Button Mash and The Quest to Rescue Sweetie Belle

by JamesBurton


Green Garden (Patched)

Continuing on from last save point… Welcome back.

Now Loading… Paradise Island.

"Okay, now that I'm at the floating island… How do I get up there?" said Button Mash as he looked up at the floating island while scratching his head. "No wings, no unicorn magic, no good." He sighed as he began to pace.

"Good job, Button,” he muttered to himself as he sat down on the ground. "Alright, let’s not overreact, maybe there is something here I can use," the brown pony reasoned. The earth colt looked around to see if there was anything around he could use to get up to the floating island, but was disappointed to find nothing.

“Aww, horseapples,” he cursed under his breath before a certain wooden contraption captured his eye. He walked up to the catapult he just saw, putting a hoof on it. “Say, this looks familiar,” he said, drifting off to his memories.

Three months ago.

It was a sunny, spring day in Ponyville as four ponies stood in a large field with a large contraption sitting in front of them. Scootaloo trotted up to it and patted it thrice with a big goofy grin on her face.

"Okay girls!” the orange pony enthusiastically began.

“Ahem.”

Scootaloo simply rolled her eyes. “And Button Mash.”

“Thank you.”

Not letting the interruption disrupt her mojo, Scootaloo climbed on a nearby stump elevating herself from her peers. “Today is the day we earn our cutie marks!” She motioned towards the large, wooden catapult, “and this baby is going to help us get them!”

        The other three ponies looked at each other uneasily, none of them as eager as Scootaloo to do whatever it is she planned to do with a catapult.

“Ummm… Scoots?” Applebloom said, “Ah’m not quite sure this is safe.”

Sweetie Belle nodded her head in agreement. “I agree. Scootaloo, whatever you plan on doing doesn’t seem safe.” She resignedly took a seat on the field. “Maybe we should stop today and just try again tomorrow.”

Scootaloo gasped at her friends. "Tomorrow...TOMORROW!? We'll never get our cutie marks if we always do everything tomorrow.," she shouted as she hit her hooves together. "We're doing this TODAY!" she harshly turned away from her friends.

"But Scootaloo, this is fifth attempt today." whined Applebloom. "Ah'm tired, Sweetie's tired, Button's tired and not to mention, he needs a new bag of ice for his eye." The three fillies turned to look at Button, who only gave a sheepish smile as water began pouring down the ice pack placed on his left eye.

Scootaloo hung her head down in anger. "Oh, I get it now," she muttered angrily. "You guys don't wanna hang out with me anymore, is that it?”

“Scoots, I think you need to-” Sweetie Belle was cut off abruptly as Scootaloo opened her mouth again.

“Maybe you found a new friend who isn't some Rainbow Dash fangirl.” The orange pegasus started crying. "WELL MAYBE YOU SHOULD GO AND LEAVE ME HERE ALL ALONE, I'LL FIND MY CUTIE MARK BY MYSELF!!!"

Sweetie Belle and Applebloom looked at each other, confused by the turn of events. They then both looked at Button, who also had tears in his eyes and sadness written all over his face. This was not the standard melodramatic cry or the whiny cry Button Mash did, but he was simply standing there, sobbing as he watched Scootaloo lose it slowly.

What they didn’t know is that he was sobbing for Scootaloo because he knew exactly how she must have felt at that moment. Betrayed by somepony you called your greatest friend.

"Button?” Sweetie Belle called the brown pony, but he only stood there, not reacting. Worried, Sweetie Belle tried again. “Button, are you alright?” she asked, leaning closer to the colt.

She did not get a reply. Button simply walked up to Scootaloo, put his forelegs around her and brought her in for a tight hug, which Scootaloo returns.

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle follow suite, joining in the hug. “We know it must hurt right now,” Sweetie solemnly told her friend, “but we’ll always be here for you, if you need a shoulder to cry on or ears to listen.” Suddenly, Sweetie gives Button a quick peck to the cheek. “No matter how long it takes.”

Present time

He remembered that day. Just two days after his confrontation with Rumble, Scootaloo had gone on a cutie mark spree, trying each and every thing out there, no matter how crazy, dangerous or deadly it was. Maybe she was just trying to look strong, or prove that her ex-coltfriend didn’t slow her down, so one day she acquired a catapult, just to show that she wasn’t completely heartbroken, that she was ready to move on.

But that was a lie… Just a big fat lie, at least right now.

Button Mash wipes a tear from his eye. "Oh, come on Button Mash, there's no time to be reminiscing, there's work to be done!" he bonked himself on the head as he ran over towards the catapult. "Hmm, it looks like it’s already set to launch, so all I have to is just turn it around." Using his earth pony strength he turns the catapult around facing the island and hops inside it. "Alright, now all I have to do is pull this rope and off I go." But before he pulls it he remembers something that happened recently.

I'm gonna get you back for punching me in the face. 

He sighed sadly, reminded that another fight with Rumble was more than inevitable. He shook his head. No, there were more important things to do right now. Looking up, he took a deep breath, double-checked his aiming, and tugged on the rope with his mouth. In an instant, the familiar feeling of having his body touchign something disappeared as he was flung into the sky.

        “WOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

Now Loading... Green Garden.

*SPLASH*

"*GASP!* Well, that was an experience." Button Mash coughed, landing in a pond on the floating island. "Let’s never do that again." The soaked earth pony climbed to shore and started to shake some of the water of his coat. "Aw man, I was really lucky that I landed in water, and not solid ground." He rubs the back of his head. "Then again, water can hurt just as much solid ground… wait… MY HAT IS MISSING!" Button angrily kicked a rock. "I must've lost it when I was in the air. Oh that's just great!"

Oh no, Button Mash lost his hat! Be careful little pony, because now you'll take double damage from enemies unless you find your hat. Better find it and fast!

"Okay, not a problem." He calmly told himself.. "I'll just look around and-" The hatless pony looks at his surroundings to see if he could find his missing hat, but his jaw dropped when all he saw was grass that was slowly dying, trees that had no leaves on them, and flowers with the pedals slowly falling on the ground and the sky was a murky gray. "Whoa, what happened to this place?" Button Mash asked under his breath, feeling a little afraid. "And why does everything look dead?" He rubs his chin thoughtfully. "I have a very bad feeling about this." Seeing that there was nothing else here he decided walking away from the area, ignoring the dying landscape surrounding him. After fifteen minutes of walking, the mood of the land started to get to Button, and he started losing hope. “Ugh, this hopeless!” the brown pony thought to himself. His eyes lit up, however, when he saw some buildings in the distance.

"Oh boy, a town!" he excitedly stated. "Maybe I can find out what's happening here." The young pony ran to the village with renewed vigor. "And maybe discover just where I am."

Welcome to Green Village

Button Mash was smiling as he entered the town with a confident stride as he went over his plan in his head; First, he was going to find out what's happening here. Secondly, find out where he is, And most importantly, maybe stop and get some food. He rubbed his stomach which growled violently in response. He was getting pretty hungry. With his plan in mind, he walks past the town gates.

His smile faded and his spirit crushed once he walked past those gates, stopped dead in his tracks from what he saw.

"W-what happened here?" he stuttered breathlessly as he looked at the scene before him. What Button Mash thought was a lively town was nothing more than just a delusion. Although there was many different races of ponies here. The earth colt saw a couple of things in common. They looked tired and their manes were a complete mess, but main thing that Button Mash saw was a grim reminder that the tyrannical unicorn king Codex wasn't lying when he said he ruled this world, and that apparently he liked banners of his face flying around.

The villagers on the other hand, were very pitiful to look at. Aside from looking very ragged and dirty, they seemed exhausted and worked to the brink. Eye bags were a prominent sight and most of the ponies look lke they haven’t had a decent meal in weeks. Or any meal for that matter.

"Hello there stranger," a mare’s voice pierced through Button’s thoughts.

"Wahh!!" shrieked Button Mash as he clumsily jolted forward from the shock, only to fall flat on his face by accident. Embarrassed, the colt quickly got on his hooves and turned around to see the source of the voice. She was a young dark blue unicorn with a green mane and tired looking green eyes with bags forming under them. Button noticed her cutie mark was a music note, but he quickly diverted his eyes, lest his intentions be mistaken. On her back, she had two saddlebags with her cutie mark on each, like many other saddlebags he’s seen before. "Geez you startled me," he huffed, with his hoof to his chest still waiting for his heartbeat to slow down.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you,” she timidly apologized. “It’s just that we don’t get many visitors here, so I wanted to welcome you. Welcome to Green Village.”

"Green Village?"

She slowly nodded her head. "Yes, and although its seen better days, its still home." She shot Button a warm smile. "You must be weary from your travels… oh, I’m sorry, I forgot to ask your name."

"Huh? Oh, my name is Button Mash,” Button replied, happy to see a friendly face.

"Well, Button Mash, my name is Silver Song,” she cheerfully introduced herself. Right as Button was about to ask something, she put her hoof to her mouth and started coughing violently. The rest of her legs shook with every cough and eventually gave way, letting the mare fall to the ground still coughing.

Button Mash quickly rushed over the unicorn writhing on the dirt. "Hey! Are you alright?" Button asked, worried about Silver. He obviously knew that she wasn't alright, but he didn't know what else to ask. "Should I get you some water?"    

"No I just need to get home," Silver replied weakly. "I need to take care of my kids."

"Y-y-y-you have kids?!" Button shrieked, obviously surprised. “You can’t be any older than I am!”

The navy blue unicorn giggled at dumbfounded expression the brown earth pony wore. "It’s true, I'm only fourteen years old and here I am taking care of three kids all by myself,” she weakly chuckled before being interrupted by another fit of coughs.

"Okay, that's it,” Button Mash lifted the mare onto his back. "I'm taking you home." He started walking but stopped after a few steps. "Uh, where exactly do you live?"

"Just a couple of houses down from town square,” she giggled at the mistake of the colt, who just grinned as well.

Button Mash began to walk again, only to stop once more. “Uhh, where is the town square?” The filly pointed her hoof towards the center of town. Button Mash nodded confidently, “Cool, I’ll have you there in no time!”

After a few minutes of dead silence while walking, Button decided to try striking up a conversation. “So, do your parents at least help you take care of your foals.”

"My parents have passed on."

Button's ears immediately droop down and his expression gets sadder. "Oh… I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

"Its okay, Button." Silver sorrowfully told him. "You know, they're not really my kids and I do have some help raising them." She started to cough again. "I was just trying to keep my spirits up, because, well just look around you."

Button Mash didn’t need to look. Hay, he didn’t want to look. But he had to. The ponies of Green Village looked so hopeless and depressed, not even one of Pinkie Pie’s famous parties could cheer them up. "Silver, what happened here?"

She stays silent for a couple of seconds before she finally spoke. "Codex happened,” she stated. “A long time ago back when Green Village was a beautiful agricultural small town."

"Ah, hence the name Green Village,” Button Mash inferred.

"Yes, we were the ponies who grew the food for Paradise Island."

"Paradise Island...?" Button Mash remembered that name. "Is that the name of the place below us?"  

Sliver Song nodded slowly. "That's correct, I was born down there. My parents and I were farmers who helped grow crops." Silver sighed, her eyes staring towards the horizon as she remembered the better days. "The skies were blue, and grass was green, and everypony knew each other, it was paradise." She closed her eyes, her face curling up with painful memories. "But one day a gray unicorn appeared in our town, he called himself King Codex and that we were chosen to be his first subjects. Nopony actually took him seriously, we all just thought he was a crazy pony, and well, you saw how that turned out. He made a sky with no sun. No sun, nothing grows. Everything just started dying slowly."  

"Sliver, how long has this been going on?"

She doesn't didn’t her eyes. "Codex took over when I was seven years old, both of my parents died when I was nine, and I found my first child when I turned ten."

Button Mash gasped in complete horror. He rarely miscalculated, but he never miscalculated this bad before. He had previously thought the village had no decent meals for months, but given the information he knew now, it might have been years. "But how?"

"Everyday, in center of town square, Black Breath, one of Codex’s lieutenants, offers food to those who would swear allegiance to his king. At first, many of us resisted but as time passed, more and more ponies submitted to Codex.."

“So that's how he's doing it. He's starving them to break their will. Codex when I get my hooves on you…!” Button growled under his breath.

The two continued down until they reached town square of Green Village. It was barren, almost no shops unlike most town squares, save for a white earth pony with a red mane, smugly standing beside a cart filled with food, with five more behind him. Surrounding him were five guards, all in black armor, spears pointed forward. They were unlike the villagers in the fact that they looked completely healthy and clean. In front of them was a crowd of starving villagers, listening intently to every word the white pony said. “Alright, alright, so who wants to have a good meal tonight?!” the white pony cheerfully called out like one of those gameshow hosts Button had seen his mom watch in the afternoons. Except he wasn’t talking to a contestant, he was talking to a bunch of malnourished villagers, making his cheer way out of place.

"That's him,” the filly on Button’s back hissed, “Black Breath.” Her eyes fell on the crowd of the hungry ponies in the crowd. "You know Button, sometimes I want to give in too, to say that I submit to Codex's rule so that I, Golden Heart and our kids can have a decent meal. Even just for one night”

"SISTER!!!"

Button Mash turned around to the sound of the voice, making sure that Silver Song can also see from his back. "Big sis, I finally found you!" He was a young Pegasus pony who was about eight years old, he had a light blue coat, brown eyes and a jet black mane with a green spinning propeller cap on top…

Wait a minute.

Silver Song gets off Button's back and greets the young colt with a smile. "Hello there, Thunderbird.” She turned to Button and introduced him, "Button Mash this is Thunderbird, Golden Heart's younger brother.”

Thunderbird turned to the older brown colt and shot a very cold glare. "You’re not going take away my brother's wife are you?"

"Uhhh… No?"

The young colt breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, because he works really hard to support our new family since our parents died."

Button Mash didn't hear that last part. He was too focused on the hat on Thunderbird's head. "Hey, can I ask you a question Thunderbird?"

"Sure. I guess."

"Where did you find that hat?"

Thunderbird takes off his hat and smiles at it. "You like it huh?" He said. "It just fell from the sky." He holds it close to his chest. "Its my good luck charm, If I wear it maybe our family will have a decent meal tonight when my brother returns."

"I see, well you better put it back on then," Button bent down a bit, leveling his grin to the face of the young pegasus. "If you keep it off too long it will ruin your luck."

"I submit to Lord Codex." A female voice interrupted the three young ponies. They looked back at the crowd of hungry souls that stood before Black Breath.

"And a another one sees the light,” Black Breath smiled. He gives the poor mare a bag full of delicious food. "Remember, my little pony, that King Codex loves you." Black Breath said with a warm smile. "And he just want's you to be happy and safe, and all you have to do is just accept him as your king." The poor mare starts to cry as she looked at the bag she held in her hooves. "Look how she cries tears of joy at the wonderful gift Lord Codex has given her!" Black Breath zealously raised a hoof in the air. "Now go! Let you and your family enjoy a wonderful feast granted by Lord Codex's generous heart."

She didn’t say anything, she merely looked back at the crowd, whose lifeless, hungry eyes met with hers. And another one submits to the Unicorn King. Some would think that she was weak for giving in, others might think that she was strong for doing something that fed her family. The poor pony runs away from the crowd, unable to show her face.

            "Now who else wishes to..."

"Sir Black Breath,” one of the guards stoically interrupted the preacherous pony. In his hooves was a scared little unicorn filly, her red coat dirtied and ragged, and her pink mane not doing a good job of hiding the fear in her eyes.

“What is it you want, my little pony,” the lieutenant benevolently asked, his warm smile not changing at all. “Is this what you search for?” He pulled out a carrot from the cart, and reached it out towards the unicorn.

She slowly reaches for the carrot in Black Breath's hoof, but before she can grab it, he drops it on the ground. “Oh, silly me,” Black Breath mockingly apologized. “I must have the dropsies today,” he laughed.

As if that wasn’t enough, Black Breath violently stepped on the carrot, crushing it to pieces, mixing it in with the dirt. “Oh dear,” he sadistically grinned, “I really must watch my step.”

        The carrot was already dirty, the orange of it stained with the brown and black of the earth, but that didn’t matter. The young unicorn weakly grabbed it, tried to scrape of the grime on it to no avail, and then she proceeds to eat it.

        “Delicious, isn’t it?” The lieutenant could barely hold his laughter, leaning in closer to the filly while still giving that warm, mocking smile.

        The young unicorn didn’t reply. She simply continued eating while sobbing ever so softly. The residents of Green Village had seen this scene unravel to many times, enough for it to be considered an ‘everyday occurrence.’ Although for Button Mash, this was beyond twisted and cruel. He was clenching his teeth hard in anger at the pitiful scene of injustice that he just witnessed.

"That's it." He picked up a moderately sized rock with his mouth and flung it towards the smug earth pony, which connected with a loud crack.

Black Breath rubbed his face is pain, his calm and cheery demeanor now broken. "WHO THREW THAT?!?!" The stallion cried in anger towards the crowd.

A brown earth colt steps in front of the massive crowd.

"That would be me,” a determined looking Button Mash emerged through the crowd, his eyes glaring at the lieutenant and his guards.

Game Paused.