//------------------------------// // First day // Story: New School Year // by Farcicalponiez //------------------------------// My name is Button Mash and I like video games. Today is the first day of the new school year. Button Mash’s mother was a little worried that school was starting again, although, a little happy about it too. She wasn’t used to having Button leave the house since he’s always sitting in his room playing his games. As she walks towards Button’s room she can hear a beeping noise coming from behind the door. “Button!” she yelled, walking over and pulling out the power cable behind the mounted television, “Did you stay up all night?” “But, mum-” Button whined “No buts about it, Button. You've stayed up too long, and just before the first day of school too.” Button didn’t reply to this. Instead, his ears just drooped down; covering his face. “Button,” his mother sighed, “just go get ready for school.” “Ok, mum.” Button slowly stood up and walked towards his door. "I made pancakes for breakfast today, because I know how much you like them." “Yay, pancakes! Thanks, mum,” he cheered. ******************************************** “Hey there, Sweetie Belle,” called out Applebloom as she noticed Sweetie Belle approaching the school playground. “Hi, Applebloom. Hey, Scootaloo,” Sweetie Belle replied when she walked up to enter her friends circle (or triangle). “Sweetie Belle, you’re just in time. School is about to start soon,” said Scootaloo. “Good thing I made it on time then.” Sweetie Belle looked around. “You don’t think there is anypony missing do you?” “I can’t think of anyone who isn’t here.” Applebloom sat scratched her head. “Why? Is there a special somepony who isn’t here for Sweetie Belle on the first day this year?” Scootaloo snickered. “What? N-no pony like that,” said Sweetie Belle, her face turning slightly red. “C’mon guys, schools gonna start soon.” Applebloom stood to walk towards the entrance to the school. “Yeah, come on Sweetie Belle. Let’s go find out who that special somepony of yours is.” Sweetie Belle hesitated. But started to walk slowly behind them as the school bell rang. ******************************************** All the students walked into the classroom and took their seats and began taking out their books. Their teacher, Ms Cheerilee, walked in to greet them. “Good morning, everypony,” she said with a smile. “Good morning, Ms Cheerilee,” replied her class. “Now, I hope you all had fun during your holidays. I would like to hear all about it later.” The sound of hooves running down the hall could be heard. A second later a brown-coated colt was at the door gasping for breath. “Am I… am I late?” he said. “Only just, Button. But seeing as this is the first day for the year, I’ll let it slide.” “Thank you, miss” “Just don’t let it happen again,” she warned him, “why don’t you go take a seat so we can start today’s lesson?” “Alright,” he said as he walked into the classroom. Button sat down and took his book out. He had begun staring blindly towards the board in front of him. A few moments later, something caught his eye. To his left was a white-coated pony with a purple and pink coloured mane and large, green eyes. Button had hardly noticed this filly was facing him until he turned to look back at her. This is when he noticed he was sitting next to the filly who, for some reason, stuck out more than any other to him. They held their gaze for about half a second before quickly turning away. They had both begun to get a little red in the face. Noticing Button had decided to take a seat next to Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo nudged her and laughed, “I think we just found who you were looking for.” The rest of the day neither Sweetie Belle nor Button Mash could focus on the lesson. They were too busy feeling embarrassed to think about anything else. Button was watching the clock behind Ms Cheerilee, waiting for the bell to the end of school. Only a few more seconds to go… When finally the bell rang, Button was already packed up and ready to go. He ran out the door and headed straight for Sugarcube Corner. On the other hoof, the CMC were slowly making their way out of the building. “Having fun in there with Button?” asked Scootaloo, who couldn’t help but laugh. “I err… um…“ Sweetie Belle blushed, “what are you talking about?” “Oh, c’mon Sweetie Belle, we both saw what was goin’ on in there,” laughed Applebloom. “Why did he run off right after school?” wondered Scootaloo "Maybe he had somethin' important to do." "But that's impossible, Sweetie Belle's right here," she said with a grin, pointing her hoof towards Sweetie Belle. "Scootaloo, I keep telling you. Button is not my coltfriend." "But you wish he were." "Scootaloo, leave her alone. If she wants to talk about it then she will," Applebloom said. "There is nothing to talk about," Sweetie Belle shouted. "She's denying it, that means there has to be something going on," Scootaloo continued teasing. At this point Sweetie Belle stopped listening to her friends and started to run towards Sugarcube Corner. She hoped that going there would help her think about what just happened. ******************************************** Sweetie Belle walked in the door to Sugarcube Corner. She noticed that Pinkie Pie was on her shift at the store and so hoped that she might still be able to have a quiet afternoon. Her wish was instantaneously denied when Pinkie started talking. "Hey there, Sweetie Belle." "Hi Pinkie," She said quietly. "How was school? I heard there's something going on between you and-" "Pinkie!" her ears flopped down, covering her face, "I came here because I thought it would be quiet." "If you want quiet, then why don't you go sit with that little colt over there," she pointed behind Sweetie Belle, "He doesn't seem to talk very much. Which is strange don't ya think? I mean, I can normally make everypony talk or party. That guy over there is a completely different story; its like he's in his own little world." Sweetie Belle turned to see who Pinkie had pointed at. She couldn't quite see his face since he was holding a strange green coloured device in front of him. After asking Pinkie for a vanilla milkshake, she decided to walk over and introduce herself to him. "Hi, I'm Sweetie Belle," she said with a smile and tilted her head to one side. "S-Sweetie Belle?" the brown-coated colt stammered. The sounds coming from the device stopped. "Yes?" Her smile faded and she was left with a confused look. "H-hi, I'm... Button Mash." ******************************************** Both of the foal's hearts started beating rapidly from this unintentional meeting. The device was now left on the table. Sweetie Belle's face turned red and she turned away from him. "I, um..." he started, but couldn't find the words he was looking for. "Have fun at school?" Sweetie Belle said before thinking. "I-I guess?" He tilted his head down toward the table, "What about you?" "Uhh..." Sweetie Belle couldn't think of what to say to this. Instead she continued blushing and looking at the floor. "It's fine to sit down." "What?" She looked at Button. She was too busy thinking that she didn't hear what he had just said. "I said, it's alright to sit down. I mean... if you want to." He looked up towards Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle's eyes shifted away from him as she said, "alright," and took a seat next to Button. A few moments passed as neither pony knew what to say to the other. Button opened his mouth to talk, but it was Pinkie Pie who broke the silence. "Order up," she called across the room. The two sitting at the table saw two milkshakes sliding across the table; one vanilla, one chocolate. Before Sweetie Belle could react, Button shouted out, "Milkshake race! Three-two-one-go!" He then started drinking his milkshake as quickly as he could while Sweetie Belle sat still. In seconds he was clutching his head with both hooves and stopped drinking. He fell to the floor, knocking over his chocolate milkshake. Sweetie Belle was not amused by this as she started drinking her own. She became interested in the small device that Button had left on the table and turned it on. Once Button had finished having his outbreak of brain freeze, he sat back up at the table next to Sweetie Belle. Instead of feeling embarrassed, he felt intrigued. He had never met a filly who was interested in his games before. Sweetie Belle noticed that he was looking at her and she stopped the game. She continued to drink her milkshake and handed back the device. "I guess this means I won," she said, putting on a smile. "Yeah, you did." Despite having lost the race, Button was surprisingly happy about it. Sweetie Belle looked a little disappointed as she looked out the window behind her and noticed it was almost sunset. "I'm sorry, Button. I'd better get going. Rarity's going to start worrying about me." "That's okay. I need to start heading back soon anyway." His ears drooped down onto his face. "Just one thing..." "Alright. What is it?" "Well, today didn't go so well so... would you, maybe, like to... talk again later? Maybe even come over after school?" It was true. Sweetie Belle hadn't thought that the afternoon went so well either. She was still surprised that Button had wanted to invite her over. She gladly accepted the offer and started to walk home to the boutique.