabric, the colors were mixed up in such a way that Button couldn't quite figure out if they were organized in some way or not.
"So, what do you need my help with, dude?" He heard Spike ask, from behind him.
"Well, you see, I was wondering if you could give me some dating advice?"
Spike blinked once, confused. "Dating advice? Oh, Who is the lucky filly?" Asked Spike, looking at Button with half closed eyes and an evil grin on his face.
"Well, it's Rarity's sister, Sweetie Belle." Replied Button, blushing when he thought about her.
"Oooh, not a bad choice, but what do you want me to say to you? Rarity said that Sweetie Belle said that you encountered with her yesterday."
"Yes, but I did some things I think I shouldn't have done." Said Button Mash, looking sheepish. "You see, I went to Rumble's to ask him how he got Scootaloo to like him and..."
"Wait, wait, wait, you went there to ask for advice for dating Sweetie Belle?" Asked Spike, not believing his ears.
"Yes, why?"
"Because Scootaloo isn't the same filly as Sweetie Belle, if my thoughts are correct, he said you should be looking as cool as never before to impress her."
"Wait, how did you know all that?" Asked Button, in surprise.
"Living with a unicorn who is crazy for books has its ups and downs. Whatever, you didn't listen, did you?" Asked Spike, looking at him raising an eyebrow.
"Well I kinda did..."
"Button, Button, Button, you see, Sweetie Belle is similar to Rarity in some aspects, not in a lot of them, but they both have the heart of a lady."
"And? Where are you going with this?" Asked Button, with curiosity.
"Well, the heart of a lady is something curious, but it shouldn't be, after all, everything begins with a question."
"A question? That's the same thing Rumble said!" Replied Button, remembering his friend's advice.
"But this is different, if I'm correct, he told you to ask her a question about yourself, right?"
"Yes."
"Well, you should ask her a question about herself."
"A question about herself?"
"Yes, that's how you begin a conversation with a lady, and when you hear her response, be sure to reply with something ingenious, after that, be sure to repeat the same thing to know a lot more about her, that also helps to find out what she likes, to date her you have to prove you care about her, you have to focus on her to get her to like you."
"And can you tell me why didn't the previous thing work?" Asked Button, crossing his hooves.
"Well, Scootaloo is a filly who likes awesome and extravagant things, and Rumble changed his personality entirely to date her, on the other hand, Sweetie Belle's attention is on other things, believe me, if some other pony tried to charm her by flexing their muscles, that would be the perfect way to make her feel bored or uncomfortable."
"How do you know this much about dating anyway?"
"Well, I tried being cool with Rarity and the exact same thing happened to me, she felt uncomfortable, but when I tried asking her things to know her better, she was generous enough to open her heart to me and give me a chance." Said Spike, remembering their first date.
"Okay then, thank you for everything, Spike! I hope you're right!" Said Button, going to the door.
"You're welcome! Don't forget to speak from your heart! See ya!" Replied Spike, waving at Button.
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The afternoon arrived in Ponyville, and Sweetie Belle, somehow, was sitting in the same place as yesterday, and Button was watching her from the bushes nearby, preparing himself mentally to ask her out. Button was literally sweating, but he remembered the advice Spike gave him, he only had to focus on her to win her, right?
After a few moments, Button got out of the bushes and walked towards Sweetie Belle with a sad expression on his face, he had to show her he regretted his actions from yesterday, and now Button was walking like his normal self, Sweetie Belle saw him appaoraching, she didn't know if she should run away or ask him to leave, but when she saw his expression, she decided to let him sit along with her and hear what he had to say now.
"Hey, Sweetie." Button said when he got near her.
"Hi, Button." Replied the filly with no expressions on her voice.
"Listen, I came here to apologize for yesterday, I'm sorry I made you feel uncomfortable with my attitude." Said Button, sadly.
"Apology accepted, Button, but why did you act so weird?" Asked Sweetie, her eyes softening with each second that passed.
"Because I'm tired, tired of being the odd one at school, tired of being 'the uncool one', and I'm tired of being weird, but I think that my behavior didn't help, am I right or am I right?" Asked Button, giggling softly.
"To be sincere, it didn't." Replied Sweetie Belle, giggling as well. "But I still don't get it, do you feel like the odd one in our class? Because I know exactly how it feels..."
"Wait, you do? How? Don't you have your friends?" Asked back Button.
"Yes, but before I met them school was chaos to me, I felt like I was the weirdest one of my class because of my blank flank, I didn't want to keep going to school, but I met Scootaloo, and she felt just like me, we were still afraid of what the other filies of our age might think, but when we met Apple Bloom everything changed, we formed the Cutie Mark Crusaders to find our talents together, but to make things clear, everypony has felt like that at least once or twice in our lives, we know how you feel, Button." Replied Sweetie Belle, her eyes totally soft now.
"Well, enough about me, what about you?" Asked Button before he could blush. "Why do you sit here by yourself?"
"Because I come here to practice my voice, I come here to sing by myself without anypony listening to me, I'm not sure I can take their critiscism, it would be super embarassing!"
"Sweetie Belle, believe me, you need to have more confidence in yourself, if you conquer your fears, then you can do anything! Which is more than some of us can say." Replied Button.
"Hey, stop being so hard on yourself! Let me tell you something, the others are thinking on opening up to everypony with no cutie mark."
"The others?"
"Yes, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, we are thinking on opening up to everypony! Maybe you can join us!"
"Oh, I would love it!" Replied Button, with 'the L word' slipping out of his mouth. "Anyway, I'm glad you forgave me! I don't know what I was thinking."
"It's no problem, we all do something stupid from time to time."
"Really? What have you done?" Replied Button, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, the other day my sister asked me to cook something..."
And the pair kept talking for a straight hour, Button was glad he knew so much about her, he learned that Sweetie Belle likes kitties, she likes the color purple, she likes snow, sandwiches without mustard, strolls in the park, that she would love to see the beach and that she hates hunters with all of her might. Button was starting to lose his panic around her because he found out she had so much in common with him, and they could relate in some things as well; eventually the night arrived and the moon was starting to glow with more intensity.
"Hey, Sweetie, I think we spent a lot of time here." Said Button, looking up at the sky.
"Oh, no! My sister will destroy me if I'm late for dinner!" Replied Sweetie Belle, telling Button a lie, she was just anxious because Rarity had finally agreed to go out to get some Hay burgers, and she didn't want to be late.
"Wait! Before you go I have something to ask you!"
"What?"
"Well, I was wondering if... if tomorrow, if you don't have plans or something to do... maybe I was wondering if we could... umm..." Button was starting to lose it. "Maybe we could go to Sugarcube Corner and get some milkshakes, or ice cream or... or whatever works for you!"
"L-like a date?"
Button was in a dilemma, should he just say yes or should he just keep being her friend for some time? Button was about to say no, but the image of Sweetie Belle dating somepony else brought shivers to his spine.
'You know what? To heck with it!' "W-w-well, yes, but if you don't like to, we could just go as friends and..." Button was starting to ramble, but Sweetie Belle put her hoof on his mouth.
"I'd love to! You know what? Now that I think of it, you should join the crusaders too!" Replied Sweetie Belle.
"What? But it would be super weird if we're going to be dating!"
"Oh, no it wouldn't! Scootaloo convinced Rumble to join, I'm convincing you and Apple Bloom..."
"Apple Bloom? Does she have a special somepony? Who is it?" Asked Button.
"Believe me, it's better if you discover it for yourself." Said Sweetie Belle before turning back to her house.
"Wait, Sweetie Belle! Why did you say yes?" Asked Button, with curiosity.
"Because you're fun to be around with, also you are the first guy who has made time to ask me what I like! And last but not least, because I always thought you were cute..." Replied Sweetie Belle before giving him a little kiss on the cheek and running towards the boutique blushing.
"She... always thought... I... cute?" Stuttered Button before dropping to the ground.
Button thought about the events of today, he had just earned a kiss from the filly of his dreams, he had joined the Cutie Mark Crusaders and he had a date tomorrow, he thanked Spike in his mind, because what he said was actually true, maybe all he needed to do was know who he was talking with, and maybe if he was going to ask out Scootaloo he had to be cool, but Sweetie Belle wasn't like that, Sweetie Belle had the heart of a lady, and Spike was right...
Just ask her a question...