//------------------------------//
// 1 - Here We Go Again 
// Story: Sweet Button Mash 2: Electric Silveroo 
// by David Silver 
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Button Mash closed a small metallic flap before backing up with a phew. "Alright, how are you feeling?"

"Initiating diagnostics." Numbers and diagrams flashed in Sweetie Bot's eyes as she did that faithfully. "Systems operating at 98%. Acceptable." Music chimed from her in victory. "Repairs complete! Now that I am operating, can we initiate play?"

Sweetie Belle hopped down from her chair. "I'm with Sweetie Bot. Let's get out of here and enjoy the day!"

“You're doing really good at upkeeping Sweetie Bot!” Button smiled as he put away his tool kit.

“I know exactly what I am doing!” Sweetie Bot proclaimed.

“Yeah so… we’re gonna hang out with Rumble and Scoots today…” Button scuffed the floor with an errant hoof. “Have you ever hung out with Rumble? He’s a little… competitive….”

Sweetie Belle shrugged on the way out. "You're about the only colt I've actually hung out with for any appreciable amount of time. What do colts… do… together?"

Button gulped very subtly at Sweetie Belle's upfront admission that other colts remained mysterious territory still. Hoo boy...well, she was definitely in for an adventure with Rumble's fiery brand of competition! He rubbed his head anxiously. "Ah well, usually we play sports or games, a-and just mess around a bunch." 

His eyes trailed to Sweetie Bot who nodded cheerful confirmation. "Indeed! My archived fraternal interaction footage indicates common activities include: exaggerated boasting, ritualized insult exchanges paradoxically reinforcing social bonds, declaration of potential pairings' mothers as excess weight polity entities..." She blinked guilelessly as her friends stared. 

"I uh, presume such instances were meant humorously...?" Sweetie Bot tipped her head quizzically. "Jokes frequently bypass my humor heuristics. Though often Rumble DOES seem exasperated by my gaming capabilities disproportionate to frame chassis limitations." 

Button and Sweetie Belle exchanged loaded glances. Clearing his throat awkwardly Button patted the robot pony. "Yeah, just like, take any dumb stuff Rumble says with a grain of salt, 'kay? He likes trying to rile bots up but I won't let him actually getcha down!" 

Sweetie gave Sweetie Bot an encouraging smile. "Yeah, I wouldn't sweat it sis! Sounds like typical boy shenanigans from what Apple Bloom's told me." She shot Button a teasing smirk. "Reckon I should just thump ya both if yer mouths run too wild?" she tried in her best country accent.

Button gulped louder as they both laughed brightly. He took Sweetie's hoof supportively as they headed off to meet their thrillseeking pegasus pals. "We'll go easy on ya first couple hangs Sweetie haha! But, fair warning - things gonna get wild with Rumble and Scoots!"

The prospect of unbridled chaos with unknown parameters made Sweetie Bot's friendship sensors tingle eagerly!!! "Bring it on!!!" she proclaimed, spontaneous backfire jetting her forward ahead of the pair. Laughing himself, Button raced to catch up alongside his bold marefriend, ready to throw chaos back as good as his pals could dish out!

“Air time doesn’t count if you use your wings!” Scootaloo screamed as the trio approached. “The whole point is getting as high in the air as you can, with just your board and your hooves!”

“That’s stupid rule!” Rumble argued.

“No, it's a rule that makes everypony equal based on their skills! Their skills with the board!” Scootaloo countered.

Sweetie Bot inclined her head as she approached. "Unharmonious banter detected. They must be good friends."

Button laughed at that. "Wow… That was on point. Rumble, Scoots!" He waved at the two as they soared around their track. "We're here."

Scootaloo kickflipped up to slide to a halt in front of them. "Hey! Hope you've come ready to experience excitement like you've never experienced before!"

Rumble landed with his wings flapping, not kick flipping. "I doubt that." He pointed at Sweetie. "Not an action junkie." He pointed at Button. "Only when it's a videogame."

Both of the newcoming ponies nodded, called out, and not arguing it at all.

Sweetie Bot, on the other hoof, bounced forward. "Let the fun initiate! Loading skateboarding routines… Loaded. I am prepared."

Sweetie Belle peered at Button. "You gave her skating routines?"

Button laughed nervously at that. "Um… Well, she knows how to play a skateboarding game… Not sure how much that'll translate over."

“Hey!” Twist shouted as Sweetie Bot launched a skateboard through her smoothie.

“Achievement obtained: ‘Failure to Launch!’ I am good at board-sports!” Sweetie bot victoriously proclaimed.

Button hurried over to help mop at Twist with dubious effectiveness. "Sorry about that…"

Sweetie Bot's fender-mounted physical log data suddenly blared urgent alerts as contextual clues from the sputtering orange filly connected the dots on her skateboard trick attempt gone awry. "Emotional damage detected!" she exclaimed, swiveling her optical cameras onto poor beverage-soaked Twist in dismay. 

Zipping over contritely, the robot filly deployed various utility wipers and mini vacuum tubes, frantically dabbing at Twist's sodden coat and mane. "Please accept highest priority apologies new potential friend unit! My braking thrusters clearly require extensive calibration to pony public safety standards..." 

Twist finally managed to gently nudge the anxious automaton aside as she caught her breath from the shock. "I-it's okay." She paused to cough. "--Sweetie Bot! Accidents happen." She swiped sticky bangs from her face, regarding the nervous machine pony with more wonder than anger. "Yer gears n' gadgets jus' took me by surprise is all."

Sweetie Bot winced sympathetically as she stowed her cleaning appendages. "Still my trajectory calculations should have caught your proximity. I will run diagnostics on my hazard avoidance protocols posthaste!" She bit her lip pensively a moment. "Perhaps adjustable distance sensors and anti-collision alarm systems should integrate into chassis Mark 2..."

"Nah yer plenty keerful!" Twist reassured her skating peer, finally breaking into an amused grin. "Why, maybe with a bit more practice ya could enters some rad robo-xtreme sports competition even, if they have those…" Laughing brightly she waved off the gang's continued attempts at damage control. 

"But fer now, safety gear fer everypony nearby couldn't hurt! Jus' till ya gets used ta steerin' all wobbly-like." Retrieving her thoroughly mashed fruit smoothie she shot Sweetie Bot a playful wink. "This here organic processor can share some ol hoof n' wheel tricks another day though!" 

Sweetie Bot's tension evaporated as her friend group affirmed Twist's easy forgiveness. "You have all demonstrated such grace! I will happily integrate guidance from experienced mobility veterans." 

Her eyes lit up eagerly. "Perhaps we could collaborate on developing optimal safety parameters for athletic integration between pony and machine?" 

Twist and Scootaloo exchanged considering grins. "Right on, gearhead! We'll shape ya up in no time." Scootaloo jostled Sweetie Bot's shoulder affectionately. Rumble rolled his eyes but smirked all the same. Looked like Button's robot was settling right in after all! What silly misadventures would they all get up to next?

Button hummed. "Not to… get in the way, but how do you bring pony and machine together when it's a machine… and another machine?"

“Yeah… okay… Botsy… everypony is gonna make me be that pony… but ‘failure to launch’ is everypony’s first accomplishment. The first and only important rule is to stay on the board.” Rumble snickered at his noob robot friend.

"Seriously, how does that work?" Button looked to Sweetie Belle for support.

She patted him on the shoulder. "They like the word, so they're using it. I, too, weep for dictionaries everywhere."

Sweetie Bot launched herself down a hill, mounted on her board. In her favor, she lasted about 14 feet before a sharp turn sent her tumbling, the board bouncing away to come to a halt some distance from her. "Analyzing failure…"

As a deeply perplexed Button blinked at Sweetie Belle's sage nod, Sweetie Bot's diagnostic analysis trailed off in a muffled electronic groan from where she lay tangled helm over hooves in some berry bushes courtesy her ill-conceived second skating attempt. 

Scootaloo cackled loudly while Rumble smacked a wing to his face with another mirthful eyeroll. The daredevil pegasus fluttered over to help untangle her disheveled robotic student from the greenery. "Pffft okay 'failure' seems a strong word here Botsy! More like um...unexpected organic integration test?" 

She grinned down amusedly at Sweetie Bot's frazzled blinking up through the branches, covered in leaves and dirt. "Buuut yeah maybe tiny safety tweaks before extreme boarding trials. Really stick that landing gear next go!" Rumble snorted. "More like enable Crash Test Mode."

Ignoring his cheeky input, Scoots firmly hoisted a sheepish but undamaged Sweetie Bot upright. "C'mere ya big klutz, let's get ya cleaned off, eh?" The pair meandered towards a nearby pond as Scootaloo amiably coached her eager protege through post faceplant protocol.

Meanwhile Sweetie Belle shot Button a helpless shrug and smirk. "I'd just roll with it pal. Who can predict where that kooky bot's imagination goes anyway?" She cast a fond gaze after their odd friends, snickering as Sweetie Bot experimentally blew a jet of water from her mouth across the pond surface.

"But hey, least everypony's getting along!" Chuckling brightly, Sweetie plopped comfortably in the soft grass, patting the spot beside herself invitingly. "Now c'mon, may as well enjoy the nice weather while those goofs goof eh?" 

Button plonked down readily beside his charming Player Two, sighing in content agreement. "Yeah, you got that right!" Their offbeat posse never ceased surprising him.

Leaning back lazily against Sweetie Belle's soft flank as the sunlight danced through the trees above? He enjoyed the current moment just then, smiling at his company. "Try again, Sweetie Bot. Practice makes perfect."

"Additional practice required." Numbers flashed in her eyes. "Perfection, 4%. Prepare for next round." She grabbed her board and bounced up the hill, not at all dissuaded from her attempts.

“Huh, I guess skating game physics-models were less robust than I assumed…” Button mused as Sweetie giggled.

“She seems to be having fun.” Sweetie pointed out as Sweetie Bot rolled down the hill like a log while her board was propelled behind her once again.

“Twelth time is the charm!” The optimistic automaton declared with absolute confidence. She managed the first turn, and even the second. Her electronic cry warbling through the course as she approached a ramp. She didn't know how to deal with that, and soon she was separated from her board and soared through the air, if briefly.


 Sweetie Bot's undaunted enthusiasm made Scootaloo and Rumble burst into fresh hilarity while Button and Sweetie winced sympathetically at the resounding splat. "Botsy sure is... committed eh?" Sweetie managed through the wince. 

"More like committable to an asylum..." Rumble choked out before doubling over cackling again at the filthy, twig-strewn figure slowly staggering upright. Shaking the latest layer of foliage and dirt off her chassis, Sweetie Bot gave the halfpipes and ramps a determined glare then gazed baffled towards the pond where her board had finally come to rest. "Hmm..."

Processing the incongruous outcomes, she raised a querulous hoof. "Query - does forward momentum transfer poorly from PonyOS bipedal to quad wheeled equilibrium dynamics?? Scootaloo my archival data suggests-"

"Whoaa hold up, time out!" The stunt flyer zipped over waving all hooves before another jargon avalanche. "I gotcha robo-sis, no sweat!" She grinned reassuringly. " Balance stuff's just tricky translating game terms to IRL steering."

Scratching her chin thoughtfully she gestured to the winding course. "See it's all about flow and rhythm out here! Instead of memorizing ramp angles and junk." Her wings buzzed lifting briefly her from the dirt as she flowed gracefully over bumps and dips. 

"You gotta FEEL the curves! Work with 'em, not math out perfect lines." Scoots laughed breezily riding an invisible wave. "It's instinct, y'know?" Descending again she threw a friendly hoof over Sweetie Bot's shoulder.

The bot watched enthralled, slowly nodding along. "I understand...optimizing performance requires dynamically interpreted sensor feeds!" She brightened, tapping her chassis. "I must tune interpretation heuristics from fixed models to embrace intrinsic pony athleticism!" 

Scootaloo blinked. "...Yeah okay, sure! What you said." Sweetie Bot giggled, looking ready to resume her efforts.

Retrieving her board she shot Scoots a sly wink. "Recalibrating approach vector!" Hitting record on sensory integration, she hopped aboard once more to try riding the rhythm of the road.

Button watched her ascend the hill to try again. And start down. "I never really programmed her to stop trying something unless somepony tells her to stop, so…"