Button Mash sat himself down on a stool at Sugarcube Corner, exhausted from running around town. He laid his head on a table sideways, and let out a long sigh. Then, from underneath the table, Button felt something poking at his hindlegs. He looked down.
"SURPRISE!!" cried Pinkie Pie, as she jumped out from beneath the table and sat herself down on the stool beside his, placing a friendly hoof around his shoulder. Button would have been shocked by the random pony's intrusion, but he just didn't have to energy to be surprised, and sighed loudly. Pinkie Pie's smile turned into a confused frown, and she looked like she was deep in thought. Then, she brightened up, a lightbulb forming above her head.
"I got it!" She cried, and fled into the kitchen door of Sugarcube Corner. Button raised an eyebrow and stared at the kitchen door. Nopony needed anymore than a single visit with Pinkie Pie to know how random she could get, and Button was half dreading what Pinkie was going to come up with next. He didn't have all day and just wanted a quick shake or pastry snack from the place. Pinkie Pie's gratuitous barge into his privacy also attracted the unwanted attention of everypony in Sugarcube Corner.
"A party!" cried Pinkie Pie, as she carted her party cannon up to Button's table and fired it, adorning it with a colorful, flower patterned tablecloth and several multicolored party hats. With the party cannon's blast came streamers and balloons, and Pinkie Pie herself had a party hat on her frizzled hair and a party horn in mouth. Everypony cheered at the prospect of a party but Button couldn't help but feel amazed.
"H-- How did you do that?"
"Well, duh! Party cannon?" said Pinkie, pointing to the contraption with pride. "I've got three of them! Pow Pow Pow!"
"Well, that's cool and all, but I don't have all the time in the world. I just need one cupcake or muffin and I'll be on my way," said Button, not wanting to waste anymore time.
"One cupcake? One muffin? Are you serious?" cried Pinkie Pie, looking offended. "When you're here for the first time, you can't just try one, you gotta try 'em all!"
Before he could say a word, Button was lifted off of his stool and was placed on the floor, in front of a long table of confectionaries and sweet delicacies, ranging from the smallest eclair to a multi-tiered forest cake. Button felt that all of this was getting out of hoof, but Pinkie kept talking.
"You can try these yummy cream-filled eclairs! Made by Gustave le Grand himself! Mmm," said Pinkie as she stuffed an eclair into her mouth, then offered another to Button. He shook his head.
"Um, no thanks, I--"
"Or this! Mushy Minty Mouth-melting Mousse! Delish~" said Pinkie Pie in sing-song, as she scooped a spoonful and swallowed it, then scooped another and hovered the spoon in front of Button's mouth. He shook his head yet again.
"Look, Ms Pinkie, I--"
"Oh! My personal favorite, the Lemon Muffin Surprise!" said Pinkie, picking up the muffin, unaware that it was on the plate of a hungry, wall-eyed pegasus. Derpy Hooves looked at Pinkie Pie angrily. "The mix of sweet and sour on this bad boy is sure to ma--"
"PINKIE!!" yelled Button, and Pinkie Pie stopped talking. Button was quite the indignant colt by then, and Pinkie Pie shrunk back at every word he said. Derpy heaved a sigh of relief and flew away with her muffin.
"Look, I just need a quickie and I'll be on my way, alright, I need to see Sweetie Belle soon and talk to her and tell her that I.. I.."
"That you what?" said Pinkie Pie softly, seeming very small compared to Button Mash. Just then, Button Mash didn't know how to finish that sentence; he forgot why he came all the way here in the first place. Something along the lines of his Mom wanting him to get off his gaming flank or something.
"Never mind. I'll just get a milkshake and I'll be on my way," said Button, feeling a little thirsty by then. Pinkie Pie's eyes lit up and she took a deep breath.
"We've got chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, cherry, durian, grapefruit, grape, banana, pear--"
"Chocolate!!!" cried Button, just in time.
And so, the party was called off and Button was back on his stool, sipping a chocolate milkshake in boredom. Pinkie Pie remained, seated right beside Button, unsatisfied until she brought a smile to his face. Her hindleg was thumping her stool rapidly.
"Why are you still here? Don't you have a job to do someplace else?" said Button, as he took a deep gulp of chocolate milkshake. He immediately regretted it, and a small bout of brain freeze brought on a little headache.
"Nope, my job's to make ponies around town happy, but my Pinkie sense isn't telling me anything about anypony in town not being happy or not having fun," said Pinkie Pie happily, her left hind leg still uncontrollably moving up and down .
"Pinkie sense? And what's up with your leg?" said Button with a raised eyebrow as his brain freeze wore off.
"Oh, I can predict events before they happen," said Pinkie Pie, "my hind leg thumping means that somepony's about to get brain freeze."
"Could have given me some sort of warning," said Button, as he took another deep gulp of his milkshake. He gripped his head in pain and cried out, but was caught in Pinkie's fore legs before he could tumble to the ground.
"Nah, Brain freeze is fun!" said Pinkie Pie with a wide grin, "but I sense you don't want too much fun right now."
"Oh, did your Pinkie sense tell you that?"
"Nah, colts just act like that when they have heart-tipped arrows sticking outta their chests," said Pinkie. Button raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"Nothing! Just talk to Gummy, he's a great conversationalist! He could have the answer to your questions and slash or problems," she said, lifting her tail, revealing a wide eyed alligator chomped down on it. Button's eyes went wide and he spat out some milkshake at the tiny animal, but Pinkie laughed a snort-filled laugh when she saw that.
"He doesn't bite, silly! He likes talking though. Even more than me!" said Pinkie, and set him down on the table. Gummy blinked.
"See ya! I've got some fun to have today, the afternoon's young!" said Pinkie, as she bounced merrily, out the door and away from Sugarcube Corner. Button rolled his eyes and continued drinking his shake, under the watchful wall-eyes of Gummy.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"This stinks," groaned Sweetie Belle, as she struggled to get the rest of her body out of the viscous jar of grape jelly, her head poking out. The other fillies couldn't agree more as they, too, were stuck in similar positions, thankful that they didn't enter the jar headfirst.
"Don't ya mean this 'sticks'?" said a smiling Applebloom as she tried with all of her might to take a leg out. The other two glared at her. "What? Doesn't hurt anypony to see the bright side o' life."
"At least Jelly Jim isn't going to kick us out of jelly swimming," said Scootaloo, referring to the stallion who manned the jelly swimming pools. She remembered their experience at the hockey ring. Scootaloo had knocked a hockey puck like it was a tennis ball, and sent it propelling towards a veteran hockey player and coach. The stallion's teeth were knocked out, the three fillies were banned from the hockey ring. Worst of all, they didn't get their cutie marks.
"Well, who cares? Not as if we're comin' back," said a disgruntled Applebloom as she finally got her fore legs out of the jelly. Jelly Jim, a grey coated stallion with a yellow mane peeked down from the top of the jar.
"So, are you fillies having a good time?" Jelly Jim said, while holding a jar cover. The three fillies' eyes widened in horror as they realized what he was going to do, as he slowly brought down the cover.
"NO!" all three cried in unison, as they frantically flailed their hooves against the thick jelly solution. Scootaloo's wings flapped at hummingbird pace, and with effort she managed to get herself out. She stretched out her forelegs to Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, who eagerly bit on her hooves. Scootaloo grunted and pulled the two of them out of the gigantic jar, causing them to land through a few feet onto the soil below; the young pegasus also fell to the ground, exhausted and in pain as she looked at the two bite marks on her hooves. All of them were in a sloppy grape goop.
"Don't bite so hard next time, aight?" said an irritated Scootaloo, and the other two gave nervous smiles in reply. Jelly Jim chuckled and trotted up to them.
"Not as easy as it looks, eh? Started doing this when I was a colt. I wasn't cut out for normal swimming, but I did have a mighty sweet tooth. And nopony urinates inside a jelly swimming pool. I think," said Jelly Jim, eliciting shudders from the fillies.
"Well, we best get goin'," said Applebloom, trying to shake off the troublesome jelly. They were on a field of grass on the outskirts of PonyVille, and Button's house was visible in the far distance. Sweetie Belle couldn't help but look at it, wondering whether the gamer colt was still at home.
"Hey.... HEY! Sweetie Belle!" cried Applebloom, shaking her shoulder. "We've got to go for mud wrestlin', it's next on our list. Hopefully they'll have a washin' corner to get this jelly off."
"Uhh... Alright!" said Sweetie Belle, licking off a glob of jelly on her hoof. "Mm. Not bad."
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Gummy blinked and stared at Button. The colt was still sipping on that milkshake, utterly bored; he was starting to regret leaving his JoyBoy at home. Though he promised to himself that he'd get himself off his flank as soon as possible to resume searching, he was taking his drink at a snail's pace. His eyes drifted to stare at Gummy's. The alligator seemed to stare back...
"... into the very depths of my soul," said Button aloud. Then he shook his head.
"What are you looking at?" Button asked angrily. Gummy blinked.
"Can't you see I'm trying to drink? Long day ahead, you know," said Button. He chugged down an entire gulp of the milkshake, but a substantial amount was still left; it seemed bottomless. Before he could say another word, mental icicles found their way into his brain.
Button winced, biting his lips to prevent a scream. When the brain freeze passed, he sighed and looked helplessly at the alligator, who merely blinked.
"What... am I doing with my life?" said Button. Gummy blinked.
"What? WHAT? Love? Dumb 'gator," said Button, pushing Gummy off the table. He landed on the floor on his head with a squeak. "I'd rather make out with a robot."
Gummy blinked.
"Hey Button! Glad you're here," came a familiar foalish voice. Button heard the entrance bell ring and looked up to see Rumble trotting briskly up to him, his brother Thunderlane following closely behind.
"Button! There's mud wrestling nearby! Me and Thunderlane are here to practice for the mud wrestling portion of next week's Brohoof Bash. It's gonna be nasty! Wanna come?" said Rumble excitedly, while his big brother looked out of the window. Thunderlane smiled and rubbed Rumble's head with a hoof.
"Heh, bet on it that it's gonna be nasty, squirt," said Thunderlane, as Rumble beamed, his mane getting ruffled up by his brother's hoof.
"Ha, kay, bro. So Button? Coming?" said a smiling Rumble, as his brother dragged him away with a hoof under his foreleg.
"B-but... My bro's... Not here," said Button, with a slight tinge of sadness in his voice. Rumble wiped his smile off his face and wrapped a consoling hoof around Button, but Thunderlane had other ideas.
"Hey, who cares? Mud wrestling's fun with more ponies!" cried the stallion as he hoisted both colts with his hooves onto his strong back, then rushed out of Sugarcube Corner to weave through the streets of PonyVille at breakneck speed, causing Button to grit his teeth and dig his hooves into Thunderlane's fur. They found a large field with large mud pools, with ponies big and small frolicking around in them. It was only then that Button realized Rumble wasn't talking about a mud wrestling video game.
"Geranimo!" cried Thunderlane as he dragged the two colts in with him, against their will. Once in the mud pool, Button immediately scrambled for dry ground, and tried moving out of the pool. Rumble tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around. Rumble socked him in the face.
"Ow! The hay was that for?" said Button as he winced in pain. Rumble rolled his eyes.
"It's mud wrestling. Don't you ever go out?" said Rumble, and Button mentally said 'no' to his question.
"YES!" cried Button in indignation, before his was picked up by Rumble. The grey pegasus pulled off a piledriver onto Button which didn't really hurt much since it was done in the mud, but a copious amount of mud still entered his mouth. Submerged, an angry Button kicked his legs through the thick mud as he prepared to perform a Tekken-style sky uppercut.
"Ach! Who was that?" said a voice that most definitely was not Rumble's. Button's eyes opened wide as he stared into the eyes of a white coated filly, her body caked in mud. He heaved a sigh of relief as he finally found her, after a day of galloping around PonyVille.
"Sweets?" said Button as he stretched a hoof out and wiped the mud off of her face. "What are you doing here?"
"Could ask you the same thing," said Sweetie Belle. Then, she pouted and continued. "And don't call me that, Butts."
"Why not? Your name is too long for my liking!" huffed Button, quite insulted by his new nickname. "Anyways, I was wondering if you were, um..."
"What?"
"Free toni--" before he could finish, Button was tackled by Thunderlane, splattering mud in all directions. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes then laughed, before joining in on the mudfest.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"Rarity!" cried Sweetie Belle in glee as she splashed merrily in the water of the wooden tub she and her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders were in, as she spotted her sister coming to the mud pools from a distance. Mud wrestling was over, and the fillies were thankful to be out of the dirt but far from satisfied, with the evening approaching. As for Rarity, the fashionista smiled and waved at her sister as she trotted casually up to the tub, but her smile disappeared when her left hoof sunk into a mud puddle.
"Oh dear," she gasped, then screamed. In stereotypical damsel-in-distress fashion, she brought her right hoof up to her forehead and cried out. "I just got a hooficure! Oh, by Celestia, whatever shall I do? Somepony please, PLEASE help me!"
Immediately, Thunderlane, being the only stallion done cleaning himself up after the mud wrestling, rushed to her aid with a towel, rubbing the towel against her hoof vigorously, eliciting a look of surprise from Rarity. Once the hoof was spotless, Rarity gave a squeal of delight and kissed Thunderlane on his cheek.
"Oh my dear gentlecolt, you saved my life!" said Rarity, and everypony present sighed in disappointment at Rarity. Everypony except Thunderlane, who gave a goofy smile and a wink to his brother Rumble, who was in a tub of water, adjacent to the CMC's tub, with Button, which said 'bro, this is how you pick up mares'. Rumble shuddered.
In the bushes near the mud pools, Spike, who had been stalking Rarity all day, looked on with jealousy at the lucky Thunderlane.
"Rats," he said, and stomped off to Twilight's house.
"Can you believe that pony? Soooo dramatic," said Button, as he splashed cool water onto his face.
"Yeah, kinda reminds me of you," said Sweetie Belle.
"Wha-- NO! I'm not a.. a... drama queen. I'm not even a mare," said Button lamely, as he climbed out of the tub. His eyes widened at the temperature change.
"COLD!" cried Button as he jumped right back into the tub of water, his entire body shivering as he wrapped his forelegs tightly against himself, drawing laughs from everypony.
"Well, we're tight on the schedule," said a disgruntled Scootaloo to her fellow Crusaders as the laughter died down. She looked out to the setting Sun. "Only half an hour left till Nightmare Night. Meaning we're gonna have to do away with auctioning and ukelele playing."
"I guess you're right, Scoots," said a disappointed Applebloom, "Mud wrestlin' took longer than we expected. And not even a cutie mark to show fer it!"
The Cutie Mark Crusaders double-checked their flanks. They were still blank, and all of them simultaneously sighed. Then Sweetie Belle's frown inverted to a smile.
"That leaves us with milkshake drinking!" cried Sweetie Belle joyously. Rumble's eyes brightened up.
"Hey, can the two of us tag along? We've got nothing to do this eve--" Rumble was interrupted by Button.
"Wait, wait, wait, did you girls just say, half an hour till Nightmare Night? It's tomorrow, unless PonyVille does it early or something," said Button, raising suspicion and a single eyebrow.
"Nah, it doesn't. Just that we wanna get more candy, so we plan on starting earlier," said Sweetie Belle. Then, leaning in to whisper to Button, she said, "I don't think it makes sense either. I'd rather play spooky video games."
"Oh... Play spooky video games... with who?" said Sweetie Belle's eavesdropping friends, stifling giggles. Sweetie Belle and Button smiled nervously and looked at each other. Then with a shove, the two fillies pushed Sweetie Belle by the rump off of their tub onto Button's and Rumble's. Button clutched the sides of the tub and gave a yelp of surprise as the filly entered the water, while Rumble, with a smile, climbed out of the tub and into Applebloom and Scootaloo's tub, leaving the couple alone.
"It's uh.... perfectly normal! Nothing wrong or awkward with this. Right, Button?" said Sweetie Belle.
"Yeah! Um...." said Button, shying his face away to hide the drastically changed color of his cheeks. Rumble gave a chuckle and a sigh.
"You know, the two of you could've climbed out of the tub by now," said Rumble, eliciting 'D'aww's and 'I told you so's from Sweetie Belle's friends. The two young ponies immediately escaped the tub and grabbed a towel each, avoiding the other's gaze as the crimson that spoke of embarrassment spread across their faces.
"We'll uh.. be at Sugarcube Corner, for milkshake drinking," said Sweetie Belle, and Button nodded in agreement, unnaturally quiet. The three remaining ponies in the tub smiled widely as they looked at the couple go off towards Sugarcube Corner.
"Um... hi," said Rumble as he stayed in the tub with Scootaloo and Applebloom.
"Yeah, uh, hey!" said Scootaloo as she realized his eyes were directed at her. Both of them smiled at each other awkwardly, and Scootaloo's wings flapped excitedly at a hummingbird's pace, beating the water.
"Great mud wrestling," said Rumble.
"Totally."
"Aw, COME ON!" cried Applebloom as she crept out of the bathtub. The two other ponies stared at her.
"Ah'm gonna be forever alone, AND a blank flank when Ah'm as old as Granny Smith!" said Applebloom, as she trudged off to Sugarcube Corner. Rumble and Scootaloo felt bad and climbed out, then flapping their wings to unstick the water within their feathers.
"Hey, watch where you're beating!" said Scootaloo as she felt water droplets fall onto her fur, and Rumble gave a little laugh. They smiled and walked to Sugarcube Corner together.
"Pardon me asking, but why did you come here?" asked Thunderlane. They watched the young ponies go off into the distance.
"Oh, to send Sweetie Belle home, of course. Apparently, she had.. other ideas with that Mash colt. They make a splendid pairing, don't you think so?" Rarity said, sighing in a satisfied manner.
"Uh, sure. Need a walk home?"
"Oooo, would I!" squealed Rarity, as she hooked her left foreleg with Thunderlane's right, and went towards the Boutique.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Bellies full of sinful confectionaries and milkshakes, five bloated and euphoric ponies trotted out of Sugarcube Corner, having eaten the most sugary dinner of their lives. The Cutie Mark Crusaders talked Button and Rumble into a hardcore milkshake drinking contest, where each pony had to down three milkshakes in a minute, and since the milkshake glasses were a foot tall, this was no easy feat. However, despite the fact that nopony got their cutie marks, many laughs and brainfreezes were to be had, with Button Mash securing the record for the longest duration of brainfreeze at 20 minutes. In the end, dinner was ice cream, every child's (and every Pinkie Pie's) dream dinner.
"Best dinner *belch* ever," said a rather uncouth Applebloom, and everypony burped back in agreement. Then her eyes widened in shock.
"Oh no, we've gotta start pre-Nightmare Night, pronto!" said Applebloom, rushing for the clubhouse. The other fillies prepared to gallop towards the clubhouse, but Scootaloo stopped in her tracks and trotted up to Rumble. With a smile, the pegasus gave Rumble a quick hug.
"Thanks," she said, before beating her wings and following Applebloom. Button cocked an eyebrow, while his friend just stared, eyes wide, into empty space.
"What's gotten into her?" said Button, and gave a confused look at Rumble's face. "And what's gotten into you?"
"No problem," said Rumble, to nopony in particular.
"Hey, uh, Button, if this Pre-Nightmare Night stuff doesn't work out, is it alright if I go to your place to play some video games?" said Sweetie Belle, as the two remaining ponies watched Rumble trot off, with a spring in his step.
"Yeah, sure, if you don't mind getting owned!" taunted a confident Button. Sweetie Belle gave Button a punch on his shoulder, which was meant to be playful but elicited a sharp cry of pain from Button.
"Hey! That's my favorite shoulder!"
"Yeah, whatever, fat flank," said Sweetie Belle, waving Button goodbye. Button couldn't help but smile as he watched Sweetie Belle gallop with all her might to catch up with her friends. Life's good, he thought, breathing in the still evening air and the sweet scent of pastries from Sugarcube Corner.
"Time to stay up all night to play some Pony's Creed Sisterhood!" cried Button aloud, punching the air with a hoof, as he trotted back home.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"This STINKS," groaned Scootaloo, as they experienced their third rejection on their Pre-Nightmare Night rounds: an angry mare, Berry Punch, had slammed the door in their faces, apparently busy. 10 minutes past and not a single bit of candy in any of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' satchels. Applebloom was a mummy pony, Scootaloo was in a tux and monocle, while Sweetie Belle was dressed as a batpony.
"It stinks even more than jelly swimming," agreed Sweetie Belle. Despite the complaints, the three fillies pressed on, trotting to the next household.
"Come on, girls, it can't be that bad. I mean, we've only done three," said Applebloom, as the three fillies knocked on the door of a posh looking house. The owner was obviously a very rich pony, with carved out, glowing pumpkins aplenty lining the sides of his garden, and even a life-sized scarecrow standing amongst the pumpkin garden. There was silence that followed the knocking, save for the sound of water trickling, maybe a pond or a fountain that the owner owned in the back of the house. Peeking into the house from a window with the curtains undrawn, they saw that the owner had glass chandeliers hanging from his ceiling and Reneighssance-era paintings on his walls.
"Think anypony's home?" asked Applebloom.
"Should be, the light's on," said Scootaloo. Then, the three fillies heard hoofsteps, and they excitedly took up positions at the front of the door. As the door opened, the fillies couldn't hold it in and they started the typical Nightmare Night chant.
"Nightmare Night, what a fright, give us something swe--" Before they could finish, the stallion at the door gave a roar. He was a light brown coated stallion in a blue bath robe (and highly conspicuous large black eyebrows) and had pink rollers in his black mane, which would have been a rather hilarious sight had he not thrown a wicked tantrum then and there. The Cutie Mark Crusaders realized that they were facing Filthy Rich, Diamond Tiara's father.
"Alright, kids, IT'S NOT NIGHTMARE NIGHT! Nopony in town has the right mind to prepare any candy on the night BEFORE Nightmare Night! Are you three fillies in kindergarten?" the raging stallion asked.
"Nope. We go to the schoolhouse riiiight over there," said Scootaloo, keeping her cool. "Now, if you don't have any candy, I think that you, O High and Mighty Filthy Rich, could spare us a few gems? Maybe three hundred?"
"NO!" he cried, and slammed the door on the fillies.
"Maybe just a hundred? Ten? Or maybe three hundred bits. That could do," continued Scootaloo, while her friends eyed the door anxiously.
"FOR THE LAST TIME," screamed Filthy Rich from within the house, making the ponies jump. The door swung back open, and Filthy Rich heaved a deep sigh. "No. Come back tomorrow and I'll have Sugarcube Corner's worth of candy ready for you ponies. But today, nada. Thanks, and good evening."
"Hello?" called Scootaloo desperately as Filthy Rich shut the door behind him for the last time that evening. "Not even a hundred bits? Or a pink roller?"
"Forget it," said Sweetie Belle irritatedly, stomping off in anger. Her friends trotted after her, concerned looks on their faces.
"Where are ya goin'?" asked Applebloom as Sweetie Belle trotted briskly, her batpony ears bouncing up and down.
"Button's place. Gonna play some video games," said Sweetie Belle, before she thought about how her friends would react. Her friends looked at each other, their concerned expressions turning to ones of mirth.
"Only video games? Maybe the two of ya'll will go a lil' further than that," said Applebloom, and she and Scootaloo proceeded to giggle uncontrollably while making teasing, kissy noises. An already annoyed Sweetie Belle lost her cool, and gave a sharp scream of indignation.
"HEY! You're just.. just... jealous," said Sweetie Belle, saying things on impulse, not considering her words.
"Oh? And what would we be jealous about? Hm?" said Scootaloo, "Oh... Is he a good kisser?"
"WHAT? URGHHH!" yelled Sweetie Belle, and she stomped away from her two friends, who were on the ground, laughing their flanks off. She was thankful that her mask was hiding the unnatural, embarrassing tinge of her cheeks.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Button pressed the bell of his home, his legs hopping around in urgency and his mouth rapidly whispering the words 'come on' in impatience as he waited for his mother to answer the door. After a full minute, he stopped mashing the doorbell button and looked curiously inside from a window. What was keeping her?
Finally, the door swung open with great force and Button stepped his hoof in, before getting whisked away by a brown flash of fur. His mother had rushed out of the house, a large sombrero hat in one hoof, and her other foreleg was hooked around Button. Button looked at her in confusion as they rushed towards PonyVille.
"Where are we going, Mom? And why do you have my Nightmare Night costume?" said Button with irritation, as precious gaming time was ticking away.
"We're gon... gonna go to fix up this tatter of a Nightmare Night outfit, or maybe get you a new one!" panted Button's mom as she galloped, earning a long groan from Button.
"But.. but Mom!" said Button, but his mother suddenly glared angrily in response. He quivered, and silently cried as he was set for another long hour, or maybe even two hours away from his room of games, and he stared back at his home, looking further away and darker with every hoofstep of his mother's. I didn't even get to take my JoyBoy out, he thought sorrowfully to himself.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Sweetie Belle weaved her way through the town's buildings, trying to find her way to Button's house, for some peace and quiet. Or games; anything was better than wasting time with her friends carrying out their silly plan. Even now, she wondered whether their Pre-Nightmare Nighting was yielding any fruits. Or candy, for that matter.
As she turned around the corner of a cottage, Sweetie Belle stopped for a while, then headed towards the Carousal Boutique. She had to inform Rarity that she was visiting Button's place, since she couldn't rely on Button's mom too much; Button's mom wasn't exactly the most sane of mares. When she finally reached the place, more ponies than she expected greeted her.
"Hey Sweetie!" said Button's mom. Rarity was occupied, looking with disgust at Button Mash, who was in a sombrero hat and mustache.
"Oh dear, this won't do! If you're going to look your best beside my sister, you've got to change out of this disaster!" gasped Rarity, and took Button away for measurements. Button was helpless, and his eyes fell on Sweetie Belle.
Help me, he mouthed, but Sweetie Belle merely smirked.
"Have fun!" called Sweetie Belle, as Button disappeared into a room and out of sight. Rarity's infamous 'measurement taking' usually involved putting many different hats or outfits on the pony, sometimes spending up to an hour doing so. Button's mom pulled over a velvet chair that was lying around and sat, while picking up a fashion magazine lying in a pile of magazines on the Boutique's shoe rack.
"So what did you two kids do today?" Button's mom said with a smile as she flipped through the pages with a hoof.
"Nothing much. A little mud wrestling. Drunk milkshakes. Pretty much sums up the day," said Sweetie Belle, taking off her Nightmare Night costume and carefully fitting it onto a filly mannequin. "Say, what's Button here for?"
"To get a new Nightmare Night costume," said Button's mom, eyes scanning an interesting portion of the magazine. Sweetie Belle's eyes widened.
"Darn, she's gonna take years to make it," said the filly, genuinely worried. "What's Button gonna do in the meantime?"
"Stay here, of course. Maybe the two of you could do something, something that friends usually do. Friends," Button's mom said, with a cheeky smile on her face. Sweetie Belle tried her best not to show any indication she got the message. "Unless you have something else to do, of course."
Sweetie Belle thought of the two other Cutie Mark Crusaders and shook her head rapidly. Then her face brightened up and she trotted up the stairs to her room, remembering a special something in her room. Maybe tonight won't be so boring after all, she thought to herself.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
"No, I think that's enough, Ms. Rarity, thanks," said a discomforted Button as he exited her room. Rarity had not been kind to him, trying on all sorts of suits, some of them making him look like a cross-dresser. Along the way, the fashionista couldn't help but ask a few questions about her sister's relationship with him, which he'd decline answering verbally. His face, however, told a different story altogether as it flushed a crimson hue frequently during the entire process. Rarity poked her head out of her room and smiled.
"Oh, you're welcome, dear. Or should I say, future brother-in-law?" she said, eliciting an indignant 'WHAT?' from the colt and a deep red on Button's cheeks. His hat fell off from his little jump at Rarity's comment, and using his teeth, he picked it up from the floor.
"Wha-- Whatever. Just get it done. I'm going home," said Button, thinking of the ponies he could be slaying now with Italian assassin Octavio.
"Oh no, dear, it'll be very fast. Just you wait in er.. Sweetie Belle's room. Or, something," Rarity said, her head disappearing back into her room. Button gave an irritated sigh.
"Hey Button! You done?" cried Sweetie Belle from her room, and Button found a spacious room, which was quite empty save for a small bed, a desk and a wardrobe. Everything in this room seemed to be white in color, just like the Boutique itself. On the bed, Sweetie Belle was fumbling with a small, brown ukulele.
"Woah!" cried Button, his face full of wonder as he pounced onto the bed and admired the ukulele. Then, he was confused. "What is it?"
"A ukulele. Kinda like a small guitar," said Sweetie Belle, but Button's confused countenance didn't change. She sighed. "It's a musical instrument."
"Ohhhh," said Button, immediately losing interest. He then looked around the room. "Don't suppose you have any JoyBoys?"
"No. But we could play with this instead!" Sweetie Belle said enthusiastically with a grin on her face, but Button was off the bed, heading for the door.
"This stinks," said Button, but Sweetie Belle got off the bed herself and rushed up to block him.
"NO!" she cried, then Button cowered and crept back up onto her bed. Her composure softened after the outburst.
"Uh, I mean, you kinda owe me. We got to do what you wanted the last time. So it's my turn!" said Sweetie Belle. "Anyway, I wanted to try this out sometime but I needed somepony else to help me on it..."
"Um, what's the matter? Can't play it? It's like, stringed. How are we supposed to play that? Teeth?" said Button, holding up his hooves. Sweetie Belle glared at him.
"No, stupid. It's just that I need somepony to help me with this song, it's the only song I know," said Sweetie Belle, and Button suddenly laughed.
"What? You only know how to play one song with that thing?" said the colt, "I've got like, a million on Guitar Heroine!"
"Guitar Heroine?"
"Yeah, the game developers were mares. And the target audience are girls. Some gender-ratio trend thingy," said Button. Sweetie Belle was quite embarrassed by now, and she responded quietly.
"Uh, my parents sung me this song in the past. Like a lullaby. So it's kinda... special, to me," said Sweetie Belle, a tinge of hurt in her voice. Button stopped laughing, though he didn't know why.
"Kay, so what do you want me to do?"
"Uh, can you whistle?"
"You mean like this?" Button said, letting out an ungentlemanly wolf whistle. Sweetie Belle blushed furiously at that.
"Hey!"
"What? Dudes that see my mom in public do that all the time, so I can't see what's wrong with that," said Button with an innocent smile, but Sweetie Belle just shook her head.
"Right, you can whistle. Can you try whistling this tune?" Sweetie Belle said, and sang a melody. It was nice on the ears, and Button couldn't resist humming along. After a few tries and corrections by Sweetie Belle (which he strangely took without any angry outbursts), Button managed to land it correctly.
"Now try to sing this," said Sweetie Belle, and she sang the lyrics. What came out of Button's mouth was a cacophony of sound that made Sweetie Belle regret asking.
"You make Scootaloo sound like Sapphire Shores," shouted Sweetie Belle over Button's voice, and patted him on the back. He groaned.
"Look, just stick to whistling, okay Butts?"
"Fine. And don't call me that," said Button, earning a loud laugh from Sweetie Belle.
And so Button closed his eyes and started whistling the tune, while the ukulele started making sweet sounding chords. Button opened one eye and saw the strings moving on their own. He cried out in shock.
"There's a-- How the-- Are you doing that??" said Button, his eyes wide at the ukulele. Sweetie Belle shrugged.
"I dunno. Whenever I want to play this song, the ukulele just does that. It's kinda like, a ghost lives in my room or something, and it just likes the ukulele."
"Could it be your horn magic?"
"What? Noooo. No, it can't-- No, it just can't be," Sweetie Belle laughed, then rubbed her horn.
"This thing can't do anything yet. I mean, I tried lifting objects with my horn but the magic can't come out. The only lifting it does nowadays is being Rarity's clothesrack," she said, an inkling of anger in her voice.
"Oh. 'Cause I swear that there's like, this green thingy that's cloaking the strings or somethi--"
"Let's just get on with it. You still have to go home, right?" said Sweetie Belle, and Button nodded, his thoughts on gaming.
"Good. A one, a two, a one, two, three and."
Button came in with the whistle; though shaky at first, he got the hang of it as it came in tune with the ukulele. He just closed his eyes and flooded his mind with the sound of ukulele chords, letting the whistling passage flow with the instrument. Despite the shot of sugar from dinner, Button was mesmerized by the ukulele, his mind slowly losing itself to the tune, his body losing its energy. Somewhere along the way, he felt his head droop onto something soft, warm and furry, and to him, it was one of the greatest pillows in the world.
Somehow, Sweetie Belle didn't mind Button's sleepy head on her shoulder as she took over when the whistling ended. Fact is, that was just a reassurance that the lullaby was working. She took over with the singing, which (thankfully) did not summon an entire gospel choir.
"I've been walking the streets at night, just trying to get it right. It's hard to see with so many around, you know I don't like being stuck in the crowd, And the streets don't change but maybe the names, I don't have time for the games and I need you. Yeah-yeah, I need you. Woaaaaah, I need you, Yeaaaah, I need you. Woaaah, this ti-i-i-i-i-me."
The last few single notes of the song were played and Sweetie Belle hid the ukulele beneath the bed. He movement caused Button, fast asleep, to plop down onto her bed. Sweetie Belle yawned and dragged Button's body beneath her bed's covers, and pulled them up to his neck. A little sleepy herself, she gave Button a peck on his head, just like how her mother would always put her to sleep in her youth. She imagined Button as a child dozing off in his undisturbed sleep, safe in his land of dreams. She got up and turned off the lights, before trotting to the foot of the bed and curling herself up on the covers.
"Good night, Button."