“Are you sure they’re gonna show up? It has had to be at least an hour now.”
Scootaloo and company were currently sitting in the dining area of Sugarcube Corner. In the middle of their table sat a plate of delicious chocolate chip cookies. Also, steaming mugs of hot cocoa were nestled in the hooves of all three present.
“It’s only been like twenty minutes. And yes, Ah'm sure they will show up,” Apple Bloom responded. “Ah said that after the whole snowball fight gig, we would all come here to get some hot cocoa.”
“Are you sure they even remembered? They seemed kinda busy running away from and chasing each other.”
“Yes Ah'm certain of it.” Apple Bloom retorted, taking a sip of her hot cocoa.
“I have to agree with Scootaloo here, how can you be certain that they’ll show up?” Rumble questioned.
“Well ah guess ah can’t be completely certain, but ah still believe that they’ll show.”
“Whatever you say...” Rumble said, taking another sip of his steaming hot drink.
“What do you think happened to them after they ran off?” Scootaloo asked, still sipping at her beverage.
“Ah have no clue.” Apple Bloom answered truthfully.
***
Sweetie Belle was running like her life depended on it. And with how Button was charging at her while war shouting there was a chance it did.
Her little hooves pounded in the snow as she threw herself forward with every drop of a hoof. She will not allow herself to get caught!
Sweetie was fast on her feather-light hooves and was quickly sprinting across the frozen ‘battlefield.’ All around her, ponies of many different races and colors fought one another in the snow, All of their coats creating a rainbow of color against the snow-white backdrop. Snowballs littered the air, being thrown with vigor at the enemy. More often than not there was friendly fire as the ones who threw the snowballs had trouble distinguishing friend from foe.
Even though Sweetie was fast, Button was just a little bit faster, with him being an earth pony and all; he was slowly gaining ground on her. Sweetie was starting to get tired from all of the rigorous track-and-field she was doing - her body wasn’t built for this! Sweetie knew that if she kept on running, then she would be caught. But if she turned around and fought him there was a chance that she could beat him and get away!
With this new thought in mind, Sweetie lit up her horn quickly - forming many snowballs from the snow around her as she ran. Her inexperience in magic was shown in the sloppiness of snowballs around her, but of course, running while trying to do this didn’t help much either. They were more oval in design with many rough edges instead of the perfect spheres she wished to create. But, they were not meant to look nice. They were intended to give a certain somepony a nasty surprise.
She quickly turned around to face Button head on and threw her volley at him one snowball at a time. “Take that! And that!” Sweetie squeak shouted at Button with every smack of a snowball.
The many snowballs that were impacting Button caused him to lose his balance, but not his momentum. With a shout from Button and a hefty oof from Sweetie, Button rammed into her at full speed.
THUD!
...
They landed in a pile of snow, fur, and bruised egos.
...
Button quickly jumped off of Sweetie, concerned for his friend's safety. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! Are you ok?” Button asked Sweetie in a worried tone.
The only response he received from her was a groan.
“Do you need me to take you to the hospital? Or Princess Twilight? Or maybe we could take you to Applejack? She’s pretty good at fixing up her animals on the farm,” He rambled in his fear.
“Come closer,” Sweetie mumbled under her breath. It was not loud enough for Button to hear what she said, but loud enough that Button heard that she at least said something.
“What was that? I couldn't hear you.” Button asked.
“Come closer,” Sweetie said just a bit louder this time, enough so that Button actually heard what she said.
“Come closer?” Button echoed, “Alright.” He leaned down next to Sweetie putting his ear next to her mouth.
“Now what was it that you wanted to say?” Button inquired.
“Behind you,” She whispered to Button.
“Huh?” Button lifted his head and turned around to see what Sweetie was talking about. “What's behind me? I don’t see anyth-” ...Button suddenly got his legs knocked out from underneath him, causing him to fall to the ground while knocking the air out of his lungs. He rolled over onto his back, trying to get air back into his body. He panted breathlessly.
Sweetie Belle then jumped up onto Button, sitting on his stomach. In her two front hooves, she held a gigantic snowball above her head; it was ready to be slammed down onto Button.
“For the sun god!” She squeakily yelled at the top of her lungs. The sun - which sat behind her on the horizon - illuminated her figure, making her look like she was glowing.
Sweetie Belle started the snowball's descent down onto Button's poor face. Buttons life flashed before his eyes for a second time this day because of one of Sweetie’s overpowered attacks. But this time there was nopony to save him from this gruesome fate of being pummeled by a super snowball. It impacted his face with a hefty 'fumph.' His face was now completely hidden from sight, resting underneath the pile of snow.
Sweetie slid off of Button and laid down next to him on her back, her hooves spread in all directions. She was exhausted from all the running. Button slowly lifted up his hoof to brush all of the snow from his face, before dropping it back down in the snow.
They laid there for a while, watching the clouds go by while relishing in each other's company. They were panting heavily, exhausted from all of the excitement. After around five minutes of just laying there, they heard a rhythmic tapping of hooves approach them.
“If you guys are that exhausted, I know a place where you guys can go rest. It would be a lot better than laying in the snow.” Both Button and Sweetie lifted their heads to see who had spoken. The voice revealed himself to be no other than Tender Taps. They both got up to stand before him.
“Oh, hey Tender!” Button called to his friend.
“Hey, yourself!” Tender said back to him, beaming.
“Where are you off heading to?” Sweetie asked.
“I was just heading on over to Sugar Cube corner. Apple Bloom said we should meet up there for a bite to eat.”
“Apple Bloom didn’t tell us that, wait...did she? I must have forgotten…” Sweetie said putting her hood to her chin in thought. After a couple seconds of trance, her eyes shot wide open in realization. “Oh my gosh- she DID! Come on Button -we gotta get a move on!"
She turned left and bolted, trying to get to Sugar Cube Corner as fast as possible.
Both of the colts stared at her rapidly depleting form as she ran away from them, trying to get to Sugar Cube Corner as fast as possible.
She was already late! She couldn’t waste a single second!
“Wrong way Sweetie!” Tender yelled out to her.
***
Tender Taps tapped his way into Sugar Cube Corner, followed by Sweetie Belle and then Button Mash. They quickly spotted their friends sitting in one of the many booths that comprised most of the floor; enjoying their drinks.
“Heya guys!” Apple Bloom called to them, waving her hoof.
“Hey, Bloom! And hello to everypony else too!” Tender replied. The two acquaintances of the apple filly responded to his statement with a "hello" of their own.
“What took you so long to get here Tender?”
“Well, I had to stay behind at dance practice for a show that is coming up. My teacher wanted me to practice a couple dances a little bit more before I left,” Tender Taps responded. “I was on my way here, when I saw these two, lying in snow completely exhausted.”
Tender gestured to the two other ponies next to him.
“I would have been here on time if Button here hadn’t chased me half-way across ponyville!” Sweetie Belle cried, jabbing a hoof at Button Mash.
“I wouldn’t have chased you if you hadn’t buried Rumble in a mountain of snow!” Button countered, glaring at Sweetie.
“Oh please, you’re exaggerating, it wasn’t even that much!”
“We could only see his hoof! And he wasn’t able to get out on his own!” Button shouted back at her.
“He could have gotten himself out of there! Couldn’t you Rumble?”
“No actually, I wasn’t able to move,” Rumble said blatantly, making Sweetie pause.
“Oh, well - er... sorry about that.”
Sweetie Belle apologized, embarrassed, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof, grinning awkwardly.
“It’s fine, now why don’t you guys come sit down? There's no reason to stand by the door.” Rumble responded.
The filly and two colts made their way over to the table, taking a seat with their friends. Pinkie Pie quickly hopped over to take their orders; which just ended up being more hot chocolate of course.
The next two hours were spent filled with hot chocolate, stories about their day, and the occasional sweet. But sadly every good thing has to come to an end. Apple Bloom left saying she had to get to bed; she wanted to get an early start on her chores so she could have some free time. Tender Taps left soon after, also stating that he wanted to get an early start on some chores and dance routines. Rumble and Scootaloo also had to return home to rest after such a hectic day.
The bakery was now devoid of all other ponies - only Button and Sweetie remained at the front of the store.
Sweetie Belle sighed in content and stood up from her chair.
“Well, I guess it’s time for me to start heading home, it’s starting to get pretty late.” She walked over to the door.
Button Mash looked out the window that sat next to their table, seeing Celestia's sun slowly descending below the horizon, giving off the last few rays of light that reflected off of the crystalline snow...turning the world into a plethora of color. “Yeah I guess I should go home too, it is pretty late,” Button responded. He stood up, moving towards the door with Sweetie Belle.
Button reached the door and turned to face Sweetie Belle. Lime green eyes met hazel ones.
“Well then, um, have a good night.” Button replied, “Uh yeah, you too.”
But neither of the two moved from their spots, they were still as statues. Suddenly Sweetie Belle rushed forward and gave Button Mash a peck on the cheek. She bolted out the door - moving even faster than when Button was chasing her, giggling all the way.
Button's heart was pumping, and his eyes were as wide as saucers. Slowly, he raised his hoof to pet the cheek that Sweetie kissed; a smile forming on his lips. Button set his hoof down and walked out the door. He made his way home, with a noticeable spring in his step, even after such an epic day of war.