//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Button's Belle 
// by sniggles 
//------------------------------//

"Oh! Oh! Oh! Me! I know!" yelped an excited dark brown coated colt by the name of Button Mash, the helicopter cap atop his light brown spiky mane twirling as he jumped up and down at his seat. He was in the desk at the back, at the right corner of the classroom where there were 9 desks arranged in a square. Ms. Cheerilee looked up at Button's hoof, thrusted up into the air, and chuckled as she pointed her own hoof at another direction altogether.

"Sweetie Belle! I think you know the answer," Ms. Cheerilee said, her eyes beaming at a white coated filly with a purple mane and pink highlights, and she had her own hoof politely raised. She sat on the desk next to Button's, at the back of the classroom. She smirked at the seething colt, who'd been denied by Cheerilee for the entire day whenever he tried to answer a question in class. The rest of the class was either eyeing the equation (x^2+2x+1 = 0) written on the chalkboard or scribbling working down on paper, pencils in mouth, and Sweetie Belle and Button Mash were the only ones who raised their hooves. After all, this was the first time Cheerilee was teaching quadratic equations to the class.

"The equation has only one root, which is x= -1," said Sweetie Belle with confidence. Cheerilee gave Sweetie Belle an approving nod and smile as she picked up a piece of chalk, writing "x = -1" on the board and giving it a big fat tick. Sweetie Belle crossed her forelegs and gave Button a triumphant grin, to which Button gave a murderous glare. 

"Why do you always ignore me?" shouted Button at Ms. Cheerilee, crossing his forelegs too but in indignation. Sweetie Belle laughed merrily and brushed a clump of loose hair back into her mane, shaking her head.

"Number one, it was waaay too obvious you copied my answer," whispered Sweetie Belle, "Number two, she'd never pick you, by how 'enthusiastic' you are all the time, ever since you joined last week. I mean, she's gotta give others a chance, right?"

It was true: Button was a new student in the schoolhouse, and ever since he joined, he'd been asserting himself at every chance he got. In no time at all, he was bragging to every colt he saw about his collection of games, from Modern Warmare to Metroll: First Light, and the many different types of consoles he had, claiming that he had a 100 inch plasma television accompanied by a Wii, Xbox and Playstation. When asked about what kinds of consoles he had, he said he had them all, Xbox 360, all the Playstations, and even the abysmal Xbox One. Everypony knew that Button loved spouting nonsense but they liked him for his self-delusion, which was humorous most of the time. Most of the time.

"Button, you should let other ponies try to answer in class," answered Ms. Cheerilee in a concerned tone, as if she could overhear Sweetie Belle's whispers and was agreeing with the filly. Then with a smile, she added,"And you'd better stop talking to Sweetie Belle in class."

At this, everypony in class made 'oooohh' sounds at the implications that Cheerilee was making. Giggles resounded through the classroom as Button Mash and Sweetie Belle got their first experience of getting shipped; Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were exchanging sly smiles, the potential for scandal very large. Sweetie Belle looked down to the floor, cheeks flushed crimson while Button rolled his eyes, smirking as he did so.

"You've got it the other way 'round, Ms. Cheerilee. See, Sweetie Belle is being an annoying distraction while I am struggling to be attentive," said Button, a satisfied grin on his face, which earned a punch in the ribs from Sweetie Belle, who was positively embarrassed. Little did anypony know, Button's cheeks were tinged a slight pink at that moment. 

"Ha, whatever you say, Mr. Mash," said Cheerilee, and she proceeded to get back to the lesson. "Who can explain the procedures on how to get this root?" 

Immediately, Button's hoof shot up, and his helicopter hat twirled in excitement.

"Ah! Twist! You seem very enthusiastic," Cheerilee said, eliciting a Humgonian curse from Button. Sweetie Belle's mood changed to a happy one, as she tried stifling her giggles as Button kicked the leg of his desk's table in anger. It's going to be a long last period, thought Button as he stared at the newly installed digital clock above the chalkboard with longing. It was Friday, and after school was over, he could hide in his blissful world of games and Xbox Live buddies through the night. Now, the clock read 2:45, an uncomfortable, Sweetie Belle-filled 15 minutes away from Button's desired 3:00.


~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~


As soon as the bell rung, Button grabbed his brown saddlebag rushed out of the classroom, relieved to be free of the irritant known as Sweetie Belle, rushing across the hall, past several doors, to his best friend Rumble's classroom. They were going to discuss several important matters, e.g. how they were going to spend the next few weeks leading up to ComicConEquestria or whether Rumble was free to slay communist ponies all night on Call of Duty: Black Clops. However, when Rumble's class was dismissed, he received a less than charming response.

"Sorry Button, I have some stuff to do. Er.... Training and chores for Thunderlane, and at night we're gonna watch the Wonderbolts! It was a limited chance thing, like, he got two tickets from Rainbow Dash herself!" said Rumble excitedly, his electrified black mane seeming spikier than usual. Button facehoofed himself, groaning at the grey coated colt.

"But Friday's our Games Night, dude! Now who's gonna be at my side when I destroy the oppresive fascist regime of Peklodeskano in Humgonia for the sake of all of Jeklekarniankind??" Button said, earning a confused look from Rumble. Button threw a hoof to his face yet again and continued,"The new game, the third installment in the Humgonia series? Ring any bells?"

Rumble shook his head, wearing a confused on his filly-like face.

"Urghh! Fine. I'll find somepony else to play with then!" said Button, cursing his day so far. Rumble raised an eyebrow in confusion as he watched Button stomp off, steam billowing from his ears and nose (Metaphorically, of course).

"What just happened?"


~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~


Button did not have any better luck with anypony else; Snips and Snails wanted to sneak into the cinema to watch an R-rated film, Featherweight had to work overnight for paperwork regarding the Foal-Free Press on an article about the large influx of griffons into Canterlot in the past few months, while Truffle had to help his parents out at their restaurant for the Friday night crowd. Only two words could aptly describe Button's feelings in general, and that was 'pissed off'. It seemed that he had to spend his first Games Night in PonyVille alone, and it was never fun when he spent an entire Friday evening doing anything on his own. His natural clock forced him to stay up till later hours on Friday night, recognizing it as a night that shouldn't be wasted on anything other than fun. Button faced the direction that pointed towards home, whipping out his JoyBoy to drown himself in Super Mare-Re-O to give himself something positive for this dreary day.

Just as he was starting his walk back home, he felt two strong hooves hook around his fore legs, tugging him back towards the schoolhouse. 

"Unhoof me you peasants!" cried Button, his hindlegs digging into the soil and his forelegs flailing about to free himself. When his forelegs were finally unhooked, he found his rump getting pushed as he fell forwards; his eyes opened wide when he saw that he was falling onto a consternated Sweetie Belle. Button shifted his weight instantly, and his face landed in the mud beside Sweetie Belle. Crud... It's Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, thought Button, as he recalled the two bullies. Instead, as he looked up, he saw two vaguely familiar fillies, a pegasus with an untidy purple mane and orange coat and an Earth pony with a yellow coat and red mane with rounded tips. Both fillies had disappointed looks on their faces, or so they looked like through Button's eyes, which mud kept getting introduced into as the brown stuff slid slowly down his face. Button shook the mud off his face vigorously and stared at them in confusion. 

"Hey, uh, name's Scootaloo!" said the orange coated pegasus, stretching out a hoof for a shake, "and she's Applebloom. You obviously know who this pretty filly is..."

Scootaloo and Applebloom's eyes were directed to Sweetie Belle, and the latter's mouth was contorted into a frown and tried to hide her face. He finally recognized the two as Sweetie Belle's friends, who formed the coalition the Cutie Mark Crusaders; he had personally been approached by the three on his first day at the schoolhouse but promptly declined his inclusion, blaming it on (what he deemed as) perfectly sound and logical reasons e.g. getting cooties or getting his precious hooves bruised in their adventures. Button looked at the orange coated hoof in front of him then shifted his head to the side, scoffing a "harumph!" at Scootaloo.

"You ponies push me into the mud and try for my friendship? Outrageous! I demand an explanation!" said Button in the most angered-sounding voice he could muster. It wasn't that he was a stuck-up colt, it was just that he acted that way around fillies; they weren't exactly gamers and he treated them in a different light. He looked at Scootaloo and Applebloom's playful yet sly smiles and Sweetie Belle's gradually reddening face, and didn't like where this was going. 

"Oh, just that a lil' birdie told us that you and Sweets are.... a couple," said Applebloom, her already large smile growing wider. When Button heard that last word, his cheeks nearly instantaneously flushed red, and he hoped that it passed off as anger. It didn't.

"Aww.... He's blushing! And so is she!" Scootaloo whistled, and together with Applebloom, they hopped a circle around Sweetie Belle and Button, chanting, "He's your special somepony, She's your special somepony!" 

Whoever spread this rumor's gonna pay, thought Button, with the despicable Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara coming to mind. As Button was about to open his mouth to retort, Sweetie Belle spoke up, her face flushed and a frown adorning her countenance, the tension in the air growing as her anger elevated.

"He's nothing like that! He's a downright jerk," said Sweetie Belle, bending her front knees down preparing to charge at Button. Button anticipated this and did the same, and with full force they made impact, heads in contact, fire in both sets of eyes, teeth bared.

"Aww! They're leaning in for a kiss!" said Scootaloo, leaning on Applebloom's side as they fought for dominance. At this, the pair stopped, and rested on their haunches, with Sweetie Belle's head turned away from Button, while Button looked at the other two, trying his best to look annoyed. Sweetie Belle's been nothing but trouble for me today. I ought to teach her a lesson, he thought. Then, an idea hit him.

"Hey, Sweetie Belle, why don't you join me for Games Night? Then I can whoop your flank and both of us will know who the superior pony is," said Button Mash with arrogance.

"What will that solve?" said Sweetie Belle, confused by his request.

"You'll learn to be silent and obedient in my greater presence!" said Button Mash, though his real intention was to get a pony to play with him on Games Night. The fact that Sweetie Belle was an utter novice (or so he assumed) at gaming was just a cherry on top. 

"No thanks, Button. I've got some crusad--"

"NO!" cried Applebloom. Then she cleared her throat after an awkward moment of silence, and continued, "Ah mean, we've got our own stuff ta' do. Ah gotta help Granny Smith make some Zapapple Jam while Scoots here--"

"Has got training with Rainbow Dash! It's uh... night flying! So don't you two worry about us, you guys will be nice and alone together," Scootaloo said, finishing off with an oxymoron. Sweetie Belle looked at Applebloom in confusion.

"The other week you said Zapapple season wasn't for another month or somethi--"

"You two lovers run along now! Scoots and ah got a long evenin' ahead of us!" said Applebloom, and she and Scootaloo held wide grins.

"We're not lovers!" said Button and Sweetie Belle in unison. Button was truly impatient for getting back home and didn't bother putting up his arrogant facade. The response proved detrimental for the two, however.

"They're saying stuff together! How cute!"


~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~


The first few minutes of the walk to Button's home passed in silence, Button in front, Sweetie Belle trailing behind, neither looking at each other. Strange, thought Sweetie Belle, he was so talkative in front of the other Crusaders and in class. Maybe he's a different pony when there's no attention to seek. The question that cut the still, evening atmosphere came from an unexpected party.

"Hey Button, how long has your family been in PonyVille?" Sweetie Belle asked, her head tilting to the side, wanting to catch Button's gaze. His own head turned, and the expression it held was emotionless. 

"A few weeks. Like two. First one was spent moving and stuff. Took quite a long time to get the consoles up and online. Those days were cruel," said Button, "And cause my bro's only back during like, the night. He's got a huge job, or so he tells me. He never thinks I'm big enough for the real world. Even though I completely wipe his flank in every game there is!"

Button finished off that last sentence with quite a bit of venom, an emotion Sweetie Belle never really noticed and predicted in Button. He was carefree enough, and was irritating at times, but she never anticipated a Button who hated.

"What about you? Been in the town your whole life?" said Button.

"Uh... No, not that long. Just visiting my sister. And by the looks of it, I think I may have overstayed, heh," laughed Sweetie Belle, "overstayed by like, two years. Well, my parents never really called or came back, but I've got no problem with that. My sis is really awesome. Most of the time..."

"Oh! Look! We're here! Come on slowpoke!" said Button, galloping what felt like 50 feet to a house in the distance. It was isolated quite a distance away from PonyVille, but it was within a stone's throw of Sweet Apple Acres in the east. The environment around it was of the countryside, with abandoned plots of farmland and cows and sheep grazing around, wherever they pleased. A little taken aback by Button's newfound enthusiasm, Sweetie Belle galloped after him, not knowing what awaited her in the house. Button reached the house way earlier than her, but as she galloped closer, she didn't hurry up, admiring the house's appearance.

As she got closer, she realized that the house was much larger than it looked from a distance; it was rather tall and fat, with a door located at the bottom right corner of its face, which was a triangle atop a square. There were only two windows on the front, one beside the door and the other at the attic level, the latter in the shape of a triangle. There was a fence lining the perimeter of the house, and within it was a large garden, where an amalgam of multi-colored flowers lay against the fence's sides, and two rows lined the walkway to the house. The person who kept the garden was obviously a very diligent and hardworking pony. Then, she heard voices inside of the house.

"Button! You should have told me earlier that you were bringing a friend! I would have prepared much more food!"

"But Mom. it's Games Night! You know that I always bring a friend over!"

"Well, I'll have to see how his appetite is. You know some ponies can't even eat a single leaf of vegetables to save their lives."

Sweetie Belle creaked the door open slowly and saw a very attractive mare talking to Button Mash; she had a mane that seemed wet, and strands streaked down her sides like grand waterfalls from a heavenly mountain. She tied up the ends of her mane and her tail with red manebands. Her mane was light brown, while her coat was beige, and on her shapely flank was a cutie mark of a milk bottle beside a heart. Not a single paragraph, story or novel could even do justice to describe her beauty.

"Mom, he's not a he... he's a... she," Button said slowly, pointing at the door. Immediately, Button's mom turned her head to the white coated filly. Her initial frown at Button turned into a smile.

"Well, well, well Button... Who's your fillyfriend over here?"

"NOT YOU TOO MOM!!" yelled a very irritated Button who facehoofed himself, while Sweetie Belle nervously shuffled her legs and shifted her eyes down to them. Button's mom chuckled and trotted over to Sweetie Belle, using a hoof to bring the young filly's face up to meet hers. 

"I'm just kidding, Button. Say, you look very familiar, my little pony. Do you happen to be related to...er..." said Button's mom, seemingly lost in thought.

"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle squealed in excitement, changing demeanor at the possibility of somepony else knowing who her fashionista sister was. "She's the most awesome pony in PonyVille! Though she's a little dramatic at times. But I'm cool with it!"

"Really! Please, do come inside, we shall talk more," said Button's mom, trotting over to the spacious living room that was right next to the entrance of the home. It had a large velvet couch and several bean bags, along with a plasma screen television attached to a wall. Button was nowhere to be seen; he trotted into a corridor to the right of the living room and the sound of hooves going up steps could be heard. Button's mom led Sweetie Belle to the couch in the middle of the living room, and the white filly laid her white saddlebag beside Button's brown one.

"Ah, yes. I remember when I was here with my husband for the first time. We eloped you know," said Button's mom, with a wink. Sweetie Belle shuddered. "We looked to your sister Rarity for the dresses and suits. Ah, good times. We were young and foolish. He was into sports while I was into taking care of children! Hence the cutie mark here. I worked in the PonyVille hospital as a nurse to assist doctors who were in charge of encouraging pregnant mares to give birth. Oh, why that look? You'll know about the topic in the future, sweetie. So, on that faithful day, he was being warded for sustaining some sort of injury, it was his knee I think. Anyway, he caught a glimpse of me as he was being carted away. You see, that wasn't his first time seeing me. When we were in high school, we used to hang out a lot. Tell stories, have parties, make love..."

It seemed that Button's mom had forgotten that Sweetie Belle was there. All the same, Sweetie Belle still didn't know what that term meant. Sweetie Belle was listening attentively until she saw a half full bottle of vodka on the coffee table in front of the couch, and noticed that her breath smelled funny.

"So, yes, back to the hospital. In the middle of the night, he searched for me in all of the wards of the hospital, a bandage still over his knee. He quickly found my office; it was by chance that I was working the night shift there too. Anyway, he was quite the charmer; he told me some things, I got excited, one thing led to another and the night became rather.... hot," said Button's mom, her tone becoming groggier by the minute. She continued to ramble as Sweetie Belle got up from the couch and explored the house, politely excusing herself from the very drunk mare.

The interior seemed a lot smaller than it should have been from her judgement of the exterior, but it was still quite a sight to behold. The living room's ceiling reached up to the roof of the house, the top looking like a pyramid. There were bookshelves on the wall, boasting large and numerous volumes. Then, a voice called from the far off corridor. 

"Hey Sweetie Belle! Come here! Quick!" 

Button's high pitched, rough-on-the-ears voice came from upstairs, and Sweetie Belle rushed through the corridor to find its source, passing many Mash family photos. Along the way, she passed the kitchen door, and the smell of mashed potatoes and fried onions wafted into her nose, which caused a little earthquake to resound through her empty belly. She found a flight of stairs along the right wall of the corridor and climbed them, following Button's voice.

"Where are you? I've been calling for you for easily ten hours!" 

Pfft. Ten hours? What a jerk, thought Sweetie Belle, as she was met with a corner at the top of the stairs. There were three rooms, a door on each wall of that corner. By peeking into them, she deduced that the empty room on the right was the toilet, the one on the left belonged to someone unknown, while the one facing the staircase was Button's. She pushed through it and saw a comparably humble room compared to what Button said in his daily bragging. A desk with lots of action figures, many of which were robotic figurines, some train toys, and two computer sets, both of which were turned on. The room had a bed large enough for two ponies, and a television screen that was about a miniscule fraction of the grand one in the living room. Below it was an Xbox console, wide side on the floor, with two controllers resting on top of it. On one wall was a large wardrobe.

Sweetie Belle cracked a playful smile and asked him, "So? What happened to the Wii and the entire collection of Playstations?" 

Button blushed furiously and replied,"None of your business! They're on their way here! Renovation hasn't even finished, don't you remember me telling you that?"

Before she could reply, Button grabbed her and forced her into a chair, facing a personal computer.

"It's my brother's com set. Took it from his room, it's the one to the right," said Button, "and I was wondering what game to introduce a noob like you to, and I thought of MineCraft. We have an hour left till dinner, so we might as well try something simple, like building a house." 

"Uh.. What's a noob?"

"Oh my Celestia... You truly are one. I'll explain it to you on the way."

The next hour was quite the experience, though Sweetie Belle couldn't call it wholly unpleasant. Logging into Button's brother's account, she was introduced into the world of MineCraft, which, Button explained, could be experienced in both Creative and Survival modes. Button found Creative mode exceedingly lame but let Sweetie Belle give it a shot anyway, seeing that she was a newbie. 

"Hey! I can see your person.. thingy!" said Sweetie Belle as she waved a pickaxe furiously in the air, as her cube-y character looked around the virtual mountain landscape. 

"It's an avatar. Get used to it too. Now let's get building!" said Button, now in his element of gaming as he proceeded to gather all of the necessary materials to get a house up. His partner, however, had trouble moving around while keeping the view stable. Button rolled his eyes and left his chair, snapping Sweetie Belle's hoof off of the mouse and going to the back of her chair, leaning over her as he took control, attempting to teach. Then, he couldn't help but take a deep breath of something sweet and exotic smelling, like... like....

"Lavender and roses," Button said aloud, his hooves playing the game by instinct while his mind was somewhere else. His muzzle was very close to Sweetie Belle's mane, which seemed to be the source of his olfactory pleasure.

"What did you say? Hey that's the scent of the shampoo Rarity gave me! How'd you kno--" Sweetie Belle was interrupted by Button's deep sniff as he buried his muzzle deep into her mane, a clear violation of personal space. Sweetie Belle jerked forward in her seat, but Button just followed.

"Will you ever grow up?"

"No! I mean, uh... It's just really good, alright? I need to take another sniff!" Button said, his sensitive nostrils savoring the shampoo's wondrous effects on her mane. He loved the feeling of his muzzle searching through her soft, bouncy hair.

For her part, Sweetie Belle just rolled her eyes and continued moving her avatar around. 

"So, where do I start?"

"You... just.... *sniff* get the *sniff* pick axe and stuff and mine over *sniff* there," Button said, though his hoof on the mouse did most of the work, guiding the avatar around the world. 

"Good. Now that you've taken enough of stone, you create a wall first... just *sniff* keep clicking this here until, like, 10 blocks make a row," continued Button, his hoof losing control as Sweetie Belle tried making the wall on her own. The filly was rather clumsy with the mouse and the controls on the huge keyboard seemed foreign, but Button seemed a lot more patient than she expected. The feeling of his muzzle on her scalp wasn't disturbing; instead, it felt quite good to have some pony scratch her head, though she really didn't understand why he needed to do it for such a long time. Oh well, Button Mash being Button Mash. 

Though the instructions were coming by rather slowly, Sweetie Belle did them obediently, but only managed to finish filling the very base of the house and a single stairwell. Button gave a drunken chortle at her little mistakes, such as accidentally setting off a block of TNT, causing her to restart on what she had, which thankfully wasn't a lot. The Mash family sure has weird... pleasures, thought Sweetie Belle, recalling Button's mom. Button spent the entire hour off of his computer, which slipped into standby mode; inside, he was sincerely thankful that nopony was around to see the both of them. Sweetie Belle was also getting the hang of the game, managing to build the stairwell through trial and error, and was quite disappointed that she had to stop when a voice came from downstairs.

"Button! get your fillyfriend down for dinner!"

"SHE'S NOT MY-- urghhhhh!!" Button yelled, finally lifting his face off Sweetie Belle. 

"You're gonna have to get used to the comments, Button," said Sweetie Belle, chuckling nervously, "after all, it's all in good fun, I guess."

Button merely grumbled as he stomped down the stairs, earning a disappointed shake of Sweetie Belle's head.


~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~


On the wooden dining table were two bowls of veggie salad with copious amounts of dressing on top, a large generous container of mashed potatoes and a gravy boat. It looked like a lot to Sweetie Belle, but Button begged to differ.

"Mom!! This is too little!" said Button grumpily, crossing his hooves as he stared at the food. 

"Oh, come on, Button, there's quite enough in my opinion. You should be less picky and whiny," said the colt's mother, with a motherly smile. Sweetie Belle immediately thought of her sister Rarity. "I'm not eating anyway, so you and your fillyfriend can enjoy dinner together!"

"Mo--" Button started, but Sweetie Belle stuffed her hoof into his mouth. Button rolled his eyes, and took a deep breath. Then, he practically shoved his face into the mashed potatoes, obviously quite hungry. In the process, he forced several globs of the yellow stuff into Sweetie Belle's face; the potatoes melted off her face as it heated up in anger. Using her hooves, she lifted the bowl of mashed potatoes and upturned it, while Button still had his muzzle in the stuff; this forced all of the mashed potatoes onto his face. Button's facial features were obscured, and looked like the head of a yellow snowpony with two brown ears poking out. He gasped in shock, and shifted his eyes quickly to the bowl of salad on the table, thinking of revenge, but before he could so much as stretch a hoof, he felt a stream of hot liquid flow down the sides of his face, causing him to yelp as his skin was mildly scalded. He heard merry laughter and looked up, his face contorting in consternation: his mother had poured gravy on his mash potatoed face, and both she and Sweetie Belle were beside themselves with laughter, playful looks on their faces.

"Food Fight!!" yelled Button's crazy mom, as the remaining bowls of salad were lifted and tossed onto Button's face. Button let out a hostile warcry, and wiped off as much potatoes and salad from his face, tossing them at the females, then hiding behind the other side of the dining table. Button sifted through the nearby kitchen cupboard in search of ammunition, finding bags of chips and lots of canned food, along with some chocolates. The chips would do, said Button, forcing open a bag of barbeque chips and forcing a handful in his mouth, then chewed vigorously, spitting out the paste to form a disgusting glob of barbeque flavored ammunition. He stood up from his fort, but before he could even lift a hoof, a mixture of orange juice, milk and eggs assaulted his face; the other team had the refrigerator. He threw his chip paste at them nonetheless, landing on his mom's face.

"IT. IS. ON!!!" Button's mom said, and she and Sweetie Belle redoubled their efforts to find throwable foodstuffs in the fridge. Just then, Pinkie Pie, smelling fun (and a food fight) galloped from the front door to Button's side. Button beamed as she grinned mischievously, lifting a full helping of Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness (MMMM) with her hoof.

"Now it's even!" said Pinkie, bro-hoofing Button, "Time to cream these noobs!"


~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~


At the end, the four ponies were holding up white flags and lying on their backs on the floor as the entire kitchen smelled like eggs and MMMM. Pinkie got up first, using her voluminous hair as a mop, clearing up all of the food and rubbish by propelling herself across the floor with her hind-legs. The other three looked in confusion as the food entered her hair like it was a vacuum cleaner. When Pinkie was done, she stood up on all fours, a smile on her face.

"Thanks for the party! You three really know how to throw a good food fight!" said Pinkie, bolting out the front door after saying so, disappearing as abruptly as she appeared. A huge silence followed, which was broken by Button's mom.

"Alright, you two go upstairs and take a bubble bath. Gotta clean off that icky food from your manes, right?" said the attractive mare, as she collected the empty bowls and delivered them to the sink.

"Nice! Dibs on your bathtub Mom!" cried Button, knowing that the household only had two bathtubs, one in the master bedroom and another one in the toilet that Button and his brother shared. The one in the master bedroom was significantly larger.

"No!" cried Button's mom, a bit louder than she might have intended. She then softened her face, breaking out into a smile, saying,"You and Sweetie Belle should uh.... take turns. Yeah. In the same bathtub. Not together, of course. Just one by o-- OH WHAT THE HECK!!"

Button's mom had the eyes of a deranged MLP shipper as she hooked the little ponies' legs and carried both of them up the stairs towards the bathroom. Button caught Sweetie Belle's eye and both of them had the same look of worry on their faces on what was to come. Button's mom crashed through the bathroom door and ran warm water into the tub, also putting copious amounts of bubble solution into the water from a cabinet above a sink beside the bathtub. The two ponies looked at the mare in trepidation, as they slowly realized her plan. Lifting both of the ponies up with surprisingly formidable strength, she dumped both of them in the tub against their will. Button immediately left the tub out of reflex, as if it was a bed of hot coals.

"What are you doing, Mom? I can't bathe with her! She's... she's a girl! I'll get... euch... cooties all over me," said Button in desperation. 

"I don't see what the big deal is, don't be a baby now! I mean, it's not as if both of you are naked or anything salacious like that! It's completely alright!" said Button's mom, turning as she left the bathroom, "'Sides, both of you look adorable together!"

For the millionth time that day, Button face-hoofed himself. Sweetie Belle, however, seemed to be lost as she sunk into the warm bathtub water, her hooves at the bathtub's sides and her muzzle submerging into the water. Button wanted to get out, but from the look of shifting silhouettes seen from the bottom of the bathroom door, his mother was camping outside, and he knew she'd stop at nothing to keep him inside. Then, a thought struck him suddenly.

"Mom! What's 'salacious' mean?"

No response.

Button sighed at how pathetic his mom was at making her presence unknown. He did feel kind of sweaty and grimy though, and he looked at the bathtub water with Sweetie Belle in it. He hesitated, then decided that he needed that bath, placing his helicopter hat at the sink's side and galloping towards the end of the bath tub opposing Sweetie Belle.

"Cowabunga!!!" cried Button as he leaped into the air, splashing water and bubbles everywhere as he tucked his hind-legs in and bombarded the water with his body. This left a wet maned Sweetie Belle in its wake and after the waters settled down, Button reached for his favorite rubber steam ship at the side of the tub.

"Choo... choo!" he said, and made the steamship cut across the water towards Sweetie Belle. Once it stopped, however, the steamship burst into flames, eliciting a confused look from Button and a scream from Sweetie Belle. 

"I...uh... uh...al... alright," said Button, his pupils shrunken in shock. Button doused the flames with water frantically, while Sweetie Belle closed her eyes and sank into the warm water.

"I think we should just relax and enjoy the water," said Sweetie Belle, "enough crazy stuff has happened today."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," concurred Button, and he submerged himself into water. A few moments of silence passed.

*SPLOOSH* 

Button suddenly emerged from the water in front of Sweetie Belle with a shout, his forelegs stretched above his head and his teeth bared. Sweetie Belle nonchalantly looked at him with an irritated frown and a raised eyebrow.

"Your breath stinks," said Sweetie Belle, in response to his attempt to scare her, "and you look like a total nerd with all that hair stuck to yourself like that."

"Argh! Forget it," said Button, swimming back to his side of the tub, "This tub needs a lot more bubbles."

He reached into the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of bubble solution, and dumped its contents into the tub. While he did so, Sweetie Belle just chuckled a little at how much of a foal he was acting.

"Hey, today didn't turn out as bad as I expected," said Sweetie Belle. He didn't turn out so bad either, she thought.

"It's gonna get bubblier!" cried Button as he switched on the bath tap to maximum force, causing large clumps of bubbles to form. "Anyway, can you really stay up this late over here?" 

"Oh, it's fine, it's Friday. Rarity always works overtime on Friday," answered Sweetie Belle, "she trusts me to stay safe... I think."

Now neither pony could see the other, as a large wall of foamy whiteness had formed between them. Then, Button burst through the wall of bubbles in yet another attempt to scare Sweetie Belle. She couldn't help but laugh.

"If you're gonna be intimidating, don't look like Santa Clorse!" she giggled, flicking Button's snout and sending him crashing back in a tremendous splash of water. Sweetie Belle climbed out of the tub and shook vigorously, but her mane remained wet and hung down in a straight manner. Button looked at it with surprise.

"Heh, you look.. weird," said Button, ending his sentence with a word that was most obviously a euphemism for his deeper, cheesier feeling towards her appearance.

"Whatever, hurry up. I wanna be done by 10. I'll be in the living room," said Sweetie Belle, opening the bathroom door and leaving the toilet. Button looked at the analog clock above the sink cabinet, which read 8 o'clock. 2 hours with Sweetie Belle... time to show off! Button thought, knowing the perfect game to play. 


~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~


Sweetie Belle was sitting on the soft brown velvet couch and toying around with a Rubik's cube she found on the coffee table. Button hadn't appeared yet, after about 10 minutes, and Sweetie Belle wondered what was keeping him. At least his crazy mom isn't around, she thought. Then, there was a hurried rush of hoofsteps down the corridor and Sweetie Belle turned around, just in time to see Button supporting the Xbox from his room along with lots of wires, his helicopter hat twirling excitedly. 

"Why don't we play on it in your room?" asked Sweetie Belle, as she observed Button rewiring and connecting the console to the plasma television screen. 

"Better experience down here," said Button, "And don't worry about me, connecting the Xbox is a breeze for a maverick like me."

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. Looks like Button was the same in school or at home: brash and arrogant. The Xbox started up and Button inserted a disk into it. The opening credits and scenes ensued, playing out on the screen, with lots of fire and bullets flying by, in first person perspective. Then the main menu, which had words that said: Campaign Multiplayer Zomponies Options, in a vertical column.

"Anyway, does your mom act weird all of the time?" said Sweetie Belle, as he jumped onto the couch beside Sweetie Belle, lazing back and keeping a respectable distance away from the filly.

"Not really. But when Dad goes off, she's more likely to drink that stuff," he said, pointing to the vodka bottle on the coffee table. He thrust a controller into Sweetie Belle's hooves, while eagerly clutching one of his own. He clicked options, enabling 'gore'. Sweetie Belle didn't like where this was going, as Button selected Zomponies mode.

"What's this game?"

"Black Clops," replied an enthusiastic Button, and he promptly explained the rules. Survive, two hits kill you, you buy weapons, you kill zomponies, there are hellhound rounds, there's upgrades, perks and teleporters. All of this information came too fast for Sweetie Belle, and she decided she'd know the rules from gameplay. 

Turns out, the controller felt awkward in her hooves, and Button had to painstakingly go through every single button and its function. Sweetie Belle thought she got the hang of it after about 10 minutes, and gave Button the go-ahead.

*Ten more minutes later*

I'm not prepared for this, thought Sweetie Belle as her character died for the fifth time. The zomponies came at her at alarming angles, and their ghastly appearances didn't help either. She'd scream every time a zompony popped up and she'd empty her gun cartridge onto them, eliciting hysterical and maniacal laughter from Button.

"Will you stop it! It's not helping," said Sweetie Belle, thoroughly irritated. Button wiped a tear from his eye as he calmed down, going back to zompony slaying. 

"Sorry, Sweets, it's just that-- ha-- it's too hilarious! I should really record your noobish actions," said Button as he loaded more lead into multitudes of zompony craniums. Sweetie Belle's character was back by many points, since she didn't slay enough zomponies, and she felt like giving up on the game. However, at Button's snide remark, she felt that that was the last straw; the teasing, the dying and the foreignness of the controller. It was time to take matters into her own hooves.

"IT. IS. ON!" cried Sweetie Belle in classical Rarity style as the next round started, and she was revived with nothing but a pistol. For the next few moments, Button widened his mouth in shock as Sweetie Belle made use of her disadvantage in points and guns by mercilessly dismembering the zomponies with surgical precision, by landing impeccable headshots and courageous knifing. Button was afraid of the beast he had awoken beside him, as she emerged with thousands of points and an upgraded gun before he did, and mowed through bloodthirsty zombies like Rambo. On one round, Button's character actually died, but Sweetie Belle handled the entire round perfectly on her own. Button didn't want to be outdone, and soon they reached unbelievably high levels where the zompony hoards could stomach hundreds of bullets. 

"Wow, we're breaking me and my bro's record," Button gasped in awe, as they wracked up enough zomponies for round 50, "you're cooler than I thought."

Sweetie Belle issued a growl, her concentration entirely focused on wiping the walls with zompony blood, which showed no signs of waning. With all of their ammunition used up, it seemed like the end of the line for the two ponies. Just then, Button accidentally made his character flick an electric trap switch and stepped into the trap, causing his in-game soldier to explode into a ball of flames. Button shrunk nervously in embarrassment as Sweetie Belle glared at him.

"Uh... sorry?" yelped Button, as he forced Sweetie Belle to face off hordes of zomponies on her own. Though she put up a commendable fight, lasting about 5 more minutes without Button, her character was out of ammo and had to succumb to the zomponies. Sweetie Belle bellowed out a feral howl, her animalistic rage channeling through her. Then, she abruptly shut her eyes, dropping onto Button on the couch, letting the controller fall to the floor. Button yelled and found himself pinned to the couch by Sweetie Belle's surprisingly heavy body; he was particularly unnerved by their soft fur and warm bodies in such close proximity.

"Help!! Mom!! Anypony?" cried Button Mash, as Sweetie Belle hugged Button's body in her sleep, her hoof running up and down Button's furry belly. Sweetie Belle's drool was dripping onto Button's shoulder; apparently, she was a very heavy sleeper. Whenever Button tried to struggle, Sweetie Belle's strong grip put more pressure on his sides, increasing the strength of her hug. Button was about to cry out again, when Sweetie Belle licked the side of Button's face.

"I...uh...wha?" said Button, unable to come up with anything comprehensible to describe his feelings, ten times more taken aback than when his steamship burst into flames. He realized that resistance was futile, and led himself to sleep with the heavy marshmallow scent of Sweetie belle's moist mane guiding him to his dreams.


~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~


Rarity was rushing around the place, and though she was used to the feeling as it came frequently with her job, her own sister was at stake, mixing worry with urgency. It was already midnight, a bit too late for Sweetie Belle; even with her Cutie Mark Crusader late-night activities, the young filly would still make it a point to get home before eleven. Earlier, she had been to Applejack's house, and the orange coated mare had absolutely no idea where Sweetie Belle could be; however, Applebloom got excited at the mention of Sweetie Belle's name, telling Rarity that she was at the Mash household, all the while making kissy noises and clapping her hooves together. My own sister..? thought Rarity as she saw the implications of Applebloom's actions, while Applejack just heartily laughed it off. After being shown the directions to the house, Rarity galloped with all her might into the night, eager to get Sweetie Belle home.

She's with a colt? Don't be silly, Rarity, the fashionista told herself, though she couldn't fathom why else would Sweetie Belle be up that late. She remembered the Mash family as customers from long ago, when a rather attractive mare had asked Rarity to design her and her husband a wedding dress and suit respectively. It was unique because she was told they had eloped from another town, and at that time Rarity lapped up the news with interest; she was always into the town's latest scandal or saucy affair stories. 

At the doorstep, Rarity rung the bell once and she was answered almost immediately. Button's mother yanked the door open, drawing a brief muffled scream of surprise from Rarity.

"Shh... They're sleeping," Button's mom said, as she motioned towards the couch with a hoof. 

At first, the expression plastered on Rarity's face was of shock. Then, her pupils widened and sparkled and her mouth, once hung agape, turned at its corners, revealing a delighted countenance as she saw, in the dim lighting, her own sister wrapping her hooves around a brown colt tightly like a bolster, his face facing up to the ceiling while hers looked to the right, towards him, their muzzles only inches apart. In the shade of the night, a sliver of moonbeam cast itself over the two young ponies, their bodies intertwined, their breathing shallow and their sleep passing by angelically. Then, Button's mom piped up.

"Let's take some pictures!"