//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Rejection // Story: The SweetieMash Chronicles // by Justice3442 //------------------------------// The SweetieMash Chronicles   Chapter 2: Rejection   -oooooooo-   Sweetie Belle gave an exasperated sigh as she trudged out of the schoolhouse.   "So Sweetie Belle…" Scootaloo called out. "Hey! Sweetie Belle!"   Sweetie Belle continued to march away from the school, attempting to ignore her friend.   "Scootaloo," Apple Bloom said, attempting to interrupt. "You've teased her enough!" She insisted.   "Sweetie Belle! Sweetie Belle! Sweetie Belle! Sweeeeetieee Belllllle~!"   "WHAT?!" Sweetie Belle shrieked, turning to face her friend with an angry expression plastered on her face.   Scootaloo grinned wide. "Are you going to see Button Mash today? Huh? Are ya? Are ya?"   "NO!" Sweetie Belle responded in a piercing tone.   "Are you suuuuuuuure~?" Scootaloo cooed.   "Scootaloo, ya've been joshing her all day!" Apple Bloom protested. "Ease up!"   "What?" Scootaloo responded playfully. "I just want to know if she's going to go get her mad smooches on with Button Mash!" She added with a huge grin.   "I'M NOT GOING TO SMOOCH BUTTON MASH!"   "Okay, okay, geez…" Scootaloo replied, holding her forehoves up defensively in front of her. "I was just messin'."   "But ya've been messin' with her since this mornin'!" Apple Bloom countered.   "Yeah, well…" Scootaloo paused briefly. "… She's fun to tease!" She declared.   Sweetie Belle began to growl in frustration.   "Scootalooooo…" Apple Bloom began in a warning tone.   "I'm mean, I don't really care if she wants to be all like…" Scootaloo stared up towards the sky and placed a forehoof to her forehead. "… Oh, Button Mash!" She said dramatically. "I love your dorky hat! Kiss me! Kiss me you fool!" Scootaloo wrapped her arms around open air and began smacking her lips together "Mwah!Mwah!"   "I AM NOT GOING TO KISS HIM! I DON'T EVEN LIKE HIM!" Sweetie Belle screeched. She began to huff and puff, her face red, her eyes focused to lasers pointing at Scootaloo.   "Uh…sorry…" Scootaloo offered meekly.   "Hey, Sweetie Belle!"   Apple Bloom and Scootaloo winced as the sound of an excited colt calling for Sweetie Belle rang out. The two turned, facing Button Mash as Sweetie Belle focused her rageful expression on him.   Button trotted up to the trio of fillies.   "Hi, Sweetie Belle!" Button Mash said cheerfully as he closed the distance between himself and the white unicorn.   Sweetie Belle growled out in response.   "Hey!" Button continued, oblivious to Sweetie's body language. "Mom says we can have you over for dinner, tonight! Isn't that cool?!"   "Grrrrr…"   Apple Bloom's and Scootaloo's expressions turned down right panicky and they began to wave their forehooves in the air while mouthing the words 'no' and 'stop' to Button Mash.   "So I picked out a bunch of my favorite video games we could play!" Button continued, his lips pulling up into an increasing larger grin. "It's gonna be awesome! I got Foally Fantasy one through six, Super Mustang Brothers, Battlefoals, Twin Dragons…"   "No."   Button paused. "Huh?"   "I said, 'No.'"   Disappointment began to write an epic trilogy across Button's face.   "Oh…" Button replied meekly. "Maybe some other time?" He asked hopefully.   "NO!" Sweetie Belle shrieked.   "Ba… but…" Button stammered as he began to tear up. "What I do?! Did I do something wrong?!" He placed his forehooves on Sweetie Belle's shoulders. "Please! Tell me what I did and I'll fix it!" He pleaded. "I PROMISE!" He added as water begun to stream out of his eyes.   "GET OFF OF ME!" Sweetie Belle cried shrilly as she swatted the Colt's hooves off her body. "I HOPE I NEVER SEE YOU EVER AGAIN!"   Button's lip began to quiver, and he tried to choke back sobs as his body began to shake.   Sweetie Belle turned and fled from the group, sprinting fast and far down Ponyville's path, away from the school.   "Ehehuahen… huaaaaaHUaaaWOUAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! SWEEEEETIE BELLLLLE!" Button Mash cried out, quickly following it up with a chorus of tortured wails and sobs that caused the young colt to quake and tremble.   Scootaloo's and Apple Bloom's eyes went wide as they stared at each other.   "This is bad…" Scootaloo mused.   "Reeeeeaaaal bad!" Apple Bloom agreed.   -ooooooo-   Button's mom pushed open the door to Carousel Boutique, a bell above the door ringing as she entered carrying her saddlebags. She tentatively trotted into the brightly lit, pink interior of the store and glanced at the racks and racks of gem encrusted dresses and mannequins sporting a myriad of different clothing and looks.   "Hello?" She called out into the shop.   "Just a second, dearie!" A voice rang out from a backroom. A white, female unicorn trotted into view, her purple, curled mane and tail bouncing up and down with each step. She smiled warmly at Button's Mom as she looked her over with red-rimmed, magnifying glasses.   "Hello, and welcome to Rarity's Carousel Boutique!" The mare said. "I'm Rarity, the couturier, clothier, and seamstress of everything in the shop." Rarity smiled wide. "Are you looking for anything in particular, or did you just have the sudden urge to step inside and see what suits your fancy." Rarity teetered. "Hehehe… Sorry, dear… fashion joke… couldn't resist."   Button's mom smiled back at the friendly fashion designer. "Actually, I was told I could find Sweetie Belle's guardian here…"   Rarity's face immediately shifted from optimistic joy to the very picture of dread. "Oh no! What did her friends and her do this time?! Oh please be merciful with her!" Rarity pleaded. "She's just a young filly!" She asserted dramatically. "She doesn't know what she's dooooiiiiiinnnnnnngggg!" Rarity wailed out as she lowered herself to her knees and placed her forehooves together in front of her face, shaking them up and down.   Button's mom stared blankly at the scene in front of her. "Uh…actually Sweetie Belle met up with my son yesterday and I was hoping to invite her over for dinner tonight…"   Rarity's eyes shot open and her face burned crimson. "OH!" She rose to her hooves. "Uh… right… hehe… silly me…"   Button's mom smirked as she cocked an eye open. "So, Sweetie Belle is a bit of a trouble maker, is she?"   Rarity grinned, rolling her eyes. "Oh, you simply have no idea!"   Button's mom chuckled. "I understand, my little Button can be quite the hooffull at times too…so, I guess you must be Sweetie Belle's mother, then?"   Rarity gritted her teeth hard as her left eye began to twitch and her pupils shrank to pinpricks. "Sssssisssster…" She hissed out between clenched teeth.   "Oh…I'm sorry… I didn't mean to…"   Rarity's glasses began to glow with a faint, blue aura. The glasses practically flew off Rarity's face as she stomped closer to Button's mother.   "So, dinner?" Rarity began, lacing her words with deadly venom.   Button's mother began to backup, glancing frantically around the Boutique.   "Well I'm terribly sorry, but our parents are out on vacation and I don't think I could clear…"   "How much for that?" Button's mother asked, pointing towards a lace black and red piece of intimate apparel draped over a mannequin.   Rarity paused and looked over the item, glanced back at the light tan mare, and uttered out an amount.   Button's mom smiled and sat on her haunches, allowing her saddle bag to slide to the ground. She spun her body and placed her forehooves into one of the bags, fishing out a hefty sack of bits. "I'll take it."   Rarity blinked a few times and levitated the bag over to her, glancing inside. "Of course…let me just get your change…" She said as a handful of bits levitated out of the bag.   "Oh, that won't be necessary." Button's mom responded.   "But…" Rarity began to protest.   Button's mom smiled warmly at the unicorn. "It's such an expertly crafted item. I couldn't possibly let the beautiful, young mare that made it go without knowing how much her work is appreciated."   Rarity's eyes shot open as her pupils turned to sparkly pools that shimmered in the light. "Oh, of course… I'm sorry, but I never caught your name…"   "It's…"   -ooooooo-   Sweetie Belle threw open the door to Carousel Boutiques and sprinted inside, stopping once she was in to catch her breath.   The NERVE of some ponies!   Inviting me to dinner, of all things!   I mean…where does he even get off?!   …   Uh…   Geez…   Maybe I didn't need to yell at him like that…   Sweetie Belle looked around the room full of dresses, the store notable absent of anypony.   "Rarity?" She called out.   "In here, Sweetie Belle!" Her sister responded.   Sweetie Belle trotted towards the living area of the boutique, the sound of cheerful laughter drifting out as she did.   "Hey Rarity, I…" Sweetie Belle stopped dead in her tracks and her blood ran cold as she laid eyes upon the lightly tanned mare that sat across from Rarity. She stared at Button's mom with eyes full of fear.   I'm done for…   "Sweetie Belle, come in here and say 'hello' to…"   "HI MRS. BUTTON MASH'S MOM!" Sweetie Belle said, interrupting her sister.   Button's mom smiled and nodded at the young filly. "Hello again, Sweetie Belle how was…"   "GREAT!"   "… school?" Button's mom shot a quick, confused glance at Rarity which was mirrored by the white unicorn.   "So, did you see Button Mash today?" Button's mom continued.   Sweetie Belle began to sweat bullets. "NOPE!" She replied.   "Oh, that's strange…he said he'd talk to…"   "I NEED TO GO UPSTAIRS!" Sweetie Belle declared. "FOR REASONS!" She added, bolting out of the room and sprinting up the stairs of the boutique.   "I'll uh…I'll just go and see what's troubling her…" Rarity said.   "Sure…" Button's mom replied with a concerned expression on her face.   -ooo-   Rarity rapped lightly on Sweetie Belle's door with a forehoof. "Sweetie Belle, darling? Can I come in?"   "Go away!"   "Sweetie Belle, I only want to talk…"   "… FINE!"   Rarity opened the door with her magic and trotted into the bedroom, a beige colored room with lots of hearts and curved lines painted on the walls. Sweetie Belle laid on top of her pink bedspread, her face buried in a pillow.   "Why, whatever is the matter, dear?" Rarity asked, as a blue aura gently closed the door behind her.   "I don't want to go to Button's house…"   Rarity trotted over to the bed. "Why ever not?"   Sweetie Belle paused. "…He's weird!"   Rarity's expression turned stern. "Sweetie Belle! I'm surprised with you! Just because somepony is different isno reason to not want to be their friend."   Sweetie Belle looked up from her pillow. "He's the colt with that weird, spinny hat."   It was Rarity's turn to pause. "Oh… well… that's still no reason to…"   "No!" Sweetie Belle replied.   "Sweetie Belle, you really should reconsider…"   "I SAID, 'NO!'" Sweetie Belle shrieked out.   Rarity nervously glanced at the closed door to the room. "Uh… look, dearie… I don't want to guilt you into anything… but…"   "But, WHAT, Rarity?!" Sweetie bell replied in a shrill tone, as she glared at her sister.   "It's just that… well… I was talking to Button's mom and she mentioned that he doesn't have any friends…"   Sweetie Belle's eyes shot open. "Wha… no friends? Like… none at all?!"   Rarity nodded. "In fact, until yesterday, no pony outside his family had even spoken more than a few sentences to him."   Sweetie Belle felt a tightness in her chest, as if her heart began to violently lash out at its surroundings.   No friends?!   He must be sooo lonely!   Sweetie Belle began to tear up slightly.   Just…just like I was before I met Scootaloo…   OH MY CELESTIA! WHAT HAVE I DONE!?   Rarity looked over her sister quizzically. "So, erm… as I was…"   Without warning, Sweetie Belle shot up in her bed, jumped off it, and hit the ground on all fours. Her horn and door glowed green as the door flew open. She sprinted out the door, down the hall, down the steps, and out of the boutique without another word.   Button's mom glanced out of the living area with a worried expression on her face.   Rarity trotted down the steps and into view.   "Uh… she's… really excited about tonight…" Rarity offered as she plastered on a smile that was a littletoo wide across her face.   "Sure…" Button's mom replied as pensive eyes tracked the young filly down the road.   -ooo-   "Eh… ehaaa… whua… ehhh…"   Button sat against a tree and quietly sobbed to himself as he stared down at his green Joy Boy, tears falling from his eyes and dripping onto the wet screen below.   'BUZZZZ!'   "Sniff… ehhee… henh…"   Button paused, pushed a few buttons on the center of the device, wiped the screen with a forearm, and began absentmindedly pressing the side buttons once more as he continued to sob and cry.   "This is all your fault, you know that?" Apple Bloom said as the two sat some distance away, watching Button Mash cry as he continued to play his game.   "ME!" Scootaloo protested. "I didn't rip the poor colt's heart out and stomp on it in front of him!"   "Yeah, but ya didn't have to tease Sweetie Belle and until she felt mad about everythin'!" Apple Bloom added.   Scootaloo paused as she pondered the perfect comeback.   "Yeah, but still!" She shot back.   Nailed it!   A+   Apple Bloom gave a disgusted sigh. "Ah can't believe he's still cryin'."   "Yeah, you'd think he'd run out of tears at some point, the big crybaby." Scootaloo mused.   "SCOOTALOO!"   "What? I'm just sayin'…"   "Ya need to go up and talk to him!" Apple Bloom declared.   "ME?! Why me?!"   "'Cause it's ya who who got Sweetie Belle all riled up like that!" Apple Bloom accused, pointing a forehoof at Scootaloo.   "But… but he's all weird… and moist…"   "That don't matter right now!" Apple Bloom insisted. "You need to fix this mess you caused!"   "Alright, alright!" Scootaloo replied. She began to trot over to Button Mash, stopped halfway, and looked back at Apple Bloom with a pleading look on her face.   Apple Bloom shot Scootaloo a stern look and pointed a forehoof out at the colt.   Scootaloo frowned and turned back.   "BUTTON MASH!"   The two fillies looked on as Sweetie Belle shot down the path on a course directly towards the brown colt.   "IT'S SWEETIE BELLE!" Scootaloo shouted. "HIDE!" She quickly spotted a nearby bush and dove into it.   Apple Bloom trotted over to her orange pegasus friend. "What is it with ya and hidin' anyhow?"   "I figure I can get my cutie mark in hiding!" Scootaloo explained. "I bet it'd be awesome! Like…a ninja or something…"   "Yeah, or it could be somethin' stupid like a dumb bush." Apple Bloom countered.   "I uh… didn't think about that…"   "Button…huff…Mash…puff!" Sweetie Belle called again, as she attempted to catch her breath.   "Whua…"   'BUZZZZ!'   Sweetie Belle looked at Button with a frightened, apologetic expression. "Your game…I didn't mean to…"   Button looked up and made loud, phlegmy sniffing sound. "SNORT…It's okay…I just got started, anyhow…"   "Hey…Button, I'm…"   "Sweetie Belle," Button interrupted, "I'm really sorry I asked you to dinner. I understand why you said no."   "Uh…you do?" Sweetie Belle replied.   "Yeah, it's 'cause I'm so weird and no pony wants to be around me."   Sweetie Belle felt the pain in her chest worsen, as if somepony had dug fishhooks into her heart and began to pull it with every word Button uttered.   "I mean… I just sit around and play video games all day, and don't talk to anypony…" Button continued. "I don't know how to make friends… It's no surprise the first pony to even talk to me wants nothing to do with…"   "STOP!" Sweetie Belle commanded.   "Uh… alright…"   Sweetie Belle quickly rubbed a forearm over her eyes, clearing the small pool of tears that began to form. "I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. You didn't deserve it."   "Oh, okay…" Button replied, the barest hints of a smile returning to his face. "Does this mean…does this mean we can be friends?"   Sweetie Belle nodded with a small smile. "Of course!" she squeaked out.   Button beamed wide.   "Sooooo…" Sweetie Belle continued. "See you tonight?"   Button gasped. "REALLY!?"   Sweetie Belle's smile widened. "Yep!"   Button Mash raised up on his back legs and began to excitedly raise his forelegs into the air. "YAAAAAY!"   "Oooof…" To her great surprise, Sweetie Belle soon found brown forelegs wrapped around her.   "Oh thank you, Sweetie Belle! THANK YOU SO MUCH!"   "Uh…" Sweetie Belle smiled and returned the hug. "Sure Button."   "Well… looks like everything went an' worked itself out…" Apple Bloom mused.   Scootaloo took this opportunity to emerge from her bush.   "GIVE ME A 'K'!"   Apple Bloom looked at her friend quizzically.   "GIVE ME AN 'I'!"   "GIVE ME AN 'S'!"   Her back turned to her friends, Sweetie Belle shot a glare at the tree in front of her.   "GIVE ME ANOTHER 'S'!"   "Scootaloo! Quit it!" Apple Bloom demanded.   "GIVE ME ANOTHER 'I'!"   "Ah'm warning you!"   "GIVE ME AN 'N'!"   "GIVE ME A 'G'! What does that spell? KISSING! What does Sweetie Belle want to do with Button Mash? KISSOW! APPLE BLOOM! STOP GET OFFA ME! OUCH! WHY DO YOU TWO ALWAYS GO FOR MY WINGS?!"   Button's mom waited pensively inside the house, pacing back and forth inside the kitchen.   Alright, well…I'll cook Button's favorite dinner for him regardless…   And I'll spend some time playing video games with him if she says 'no'…   Button's mom paused and stared at the front door to the family's house, quite afraid she'd spend the evening attempting to console her heartbroken son.   Oh please, Celestia… let her say 'yes'! Oh please, oh please, oh please, oh…   The door to the house flew open "Moooooooom! I'm hoooooome!"   Button's mom's face lit up at the sight of her smiling son. "Hello Button! Did you talk to Sweetie Belle?" She asked, though she was almost certain she already knew the answer.   "I DID!" Button replied excitedly. "She said she could come over! Isn't that soooo cooool?!"   Button's mom smiled warmly. "It sure is, sweetie…"   -ooooooo-   "I'm really proud of you, Sweetie Belle," Rarity said as the two stood inside the shopping area of Carousel Boutiques. "You did the right thing."   "Yeah…I guess so…" Sweetie Belle uttered. "I'm kinda afraid about going to Button's house alone, though…"   Rarity smiled. "Fear not, dear sister! Button's mother was so kind as to invite me as well!"   Sweetie Belle's face lit up. "Really!"   Rarity nodded. "Really! I shall accompany you as your backup pony on your play date."   "IT'S NOT A DATE!" Sweetie shrieked.   Rarity tittered. "Hehe… of course not dearie…"   "Hey, you won't run away at the first sign of trouble, will you?" Sweetie Belle asked in a concerned tone.   "Of course not, sweetie! Sister Solidarity all the way!" Rarity declared, throwing a forehoof into the air.   Sweetie Belle beamed wide. "Thanks, Rarity!"   "Of course, dear!" Rarity's eyes began to drift, as something behind her sister caught her attention.   "I just wish that I could make friends with someone who wasn't such a weir…"   "THAT DRESS DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH RIBBONS!" Rarity screamed as she rushed at the offending garment, tore it from the rack with a blue aura and sprinted back into her work area, dress flying behind her.   Sweetie Belle sighed heavily. "Never mind."